Soap Discussion - March 2013

A rundown of some of the month's soap highlights as I might not be able to post tomorrow.

Coronation Street: A solid, even an engaging month both with the fire at the Rovers courtesy of Karl and the impending outcome of the whole Tyrone vs. Kirsty saga in general. 2013 so far has been a solid year for the soap with both of these stories generating the right amount of screen time and while it's looking likely that Kirsty will get her comeuppance, Karl has managed to shape up from a deathly dull character to an interesting villain almost overnight. The only downer of this month was the whole Ryan/Katy/Chesney plot but the less said on that one, the better.

EastEnders: It's been getting criticism in the papers for it's ratings slip and it's increasingly dull plots and this month was certainly not a marked improvement. The gang plot with Liam might remind us how good Patsy Palmer can be when the writers both giving her a storyline but the gang themselves are played by such bad actors, it often makes the entire plot difficult to take serious to be honest. Other stories of non interest including Tanya and Phil going on a date and the writers insistence on stretching the latter's custody of Lola's baby beyond credibility.

Emmerdale: And the award of most moronic henchman of the year goes to Robbie. Let's face it, it's been a year and the writers have struggled to do anything of real interest with him, so having Cameron nearly kill him in last night's episode would've been a godsend had Chas not interrupted him for once. Thankfully there were better plots this month with the fallout of Charity and Declan's one night stand with Jai and Brenda's storyline as well has been handled pretty well. Like it's other ITV stablemate, this show seems to getting it's groove back pretty nicely.

Hollyoaks: Finally, the neverending saga that is Brendan Brady finally came to an end and with it, the swift exits of Cheryl, Walker and Seamus (two of them thankfully being bumped off as well). I know there are some fans who act like Brendan was the saviour of the show but to be honest, I think it will survive well enough without him and the show dragged out his neverending cycle of violence and angst as it was anyways. Besides, they've already drafted in Clare once again (as part of a plot with Browning and Mercedes) and it seems that Patrick is actually a nasty piece of work if his number on poor Anna is something to go by, plus Trudy is also setting Jacqui up for a fall and there's Nancy's addiction to pill as well. Proof that the show can survive without Brendan Brady.