Inside Soap UK 53 - 2021

“We have to do a delicate dance for you” This isn’t meant as a whinge – we never complain! – but you might be interested to know that this is the trickiest issue of the Inside Soap year to put together. It goes into the shops a couple of days before Christmas, but covers the storylines from the first week of the new year. So we have to do a delicate dance – part waltz, part quickstep, part a sort of sexy shimmy – around certain shocks of the festive season. Happily, there’s plenty of new plots revving-up to distract you! Fresh from her wedding drama, Corrie’s Emma – with help from Faye – literally knocks her new storyline off its crutches in a VW Golf. In Emmerdale, Vanessa has…

The consequences of Abi and Imran’s illicit night of passion are laid bare this week – as Abi frets that she could be pregnant! After drunkenly having sex together on the night that killer Corey was initially acquitted of Seb’s murder, cheats Abi and Imran have barely been able to look one another in the eye – furious that they could be so stupid as to betray partners Kevin and Toyah. However, the pair are finally forced to confront their mistake, as it dawns on Abi that she could be carrying Imran’s love child… “Abi can’t believe that she might be pregnant with Imran’s baby,” despairs actress Sally Carman, who plays her. “It jeopardises everything that Abi is now working for, while reminding her that she has lost three children…

Blimey, Sally! Abi’s a one-stop-shop for drama these days… Yes, she goes from one extreme to the other! I love getting my scripts and finding out what more the writers are going to throw at her. If Abi is pregnant, would she consider having the baby? On some levels it’s something Abi wants more than anything. But this situation is all wrong. It’s a reminder that when Abi makes a mistake, she never gets away with it. What she and Imran did was unforgivable. What do you wish for Abi in 2022? I wish that Kevin could always see the intentions of Abi’s heart, so that when these things happen and they come out in the open, he can look at the situation and agree to get past it. Nothing…

Furious father Cain vows revenge on Ellis this week, as his poorly son Kyle remains in a critical state in hospital. The little lad suffered hypothermia after having to spend a night in the freezing cold with Belle, and Cain blames Ellis for abandoning the pair in the middle of nowhere. So, angry Cain decides to give Ellis a taste of his own medicine – and leaves him for dead out on the moors! “Ellis is at Cain’s mercy – he wants to teach the lad a lesson!” reveals actor Jeff Hordley, who plays Cain. “Cain is just so angry, and he sees red – he’s fuming at Ellis for being so stupid.” Nobody can blame Cain for being upset – his son is lying in a hospital bed, and…

Cain’s brutal actions spark another bitter battle between him and nemesis Al, who angrily accuses the mechanic of hurting his son! When he’s unable to locate Ellis, Al is convinced that Cain is responsible – though Cain denies all knowledge. These two have already butted heads recently, when Cain kidnapped Al. So could there be more trouble to come? “Cain doesn’t like or trust Al,” Jeff reminds us. “He thinks he’s a chancer and a bad egg. These two have big issues, yet Cain doesn’t see Al as a serious enemy – he would just quite like him out of the way.” However, in the wake of the Ellis drama, Al is furious. And soon, he’s threatening Kyle in retaliation! Is there set to be bloodshed if this war between…

Meddling mum Suki sets out to bed her daughter’s ex this week – but might she live to regret her moment of madness? It’s following a run-in with both Ash and Honey that Suki spots Peter having a drink alone in Ruby’s, and makes a play for him. Yet after Suki takes Peter home, they come very close to being caught… “Suki sleeps with Peter to prove something to herself,” reveals Balvinder Sopal, who plays her. “It’s not got anything to do with anyone else. She wants to prove to herself that she is powerful; she goes to Peter to potentially find some kind of feeling that she isn’t able to receive from somebody like Honey.” Suki’s ill-advised bunk-up follows a string of fall-outs with those closest to her. She…