Physical violence has long been a feature of soap. Men hitting men, female catfights, domestic abuse – we are used to seeing fists flying.
Less well understood is the complex nature of mental abuse that takes place behind closed doors.
EastEnders’ Gray is not only physically violent to Chantelle, he has manipulated her into thinking she is to blame (a not uncommon phenomenon).
Last night’s Corrie had me screaming when Geoff upped his abuse of Yasmeen by killing her chicken Charlotte, announcing the news when they were halfway through eating her.
This storyline has been so cleverly played out, it’s frightening; as Yasmeen continues to apologise in the face of Geoff’s accusations, we see a personality being extinguished and a life now lived in fear.
Mental abuse has many forms. In Emmerdale, Maya’s manipulation of Jacob was an abuse of power; Gray’s treatment of his wife appears to have its roots in his self-hatred; who knows what secrets lurk in the closet of Geoff, but the sadistic pleasure he takes tells us this isn’t going to end well.
Chop him up and throw him in the chicken coop, I say.
EASTENDERS: LOOKING LIKE A MUG
Keegan and Tiffany are stunned to see someone running from their flat and discover they’ve been burgled. During the scuffle, the robber takes Tiffany’s (pictured) wedding ring
The idea that any robber worth their salt would put Albert Square at the top of their hitlist is, of course, preposterous. What is there to nick? Kat’s hair dye? Linda’s non-waterproof mascara?
Keegan and Tiffany are stunned to see someone running from their flat and discover they’ve been burgled.
During the scuffle, the robber takes Tiffany’s wedding ring, yet it’s an injured Keegan who ends up getting handcuffed. It seems the mugger’s not the only mug around there.
As I’ve been saying for years, when is a decent locksmith going to move into the area? You could open most people’s doors with little effort (no, I wasn’t the burglar; I was in the Vic at the time).
Life at the pub seems to be getting back to normal (well, as normal as it can ever be in the Public House of Horrors) when Linda’s homemade costume wins Ollie second prize in a school competition (please tell me she made it by cutting up the monstrosity she was wearing at Christmas).
Clearing away a secret stash of alcohol, she’s touched by Tina’s encouragement and support.
Just in case this is the last we see of drunken Linda, let’s raise a glass (of lemonade, obviously) to Kellie Bright, whose performance has been nothing less than sublime in recent weeks.
There’s not much good news for anyone else. Whitney faces her bail hearing, Bex’s passport goes missing, there’s a shock for Jay, and a tree-planting ceremony for Daniel that doesn’t go according to plan. He’s well out of it all.
CORONATION STREET: LOVE IS IN THE HAIR
Sarah and Adam (pictured) look set to tie the knot, hopefully not around his throat, given her anger over Daniel’s plans to move to London with Bethany
Thank goodness Adam has done something to tame his hair, which appears to have been auditioning for The Simpsons recently.
His stag party also looked like a Basil Brush convention – seriously, what’s with all the beards, guys (and really, Daniel, in the chanting words of The Masked Singer: TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!)?
Anyway, the big day is upon us. Sarah and Adam (pictured) look set to tie the knot, hopefully not around his throat, given her anger over Daniel’s plans to move to London with Bethany.
Let’s also hope she has a good pre-nup, because the only legal work Adam did last week was recommending Ken take sealed bids from Peter and Tracy for the purchase of his house.
She got it for £135k, which my research says wouldn’t buy you a flat the size of a contact lens in Manchester.
Talking of property, the show gave me the biggest laugh yesterday when Daniel was looking for an apartment in London and there was one in a rather nice-looking block advertised at £975 a month.
That was almost as funny as Bethany being offered an internship on a magazine and not even bothering to ask what the publication was.
EMMERDALE: FREEDOM FIGHTER
Marlon Dingle (pictured) is guilty when he finds out about the bullying and tells April (left) Windsor real friends are loyal, trustworthy people
The best thing about Marlon’s release from prison is that we’ll no longer be subjected to the dreadful campaign declaring his innocence.
When the Dingle clan are yelling support on the outside, it’s time to beg the guards for handcuffs to ensure you stay banged up.
Not everyone is on Marlon’s side, and when April receives a bullying text calling her dad a murderer, he tries to support her (pictured).
As if this isn’t tiring enough, he learns that Charity and Ryan stole Kim’s money and Kim hired someone to kill Graham. If you thought Gordon Ramsay was a hot-headed chef, Marlon is a veritable Vesuvius.
