SOAP WATCH
JACI STEPHEN’S ultimate insight into the week’s soaps
This week, both
Emmerdale and Corrie return to bringing us six episodes, which is miraculous, given the limited conditions under which both have been filming. Is it too soon, though? It’s bound to be some time before they start to look remotely like they used to, with kissing, punch-ups etc, so are we going to get bored, given the restrictions?
With cast and crew having to maintain social distancing, group shots now look like people hoping to do a quick getaway when they run into someone they don’t like. Shop counters and bar tops are making even more appearances than usual, and the sets have never been so scrubbed. How many times can Corrie’s
Jenny wipe down the Rovers’ bar? It seems unnecessary, given how few customers there are.
As for poor Harriet in Emmerdale, surely the reason she was sobbing in the church was because she knows she won’t be hitting the vestry with another male conquest any time soon.
Corrie wanted to get back on track in time for its 60th anniversary celebrations in December. Yegods! I was at the 30th. What a difference three decades makes.
There’s an impending sense of doom when Chantelle packs for the ‘family holiday’ that is her escape from her violent husband. But with Gray (pictured, with Chantelle) watching every move, her plan is foiled when he convinces Chantelle’s parents that the children should stay home with him. In a series of twists, Chantelle is forced to leave the seaside and return to Walford, where she finds the courage to tell Gray she is leaving him. It doesn’t end well, and there are tragic consequences in an incredibly powerful storyline that has resonated everywhere with victims of domestic violence and emotional abuse.
On a lighter note – and trust me, you will need one – Ian is trying to become Chair of the Planning Committee. Clearly, being rejected by Sharon can push men into strange waters; Ian’s ego is carrying the kind of bruises you’d get by going 15 rounds with Mike Tyson (or ten seconds, in Ian’s case), but he has a plan. Setting Sharon a list of targets for the Vic, he is piqued yet again when she calls them unrealistic and tells him to grow up. Trust me, Shazza; that’s never going to happen.