Inside Soap UK 40 - 2021

“From Mr Loverman to weary father” Just two issues to go! Yes, Super Soap Week is now so close you can practically hear the sirens, smell the leaking petrol and taste the tang of gunfire in the air. However, I’m horrified to learn that my fave soap family of the moment are to face mortal peril on the Weatherfield ring-road. Say it ain’t so! I love the Alahans because they seem so real. Sure, Jimmi Harkishin’s performance can be eccentric, but that makes him all the more believable, because people are eccentric. And Dev’s journey from Mr Loverman to weary father of teenagers is so funny and true. Parenting issues are high on the agenda this issue. My thoughts go to EastEnders’ Sonia, who will soon discover not only that…

Mad Meena is home from Ibiza with a special holiday souvenir for David this week – and not the kind that you expect to find in Duty Free! “Meena’s about to serve up a dose of trauma” In a twisted bid to ensure that David remains under her control, the bonkers nurse insists on managing her boyfriend’s care and medication as he recovers from being shot during the Hide siege. However, what Meena gives David is a prescription for cruelty, as she tampers with his pills and triggers terrifying flashbacks of his ordeal – all so he’ll be too scared and incapacitated to leave her… “It’ll come as no surprise to viewers that Meena’s capable of such savagery,” frowns our Dales insider. “She’s furious to have been inconvenienced by Manpreet’s…

DON’T… BREAK A LEG! Like Meena, mad Emma Barton honed her nursing skills to keep ex-hubby James captive after he broke his leg. Bonkers scenes followed, including Emma popping on her old wedding dress and feeding James chickens freshly slaughtered from their backyard! DO… PASS ON THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING! No one, least of all Ian Beale, would have suspected his oldest friend Sharon of slowly poisoning him. Yet in her mission to avenge son Denny’s tragic death, Shazza spiked Ian’s figgy pud – before mixing a deadly toxin into his spaghetti carbonara! DON’T… GET KIDNAPPED TWICE! Prison taught John Stape nothing after he was jailed for holding Rosie Webster hostage for five weeks in the attic of his grandmother’s house. Sometime later, he snatched Rosie again –…

The pain of seeing Seb’s murderer Corey being hailed a football hero becomes too much for Nina this week – and she vows to kill him! Since being acquitted of brutally attacking Seb, Corey’s fortunes have gone from strength to strength, as he’s promoted to Weatherfield County’s top team. But after he plays his first match, smug Corey visits Seb’s memorial garden – prompting Nina to plot a murder of her own… “Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!” splutters our Weatherfield spy. “Corey has no reason to still be hanging around on Coronation Street, and the fact that he’s returned to the place where his victim’s loved ones live is just pure evil. Nina sees him laughing while he’s on his phone, and she flies into a rage!” “Nina…

Seeing Nina’s fragile mental state renews Kevin’s fears about Abi – and he vows to track her down! His search takes him to the Dog & Gun, where he meets Seb’s dad, Tez, who swears that he hasn’t seen or heard from Abi. But can Kevin really trust him? Corrie star Mike Le Vell tells us more... situations to try to find her and bring her home. Kevin is not someone who has ever found himself in this dark underbelly of society, he is out of his comfort zone and putting himself at risk. He goes as far as videoing Tez and trying to blackmail him – risky! How has Kevin been coping since Abi left? He is doing his best in a typical Kevin way, but he is quite…

There’s discord in the Walford chippy this week, when Martin decides he’s had it with Peter’s bullying management techniques. Ian’s son has been busy lording it over Martin ever since he took him on at Beale’s Plaice, and the fed-up bloke decides he has, well… other fish to fry. He’s incensed by Peter’s heavy-handed management style and starts slagging him off to friend Zack. But when Zack, in typical style, takes matters into his own hands, things reach boiling point. “It looks as though the Beale genes didn’t skip generations – Peter has gone full Ian!” laughs our insider. “Like his father, Peter is about to be brought down a peg or two by those he’s mistreating. He should just count himself lucky that Zack is taking it out on…