Inside Soap UK 30 - 2019

“We’re potty about the daytime soaps!” It’s not just the night-time soaps we love here at Inside Soap, we’re potty about the daytime ones too. We’ve been obsessed by the recent Neighbours Dee story – and it’s still going on! See p50 for our chat with Kerry Armstrong, who plays Heather, the mad mum of ‘Fake Dee’ Andrea – honestly, if you haven’t been watching this story, then you’ve truly been missing out! Meanwhile, Home and Away’s plots this year have been unmissable (we’ve just heard an amazing spoiler about Jasmine and Robbo’s upcoming wedding), and we’re still on the edge of our seat over Doctors – with Zara finding out hubby Daniel had been playing doctors and nurses with Becky – and we’ll stay that way until the show…

Flames rip through the Sharma sweet factory this week, leading to at least one Emmerdale resident losing their life! The disaster is sparked by Kerry and Amy, who are trying to erase CCTV footage which could land them in big trouble. But while mother and daughter are at the factory – unaware that they are not alone – they inadvertently cause the fire! As they leave, oblivious to the blaze taking hold, the pair think they’ve had a lucky escape, but it’s the start of something terrible… “In the moment, they make a really bad decision,” admits Laura Norton, who plays Kerry. “It’s going to have huge consequences. The only thing they can hang on to is that they didn’t cause the fire intentionally, it was just an accident. Ridiculous…

What was it like to film the fire scenes? It was brilliant! We had to stand back for the first explosion. They had to move us out of the vicinity, because it was too hot and there was shrapnel going everywhere. But we did then see the second explosion, because we were sort of set back from everybody else. We could feel the heat! Are you excited about Kerry getting a very serious storyline after all the fun and games? It’s always exciting to be doing something like that, because my character is usually being silly – so I love doing all of the drama. I know that there’s going to be a big fallout from this, and there’s a lot of different layers to it. It’s like a double-edged…

Walford’s most notorious hard man is left fighting for his life this week, after a brutal brawl breaks out at the Arches – and Phil is unable to gain the upper hand against his opponent! The identity of his attacker remains a mystery for now, although viewers will know exactly who has left Phil for dead when the horrific events unfold on screen. A recent EastEnders trailer showed Phil being stretchered into an ambulance while a number of police officers gathered on the Square, so they are clearly taking his attack very seriously. But who could be responsible for lashing out at Phil and leaving him in a life-threatening condition? “How far will Ben be willing to go as he plots revenge?” SON OF A GUN! Number one suspect has…

While Phil’s making enemies left, right and centre, it’s also a big week for his pregnant missus, Sharon – who’s about to discover who fathered her baby! To say that Sharon was gobsmacked when she found out she was knocked up is an understatement. And it’s not just the fact that she’s about to turn 50 that gave her pause for thought about going ahead with her pregnancy – she’s also unsure of who the daddy is… Having recently slept with her secret toy-boy lover Keanu, Sharon can’t comprehensively rule him out. But with hubby Phil over the moon at the prospect of another new Mitchell coming into the world, Sharon needs to be sure of exactly whose baby she’s carrying. After going behind Phil’s back for a sneaky DNA…

Duplicitous Robert’s double life finally looks set to implode this week, after Tracy walks in on him while he’s comforting Vicky! When a fancy local event attracts both pregnant Vicky and Robert’s fiancé Michelle, the chef is forced to go to extreme lengths to prevent the two women in his life bumping into one another. However, will Tracy stumbling upon this charged moment with Vicky see Robert’s secret exposed? Even before this dramatic development, however, there are problems at the start of the week, when Vicky arrives at the Bistro and falls to the floor in terrible pain – leaving Robert petrified that she’s about to lose their baby… “Vicky turns up on Robert’s doorstep after he fails to do the decent thing when her son Tyler tells him she’s…