Inside Soap UK 15 - 2020

“There’s plenty of cheer in the Dales” How are you finding the new soap schedule? I must admit, I’m still going, “Oh, it’s nearly Emmerdale time”, and boiling the kettle or getting a snack from the cupboard – then realising, when You’ve Been Framed! cranks up on my screen, that the Dales drama isn’t on tonight! But we’re getting used to a lot of changes in our life at the moment, aren’t we? We’ve made some adjustments to Inside Soap over the past couple of weeks, to make sure we bring you the biggest and most in-depth soapie treat every week – I think we need it more than ever right now, don’t you? So, do give us a shout and let us know what you’d like to see more…

Steve and Leanne prepare to go to war over custody of their son Oliver this week, as the fallout from the little lad’s terrifying health scare sees Leanne lay the blame firmly at Steve’s door! “When Leanne finds out that Steve has rushed Oliver to hospital following a seizure, she is beside herself with worry, as you would expect,” explains our cobbles insider. “However, the red mist descends after Leanne learns that Steve wasn’t even with Oliver when the event occurred, and that precious minutes were lost in getting their son the help he needed.” Oliver’s father left him in the care of teenager Summer while he nipped across the road to sort out a domestic between Emma and Seb. It was after Steve returned home that Summer revealed Oliver…

Steve’s nightmare situation with Oliver is not helped by their daughter Amy this week, who is the host of the Street’s unruly teenage house party (see p18) – which ends with the police being called! The McDonalds are horrified to return home to find No1 trashed – Tracy’s new lamps among the casualties – and the local rozzers on their doorstep. Amy’s irate mum and dad promptly throw all the party-goers out, and order Amy to clean up the mess. But is the damage caused by his daughter set to have even bigger repercussions for Steve if his ability to parent his children continues to be an issue?…

Whitney suffers a setback in her hopes for freedom this week, when Leo’s grieving mother Michaela arrives in Albert Square! She makes it very clear that she blames Whitney for her son’s death – so does Whit have even more to deal with than just her impending trial? Solicitor Gray tries to reassure worried Whit as the date of her court appearance draws closer. Telling her that they need to put on a united front for the judge and jury, Gray does his best to encourage Whitney. He tells her they have a good chance, particularly now they have the evidence that Leo had been hiding out in the attic at No 25, right before the fatal incident. But neither of them realise that Michaela is back in town, and…

Hey, Shona! Why is Whitney so convinced she’s going to prison for a long time? Although Whitney knows she killed Leo in self-defence, she can’t help but feel guilty. She did technically kill a man. So she feels maybe she should be punished in some way… What was it like filming the scenes in prison? When I first read the script, I cried. It’s such a huge and brave journey for Whitney to go on. I was excited about the way it was all being filmed, too. It felt like a film – ‘Whitney locked up’ has to be one of the most challenging and exciting things I’ve done while at EastEnders. What did you think about Whitney’s ‘prison look’? The hair and make-up teams were amazing! It’s incredible how…

Soon-to-be wed Sam and Lydia’s last night of freedom ends in unexpected drama for Mandy this week – when she ends up coming face to face with Vinny’s long-lost dad! It’s after the night has gone terribly awry – and Mandy wakes up face-down on the side of the road – that she tries to hitch a lift back to the village. However, when a passing driver takes pity on her and pulls over, the last thing Mandy expects is to see her former boyfriend Paul behind the wheel… “Mandy has such good intentions for the hen do, but it all goes horribly wrong!” exclaims star Lisa Riley, who plays her. “Mandy loses Lydia, and then she ends up in a ditch! Later you see her wandering aimlessly, and she…