Next week in soapland: Patrick's new love interest, Gary's next victim, Laurie in prison
What to expect from EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Holby City in the week ahead
Monday 5th August
So, Patrick on EastEnders (8pm, BBC1) has a new love interest. But you’d be forgiven for thinking that Sheree looks familiar, seeing as actress Suzette Llewellyn has appeared on the soap before in three other roles. Llewellyn (also seen recently as Xav’s mum Nanette on Holby City) has portrayed two Walford police officers, as well as a clerk of the court during Lucy Beale’s murder trial. Now, though, she has a more sizeable part to play, which at the moment involves Sheree making herself a little too at home and rubbing Denise up the wrong way.
Hollyoaks (6.30pm, C4) is giving Laurie his last hurrah. Or, rather, his final boo-hiss. Tonight, we get Sinead visiting him in prison, while tomorrow, we’ll see him handed a four-year sentence. But, as soap fans know, jail needn’t be the final chapter in a villain’s story. And, as you’ll discover, Laurie isn’t going to go quietly. In fact, I do get the impression that having tackled the social issue side of the plotline, Hollyoaks will now be going for all-out sudsy melodrama.
Tuesday 6th August
Is the Strictly curse about to hit Holby City (8pm, BBC1)? It’s certainly looking that way as Dom worries that Carole’s dance classes with Hanssen are becoming something altogether more passionate. Otherwise, why would Carole be getting all flustered and lying about her plans for the evening? Personally, though, I’m just happy to see Carole once again calling Dom “Dazzle” and that Dom is referring to Carole as “mum”. In my head, I can pretend all that nonsense with Ange being Dom’s birth mother never actually happened.
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Elsewhere, it’s starting to feel as though the writers are reacting to half the cast booking annual leave at the same time. Jac is wrestling with parental issues and wondering whether she needs to refocus on her daughter Emma, while Cameron and Serena both start to feel that a period away from the hospital would be beneficial following Bernie’s untimely death. Maybe Hanssen will need to focus on staffing rotas rather than the samba if he’s planning on keeping the wards open?
Wednesday 7th August
Now that Gary Windass on Coronation Street (7.30, 8.30pm, ITV) has taken a life, I’m constantly on the lookout for the next character he’s likely to kill off. I’ve reached the conclusion that some Corrie legends have to be off limits. If Rita, for instance, overcharged Gary for his Weatherfield Gazette, I doubt he’d attack her with a canister of pear drops.
But Ryan Connor should definitely be watching his back, especially now that he’s swiped some of Gary’s cash and used it to fund a trip to Copenhagen. If Gary did murder Ryan, I doubt anyone would be that bothered. Mind you, he is close with Alya and I seem to recall that she went completely to pieces when Luke Britton died, even though she’d only dated him for a fortnight. Do you remember? She made a shrine to him and started wailing like Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment. So if Gary does add Ryan to his body count, expect Alya to dissolve in a puddle of saltwater.
Thursday 8th August
An under-pressure Jai meets secretly with Kim for one of those business-blah conflabs involving loans and buy-outs that Emmerdale (7pm, 8pm, ITV) really seems to love. This one should be fun, though, if only to see their facial contortions, seeing as Jai permanently looks as though he’s wrestling with a massive migraine, while Kim always appears to be probing a stubborn mouth ulcer. The quandary for Jai, of course, is whether he’ll sell his soul to the devil. But I hear whispers that the partnership will merely result in a new outdoor pursuit centre at the heart of the village. Though, admittedly, that could be some people’s idea of hell.
On EastEnders (7.30pm, BBC1), the police arrive on the Square looking for who they think is responsible for the recent attack on Phil. But as we all know, soap cops are obliged to go all around the houses for weeks before they hit upon the guilty party. So I wouldn’t expect Phil’s assailant to be getting their comeuppance any time soon.
Friday 9th August
EastEnders (8pm, BBC1) has given Mick Carter a new lease of life, now that they’ve remembered what made him such a successful character in the first place. Mick’s role is to be the protector of his family, not some randy philanderer trying to have an affair with Whitney (let’s just try and forget that every happened, shall we?). So, even though it’s stressful for him, it’s actually reassuring for us to see him fretting about son Ollie’s future, even though the pressure is building tonight to the point where Mick collapses while refereeing a kids’ football match.
Emma on Coronation Street (7.30, 8.30pm, ITV) goes to visit her dad in hospital and learns that he has stomach cancer. Later on, Emma then tells Maria that her mum, who lives in Australia, refuses to come over despite the diagnosis. But with rumours swirling that Emma’s mum is actually Fiona Middleton, might there be movement on that front so that actress Angela Griffin can make an appearance at some point in the future?
