Raves

It’s been revealed this morning that the character of Jackson Walsh – who’s played by Marc Silcock – is set to die in a controversial assisted suicide storyline.

As viewers will know, Jackson was left paralysed from the neck down after an horrific accident last year. Ever since, he’s been cared for in hospital and by his mother at home, and he’s suffered more trauma as he’s watched his boyfriend Aaron (Danny Miller) torn between staying with Jackson or leaving him.

The Sun reports that Jackson will ask both Aaron and his mum – played by Pauline Quirke – to help him end his life. They will eventually agree to help him and will crush an overdose of tablets into a drink which will kill Jackson.

An Emmerdale insider told the paper, “Jackson will start discussing plans to end his life in the next few weeks.

“His resolve to see it through will strengthen, which will lead to many rows and emotional scenes.

“Throughout the plot, there will be a phone number on screen for a helpline for anyone affected.”

However, last night, the storyline was slammed by pro-life campaigners who claimed it was a calculated bid for viewers.

Mediawatch-UK spokesman David Turtle said, “Emmerdale has been trying to push the boundaries for some time just to boost ratings.

“It’s a soap, not a serious discussion about a serious topic.”

And Alistair Thompson, of the Care Not Killing Alliance, said, “I hope this is done for the right reason and not to chase ratings.”

An Emmerdale spokeswoman would only say, “We do not confirm or deny speculation about future storylines.”

What do you think about this storyline?

More Dales news soon!

Corrie star Samia Smith has revealed that her character, Maria Connor, will be torn about reporting the sexual assault that she endures as she knows it could spell the end of the factory.

As fans will probably know, in forthcoming episodes, Maria will go to work for Carla Connor at the factory, and when Carla asks her to finalise a deal with Frank Foster, he gets her alone and carries out a sex attack on her.

During an interview with All About Soap, Samia explained that Maria knows her attacker’s order with the factory is all that’s keeping it afloat, and she fears reporting the assault could mean that all the Underworld workers will be out of a job.

She said of the attack, “She’s absolutely terrified. He starts groping her all over and has his hand up her thigh.

“He basically tries to rape her but she manages to struggle out of his grip and runs from the house screaming and petrified.

“Carla wants her to go straight to the police, but Maria knows that if she does, the factory will be in financial trouble and everyone will lose their jobs.

“Maria doesn’t want to be responsible for everyone being out of work. It’s a horrible, no-win situation for Maria and she just doesn’t know what to do.”

The storyline begins early next month.

In other Corrie news, Jack P. Shepherd has revealed that his character, David Platt, will return to his troublemaking ways when he and Kylie Turner become an item.

Kylie is of course Becky’s sister, and as fans will know, David and Kylie are set to wed later this year. Speaking to All About Soap, Jack explained that David goes on holiday to Tenerife, and when he returns, he’ll tell mum Gail that he met a dancer out there who’s called Candy…

However, Candy is actually Kylie, as Gail will soon find out.

Jack explained, “Each of them knows exactly who the other one is… “However, David’s getting a bit of a thrill by inventing this whole ‘Candy’ character for Gail and Audrey’s benefit.

“He’s really just waiting for Kylie to arrive in Weatherfield so they can cause a big stir – it’s all extremely calculated.”

But when David later proposes to Kylie by text, she’ll head back to Weatherfield to start their engagement.

Jack said, “She goes over to Gail’s and that’s when we get the big reveal.

“Gail’s totally horrified when she realises David’s engaged to Becky’s sister – she thinks she’s a commoner!

“Needless to say, Gail rapidly kicks them both out of the house.”

The storyline begins next month.

More Corrie news soon!

As viewers will surely know, Gilly Roach is to be charged with raping Jacqui McQueen, and the show’s bosses have revealed that when his case goes to trial, it’ll be heard by a real-life jury!

Hollyoaks execs will recruit 12 men and women from members of the public to hear the case and decide the outcome.

The alleged rape takes place in coming episodes, and when Jacqui makes the allegation, Gilly will deny it and claim instead that although they had sex, it was consensual.

The PA states, “Members of the show’s jury will review evidence with video clips and documents before coming to a verdict, rather than watching courtroom deliberations.

“They will not however appear on screen.”

The show’s bosses are looking for “a broad selection” of people between the ages of 18 and 70.

In other news, show newcomer Peter Mitchell – who’s to play the role of Pete Hamill, headmaster of Hollyoaks High – has been telling Digital Spy that he was warmly welcomed by his co-stars.

He said of joining the cast, “I didn’t know what to expect – I’d only done Cast Offs before, which was six weeks, and I also did one episode of Doctors, which was two days.

“So this is my first full-time acting job. Straight away, everyone was just so friendly.

“We do have a big cast here – there’s about 70 of us, but we are just like one big family. The atmosphere is just unbelievable and it’s an amazing place to work.

“Everyone is so nice, so helpful and I honestly can’t praise my fellow cast members enough.

“I’m pinching myself – it’s Hollyoaks, everyone’s so nice and I’m living in Liverpool – it’s perfect!

“Honestly, I just couldn’t imagine myself working anywhere else now – it’s a dream come true and it’s even better than what I thought it was going to be.”

More ‘Oaks news soon!

Viewers have been gripped by the unfolding drama that is the Dales’ hostage situation that’s seen Nick Henshall holding a terrified Katie Sugden against her will.

And tonight, the storyline will come to a dramatic climax when Nick sees Andy outside and in his fury, he grabs a gun and holds it to Katie’s head…

The police have been trying – and failing – to negotiate with Nick, but when they see he has a gun, they have to abandon their plan to storm the building and rescue Katie.

When he sees that the police are failing, Andy steps forward and tries to plead with Nick to let Katie go, while inside, Katie tells Nick that he can’t truly care about her if he’s prepared to frighten her as he is doing.

However, as the cameras pan outside, a gunshot is heard, and we’ll be left wondering if Nick has killed Katie or killed himself! Don’t miss it tonight at 7pm and then again at 8pm on ITV1 but in the meantime, you can see a sneak peek video here.

Also of course, there’s the ongoing drama between Nicola and Jimmy King, which will escalate when he goes missing and Nicola will fear the worst.

Nicola Wheeler who plays Nicola King has been speaking to Digital Spy about the forthcoming plotline, and when asked how Nicola reacts to Jimmy going missing, she said,”She thinks he’s sulking because they’ve been rowing a lot because they’re planning on having another baby.

“Nicola doesn’t think Jimmy has been around a lot, and obviously he needs to be there for the crucial thing to happen!

“Jimmy goes off one night on a last-minute job, and the next morning he leaves very early on a run, saying he’ll be back as soon as he can.

“But as the day goes on, Nicola tries to call Jimmy and he doesn’t answer.”

Things get far more worrying when blood is found in the cab of Jimmy’s truck, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

Nicola said, “His cab is blood stained, but the police don’t know yet whether the blood belongs to Jimmy or not.

“Nicola is told she’ll have to wait until the test results come through to know whether the blood is Jimmy’s. Nicola is left facing an agonising wait to find out the truth…”

More Dales news soon!

In upcoming episodes of Corrie, Street crimper Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) will be left in a state of shock after one of her clients dies in her salon.

According to the Daily Star, the elderly client, Enid, will be seen praising the talents of David (Jack P Shepherd) for his hair washing skills, right before she simply dies in the chair.

And it had been reported by various media that Enid’s death might be because of something that Audrey did at the salon, but apparently, that won’t be the case and the unfortunate lady will simply die of natural causes.

In other news, Steve McDonald is about to get a stroke of luck when he wins £5,000 at a casino, which he resolves to give to Dev and Sunita to make up for Becky looting them during the tram crash.

Speaking to Soaplife, Simon Gregson who plays Steve said, “Steve wins £5k. Lloyd thinks he’s going to get the loan back, and Becky thinks she’s going to go out and buy a new pair of Ugg boots.”

Instead, Steve puts the money into an envelope and writes ‘sorry’ on it before putting it through the door at the shop.

Simon continued, “[Dev and Sunita] say they need to talk with friends and tell them the looter has returned the money and it’s clearly someone they know…

“And they discuss calling the police. Becky’s manic and Steve’s terrified she’s going to do a runner.”

And when asked if Steve would take the blame for what Becky did, Simon added, “Well, he knows Becky would go down for a long time if she got caught doing something like that.

“Basically, they’re in a bit of a mess.”

More Corrie news soon!

Jane Cox, who of course plays Lisa Dingle, has told Inside Soap that when her character tells her husband Zak (Steve Halliwell) that co-worker Derek (Stephen Bent) raped her, it’ll “open a can of worms.”

Lisa’s decision to tell the truth about the attack comes when she notices that Derek is getting overly friendly with blind Lizzie Lakely (Kitty McGeever) and fearing she may be attacked too, Lisa decides to speak out about it.

Jane said, “It’s very difficult for Lizzie to comprehend – but most people know Lisa well enough to take her at her word.

“I don’t think she could have gone much longer in that situation alone.

“The burden has been like a volcano waiting to erupt so there’s definitely a sense of relief. But Lisa has opened a whole new can of worms now…

“The police are kind but they’re aware of how long it’s taken Lisa to come forward, and that may jeopardise any investigation.

“The question now is whether there’s enough evidence.”

And on the subject of Lisa telling Zak what happened, Jane said, “It’s incredibly difficult [but] Lisa realises she should have told Zak ages ago but it was too difficult at the time.

“Like any kind of lies, the truth always outs in the end. Zak’s devastated that he couldn’t do anything to help her or stop it from happening.

“Zak welcomed Derek in to their home so he feels a pang of guilt and a sense of responsibility.

“It’s a relief to her. I don’t think she could have gone on much longer in that situation alone.

“The burden has been like a volcano ready to erupt so there’s definitely a sense of relief.

“However it opens a whole new can of worms, there’s a whole host of new problems as obviously she has to tell Zak and explain what’s happened to Belle and Sam in the best way she can.”

More Dales news soon!

Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) has been on a downward spiral since Christmas, and now she’s living with Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) things are going from bad to worse…

But in upcoming episodes, broke and with no sign of a job on the horizon, Whitney feels she has no choice but to steal.

However, her very first try at pick-pocketing gets her a beating from the man she tries to steal from. She’s saved from the beating by a new character, Rob – played by Shameless actor Jody Latham – who shows up and drags the man off her.

He befriends Whitney, but he’s far from the friendly character he at first seems as he’s intent on becoming the teenager’s pimp.

He’ll first convince Whitney to move in with him, and from then on, she’s in his trap as he introduces her to the seedy world of teenage prostitution.

Meanwhile, Janine is in for a shock when her “long lost” gran turns up in Walford in April, and for the first time, we’ll get to see where Janine got her evil streak from!

Played by 79 year old actress Margaret Tyzack, granny Lydia Simmonds is set to cause mayhem for Janine. The show’s executive producer,

Bryan Kirkwood, said, “Lydia has endless possibilities as a character, and I can’t wait to see Janine meet her match.”

Our final new snippet from ‘Enders today is that Lacey Turner can soon be seen playing the role of Frankenstein’s bride!

Lacey, who of course left the show at Christmas, will be starring in the live musical which airs on BBC3 next month alongside Andrew Gower as Frankenstein and David Harewood as the doctor’s monster.

Of her role, Lacey said, “This is a fantastic project. I’m looking forward to it being live – it’s definitely an adrenaline rush.”

More EastEnders news soon!

In forthcoming episodes of EastEnders, we’ll see Phil Mitchell and Shirley Carter heading off to a registry office to get married…

And as you can see from the picture above, Heather is Shirley’s maid of honour, complete with a lavender tent of an outfit!

However, the People reports that when the pair are seen leaving the register office, neither of them are wearing a wedding ring and Shirley goes to the car and wipes off the word “Married” leaving only the word “Just”.

A show source said, “It seems strange Phil and Shirley did not exchange rings but they look very happy together, it is a riddle.

“Shirley blatantly wipes the word married from the back of the car so it only says ‘just’.

“As with any Mitchell storyline, it is never straightforward.”

The wedding scenes are due to be aired in April, but as we reported last week, in March, Glenda Mitchell will tell Shirley that she and Phil have been having an affair…

So maybe Shirley’s set to follow in the footsteps of Charity Dingle from Emmerdale and Peter Barlow from Corrie and leave it to the day of her wedding to let it be known that she knows her other half has strayed?

More EastEnders news soon!

The News of the World today reports that there’s to be a new twist to the Kevin and Sally Webster divorce storyline when Kevin wins a quarter of a million pounds on the lottery…

It seems that he buys a scratch card from The Kabin which wins him £250,000, but his divorce from Sally is due to be final the day after, so he tries to keep his win a secret so that Sally can’t claim any of it.

However, Tyrone gets to hear about it and just as Sally’s about to sign the divorce papers, he rushes into her solicitor’s office and tells her not to sign until he’s told her the news.

The paper adds that the night before, Kevin will give thought to trying to reunite with Sally – hoping the win can help them repair their marriage – but when he sees her kissing her new boyfriend Jeff, he changes his mind.

At the solicitor’s, following Tyrone’s heads-up, Sally tells Kevin, “You can forget about this old rubbish.

“I want a new settlement that gives me half of everything… including what you’ve won.

“How could you do this to me Kevin? How could you try and cheat me like that?

“I want all what’s due to me… in cash. And don’t even think for one minute that I’m not going to get it.”

A further twist to the story is that Steve McDonald would have won the money had he not allowed Kevin to get served by Rita before him.

More Corrie news soon!

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT UPCOMING EPISODES OF EASTENDERS, SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW, DON’T READ ON!

Scroll down for spoilers!

Yusef and Denise to become an item? And Glenda tells Shirley about her and Phil!

In episodes of EastEnders in March, we’ll see that Yusef has moved into Albert Square – much to the horror of Zainab and Masood – and is getting close to Denise!

He offers her comfort and a shoulder to cry on when she attends Lucas’s trial and later decides to start divorce proceeding. Together, the pair discuss their failed marriages…

For Yusef of course, that means talking about what went wrong for him and Zainab, but the air of gloom doesn’t last long when Denise organises a party to celebrate the start of her Lucas-free life.

However, at the party Yusef can’t resist some one-upmanship with Masood, who is left feeling decidedly unimpressed.

Also, Kat’s surprised when Martina, an old friend from Spain turns up, with her daughter Shenice. And though she’s pleased to see them, their arrival may not be good news.

Elsewhere, Roxy and Glenda are caught breaking into Phil’s house in an attempt to get some of the money back that Phil stole from Roxy…

But there’s worse to come for Phil when Glenda tells Shirley that she and Phil had an affair. The fall out from that bombshell has Ian terrified that his affair with Glenda will become public knowledge, and Shirley’s reaction leaves the Square in shock!

More ‘Enders spoilers soon!