Here are the storylines for the week of July 26th in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders.
WEEKLY SOAP PODCAST - If you prefer, you can listen to my weekly soap podcast at www.susanspence.co.uk then click on Spencey on Soaps.
Enjoy!
SSx
Accidental it may be, but he still kills him. The ridiculous storyline rumbles on when Colin is beaten up by Ben for having an affair with his wife, and he decides he not only wants his identity back, but money as well. Of course, spineless John has to get the hideous Charlotte involved – he needs her to bail him out financially. They all arrange to meet at John's house (Fiz is at Chesney's 16th birthday party in the cafe) but when Colin realises he's only getting £500, he reaches for the phone to call the police. That's when John lunges at Colin and the poor bloke collapses and drops to the floor.
What happens next is probably the worst storyline ever dreamed up by the Corrie producers. Instead of immediately calling the police (yes, he would go to jail for fraud etc) John and Charlotte decide to get rid of the body! They wrap it in some carpet and take it out the back and put it in a wheelie bin. They have a heart-stopping moment as Norris nearly catches them, but that's the least of their worries when Charlotte's car key snaps in the ignition. So, what do they do? They hide the body in Underworld! It just gets more stupid. Then like a Carry On film, Carla instructs the builders to work overtime and concrete the floor...Corrie, Corrie, what are you doing?
Chesney's first love...
While all of this is going on, Chesney's enjoying his 16th Birthday party at Roy's Rolls - bless Fiz, she does try her best. Ches can't believe his luck when Izzy's little sister, Katy, turns up and takes a shine to him. Ches is smitten, but isn't too experienced when it comes to the fairer sex! We'll see Chesney embarking on his first serious relationship...
Lewis decides to take Audrey up on her offer of moving to Greece, but only after she makes it clear she'd fork out for it. Gail isn't impressed and thinks Lewis is a chancer which prompts him to offer he'll pay for the trip. But where will get the money? By stealing a blank betting slip from the bookies of course, and fleecing a poor unsuspecting Deirdre who's too busy fluttering her eyelashes to notice...
Natasha, Maria and David are doing Audrey's head in as they each try to convince her she should sell the salon to them. Somehow ,I don't think she'll be going anywhere...
Sally's keen to take advantage of Tyrone's hopes for a quick sale and tells Kevin to make a low offer on his share of the garage...
Also this week:
Liz sacks Sean for using her identity to get to Violet, but later does a U-turn to help him see his son, Cheryl lets Chris see Russ while Chris warns Lloyd not to interfere in his family (who cares!) and Claire starts to think about child-minding again – this is the start of her and Ashley's exit storyline.
Like Doug, I always suspected there was something not quite right about Charlie - everytime he was on the phone or it rang, he would either hang up or walk away. Poor Diane! She flies to Spain this week to break the news to Victoria while Andy lays into Rodney for bringing Charlie to the village in the first place.
Marlon breaks the news about Shadrach's death...
I thought it was quite sad the way he died – all a bit undignified chasing after a few cans, but then again it was fitting for the character.
Marlon has the difficult job of breaking the news to the Dingles, who can't believe he's gone. There's a lot of guilt running around - Zak, in particular, struggles, but that's because he'd thrown his brother out of the homestead and they never really recovered from that. Even Cain seems to be sad that the old beggar's gone...
Mark's body is found!
There is a scene at the beginning of the week where we see Nathan coming out of the woods with a spade – what has he been up to? Perhaps he had something to do with helping the body to be found or maybe he's been planting evidence...
Anyway, as the Dingles grieve, Sam takes Alfie out for a walk and that's when he discovers Mark's body – Alfie does a bit of digging! Sam raises the alarm to Katie and Nathan and by the time Nathan calls Natasha back from her holiday with Declan, Home Farm is swarming with police. Scared out of her wits, Natasha has the hideous job of breaking the news to Maisie and Will (Nathan has to feign shock too remember as he's not supposed to know) but they don't get long to grieve as it soon becomes clear that all the family are being seen as suspects.
Nathan exposes his dark side again when he loses the plot with Natasha, who's struggling to cope with the hurt she's caused. He's acting so strangely that the police pick up on it and before we know it Nathan's whipped into the police station for more questioning. Even he starts to get worried though when they won't take his claims seriously that Faye's to blame and he's forced to spend the night in jail. However, the police can't find anything more to hold him on and Nathan's eventually released. He races home to confront Natasha – while inside, he's discovered that Mark was killed in cold blood – and warns her that unless she diverts the blame away from him, he'll turn her in himself. Interesting that both Maisie and Will think their brother is capable of murder, especially as little Will tells Ryan (who'll be arrested for Mark's murder) that he thinks Nathan went to London because he killed their dad...
Carl and Eve
Carl's getting more and more tempted by Eve, but she's not keen on doing the dirty on Chas who she's starting to get friendly with. However, it may soon be out of her hands - Edna unearths the extent of her grand-daughter's debt problem and her new job in a lap-dancing club (stealing from Corrie) and for some bizarre reason she confides in Carl. He has a little smile to himself when he hears the story, so clearly has something up his sleeve. Let's just get rid of both Eve and Carl - it would save us all the bother of pretending to be interested...
Nicola comes down to earth with a bump...
Nicola's struggling at the Woolpack. Her lack of experience sees her order too much booze and when Bob points out it's also too close to the sell-by date, she's forced to accept Val's help. Has Nicola made the right decision to buy the Woolie or could someone else step in to save the day?
Also this week:
Leyla's worried when she shop isn't as well-received as she'd hoped, David tries to cheer her up by getting his kit off, but is caught out by Rodders, and Viv thinks Bob is still in love with her when he tried to convince her to come off the valium.
As we saw on Friday night, the evil Preacher, Lucas, has been keeping Denise locked up in a cellar. What unfolds is way too long and involved to cover in a few paragraphs, so I'll do my best to summarise, but I'd advise you to watch Eastenders this week to see for yourself.
Denise hits a nerve when she tells Lucas that he's twisted the Bible to fit his own beliefs and actions and she can't believe she used to love him. He experiences something similar at Bible class and rattled, then returns to Denise. He talks about all the things he's done, including how he told the girls that Denise killed Trina which was why she committed suicide. She's flabbergasted and then cool as you like, Lucas suggests they move abroad. Incredulous, Denise tells him he has to face his actions, but he suggests they commit suicide together! I know, it just keeps getting worse.
Denise finds the keys and manages to escape. She's stunned to learn she's been next door all along and can hear Chelsea and Patrick singing Happy Birthday to Libby. Libby's stunned to see her mum standing in the doorway and drops to the floor, Denise is in tears, but she's shocked when Chelsea screams at her that she's a murderer. Denise denies it saying Lucas is the murderer and he kidnapped her. Chelsea doesn't believe her just as Lucas walks in and confirms it true.
Libby goes ape and lashes out, but it's clear Lucas means business when the doorbell rings. He grabs Libby and holds the ripped out phone cable to her throat and tells Patrick to get rid of whoever it is or he'll kill Libby. It's Heather. Patrick tries to scribble a help note but Heather doesn't see it. Lucas tells them everything he did, he did for them, but Libby isn't scared and verbally assaults her. Lucas loses it and the TV gets tossed out of the window. That's when Jordan comes home and everyone makes their escape and rush out of the house to be greeted by shocked residents. Lucas explains everything to his son, but as his secrets become more gruesome, Jordan flees out of the house and into Denise's arms. Lucas comes out and falls to his knees as the police arrive and take him away.
As everyone tries to come to terms with what's happened, Denise knows she has a hard job on her hands trying to rebuild her family, especially when Jordan goes to hit her...
So, just why did Jodie run off screaming when Darren dropped his boxers, well, apart from the obvious reason, of course?
He's not circumcised! Apparently, Jodie is Jewish and can't possibly be with a guy like Darren. At first, Darren is pleased as he thought it was something else, but he's not happy when she tells him she wants to be friends and nothing else. There's only one thing for it I suppose...
It's a bad week for Phil...
Lisa Fowler wants Louise back. Social services pop round to break the news to Phil and Peggy who can't believe it. Phil insists that Louise is watched 24/7 as he's convinced Lisa will snatch her daughter – she did shoot him I suppose, so she has it in her! He and Peggy head off to visit Ben, but are stunned to see he's covered in cuts and bruises. Peggy confronts the boy responsible, but he towers over her and amusingly, Phil meets his match. After the fracas, Phil tells Peggy he's worried that Ben will come home a different person, but Peggy assures him they'll all move back to the Vic and make it their home again. However, her bubble is burst when they return to the Square only to discover the pub is up for sale!
Ricky and Bianca get a rude awakening...
Fed up with being treated like a doormat, Pat tells Bianca and Ricky some home truths and moves into the Vic with Peggy! About time too! Great to see Ricky and Bianca back, though it's clear their relationship isn't all it should be...
Also this week:
Heather's not keen on Dot's idea of a christening for George claiming there can't be a God if he lets all these horrible things happen and Liz can't believe Lucas killed her Owen and as she puts a flower on the spot where he was buried she tells Dot she's going back to Spain after Owen's funeral.