Yes because BBC1 are serving up two
40
minute long EastEnders episodes [Notice thats 80 mins of EastEnders, more than ITV1 are devoting to a single soap], this has pushed ITV1's soaps 10 mins out of their usual slots, so Emmerdale is at 6.40pm and Coronation Street at 7.40pm.
I dont see why the need a 1 hr long Emmerdale on Christmas Day, according to Inside Soap Emmerdale will be fairly low key at Christmas with most of the action taking place over new year.
So they could have had Emmerdale at 7pm and Corrie at 7.30pm giving World Idol a 10 minute lead over EE
Isn't it funny how whenever anyone decides to leave Wetherfield it always has to be right now. Take for instance Nick today, who out of the blue decided to leave (we wish) and how it had to be "this afternoon". Ooookay.
So there we where, treated to the traditional Corrie exit, black cab comes along, and the wave from the back of the taxi. But.... in a mean twist of fate, lurking around the corner was Maria who thrust herself at the taxi, (what a shame she couldn't have thrown herself in front of it) just as we were about to get rid.
I won't forgive her easily for that. So it's business as normal then, and back to more wooden / moody acting from our resident blonde himbo. Joy.
Blimey !!! What a lot of shouting tonight, more so than your average episode of Eastenders !!
It's quite clever how the Maria / Candice / Nick / Todd / Sarah / Katie / Martin / Gail storylines are all kind of intertwined. But I've still not forgiven Maria for stopping that taxi.
Anyway amongst all that angst, I enjoyed the welcome bit of relief when Emily got her hair soaked by Chesney's water blaster. And then the suggestion from Cilla that the Norris & Emily relationship might be more than tenant & landlord, and that they keep their teeth in the same glass at night !!
Indeed a lot of good acting tonight from the likes of Gail and Katy.
The let down though was of course Nick and his scene in Sarah's flat "Todd's Gay Sarah" he keeps saying using all extremes of his "acting" ability. That scene was almost a rerun and equally poor as the aftermath of the 'Gay Kiss' episode. Meanwhile yesterday we saw Bethany ironing with a toy iron, which was much better acting than Nick.
Ive not seen tonights episodes yet as ive been on tonight but I look forward to all the shouting.
On this mornings Granada Plus episode however it was nice to hear Bet speaking to Raquel about lots of old characters like Hilda and Stan, Eddie Yeats and Annie Walker. We also got our first mention, by Martin, of Carmel the nanny from hell, so she should arrive quite soon.
On Saturday 27th December we have a selection of festive episodes from the Street screening on Granada Plus from 10.30am!
10.30am and 2pm - Christmas 1961
Christmas 1961 sees the men in Coronation Street supporting the ladies' football team, the Corinthians. Dennis is bored and decides to spend Christmas with Jed, not realising that Elsie has prepared a feast for him. Minnie Caldwell entertains Ena, but disaster almost strikes while they are eating their Christmas pudding.
The feud between Len and Fred progresses when Rita invites Elsie to lunch on Boxing Day. The Langtons throw a party and Ray is delighted to see Deirdre is feeling much better.
With Peter Adamson (Len Fairclough), Fred Feast (Fred Gee), Barbara Knox (Rita Fairclough) Patricia Phoenix (Elsie Howard), Anne Kirkbride (Deirdre Langton)
11.30am and 3pm - New Year 1980
The Tilsley's welcome a new member of the family.
With Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden), Bernard Youens (Stan Ogden), Helen Worth (Gail Tilsley), Patricia Phoenix (Elsie Tanner)
12noon and 3.30pm - Christmas 1981
Stan upsets Hilda with his gift of an air freshener. Fred's marriage to Eunice also suffers over the festive season as she leaves him for another man. Mavis sees Bobby and is disappointed by his lack of interest, especially when she discovers that Bet has dated him.
With Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden) Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch), Patricia Phoenix (Elsie Tanner)
12.30pm and 4.00pm - Christmas 1986
Terry Duckworth continues his crime spree by breaking into Alf's store while drunk to steal more alcohol. Martin is unconscious in hospital after a car accident. Brian and Gail have separated so Ivy plans a big tea for Nicky's birthday.
With Helen Worth (Gail Tilsley), Lynne Perrie (Ivy Tilsley), Barbara Knox (Rita Fairclough)
1.00pm and 4.30pm - Christmas 1987
The legendary Hilda Ogden is set to leave
With Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden)
1.30pm (only) - Christmas 1989
Deirdre is suffering over Christmas as she uncovers Ken's affair with Wendy Crozier. She tries to normalise things for Tracy's sake, but Ken is destined to be thrown out before the year's end
With Anne Kirkbride (Deirdre Barlow) William Roache (Ken Barlow) Dawn Action (Tracy Barlow)
Is there any point to this builder character yet ? I mean I know they've got to establish him as a character to start with, but this feud between him and Mike Baldwin is a bit futile. I mean honestly, building a brick wall in front of the entrance to Underworld only gave Nick more reason to demonstrate his wooden acting further. This time however with protective goggles and a sledgehammer.
Crafty Craig managed to sieze an opportune moment to get into Martin's car while they off loaded the Christmas Tree. He waggled a spanner about for a bit, don't think he was tuning the engine so no doubt he's disconnected the brakes.
So look forward to tomorrows mad dash as Tommy & Craig try to save Martin. At least Martin will be spared Christmas around at Gail's, I do have one worry however. Just who is going to look after Martin when he's in the hospital bed ? After all he's the one who has turned up at the bedside of every other Weatherfield resident who's found themselves in difficulty. Maybe it'll be left to Todd to take that responsibility this time.
I think the new builder the plan is for the new builder to have lots of affairs - already its been rumoured he will sleep with Shelly, Bev and Deirdre. He reminds me of Ray Langton, perhaps thats why Deirdre falls for him.
I thought tonights episode was quite good, wasnt impressed with Nick's acting though, and Cilla can bugger off too - she is by far the worst actress ever.
Looking forward to the car crash tommorow night, obviously we know Martin survives as its been leaked to the press.
I've actually seen the episode in which the crash happens and its very good. The car explodes in a Steve Owen-like ball of flame just as Tommy drags Martin free, its very dramatic.
