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The week in soapland

Heather (Cheryl Fergison) from EastEnders with baby George
  • Posted at 4:30pm
  • 01 November 2009
  • by GarethMcLean-RT
  • 4 comments

As jaws drop at the revelation of the identity of Heather's baby's father in EastEnders - which is to say, little Darren, who clearly isn't so little any more - you might wonder how, and indeed why, the soap came up with such an odd coupling.

"Who's the daddy?" is, of course, a soap staple; the mystery of who sired Michelle Fowler's baby perplexed audiences in 1985, until baby Vicki was revealed to be the daughter of Dirty Den.

EastEnders producer Diederick Santer explains that the story of the unlikely one-night stand between 18-year-old chancer Darren with perennial wallflower Heather, who's old enough to be his mother, sprang from a story conference 18 months ago.

"A story conference involves writers and producers throwing ideas around, and as part of that, we focused on some characters we felt weren't being used to their full potential," he says. "We had split into pairs and writers Simon Ashdown and Richard Zajdlic drew Heather out of the hat. They came up with a 'Who's the daddy?' story. It was a real departure from the fun stuff we'd done with Heather and it gave actress Cheryl Fergison a chance to do something challenging."

Granted, it worked as a mystery, and will contribute to the development of Heather's character. But Darren, a father? Really?

"In soap, you're always looking for that moment that makes people go, 'Whoa!' and Darren was that name. We've been planting red herrings on Billy, Phil and Minty. Billy and Heather had a Christmas kiss - but Darren was the name Richard and Simon wanted. The writing team argued about it for a year or more, but I was never in any doubt. When the writers argue, it's a good sign other people will, too."

Surely picking Darren as the daddy stretches credulity to breaking point, though?

"We've known Darren since he was 13 and we don't think of him as a sexual creature, but it's the most interesting outcome in the long run for his character," says Santer. "It's inevitable Libby finds out, as well as Shirley and Denise, who never liked him. There are more detonations to come. It's easy to explode things - to have a plane fall on your village or whatever - but what keeps an audience with the show is the development of characters.

"You can do both: the reveal of Stacey and Max's affair at Christmas 2007 was that year's most-watched programme, but it was a real step in the development of Stacey, Max, Tanya and Bradley, too. That's soap at its best."

Weekly updates

EastEnders

Either Archie has had an especially early visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and decided to mend his mean ways or else he has ulterior motives for extending the hand of friendship to Sam and Billy. No prizes for guessing which.

And if you were in any doubt, see his face light up when Janine suggests that they torch the Vic to smoke out the Mitchells.

Elsewhere, Lucas turns nastier still in a bloody bid to get rid of Owen, while Jane's yearning to adopt a child, much to Ian's annoyance, is growing all the time. Happy days.

Coronation Street

A problem shared is a problem halved, but it's also a way of spreading the misery. Tony might feel better having offloaded his guilty conscience, but Roy is truly tormented. He hasn't been this agitated since he got his anorak zip stuck shut on the hottest day of the year.

So as Roy weighs up his moral duty to approach the police, Hayley warns him that Maria and baby Liam will be devastated by the maelstrom he'll unleash.

Meanwhile, Norris meets his match in the Kabin, a mystery man comes calling for Peter and Simon, and Joe proposes to Gail. There'll be fireworks. Obviously.

Emmerdale

As bonfire night approaches, fiery emotions flare around the village: Charity ramps up the sexual tension with Cain; Nathan reveals his true, troubling colours to Leyla; and a furious Nikhil finds fault with the factory workers.

But nowhere does passion smoulder so dangerously as at Mulberry Cottage, where Sally's deranged attachment to Ashley provokes, exasperates and finally imperils Laurel. Irked that her infiltration of the Thomas marriage isn't progressing as speedily as she had hoped, Sally fails to stop a burning ember doing its worst on Guy Fawkes Night. Someone will surely get burnt - and not merely metaphorically.

The Archers - by David Brown

Back in the 1980s, the then Labour leader Neil Kinnock declared that The Archers should be retitled The Grundys and Their Oppressors. Now it looks like he'll have to rethink matters because David Archer has returned from holiday to find that Eddie has actually done a good job at Brookfield in his absence.

Feeling guilty at misjudging his employee, could David finally elevate the Grundys to the same social standing as his own ennobled clan? Not if news of Joe's clumsiness leaks out…

At the very bottom of Ambridge's class hierarchy, though, is Vicky, who this week ratchets up the volume after volunteering to make the Bonfire Night Guy using the contents of Mike's wardrobe. The next time Adam wants to divert a footpath, could he possibly do so across the new Mrs Tucker's mouth?

Finally, Leon - whose sole contribution thus far has been to compare Helen's neck to swan's down - gets to cheer up Annette, while Lilian fears the start of the court case of the century: Crown v Tiger.

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Comments

  • Posted on 04 November 2009
  • at 5:37pm
  • by HelenHackworthy-RT

Hi, Gumrat. Service with a smile! Apologies for the oversight,

Helen

  • Posted on 03 November 2009
  • at 10:46am
  • by Gumrat

Hi, Helen! Thanks for that - much appreciated - but what about the longest running soap in England? Does "The Archers" no longer count as soap now that Norman Painting's died?

  • Posted on 02 November 2009
  • at 5:04pm
  • by HelenHackworthy-RT

Hi, Gumrat. Thanks for asking about the weekly updates for the rest of the soaps - we've put them up for you.

Best wishes,

Helen

  • Posted on 01 November 2009
  • at 8:38pm
  • by Gumrat

Soapland doesn't just consist of Albert Square. Where are the rest of the soaps, please?

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