Inside Soap UK 29 - 2020

Don’t you love it when a soap blindsides you with something you didn’t see coming? Take this week, for example… “Don’t you love it when a soap blindsides you?” Everything is lined up for Yasmeen’s trial – including the fact that Geoff seems to be slowly but surely getting back into her head. There’s also a visitor to Yasmeen who delivers some information that appears to influence her – yet is this lady friend or foe? Meanwhile, on the outside we have Sally intent on exposing Geoff. So, as the day of the trial arrives, the scene is set for a classic, tense soap courtroom drama, with us desperate to know who’ll crack first, or what shock witnesess or information the hearing might throw up… then Yasmeen drops to the…

The hateful feud between evil Malone and Will escalates to a violent showdown this week, leaving one of them lifeless on the floor of Cain’s garage! It all kicks off when the crooked cop plots to frame Will by planting a massive amount of drugs in his car. But after Will catches Malone in the act, a deadly fight breaks out and one of the men is left showing no sign of life. We caught up with Mark Womack (Malone) and Dean Andrews (Will) to get the full story… Mark, does Malone really believe he can live happily ever after with Harriet? Mark Well, he’s genuinely in love with her. But would Malone give up his nasty ways to sing in the church choir? I can’t really see it! I…

Harriet faces the ultimate test of her faith this week, when Malone begs her to leave her church, her family and her parishioners behind in order to start a new life with him. “She’s shocked,” admits Katherine Dow Blyton, who plays her. “Back when she left the police force, it was partly because of Malone. While there was a deep connection, he was married so she never realised anything could come of it. So his request knocks her for six.” The passion between them is overwhelming Harriet, but she fights her feelings as she tries to do the right thing. Meanwhile, the two men in her life are locked in a violent battle in the garage. How will she feel if one of them gets killed? “Depends who it is!”…

Yasmeen prepares to stand trial for Geoff’s attempted murder this week. However, she tragically never makes it to the courtroom, after suffering a heart attack in prison! “Broken Yasmeen has been under extraordinary strain these past few months,” points out our Weatherfield insider. “The pure hell of what she’s been through finally pushes her body to breaking point, and she collapses in the visitors’ room just as a crucial development occurs in the case for her defence…” Yasmeen’s loved ones are still fighting hard to prove her innocence when her health suddenly deteriorates. Despite Geoff’s seemingly generous offer to drop the charges against her, the authorities are continuing to pursue the case. But Geoff is on a mission to win Yasmeen round regardless – so he takes to the airwaves…

Viewers might just recognise the woman who comes to see Yasmeen this week, as she’s played by actress Paula Wilcox – who portrayed Laurel’s mother Hilary Potts in Emmerdale! The 70-year-old star has quite the acting resume, well known for her roles in a string of comedy TV shows – including Girlfriends, Mount Pleasant, Boomers and Man About The House. But she has also previously appeared in Corrie back in 1969, as Janice Langton, sister of Deirdre’s first hubby Ray. Her final appeareance as Emmerdale’s Hilary came in 2008, with the character killed off screen in 2015.…

Former lovers Steve and Leanne will feel drawn to each other in the coming months, as they pull together for their poorly son, Oliver. The pair face every mother and father’s worst nightmare after learning that the young lad has mitochondrial disease – a life-limiting illness for which there is no cure. However, as his parents naturally unite in the wake of devastating news, how far will they go to take comfort in each other – and will they push away their partners, Tracy and Nick, in the process? “The story really becomes about Steve and Leanne’s difficult journey to accepting their son’s condition, and also the impact it has on their relationships with other loved ones,” explains Weatherfield boss Iain MacLeod. “This story will draw them closer together, to…