Another great episode of Digital Lane, you should be very proud of it's direction over the last few episodes. There's never a dull episode and you should be proud of it, you may have 3 episodes a week but every single episode is full of high tension drama and I'm very excited to read every single one. I actually love your passion for Digital Lane, it's obviously there as you clearly enjoy reading everybody's feedback and (hopefully) enjoy writing every episode of it. I'd also like to congratulate you on your utilization of every single character, there's no one whose really left in the background for too long on the show, and I love every single person in the show, you've made some great decisions on who to bring in and who to get rid of, and every single decision has proved to be healthy for the future of the show and I'm very excited to see what becomes of every character, it's going to be a very exciting Autumn and Winter, I can tell, and as we approach the run up to Christmas I can tell it's going to be a great one. You are a very talented writer SoapAddict, I love the construction of each and every paragraph you write for every episode, it's brilliant and I thoroughly enjoy it. So yes, you're doing brilliant work on Digital Lane and long may it continue, is what I say!

Janice's chemotherapy was very well done and very engaging, it was horrible to see her so nervous and stripped down to her raw emotion at her dresser, but I'm happy that Rachel is staying strong for her and giving her the support she definitely needs. Ciara and Alfie coming together as Janice's children was also great to see, I think you're definitely developing something which is going to turn out amazing with this family, they have so much potential and you're very wise to keep them all on the show for as long as possible. The breast cancer story has been very well researched and I applaud you on that, you clearly know everything you're writing about and it's great to see, instead of making it up based on what you think it should be. You're very wise to do that and again I congratulate you on it. I also enjoyed Tara and Alfie together, I never saw it coming from a mile off but I guess he's just too irresistible to the ladies of Digital Lane, he's had so many now it's hard to keep track of! I liked Tara confessing the truth to Andie, it's nice for you to sum up these little plot points and it was a great way for you to utilize the amnesia story line, which I also congratulate you on. I couldn't keep up something like that without slipping up, but you haven't done that and it's been really good to read.

Andrea's mother's death was really well explored in such a small amount of time in this episode, with her discussing her mother's will with Keith and telling him about how her sister Cara won't let Lawrence get any of the will if she has anything to do with it, which was sad but I suppose it does happen in real life. Lawrence's line about how her mother kept the breast cancer a secret for a year was also very upsetting and very effective, which I applaud you on, it was great to read and I enjoyed it. Some really comical moments as well with Jasmine and Conrad with her admitting to going to the spa and how he had a son and everything, it was a good way to utilize comedic moments of a story line which is also quite dramatic, which definitely showed your range as a writer. I also really liked how you referenced the community gossiping quite a lot in this episode between Andie and Tara and then Alfie and Tara, it's a good insight into such a tight knit community! I hate seeing everybody think Gracie is going off in her quest to prove that Jennifer is the one who ran Andie over and tried to kill their baby, I hope she comes up with some evidence to prove to Finn that it was Jennifer and also to get her locked away before she has the chance to do anything worse! Great episode SoapAddict, really enjoyed it!

Janice. I just love all the detail in this story, I love her family rallying round her, it's a shame that shed rather her family focus on themselves, I love how realistically it's being portrayed as hopefully it'll run to a suitable length.

I'm not quite sure on Tara, I like her as a character and I like her scenes with Andie but she's well Tara and rather bitchy, I'm intrigued to where her and Alfie is going to go as they make an interesting pairing and they seem to care for one another.

Andrea, I love Andrea, she is one of my favorite's and slightly underused to it was nice for her to shine, I loved it when she was taking about her! Lovely stuff.

Great episode.

Thankyou so much Cal and Nick, your feedback means a lot!

Tara is lying under the sheets in her bed, staring confusingly at Alfie while he sleeps next to her. She brushes her hair back and yawns, before sitting up and then poking Alfie’s shoulder with her finger to wake him up. “I’m not entirely sure what happened last night…” Tara admits, rubbing her eyes from tiredness as Alfie sits himself up next to her. “It was all a bit fast I guess” Alfie remarks, rubbing his forehead as he is still half asleep. “Any regrets though?” Alfie asks, putting his arm around her as she has an intrigued look on her face. “None…but if I’m honest, it was fun but I’d rather just be friends” Tara explains, as Alfie slowly nods at her. “Me too I guess, it’s better that way” Alfie says in agreement, causing Tara to smile at him. “Well, you better go across the landing before someone comes to see one of us” Tara says in a flirtatious way as she throws his clothes over to him. “Me? Visitors? Didn’t you learn anything about me last night” Alfie remarks in a sarcastic tone as he puts his shirt on, while Tara begins to brush her hair. “Well from what you told me, it seems as if you’ve got your mum and sister back on side so you’re not exactly alone” Tara tells him, causing him to smirk while he does the buttons on his shirt. “I don’t usually do stuff like this, I usually get myself engrossed in a long term relationship” Tara says while they walk out to the hallway. “I do…how about one for the road?” Alfie remarks jokingly, pointing to his cheek as Tara laughs. “One for across the landing more like” Tara states, before kissing him softly on the cheek and then opening the door to let him out. Alfie walks out to find Ciara coming up the staircase, smirking as she spots them both. “I was just borrowing some sugar” Alfie quickly excuses, as Ciara raises her eyebrow. “Where’s the sugar then?” Ciara questions further, while Tara begins to get awkward. “I’m all out” Tara says, as she notices Alfie can’t think of a reply. “Oh…of course” Ciara remarks, totally unconvinced as she smirks at them both.

Andrea is lying in bed with her head buried into her pillow while Keith lies next to her, rubbing her shoulder softly as he can see she is upset. “You’ll get through this Andrea, you’ll have the kids and your dad there today with you” Keith says in a convincing voice, as Andrea sighs to herself. “Are you sure you can’t just phone in sick or something? I really need you today” Andrea asks nervously, as Keith puts his head onto her shoulder. “I can’t or else they’ll not pay me my full wage, I already took my days off for the year during your whole alcohol saga” Keith informs her reluctantly, causing Andrea to shut her eyes as she tries to stop herself from crying. “I better get ready then” Andrea says in a worried voice, as she sits herself up and goes over to her wardrobe. “I’ll go and see how everyone else is doing” Keith tells her, getting up from the bed and leaving the room. Andrea makes sure the door is shut before rummaging through the back of her wardrobe, pulling out a bottle of vodka from the back and staring at it. She considers unscrewing the lid for a moment, however is disturbed when the door opens and Lawrence comes in. She quickly puts it back and closes the wardrobe, smiling at Lawrence as she does so. “Just came in to check how you’re holding up” Lawrence says, sitting down on the bed as Andrea folds her arms and shivers a little. “The best I can to be honest, I don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye to her dad” Andrea confides in him as tears begin to roll down her face. Lawrence stands up and puts his arms out for a hug, causing Andrea to rush over and hug her father tightly while sobbing into his shoulder. “There, there” Lawrence softly whispers while patting her back during their hug, looking as if he’s about to cry himself. Keith opens the door and looks at them both with sympathy, before shutting the door again and leaving them to it.

Christine comes down the stairs and walks into the kitchen; to find Amelia going through wedding invitation while Ryan stands drinking a mug of coffee on the other side of the counter. “Should we invite Stephanie or?” Amelia says confused, holding up her invitation as Christine begins to go pale. “Let me give it to her, I need to at least try and make things right with her” Christine says, taking the invitation and putting it into her handbag at the side. “I wanted to invite our cousins…but Ryan said that wouldn’t be a good idea” Amelia states, while Ryan laughs as he puts his empty mug into the sink. “Of course it wouldn’t, not everyone is as accepting as we are about a murderer” Ryan remarks in a joking voice as he goes over to Christine and puts his arms around her waist. “Yes, Ryan’s right as much as I want them there…they wouldn’t accept what I done like you have” Christine admits reluctantly, causing Amelia to sigh as she brushes her hair back. “Well, as your personal wedding planner I must say I’m impressing myself, I’ve managed to sort out wedding dresses, venues, the whole lot, we’ve just got the rings to sort out and the bridesmaids and best man of course” Amelia says in a confident tone as she flips her hair to the side and smiles. “Thank you, couldn’t have asked for a better wedding planner” Christine says in a genuine voice as Amelia stands up and hugs her. “Who were you planning to ask to be your best man?” Christine asks Ryan as Amelia leaves the room. “Well, actually I was planning to ask Jessica…be a bit different and all” Ryan admits to her, as Christine is in awe at him. “That is so sweet, but is that just to hide the fact you don’t really have male friends around here” Christine remarks in a joking tone, as Ryan lightly pushes her. “Jessica’s been this families rock during all of this, she’s kept us sticking together instead of being at each others throats all the time, I owe a lot to her” Ryan explains convincingly to Christine, who smiles at him before kissing him passionately while she throws her arms around his neck. “Perfect, so you can get it all done for next week?...That’s great thanks, bye” Amelia says on the phone, clearly discussing the restaurant as she comes back into the kitchen. “Oh get a room” Amelia remarks, picking up her wedding planner folder as Ryan remarks they’ve got one.

“So are you and Tara serious? Just a warning but she’s got a lot baggage” Ciara says as she sits at the breakfast bar in Alfie’s flat. “Just friends” Alfie says while he sips on his mug of coffee. “Friends with benefits more like” Ciara says in a sarcastic tone, causing Alfie to laugh. “How’s mum feeling after the chemo?” Alfie asks out of genuine interest, while Ciara shrugs her shoulders at him. “She was tired yesterday obviously, but I haven’t been to see her yet today” Ciara explains, while she brushes her hand through her hair. “We can go together then, let me just get a shower first” Alfie smiles, putting his mug down and going towards the bathroom. “I have the pleasure of listening to you sing in the shower, yay me!” Ciara remarks in a sarcastic voice, raising her eyebrow as Alfie chuckles before going into the bathroom. There is a knock at the door and Ciara goes to open it, to reveal Jessica standing there looking confused as she sees Ciara. “Sorry, think I’ve got the wrong flat” Jessica says, turning away however Ciara tells her she’s got the right place. “He’s in the shower right now, if you want to wait?” Ciara asks, as Jessica stands there awkwardly. “Um…just tell him to hurry up and get to the club” Jessica tells her, before making her way down the concrete stairs as Ciara stands smirking to herself at the doorway. Andie and Dean are both walking down the business district street together, as Dean looks up enthusiastically at the flats. “I really wish I could afford one of those, I can only manage at least half the amount needed” Dean says with a sigh, as Andie stops walking and looks up with him. “How about we try a flat share? Me and you?” Andie asks, as Dean looks at her surprised. “Are you sure? You basically live in a hotel over at Wendy’s” Dean says, as Andie shrugs her shoulders. “Yeah she’s been good to me, but it’s about time I was independent” Andie insists, as Dean has an intrigued look on his face while they begin to walk towards the flat showroom next door to the flats.

Jasmine is lying on the sofa with a blanket over her as she attempts to take a catnap, when Conrad walks into the house in a clearly bad mood. Conrad plumps himself down on the sofa as Jasmine yawns while sitting up, looking at him confusingly as he rubs his forehead stressfully. “Go on, tell me what’s wrong” Jasmine sighs; scratching her forehead while Conrad shakes his head at her. “It’s nothing, just some work stuff” Conrad informs her abruptly, causing Jasmine to raise her eyebrow at him. “Have you gone to see Harry yet?” Jasmine asks, trying to make some conversation with him. “I’m going later…you can come with me if you want” Conrad says in a suggestive tone, as Jasmine laughs it off. “I don’t think that’s a great idea, especially at my outburst last week” Jasmine admits to him in a lighthearted way, as Conrad cracks a smile. “You’re going to have to face them at one point” Conrad tells her, while Jasmine rolls her eyes and looks away. “Hopefully not soon” Jasmine remarks in a stressful tone, causing Conrad to begin to rub her shoulder comfortingly. “They’ll understand, it was a stressful time for you” Conrad informs her in a convincing tone, while Jasmine shakes her head in disagreement. “It still is a stressful time for me Conrad, I’ve got to deal with this baby and now your occupied with looking after your son all the time…a spa weekend doesn’t fix everything” Jasmine explains to him while rubbing her eyes exhaustingly, as Conrad sighs and pulls her in closer to hug her. At a prison just outside Wolverhampton, Alex is sitting across from Lucas who looks anxious as he fiddles with his thumbs continuously. “What did she say then?” Lucas asks intrigued, as Alex looks at his brother with a sympathetic expression on his face. “I don’t think she’s coming mate” Alex admits, causing Lucas to look stressed out as he begins to pull on his hair. “What do you mean she’s not coming?” Lucas interrogates as he begins stressing out, causing Alex to look at him with a concerned expression on his face. “Lucas she doesn’t want to visit you, and can you blame her?” Alex remarks, while Lucas heavily sighs to himself and stands up. He turns away and begins to walk down the aisle, as Alex shouts at him not to do anything stupid.

Lawrence, Lewis, Finn and Keith are standing patiently waiting in the hallway on Andrea to come downstairs. Ella comes through the front door in a black funeral dress and her hair tied up, looking at everyone sympathetically before hugging her granddad tightly. “Where’s mum?” Ella asks, while Lewis and Finn both shrug their shoulders. “I’ll go and see her” Keith insists, going upstairs in his police uniform and entering the bedroom, where Andrea is sitting on the end of her bed staring blankly at nothing. “Andrea” Keith says weakly, causing Andrea to flinch while she turns her head to look at him. “Sorry, I just needed a minute” Andrea says, drying her eyes as she stands up and begins to walk towards him. “You can do this Andrea, trust me” Keith whispers convincingly, kissing her forehead softly. “I don’t know if I can” Andrea says in an upset voice, as a tear falls down her cheek. “You’ve done so many brave things Andrea that I couldn’t dream of doing, you can do this and you will” Keith tells her in a convincing and supportive tone of voice. Andrea smiles at him faintly while they hug, before they slowly go downstairs. “We better get a move on, I don’t want to arrive after the hearse arrives at Julie’s” Lawrence insists, clearly nervous as he opens the front door and walks out. Andrea sighs and follows him out, as Keith holds back Ella, Lewis and Finn. “Look after her for me will you?” Keith sighs, as they all nod at him. “Try to get home from work early, I think we’ll need you” Lewis informs him, causing Keith to nod slowly as they all walk out and shut the door, leaving him standing alone in the hallway thinking about the day ahead for his wife. Tara enters the Gibson house and breathes a sigh of relief as she sees Karl standing at the sink cleaning. “This is a pleasant surprise” Tara remarks sarcastically, putting her handbag down on the table and taking her coat off. “Thought I should start making a effort” Karl tells her while he dries a plate. “Any word from Elaine yet?” Tara asks worriedly, as Karl shakes his head at her. “She’ll come back soon, she’s got too much here to give up, including you” Tara tells him in a convincing voice, as Karl looks totally unconvinced. “Have you managed you get in touch with your mother yet?” Karl asks, causing Tara to freeze on the spot as she tries to come up with an excuse. “I was a bit busy last night, I didn’t get a chance” Tara quickly excuses, as Karl raises his eyebrow at her. “Busy with what?” Karl questions further, as Tara shrugs her shoulders. “It doesn’t really matter” Tara excuses again, beginning to put away the dry plates into the cupboard.

Abby and Jessica are both sitting in the kitchen of their house, while Abby rolls her eyes as she listens to Jessica moaning about how lazy Alfie has been recently with the business. “Buy him out or something, anything to save me from this conversation” Abby remarks in a sarcastic voice, while Jessica shakes her head at her. “It would be too hard to do it on my own, that’s the reason I sold half of it to him in the first place” Jessica insists; however Abby doesn’t look entirely convinced. “Eve coped fine” Abby makes a passing comment, as she gets up and leaves the room while Ryan comes in. “Bad move coming in here, all she’s done is moan about that piece of dirt all morning” Abby remarks to him, while Ryan raises his eyebrow suspiciously as Abby walks out. “Don’t even talk to me about him” Ryan says abruptly, as Jessica bites her lip and sighs. “Yeah well I’ve got it all out my system now” Jessica forces a smile while she makes herself and Ryan a coffee. “There’s something I need to ask you about, it may seem a bit weird but I don’t see why not” Ryan admits to her, while she lifts her head up and looks at him with an intrigued expression on her face. “Well, go on then” Jessica says, putting the mugs of coffee down in front of them both at the kitchen counter. “I was wondering if you’d…be my best man? Well woman…” Ryan smiles in a genuine way, as Jessica looks instantly excited and rushes to hug him. “Of course I will!” Jessica shrieks with excitement, hugging her little brother tightly. “I don’t have to wear a suit though do I?” Jessica says, coming out of excitement mode for a moment as Ryan shakes his head while laughing. “Well yes then, I’ll be your best woman” Jessica says with a massive smile on her face as Ryan thanks her. Christine is standing outside the Estate Agents building with a coffee in her hand as she watches with anger in her eyes Alfie going into Venom. She then turns her attentions to Amelia who comes out of the empty shop unit she is renting. “How’s it looking then?” Christine asks. “The workmen that Alex suggested are inside pricing up how much it’ll take to redo the floors and walls, it should be pretty much affordable though as that’s why he suggested them” Amelia explains while she walks towards her. “Watch out there’s no scams or anything, make sure they aren’t dodgy before you let them start working” Christine says, as Amelia laughs her suggestion off. “Of course it’s fine, I’m smarter than you give me credit for” Amelia remarks, walking across the street and heading home as Christine heavily sighs to herself.

Andie and Dean are both sitting in the kitchen at the dining table going through paperwork when Wendy walks in with shopping bags, looking confused at them both. "What are you two up too?" Wendy questions as she begins to unpack the bags. "We're thinking of renting an apartment on the business district, it's about time I got out of your hair" Andie informs her, as Wendy shakes her head at her. "You've been no bother, I'm not forcing you to move out" Wendy says, causing Andie to smile at her. "I just think I should try and get more independent again, me and Dean are doing a flat share" Andie explains to Wendy, who looks at her clearly impressed as she goes over and has a quick glance at the forms they are filling out. "Well if you need me, I'll always be here" Wendy tells her, giving Andie a hug before leaving them too it. Dean is filling in the form, before hovering the pen over a particular question. "What is it?" Andie questions, looking at him suspiciously when he lifts his head up to look at her. "Have you ever had a charge or allegation made against you..." Dean says, reading it off the sheet, as Andie looks confused. "Well tick no" Andie says as she goes back to filling in her form. "But then I'd be lying" Dean admits worriedly, causing Andie to stare at him in horror, frantically questioning him on what the charge was for. "It was an assault charge...during one of our family dinners, my uncle was making fun of me and I just lost it with him, he did eventually drop the charges but it was just another nail in the coffin of my relationship with my family" Dean confides in Andie, who looks slightly relieved it isn't anything worse. "You've had a terrible life haven't you?" Andie says in a sympathetic voice, trying to comfort him. "And now this might mess up my chance of getting a flat with you" Dean sighs. "Still tick no, they won't check anyway" Andie insists, as Dean looks at her surprised. "Are you sure?" Dean asks, not entirely convinced by the idea. "He dropped the charges didn't he? Dean that could jeopardise whether we get this flat or not" Andie tells him, as Dean looks totally surprised while he ticks the no box reluctantly.

Tara is sitting with her phone in one hand and a small piece of paper in the other. She heavily sighs to herself, before beginning to type in the phone number. She is midway through the phone number when there is a knock at the door, causing her to breathe a slight sigh of relief as in reality she really doesn’t want to phone the number. She goes towards the door and opens it, to reveal Alfie standing there with a film in his left hand and a bottle of wine in his right hand. “Hard day?” Alfie asks, noticing her looking stressed out. “You could say that…look, I’m not really good company tonight” Tara tells him, causing Alfie to begin to act awkward with her. “Oh…maybe some other time then?” Alfie suggests, making Tara force a smile and nod at him. “Sure” Tara says in an abrupt way, before shutting the door as Alfie turns away and sighs to himself. She goes back over to the sofa and sits down, taking a deep breath before beginning to type the number into her phone again. She holds the phone up to her ear and anxiously awaits a voice on the other line. After a few moments, a female voice is heard on the other line. “Mum” Tara says, looking worried as it’s revealed to the viewers she’s calling her mother. Ciara walks into her apartment and looks confused as she finds Alex drowning his sorrows in a bottle of vodka in the lounge area. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be looking after Lillie!” Ciara shouts in an angry tone, grabbing the bottle from him and walking into the kitchen area. “Give me that back” Alex demands in an annoyed voice, as Ciara shakes her head at him. “How much have you had to drink? It looks like there’s two empty bottles in the bin!” Ciara angrily snaps, looking into the bin where two empty wine bottles are at the top. “Does it matter? Just give me my bottle back” Alex persists, standing up and coming towards her drunkenly. “No” Ciara says through her gritted teeth, holding the bottle away from him. “Ciara…” Alex says in a slightly threatening tone, causing Ciara to begin to feel threatened. Before Ciara can say anything, Alex grabs her wrist and pulls it towards him violently, taking the bottle from the palm of her hand and then releasing her arm again. Ciara holds her wrist in slight pain, as it begins to go red. He walks away and sits back down, gulping on his drink as Ciara stands there helplessly watching, caressing her wrist in pain and fear.

Andrea and Lawrence enter the Hunter house, followed by Finn, Lewis and Ella who slowly enter the house. “It was a lovely service…” Ella says, attempting to break the silence as they all go into the living room. “I couldn’t have asked for a better goodbye” Lawrence replies in a convincing voice, while he rubs his forehead stressfully. “I didn’t expect Cara to turn up at all, what a lovely surprise” Andrea remarks in a sarcastic tone, while she brushes her hand through her hair tiredly. “She won’t kick up a fuss about the will, will she? I mean everything should be left to granddad because there’s no will” Lewis says confused, as both Lawrence and Andrea raise their eyebrows at him. “Cara only looks out for number one, it’s always been that way and always will” Andrea says, standing up and leaving the room as Lawrence sighs to himself. “Surely she wouldn’t try and stop it though, what kind of person does that” Lewis continues to be confused, while Ella folds her arms and looks down at the ground. “Your aunt Cara does” Lawrence replies in an abrupt way, standing up and leaving the room to go and see Andrea upstairs. “There’s clearly a lot we don’t know about mum’s side of the family” Finn states, as Ella and Lewis nod in agreement. “I think we should just leave it, for now at least…mum’s going through a hard time she doesn’t need us questioning her” Ella informs them sternly, causing Lewis to have a suspicious look on his face. “We do have a right to know, they are our family too” Lewis suggests, as Ella rolls her eyes at him. “Lewis I won’t hesitate to hit you into tomorrow if you even ask mum anything to do with aunt Cara” Ella states, standing up and leaving the room while Lewis and Finn both sit awkwardly. Upstairs, Andrea is sitting on her bed with her head buried in her hands, trying to stop herself from crying when Lawrence comes in. “I wasn’t ready dad…I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the woman who raised me” Andrea says, with her eyes beginning to water. “I don’t think we would have ever been ready to say goodbye to her” Lawrence admits reluctantly, sitting himself down next to her. “I feel like I’m going to have some sort of breakdown, honestly during that funeral today I was ready for jumping into the river Thames and not looking back” Andrea admits to Lawrence, much to his horror. “We can get through this Andrea, trust me we can. She is watching over us now, she’s in a better place” Lawrence whispers convincingly, holding his daughter as she breaks down into tears in his arms.

Cast List (20 Regulars, 0 Recurring, 2 Guests)–

Really good episode tonight SoapAddict, you should be very proud of your writing skills and how they have have progressed! Alfie and Tara are intriguing, I like the way they have started out and even though they only intended it to be a one night stand, I could see something developing between the pair of them. Alfie certainly seems interested in her by the way he showed up with the bottle of wine, but he also seemed this way with Christine and Jessica, maybe he just gets attached to women too easily. But anyway, they've confessed a lot to each other so we'll see how things go. It was upsetting to see the foundations of the Ciara/Alex domestic abuse plot begin to kick in, I understand he had a hard day to do with visiting Lucas and learning that Stacey wasn't going to visit his brother, but that was unacceptable...but I understand that just little things like that are what make Ciara think that she isn't in danger and it is just Alex committing one off acts whilst he's drunk, god I hate him and his brother so much! They must have a horrid gene or something, they're both absolutely vile excuses for human beings and I can't wait for Alex to get what he deserves in the coming months, he's a disgusting character (you write him well though) and he definitely deserves to day a very painful and horrid death.

Andrea's mothers funeral was very horrible to read (although it was well written obviously, haha - I know using these adjectives sounds bad!) and I think it's had a very bad effect on the Hunter family, but it was a great way to utilize connections that people have outside of the lane, by making her turn to drink as a result of her mother's death! I felt sorry for her but it was a great way to introduce the history she has with her sisters and describe her sister Cara's tendencies to do with the will and everything. I feel really sorry for Lawrence as well, it must be horrible for him, going through what he is at the moment! Aw, I really liked how Ryan asked Jessica to be his best woman, it does make sense after everything she's done for him, Maria and Abby and I'm looking forward to see them click as a family unit as we approach the wedding of him and Christine. (On another note, it was lovely to see Amelia reflect on her acceptance of Christine - they've come along way since May!). Jasmine is doing a great job I think with the bombshell which Conrad dropped about his little boy, but she was right when she told him the spa day didn't fix everything - it's not going to fix itself over night and I think maybe Conrad is requesting a bit much of her too soon! It was great to delve into Dean's past also and have him reveal what his uncle did to him, he really has had an awful life and I think that he shouldn't be blamed for his assault on his uncle. The Andie/Dean flat share sounds good, I love the driving force the flats are having on Digital Lane and the community, it was a really good direction to take! Well done SoapAddict, as I said, I'm loving Digital Lane at the minute and it's only going to get better as we approach the winter and the one year anniversary.

Thankyou very much again Cal, your feedback is always a joy to read

Ciara puts a bowl of coco pops in front of Lillie as she sits amused at the cartoon on the television. Alex stumbles into the lounge area hungover, plumping himself down on the chair. “Get away from her” Ciara says with her eyes wide open with anger. Alex looks confused at her, standing up and following her over to the kitchen area, which is separated from the lounge by the kitchen counters. “What’s up with you this morning?” Alex asks with a confused expression on his face while he makes himself a coffee. “Seriously? You don’t remember last night?” Ciara says, glaring at him while she bites her lip angrily. “I know, I know, I had too much to drink and I acted a bit silly, Lucas set me off earlier and I just needed to de-stress myself” Alex informs her calmly, causing Ciara to look at him in disgust. “You were supposed to be looking after my daughter, what if she had a nightmare and came to you when you were a drunken mess” Ciara shouts viciously but keeping her volume low so Lillie can’t hear her. “Look I’m sorry, it was all just getting on top of me” Alex defends himself, while Ciara still looks totally unconvinced. “You’ve got some making up to do” Ciara sneers, shoving by him and making her way down the hallway. Alex heavily sighs to himself as he looks at Lillie, before shrugging the situation off as he goes back to making himself a coffee, not really caring about what he done. Andrea comes down the stairs in her housecoat, clearly exhausted, as she hasn’t managed to sleep much. She looks confused as it’s just Lawrence at the table reading his newspaper and having a coffee. “Where is everyone else?” Andrea questions while she puts some bread into the toaster. “I have no idea, I was too engrossed in my word searches” Lawrence admits, causing Andrea to smile faintly at him. “How are you feeling?” Lawrence asks out of concern for his daughter, as she sits down across from him at the table. “The best I can feel right now, can you promise me that you won’t tell Keith about what I told you, he’d be so worried if he thought I wasn’t coping” Andrea explains, causing Lawrence to look at her suspiciously. He clearly doesn’t want to agree, however he can’t do that to his daughter so he slowly nods and smiles at her. “You’ll need to open up to him, there’s no point in keeping everything bottled up” Lawrence tells her sternly, as Andrea nods in agreement. “I’ll be fine, I just need a few days to get my head around things” Andrea informs him, but clearly hiding something from him as she gets up and leaves the room.

Tara strolls into the Gibson house, as Karl appears from the living room. “Have you called Vanessa yet?” Karl asks, holding a large envelope as he walks into the kitchen with Tara. “And hi to you too” Tara says in a sarcastic tone, walking over to the sink and washing her hands. “Yes, I called her and she said she’d come as soon as possible, but she isn’t exactly excited about it” Tara informs him, as Karl looks slightly relieved but nervous. “Once we get this DNA test over and done with maybe we can finally try and move on” Karl suggests, sitting down and putting the envelope with the DNA tests inside. Tara nods at him, smiling weakly at him before turning back around and looking out the kitchen window. Her eyes open with shock as she sees Vanessa strutting across the street, dragging along a small suitcase and clearly not looking amused. Tara rushes out of the kitchen and towards the door, with a confused Karl following her. She opens the door and looks at her mother in complete shock, not expecting her to arrive so soon. “You called?” Vanessa says, smiling at her daughter as she goes to hug her. “God I’ve missed you” Vanessa says, hugging Tara with relief after finally seeing her. Tara tells her she missed her too, letting her inside as she does so. “Karl” Vanessa says, raising her eyebrow at him before walking into the kitchen area. “Just as I remembered her” Karl says in a sarcastic tone, causing Tara to force herself to smile as she follows him into the kitchen. Ella rushes into the kitchen, searching for her phone frantically as Daniel stands there smirking at her. “Are you looking for this?” Daniel laughs, holding it up in the air as Ella rolls her eyes and takes it from him. “I’m going over to mums once I get some things from the store, I’ll bring Noah with me” Ella tells him, smiling as Daniel puts his arms around her waist. “I haven’t properly seen you in a while, you’ve been so busy all the time” Daniel sighs, as Ella throws her arms around his neck. “It’s a hard time for mum and granddad, I’m just trying to be there for them” Ella says, causing Daniel to smile at her. “Always looking out for other people, something I love about you” Daniel flirtatiously says, before leaning in and kissing her passionately. “Daniel I don’t have the time” Ella insists as he tries to tempt her upstairs, causing Daniel to give in and let her go. “You have work to do anyway, I’ll see you later” Ella smirks at him, pushing Noah’s pram out the door as Daniel stands with a genuine smile on his face.

Janice is lying in her bed wide awake but having no energy to get herself out of bed, as Rachel slowly comes in with a breakfast tray. “I don’t think I can eat all that” Janice says, lifting her head up slightly to talk to her. “Eat what you can, I’ve got to go to work later I’ll see if Ciara can come round to be with you” Rachel tells her, putting the breakfast tray down as Janice reluctantly sits up on the bed. “I’m not a child Rachel, I can be left on my own” Janice insists, rubbing her eyes and yawning after she finishes her sentence. “I know you’re not, I just want to make sure you have some family around you” Rachel informs her, standing over her as Janice sighs to herself. “I was going to go out anyway, go and see if there’s any jobs going on the business district” Janice tells her, as Rachel stares at her horrified. “Working? In your condition? No way!” Rachel shrieks, turning away and walking towards the door. “You and I both know that your wage at the café isn’t going to cover that bill at the end of the month” Janice sternly replies, causing Rachel to accept she’s right. “I’ll sort something out, but I’m telling you right now you aren’t working in your condition” Rachel strictly says, as Janice slowly nods and sighs. Rachel walks out and stands in the hallway staring blankly, before taking a deep breath and beginning to walk downstairs. Conrad enters Alison’s house, where Harry is happy to see him as he rushes up and hugs him. “Where’s your mum?” Conrad questions, as Harry points to the kitchen door. Conrad slowly nods, telling him to go upstairs and he’ll be up soon. He does so, and Conrad walks into the kitchen to find Alison sitting at the breakfast bar, staring blankly at a bottle of pills and a bottle of white wine. “I got your text…what the hell are you doing?” Conrad questions abruptly, looking at her confused as Alison lifts her head up and stares at him blankly. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you Conrad” Alison admits reluctantly, as Conrad continues to stare at her in horror.

Andie and Dean both walk out of the flat showroom, looking clearly relieved as they walk towards Minerva at the end of the business district. “That wasn’t so bad was it? Trust me they won’t check about the assault charge” Andie insists, as Dean doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t usually lie when it comes to stuff like this, the truth always ends up coming out…as you’ve already seen” Dean admits to her, as Andie heavily sighs. “Nether did I, you…you learn how too” Andie says coldly, making Dean confused as he follows her into Minerva. They both sit at a table with Frankie and Finn, who already have got the drinks in. “How did it go then? The flat?” Frankie asks, as Andie smiles at her. “It went well, we get the keys next week. Dean was fussing over some assault charge he got a long time ago” Andie blurts out to them both, causing Dean to begin to act awkwardly. “Assault charge?” Frankie says confused, raising her eyebrow suspiciously at Dean. “It doesn’t matter…where are the others?” Dean quickly excuses, when Andie begins to notice her mistake. “Well Tara’s pretty busy trying to get to know her new dad I guess and Gracie’s went totally AWOL over this Jennifer thing” Finn explains to them, as they all begin to drink their drinks. “What’s the Jennifer thing?” Andie questions intrigued, as Frankie raises her eyebrow again this time at Finn. “She’s became convinced…that Jennifer was the one that ran you over” Finn says, as Andie laughs it off when Jennifer enters the bar and begins to come towards them. “Jennifer isn’t that smart, she’s clearly dumb blonde” Dean attempts to fit in more, before they all stare in silence at him while Jennifer looks offended behind him. “What is it with the people around here? Always out to try and get themselves some attention” Jennifer remarks angrily, before walking out of the bar as Dean’s jaw drops to the floor. “Smart one mate” Finn says in a sarcastic tone, as Frankie nods at Andie to go into the bathroom. They both walk into the woman’s bathroom, when Frankie puts her hands on her hips. “You’re moving in with a guy who has an assault charge?” Frankie abruptly questions in an angry tone, as Andie runs her hand through her hair stressfully. “No the charges got dropped, he’s fine now” Andie insists worriedly, as Frankie looks at her oddly. “Watch yourself Andie, I mean how much do we really know about him?” Frankie says, trying to make Andie question herself. “I know him more than you ever will” Andie sneers in an annoyed tone, walking out of the bathroom and joining Finn and Dean, while Frankie stands heavily sighing to herself.

The screen goes back to Alison’s kitchen, where Conrad stands there staring at her confused while she looks clearly depressed about something. “What do you mean you haven’t been totally honest with me?” Conrad questions Alison, who begins unscrewing the lid of the wine. “There’s more to why I wanted you back in Harry’s life than just…’he was asking questions’” Alison admits, beginning to scare Conrad as she approaches the kitchen window. “Alison you’re beginning to scare me now, what is going on?” Conrad asks worriedly, as Alison can’t bare to look at him. “I-I…I” Alison tries to find the words to speak, as Conrad grows increasingly anxious about the situation. “Spit it out Alison!” Conrad shrieks at her nervously, as she tries to avoid bursting into tears. “I’ve booked myself into a clinic Conrad, I can’t cope anymore” Alison says with tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, as Conrad continues to look at her from across the kitchen confusingly. “A clinic? A clinic for what?” Conrad interrogates, as Alison goes into a kitchen drawer and chucks a leaflet from a clinic at him. “I have clinical depression Conrad, I need help. I can't go on like this anymore” Alison says in a more calm voice, as Conrad begins to read through the leaflet. “What are you talking about? You’re fine every time I come round?” Conrad says with a confused expression, refusing to believe her. “You don’t know what happens behind closed doors Conrad!” Alison screams at him, bursting into hysterical tears as she slides down the kitchen counter and plumps on the floor. Conrad rushes to her side and puts his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she sobs into his arms. The screen cuts to Tara, Vanessa and Karl sitting around the dining table in silence. “Can’t say it’s nice to see you again” Vanessa remarks in a sarcastic tone, as Karl puts a mug of coffee in front of her. “Touché” Karl replies in a cheeky way, as Tara tells them both to stop. “Can we not? Let’s just get this DNA thing over with and then you never need to see each other again” Tara acts as the referee in the situation, as Vanessa reluctantly takes one of the swabs and begins to run it around the inside of her mouth. “Get it right into the cheekbones” Tara says, as Vanessa rolls her eyes and does so. She puts it into the plastic bag and puts it in the envelope, where Tara and Karl’s swabs are. “Is that all you wanted me for? Aren’t you even going to take me for a coffee or something?” Vanessa asks while Tara seals up the envelope and hands it to Karl. “I don’t think you should be in a public place when I tell you what happened to me while you’ve been away” Tara remarks, causing Vanessa to look at her suspiciously while Karl sits there awkwardly.

Andrea is in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of vodka discreetly, before gulping it down and breathing a sigh of relief. “It’s only me!” Ella shouts from the hallway, causing Andrea to go into a silent panic as she frantically hides the bottle of vodka in one of the cupboards. “How are you?” Ella asks as she comes into the kitchen holding Noah in her arms. “Feeling like I’m going to explode if one more person asks me that question” Andrea sarcastically says, walking over to her and taking Noah from her to cuddle him. “I just wanted to come round to see you because I knew everyone was out today so I didn’t want you to be alone” Ella tells her, as Andrea talks to Noah in a babyish voice. “I’m not alone, your granddad is upstairs getting forty winks” Andrea informs her, sitting down at the dining table. “You know why I’m checking on you…” Ella remarks, referring to her alcohol problem as she sits down. “Ella I’m clean, I’m going to my AA meetings and still getting support” Andrea says in a convincing tone, making Ella believe her instantly. “It just crosses your mind in a time like this, trust me even I have considered a drink” Ella tells her, as Andrea slowly nods while playing with Noah in her arms. “I hope you and Daniel are still going well, I’ve not done my weekly check yet” Andrea says in a sarcastic tone, as Ella laughs with her. “We’re fine” Ella informs her abruptly, as Andrea looks at her slightly suspiciously. “Just fine?” Andrea says in a odd tone. “We haven’t really properly spoke each other since the dinner party, we’re spending tonight together though” Ella informs her, causing Andrea to slowly nod. “Actually, why don’t we come over here tonight and we can get a takeaway or something” Ella suggests, making Andrea quickly nod as Noah laughs uncontrollably while Andrea plays with him. “His little smile can brighten up anyone’s day” Ella says in amusement, while Andrea continues playing with Noah happily.

Conrad pours Alison a glass of water and places it in front of her, as she stares emotionless at the counter in front of her. “I was ready to end it all there…those pills, a couple more than prescribed and that would have been it, me gone” Alison says in a creepy voice, as Conrad looks at her with concern. “Alison I can get you help, I’ll pay all the fees for the clinic, just get better” Conrad says in a sympathetic tone, rubbing her shoulder gently to comfort her. “Somehow I doubt Jasmine would be happy about that” Alison laughs his suggestion off, as Conrad shakes his head in disagreement. “This is about you Alison not Jasmine or anyone else, I’m going to get you the help you need” Conrad tells her in a convincing voice, as she smiles at him faintly. “I don’t get why you’re being so nice to me” Alison says, doubting him as she avoids making eye contact. “Alison you’re the mother of my son, of course I’m going to care about you and want to make sure you’re alright” Conrad supportively tells her, as Alison sits smiling to herself while running her fingers along the top of the glass of water oddly. “I’ve just sprung this on you though, I should have been honest with you from the beginning when I got in contact with you, maybe you wouldn’t have got yourself involved” Alison admits to him, as Conrad heavily sighs to himself. “Alison stop talking like that, of course I would have. I want you to get better, please understand that” Conrad says, as Alison tries to convince herself. “I guess” Alison says abruptly, before noticing Harry appearing at the doorway. “What’s going on?” Harry questions them both. “Go pack a bag of your stuff son, you’re coming to stay with me and Jasmine for a while” Conrad tells him while placing his hand on Alison’s shoulder. “Why? Where’s mum going?” Harry continues to interrogate them. “Harry I’m going away for a while, you know when mum wants to be alone and you hear her crying sometimes?” Alison tells him, as Conrad begins to have a horrified expression on his face while Harry slowly nods. “Well I’m going to go and sort that out, so I can be a good mother to you” Alison smiles, as she places her hands on his shoulders and then hugs him tightly. “Now you go and pack your things” Alison smiles, as Harry continues to look at her sympathetically before turning away and leaving. “Honesty is always the best policy, ey?” Alison remarks, while Conrad stands there rubbing his forehead stressfully.

Janice comes down the stairs looking tired and in her housecoat as she goes to open the door, where Ciara and Lillie are standing smiling at her. “I told her not to bother you” Janice sighs, letting Ciara inside as Lillie follows her in. “It’s not a bother mum” Ciara informs her convincingly, as Janice smiles at her before kneeling down and hugging Lillie tightly. “I think there’s some sweets in the cupboard, you know where they are kept don’t you?” Janice grins as she talks to Lillie, who nods and then rushes into the kitchen. “It was more of a welcome escape than a burden anyway” Ciara remarks to Janice as they go into the kitchen. “Trouble in paradise eh?” Janice says in a sarcastic voice as she turns on the kettle to make a coffee. “He’s starting to go off the rails…I don’t know what to do, I can’t exactly ban him from seeing his brother in prison but every time he does there seems to be a new drama” Ciara blurts it all out to Janice, who looks at her worriedly. “Tell him how you’re feeling, he will understand and maybe tone down his behavior…oh wait, that’s just a normal boyfriend not the one you’ve landed yourself with” Janice cheekily tells her, as Ciara rolls her eyes. “I see the treatment hasn’t affected your sense of humor?” Ciara remarks, folding her arms and looking away as Janice giggles to herself. “Laughs are all that get me through the day these days” Janice informs her, smiling to herself as Ciara cracks a smile. Andie and Dean both wave at Frankie and Finn as they walk out Minerva, before Dean offers to go and get some more drinks. “I’m fine, I’ve got a lot on my mind” Andie tells him, sipping on the last of her wine. “What’s up? You aren’t having second thoughts are you?” Dean questions clearly worried as Andie shakes her head at him. “No of course not, it’s the others…I know this sounds ridiculous but Frankie seems to think I’m in danger by moving in with you” Andie says calmly, as Dean looks at her anxiously and begins to fidget with his hands. “What do you mean? Does she think I’m dangerous?” Dean quickly questions. “The assault charge thing threw her a little bit, but that’s fine anyway, you’ve got help for it and stuff haven’t you?” Andie asks, however Dean begins to go silent for a moment. “Of course I have, I even got help for the self harming stuff too and I’ve never been better” Dean tells her, it’s obvious he is lying however Andie happily accepts it as she tells him to go and get them another drink. Andie brushes her hair back stressfully, sighing to herself as she watches Dean go over to the bar.

It’s now later in the evening on Digital Lane as the dark skies appear. Conrad walks into his house with Harry in front of him, as Jasmine appears from the kitchen smiling, before looking confused as she sees Harry. “Can you look after him for a bit? I’ll explain everything later” Conrad quickly asks Jasmine, who stands there frozen. “What’s going on?” Jasmine questions him, while he goes to open the door. “Just look after him for a couple of hours please, I’ll tell you everything later” Conrad repeats, walking out the door and slamming it shut behind him. Jasmine and Harry stand both staring at each other, as Jasmine is clearly annoyed about what Conrad has done. “So…” Jasmine says awkwardly, as Harry looks down at the ground, not knowing what to do. “Look why don’t you go into the living room and do something for a while, I’m sure you’ve brought some video games or whatever you call it these days with you right?” Jasmine says, kneeling down to his level as he slowly nods at her. “Is mum going to be alright?” Harry asks, clearly worried about her as Jasmine raises her eyebrow suspiciously. “Why? What’s wrong with her?” Jasmine interrogates him, making Harry quite nervous. “She said she isn’t well and is going to get some help, I hope she’s going to be okay” Harry sighs to himself, before walking into the living room as the camera focuses on Jasmine’s completely baffled facial expression. Outside on the now dark Digital Lane, Conrad is sitting in his car with a clearly distressed Alison. “You still haven’t properly told me what’s brought all of this on” Conrad tells her, not even looking at her as he does so. “I’m in that big house every single day on my own, I have no man and even my child prefers his dad that he’s knew for the best part of three months” Alison sighs heavily to herself, rubbing her forehead stressfully. “You know that isn’t true, if anything Harry loves you way more than he’ll ever love me” Conrad replies in a genuine way, causing Alison to shake her head at him. “I didn’t do much for him…just raised him and all that” Alison replies in a sarcastic voice, as Conrad ignites the car engine. “Well I’ll be paying for the clinic alright? You don’t need to get stressed out over that at least” Conrad insists, reversing out of the driveway. “I’m sure Jasmine will be thrilled to hear that, especially with the baby on the way” Alison remarks rudely, as Conrad sighs to himself. “We’ll find a way, we always do” Conrad mutters, driving out of Digital Lane as the camera pans to the other side, where Ella and Daniel are walking across the street while pushing Noah in his pram.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say your avoiding spending time with me” Daniel remarks while he pushes the pram on top of the curb. “What are you talking about? Mum needs her family around her right now that’s all” Ella replies abruptly, however Daniel doesn’t look entirely convinced. “Yeah, well I need you sometimes too but you don’t seem to be bothering as much for me” Daniel says in a slightly rude tone, as Ella heavily sighs to herself. “Look I know we planned to spend the night together tonight, we still can once this dinner is over okay?...I’ll make it worth your while” Ella says in a flirtatious tone, before leaning in and kissing him passionately, making him have a massive smile on his face. “Just this once” Daniel whispers, as they kiss again when Lewis appears at the doorway. “if you don’t mind, we’re waiting on you” Lewis says in a sarcastic tone, causing both Daniel and Ella to laugh as they walk into the house with the pram. In the kitchen, Andrea places the meal in front of each person at the dining table, as they all look in amazement at her cooking. “Are you okay? You seem a bit…on edge” Keith asks discreetly when she walks by him, as she is noticeably shaking and looking exhausted. “I’m fine” Andrea insists, taking a plate for herself and sitting down. “This looks lovely Andrea, I wish Ella was as good a cook as you” Daniel remarks, as Ella lightly shoves him while putting Noah into his high chair. Andrea is staring down at her meal, beginning to heavily breathe as it becomes apparent she is intoxicated to the viewers. “She learnt from the very best of course” Lawrence remarks, making everyone laugh as they continue to eat. “Still no Gracie?” Keith questions Finn, who sighs to himself after the question. “She’s staying at Frankie’s tonight, she needs to clear her head apparently” Finn tells him, as the camera focuses on Andrea clearly beginning to get stressed out by all the loud voices speaking. She puts her head into her hands, as Keith looks at her suspiciously. “Are you alright mum?” Ella asks worriedly, noticing it too as Andrea keeps her head down. “I’m fine” Andrea repeats abruptly. “Are you sure? You look…” Lewis says, before being quickly interrupted by Andrea. “GET OUT! GET OUT! ALL OF YOU OUT!” Andrea shrieks, standing up and pointing to the door as tears begin to roll down her face. Everyone apart from Lawrence and Keith move, as Andrea becomes breathless while she sobs. Ella picks up Noah from his high chair and looks over her shoulder worriedly, before walking out as Andrea falls to her knees and begins to cry heavily when Keith and Lawrence both go to her side and try to comfort her. “GET OFF OF ME!” Andrea shrieks, pushing them both away and then storming out of the kitchen. The camera focuses on Keith’s shocked facial expression as the episode ends here.

NOTE: Return of Guest Character Vanessa O’Neill.

Cast List (18 Regulars, 0 Recurring, 4 Guests)–

I can't believe the amount of episodes I've actually gone by without feedbacking, must be almost a month now and that's not good. I've read everything but if the storylines I feedback have more mentions of whats happened in the past few episodes I'm sorry it's just a little difficult to try and remember it all, but I will try to make it as detailed and insightful as possible. Lots of fantastic detail and dialogue, good character interaction and development and just a vibe that you really know what you are doing, Digital Lane is doing fantastically well at the moment and it can only get even stronger as we approach the busy Christmas period really! Poor Andie she's not long got her life back after all the trouble with convincing Drew to change his statement so she can live without fear of the police and now she's hit by a speeding car and can barely do anything, she really has been through the mill since the show started hasn't she, but it's nice to see her at the forefront and going through all these life challenges as it will only make her stronger and wiser.

It was very decent of her to push Gracie out of the way though to save her, and I can't believe Jennifer decided to go to that extreme to try and get her out of the way so she had more of a chance with Finn! All the planning involved as well, actually hiring a car to try and murder somebody is a very dark scenario but you do it well and so you should always follow your strongest areas, and the gritty stuff is what you do best to be honest it was nice in a way that the injury brought Elaine back close to Andie, of course she may have been off-screen but it seemed like they weren't talking as much as they used to, probably because the trouble with Tara was taking up most of her time. It was nice of how confident she was to get back into her normal routine as well but at the same time I think she needed to be careful she didn't push herself too much too soon because she had only recently been hit. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading the aftermath of her leaving the hospital and her actually having a chance to think about why anyone would want to try and kill her, things from her past and connections to Lola or Drew may have even passed through her mind but I'm surprised she didn't think about them actually targeting Gracie considering she pushed Gracie out the way.

When I saw that Gracie had an incline on who tried to kill her I knew straight away she was thinking of Jennifer! She didn't really think it out very well though to be honest, nobody else disliked Gracie like her. She should have been more smart about it all. The Gracie/Jennifer scene was probably the highlight of that episode as well, and I love the way you wrote the dialogue - Jennifer's in particular. She was very calm and collected but obviously Gracie didn't fall for the act because she's desperate to dish out some evidence (which I hope she finds but I doubt it as it would stop Jennifer from sticking around) and overall I'm just excited, I feel big things coming from this plot and Jennifer's character in general. Wow at all the Tara drama! The involvement of characters like Jasmine (and Conrad to a lesser extent) really boosted the story's life. Karl's just a genuine guy, which was proven when he constantly insisted she could stay with him and Elaine as long as she wanted and didn't have to move back into the flats straight away if she was more comfortable with them.

Then it built up with Jasmine finding the letter from Vanessa to Tara and that exploded. I was quite surprised that Jasmine didn't go and tell Elaine about it straight away and instead gave Tara a limited amount of time to tell them, but I suppose part of her realised it was none of her business and not really her forced part to play. I liked how you linked in a further mini plot with Tara getting a job with Conrad as it tied her to Jasmine more, useful for the storyline purpose. The reveal was fantastic but that was no surprise, but I suppose she didn't really have a choice what with Karl trying to make a move on her (not blowing my own trumpet but I had a feeling this may happen) and so he must have felt sick when he realised she was his daughter, it's not even worth imagining what could have happened if Vanessa had never turned up and Tara never even knew who he was... Elaine was a bit of a broken woman really when she left wasn't she. I'm not shocked that Karl did all he could to keep her around despite the revelation but Tara seemed a little bit cool about it all and she didn't seem as bothered about the broken marriage, but maybe it was only me that saw it that way I suppose a break would be good for her but it'll be weird without her around because she's such a strong character and there will be a visible gap without her around.

However, it will give Tara and Karl a chance to try and get to know one another a bit better because if Elaine was around she may get in between that and break the building blocks. I don't blame Karl for wanting a DNA test either as Tara could still be lying, it'd be interesting if Vanessa came back but I'm a little confused as to why she kept putting of ringing her but at least she did it eventually. Tara and Alfie match perfectly, but by god Alfie does get around doesn't he. Christine, Jessica, he slept with Jennifer at one point didn't he? as well as the stuff with Frankie. Well even if he didn't they flirted and now Tara! But out of all four I think Tara just edges it for who matches up with him the most. I found it quite sweet how he went back to her after despite them both agreeing they should remain friends and leave the one night stand just as that. It was refreshing in a way because usually it's the girls doing the chasing and he's quite cold afterwards (well it wasn't really with Christine but the rest) and so it was unusual as well. I'll do a fairly big section on all the Collins and Bolens drama because part of it, and quite a large part at that, intertwine with both of the families.

As soon as Jamie was released after Abby was arrested I could tell that he couldn't properly settle back into life on the Lane because even though he was proven to be innocent people would still be gossiping about him wherever he went and it would be hard to brush it of, as well as live on the same street as Abby considering he was so confident that she was going to get off the charge and despite Stephanie's persistent determination to keep him around it was obvious it just wasn't going to work anymore. Part of me is a little upset about if because he spent all those months in prison only to basically leave straight afterwards, to be honest I would have rather had him over Abby because I feel like you could have had more storyline opportunities with him and there may have been more milage in him (like a depression storyline and see further interaction with Maria after the abortion stuff when DL first began and they were together) but I'm sure he will be appearing sporadically over the next few months consider he's still recurring.

I'm not shocked Sophie went ahead and left with him as well as she isn't used to sticking around in one place, it's nice to see various mentions of her though on how she's settling in with Jamie and helping him and how she isn't sure on when she's returning, it adds on the realism. I'm not disappointed that Abby is around though, and I'm sure she's going to be bringing a whole load of new drama to the Lane. Her fractured relationship with Hector reached breaking point when he slapped her at Marias salon opening, and It just showed his true colours. It's a real shame Maria is under Hectors wing but I'm not so sure she would be if Hector wasn't helping her out with the salon finances. If she had enough to sort it out herself I don't think she would have been so close to him, but I hope her siblings talk her round and make her realise that he's still the managed that used to beat up their mother before he does something serious again.

There's another shock revelation I must talk about, and that's the fact Conrad has an 11 year old son It was a great little build-up with Jasmine discovering those cheques which firstly couldn't have done her mind much good what with the Tara stuff continuing and her being heavily pregnant. I hated seeing her going back and forth by making out to Conrad she could accept it to make him happy but behind closed doors she was struggling to get her head around it and I think that built up stress spilled out over the dinner with Alison and Harry. I like Alison though, she doesn't seem to have any hidden agendas and she seems genuinely accepting of Jasmine and she seems to just want to let him have a healthy relationship with his son. The Hunter drama was good. I must admit I don't view them as your strongest family but they've settled in well to say they are the newer than the rest and they all bring something different to the table. Andreas mums death in a way gave the characters a different lease of life, and Andreas grief was extremely natural.

I'm not surprised she considered turning back to the alcohol and she would have done so if Lawrence hadn't had walked in at that precise moment, but I hope she doesn't and someone realises the depth of her struggles before it's too late. I also like Amelia's little parts of storylines, and I really feel like her character has been developed a lot more over the past few weeks. It was good to see her get a new friend in the form of Ella because up to now she has had quite a deprivation of interaction with other people other than Christine and Ryan and when Christine leaves she needs to have other ties and connections in the Lane because if not she may seem a bit out of place without her closest ally - her sister. She's a fantastic addition though so I'm sure you have more upcoming for her and I'm also liking how the anniversary of her sisters death is affecting her badly but distinguishably knowing her she tries to cover it up and create some humour to forget about it.

It must make her realise what Christine has done though and secretly drag it all back up again. I would enjoy seeing her get her teeth into something more serious that challenges the characters current comedic limits but I wouldn't like her to loose that touch either because it's just a part of her. I've also liked her new business venture and all the stuff with her wanting a business partner and being all full steam ahead but then deciding to do it alone despite Christine's beliefs she wouldn't be able to keep it afloat. I also loved the revelation that she was a heavy Catholic as well, even though she couldn't name a disciple! she's comedy gold! I like the slow development of her trying to rent out a unit for a restaurant and managing to ask for Alexs help to get the joint up and running.

She shows great initiative already and despite the fact it doesn't seem like it I think she would be really good at running a business. I can't remember if I've already gave feedback on this but I've loved Wendy getting back into Jacks cafe and the mentions of how successful it's been doing with plenty of customers. I hated seeing Stacey's ordeal continuing with Lucas sending her the letter via Alex, he can't expect her really to visit her after what he did and even if she did he should never expect for her to accept his apology and if Alex, his brother who has done nothing but fight his corner, can see that then anybody can! On the subject of Alex, the domestic abuse really seems to be heating up. There's been hints of it for months, with aspects such as him taking her to look at the house and her not wanting to move away because of Janice's cancer, Lillie and Lucas riling him up even more.

Janice seemed to noticed signs of it but Ciara seemed so in awe with him and it's too late for her to get out now really. The first proper development of the abuse began in the most recent episode though with Alex grabbing her hand angrily because she tried to stop him from drinking himself into an oblivion. Janice's cancer has been such a compelling storyline SA and one of your very finest you've ever done, honestly. The Goldburns are one of your strongest talents and I ADORE the way this tragedy has brought them all together, she even wants Alfie to be a part of her life now, I'm guessing this experience has made her realise life isn't worth wasting with grudges and despite the bad things he's done I think he needs his family in his life, they may help him calm himself down a bit.

Through all the stages (removal of the cancer and the first chemotherapy session) Rachel, Ciara and partly Alfie have been there through every step and through thick and thin and they've always put Janice first over their own issues, but I liked how Janice realised that Rachel couldn't build a bridge with Alfie as easily as she could. All the FANTASTIC effort you are putting in is clear and your passion for DL is so special. I'm sure you are going to keep it up, once again I apologise for taking so long and I hope this is good and long enough

I didn't see today's episode when I posted this, I'll feedback that separately.

Thankyou very much Owen for catching up, your feedback is always great and really helps me to progress Digital Lane!

Amelia walks into the living room and snatches the television remote off of Christine, who was flicking through the channels endlessly. “Your welcome” Christine remarks sarcastically, as Amelia is seen pressing to record Digital Way on the television. “It’s Digital Way’s first anniversary episodes this week and I’ll be damned if I miss it! I heard at least three people are leaving! I can’t believe I’ve been watching it for a year!” Amelia says enthusiastically as she sits down on the sofa. “You and your soaps ey?” Christine says, smiling as she gets up and leaves the room. Ryan is in the kitchen making himself breakfast when he asks Christine if she wants some. “I’m fine…why don’t we go back to bed for a while? Make good use of my day off” Christine suggests in a flirtatious tone, walking slowly towards him. “As much as I would love too, Amelia’s making me go to round the Lane with the invites to the wedding” Ryan sighs to himself, causing Christine to laugh as she stands next to him. “Well…if you hurry up and get it done we still will have a lot of time to spare” Christine says, continuing to speak flirtatiously as Ryan leans in and kisses her passionately. “Hurry back” Christine whispers as he grabs a piece of toast and heads out with the invites. Lynette enters the Young house holding a tub of leftover food which doesn’t look appealing. “I brought you some of the stuff we have left over, it’s not much but it’s lovely” Lynette insists as she hands it to Mark and then takes her coat off. “Is this actually edible?” Mark asks in a sarcastic tone, as Lynette pretends to be offended. “Of course it is, I hope you aren’t criticizing my husband’s cooking” Lynette replies, raising her eyebrow jokingly as Mark laughs while walking into the kitchen. “Anyway, how are you?” Lynette asks Luisa, who is sitting on the sofa across from her reading a magazine. “I’m okay I guess, much better than when you last seen me” Luisa remarks, “Mark told me you got a promotion at the hospital? I want to hear all about it” Luisa asks, smiling at her genuinely as Lynette nods enthusiastically. “I got promoted to clinical lead at the hospital emergency department, the last one resigned…after the riots” Lynette informs Luisa, who looks at her surprised. “Really? She resigned?” Luisa asks confused as Mark walks in with three mugs of coffee. “Don’t worry about it, she’s fine she just requested a transfer to another hospital” Lynette calmly tells her, as Luisa sips her coffee looking shocked.

Rachel is standing behind the counter sighing to herself as she is clearly worried about Janice. “Just a black coffee thanks Rachel” Geraldine says as she comes in, while Rachel smiles and nods. “How is Janice doing?” Geraldine asks, as Rachel turns around to face her. “How do you know?” Rachel questions her while Geraldine stands there awkwardly. “I may have overheard about it, trust me no one is gossiping about it, we all want to support her” Geraldine tells her convincingly, as Rachel heavily sighs and turns around. “I can’t imagine how hard it is for you as well” Geraldine tries to make some conversation, while Rachel puts the lid on her coffee. “A bit of compassion from the council when it comes to the bills would be lovely” Rachel mutters, while Geraldine hands her a five-pound note. “Are you struggling?” Geraldine asks worriedly. “Not as much as we used too, but now it’s just two of us in there and I’m the only one working…you don’t have any work do you? I’ll do anything” Rachel questions as Geraldine feels slightly obliged to offer her something. “Well…I do need a cleaner, but I wouldn’t expect you to do that” Geraldine says reluctantly, causing Rachel to nod very quickly. “I’ll do it, I’ll come over after my shift in here” Rachel replies abruptly, as Geraldine slowly nods feeling sympathetic for her. “Keep the change” Geraldine tells her when Rachel goes to hand her the change, making Rachel smile faintly as she puts it into her pocket. Across the room, Tara and Vanessa are sitting across from each other at a table. “I can’t believe all this has happened to you while I’ve been away, I should have never left you in that state” Vanessa guiltily tells her, while Tara shakes her head at her. “None of this is your fault, I shut you out and you weren’t to know there would be stupid rioters blowing up my flat” Tara says, getting slightly sarcastic near the end of her sentence. “I just feel terrible about it, well from now on I’m going to make sure I call you everyday and if you don’t answer I’ll get the first flight over here” Vanessa insists, while Tara raises her eyebrow confused. “Aren’t you going to stay for longer?” Tara asks, as Vanessa shakes her head and takes her hand. “You’re happy here with Karl, I don’t want to come between that” Vanessa tells her, causing Tara to smile faintly at her.

Andrea creeps into the kitchen hoping no one is there, however is disappointed to find Keith sitting at the dining table with a suspicious look on his face. “Finally dragged yourself out of bed then?” Keith remarks, as Andrea sighs and goes to pour herself a glass of water. “Are you going to explain what happened last night or?” Keith asks, as Andrea can’t even bare to look at him. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks Keith, I just couldn’t handle it” Andrea tries to defend herself, however Keith doesn’t buy it. “Then why did you agree to have Ella and Daniel over? You should have just said no” Keith replies abruptly, as Andrea folds her arms and lifts her head up to look at him. “My children are the only thing keeping me going right now Keith” Andrea tells him, trying to walk past him however he holds her back. “Are you sure that’s the only thing keeping you going right now?” Keith replies, fully aware she has turned back to drink as Andrea looks at him with wide eyes. “What are you suggesting?” Andrea says, still trying to cover up the fact she has been drinking. “Andrea you can smell the alcohol on your breath a mile away” Keith says in an angry tone, as Andrea freezes on the spot trying to think of what to say. “How dare you? You know how hard I’ve been trying to stay away from the drink! I wouldn’t go back there!” Andrea shrieks at him, pushing him away as tears begin to roll down her pale cheeks. “Andrea I can get you help, plese just stop the lies and admit that you’ve been drinking again!” Keith shouts at her, genuinely caring for her as she becomes breathless. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” Andrea shrieks at him while continuing to sob, before rushing out of the room and going out onto Digital Lane. She runs out to the street and falls to her knees, breathing heavily as tears are continuing to roll down her face. “Andrea? Are you alright?” Ryan asks as he comes along the street with the invites. He attempts to help her up however she pushes him off violently. “DON’T TOUCH ME” Andrea shrieks in his face, climbing to her feet and then running along Digital Lane as Keith comes outside and watches on worriedly, while Ryan stands there confused and helpless.

Ciara walks into the lounge area of her flat and begins to clear up Lillie’s toys, as Alex follows her in and wraps his arms around her waist. “Get off of me” Ciara sneers, pulling his arms off of her waist and then going back to cleaning up. “You can’t stay mad at me forever Ciara, it was just a slip up” Alex pleads with her, as Ciara rolls her eyes. “Watch me” Ciara says through her gritted teeth, as she goes to walk past him but he pulls her back. “How about we stay in tonight, get a nice takeaway and a couple of films, just the two of us?” Alex suggests, trying to make it up to her as Ciara folds her arms while he places his hands on her shoulders. “It’s going to take more than that to make it up to me, but that’s a start” Ciara smiles weakly, as he slightly forces a kiss on her. “I’m going to go over to Amelia’s restaurant and see how the lads are doing, I’ll be back later with that takeaway and film” Alex says, as Ciara forces herself to nod and smile at him while he heads out. As the door slams, her facial expression turns to a slight frown, as she heavily sighs to herself, before going back to clearing away Lillie’s toys. Gracie and Finn are both standing on the business district, as Jennifer is seen leaving them and going in the other direction while Alex follows her out and heads towards the restaurant building. “It was her, I just know it” Gracie says, as Finn rolls his eyes as she brings it up again. “Leave it to the police Gracie, it’s their job to find out who done it not you” Finn replies abruptly, trying to make her turn away but she refuses to move. “I want her gone Finn, she tried to kill our baby! How can you not feel the same?” Gracie angrily tells him, as Finn shakes his head in disbelief at her. “Gracie just leave it, I’ve got enough on my plate right now without you going off the rails too” Finn remarks, as Gracie rolls her eyes at him. “Come on, let’s just get a train into town and go shopping or something, take your mind off things” Finn whispers as he puts his arms around her. “I bet she’s got some evidence in her flat or something” Gracie continues to be fixated with her, causing Finn to get extremely annoyed with her. “You know what, enjoy your day because I’m not standing here all day” Finn angrily says as he turns around and begins walking in the other direction. Gracie doesn’t even react as she stares at the flats, before walking towards them with a smirk on her face.

“You’ll never believe this man on the bus, tried to get me to stand up just so he could get a seat!” Susan moans as she walks into the Cole house, where Wendy and Frankie are sitting at the dining table. “You? Using public transport? Are you okay?” Frankie says in a sarcastic tone, as Wendy chuckles a little bit. “What can I say? I’m a changed woman” Susan replies, continuing the sarcastic tone as she takes her coat off and hangs her coat up. “Anyway, I hope you’ve been staying away from the drugs” Susan says to Frankie, who rolls her eyes and rubs her forehead. “That was months ago, it was just a silly mistake” Frankie replies, as Susan nods while making herself a coffee. “At least you know that, a lot of people your age wouldn’t think that way” Susan tells her, while Frankie rolls her eyes again. “I’m not like most people my age am I?” Frankie says, as Susan laughs and nods in agreement. “Anyway how are you mum?” Susan asks genuinely, while Wendy is doing a word search in the newspaper. “I’m alright, I’m going to your dad’s grave later today if you want to join me” Wendy asks politely, while Susan smiles faintly and nods. “I’d love too” Susan replies genuinely, just as the doorbell goes off. “Be a darling and go and answer the door will you?” Susan says in a sarcastic voice to Frankie, who huffs and goes to open the front door. “It’ll probably be Andie forgetting something for the flat” Frankie says, unlocking the door and opening it to reveal a young man standing there in an army uniform, as Frankie’s jaw drops and she shrieks. “Aaron!” Frankie shouts excitedly, rushing out and hugging him tightly. Susan and Wendy both rush to the door and look at him with shock, before welcoming him inside and hugging him tightly. “Surprise” Aaron remarks, looking at his family happily as the trio of women all shriek with happiness.

Jasmine walks into the living room, where Harry and Conrad are playing each other on a game on the PlayStation. “Conrad, a word?” Jasmine abruptly says, standing at the doorway with a raised eyebrow. Conrad tells Harry he will be back in a minute and gets up, following Jasmine into the kitchen. “Do you care to explain this properly to me? All I know is Alison is apparently unwell and has went into a clinic” Jasmine asks him in a clearly annoyed tone, while Conrad rubs his forehead stressfully. “Do you even know how long he will be staying here? What about his schoolwork? He’ll fall behind!” Jasmine continues to moan at him, while Conrad waits for her to finish before he begins to explain. “I don’t know how long she’ll be…a week, two weeks, a month, a year…she’ll be there as long as it takes until she’s ready to come home. Until then, I need you to just accept that Harry is part of our family now and please at least try with him, he’s lost without his mum and he could really do with someone like you to look after him” Conrad explains in a honest way to Jasmine, who sighs and runs her hand through her hair stressfully. “I didn’t sign up for this Conrad” Jasmine tells him, looking at him worriedly while holding her baby bump. “Nether did I, but we need to keep going through this and we’ll be fine” Conrad tells her in a convincing tone, causing her to force a smile when he walks out and goes back to Harry. The screen cuts to Tara and Vanessa sitting in the flat together, while Tara gives her a glass of wine. “As long as Karl is treating you properly then I’m happy for you to be with him, but quite frankly since our fling we’ve never really been on speaking terms” Vanessa admits to Tara, who heavily sighs. “You’re lucky Elaine isn’t around right now, she’d have your head on a plate if she was” Tara informs Vanessa, who looks at her with a raised eyebrow. “Elaine Spencer? Having my head on a plate? Pigs would fly before that happens” Vanessa remarks in a sarcastic tone, sipping on her wine as Tara laughs a little.

Lynette walks into the kitchen, where Mark is standing at the sink washing up the dishes. “You both seem a lot better than the last time I seen you, it’s great to see” Lynette compliments him, as Mark smiles at her faintly. “We are a lot better, Luisa’s eating properly and she’s getting back to her old self” Mark informs a thrilled Lynette, who smiles at him genuinely. “There’s probably something I should tell you, I would have came over sooner but I wanted to know what he wanted first…” Lynette admits, as Mark looks at her confused. “Who? What are you talking about?” Mark interrogates a nervous Lynette, who looks away to the floor. “It was Peter, he turned up at my house last month, a while after we visited Rose’s grave together” Lynette tells him, as Mark drops the he was washing back into the basin of water and looks at her horrified. “What the hell did he want?” Mark asks in an angry tone, as Lynette tries to keep him calm. “He didn’t want anything from me, in fact he’s like a changed man” Lynette explains, as Mark shakes his head at her in disagreement. “People like him don’t change Lynette” Mark tells her sternly, however she insists he has. “He’s settling down with someone, Mark they’re having a child together and they’re getting married, he came to give me an invite to their wedding” Lynette reveals to him, as Mark looks at her totally with a totally confused and shocked facial expression. Gracie is rummaging through drawers in Jennifer’s apartment, searching frantically for some evidence to do with the hit and run. Jennifer walks up the staircase of the flat before looking confused as she can see the lock has been broken into. She opens the door and rolls her eyes angrily when she catches Gracie going through her things. “Seriously? Are you that obsessed with me?” Jennifer remarks, putting down her shopping bags, as Gracie stands there frozen with fear. “I know it was you who tried to run me over, stop the lies and just admit it! Everyone thinks I’m mad but I’m not!” Gracie shouts at her, while Jennifer laughs her suggestion off. “You don’t know what you’re talking about Gracie, perhaps you need to get some help? You clearly aren’t right in the head” Jennifer sneers at her, causing Gracie to get extremely angry with her. “You’ll be paying for that lock by the way” Jennifer smirks as Gracie shoves past her and leaves the apartment. The camera focuses on Jennifer’s smirk as it cuts to the next scene.

“Dad has just texted me, mum’s gone AWOL apparently I need to get over there” Ella says as she frantically puts things into her handbag. “AWOL? What’s happened?” Daniel asks as he stands at the doorway of the kitchen holding Noah. “To be honest, I don’t even know what’s going on in this family anymore” Ella remarks, kissing Noah’s forehead and then kissing Daniel on the cheek before walking out as Daniel sighs to himself. “Just us two then” Daniel says to Noah in a babyish voice, before sighing again to himself. The screen cuts to Ryan arriving home to find Christine sitting watching repeats of Friends on the television. “Andrea Hunter has gone mental, I tried to help her up but she just screamed at me then ran away. Keith tried to excuse it for being that her mother died recently but I think there’s more to it” Ryan explains while he plumps himself down on the sofa next to Christine. “I don’t blame her, she has three fully grown up children who are probably just as demanding as when they were little toddlers” Christine remarks in a sarcastic tone, as Ryan raises his eyebrow at her. “Is that a hint about you not wanting to have children?” Ryan asks, while Christine sighs to herself. “It’s a lot of work Ryan, if we’re going to do it we need to make sure we are fully committed to it, there’s no backing out six months down the line. A baby is for life” Christine tells him in a strict tone, giving him food for thought as he puts his arm around her. “Of course I’m committed to having a baby with you, it’s all I’ve ever wanted with you” Ryan tells her convincingly, as Christine smiles at him faintly. “When I was a kid, I always dreamt about having my own little family, the perfect wife, three children and a dog” Ryan admits to her, as she looks at him in awe. “That’s so cute! You’re such a perfect guy” Christine says excitedly, kissing him passionately as Ryan breathes a sigh of relief. “So what are we going to do then?” Ryan asks with a raised eyebrow, as Christine sits smiling at him. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try” Christine tells him in a passionate way, before kissing him softly and then leading him upstairs as Ryan looks at her with excitement written all over his face.

“I thought you were still serving in Afghanistan, I had no idea you were coming back!” Wendy exclaims to Aaron as she hands him a cup of tea. “I wanted to surprise you guys, it’s been a few years now since I properly came home but now I’m here to stay” Aaron informs them, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. “We worried about you everyday, you have always been in our thoughts while you were over there fighting” Susan tells him in a genuine tone, as Aaron raises his eyebrow at her. “Okay what’s really happened to my cousin Susan?” Aaron remarks in a sarcastic tone, highlighting that he and Susan are second cousins once removed. “A lot can happen in a few years Aaron” Susan says with a raised eyebrow, before sipping on her coffee as Wendy sits herself down. “Where’s my uncle Jack? Is he still running that café? Ivory Pond isn’t it?” Aaron asks, speaking about his great uncle unaware of his passing in May. “Has no one told you?” Frankie asks confused, brushing her hair back worriedly as Aaron shrugs his shoulders. “Told me what? Is there something I should know?” Aaron questions them all, as they all sit in silence. “Well-“ Susan speaks, but Wendy puts her hand on her shoulder and stops her. “Come on, I’ll show you” Wendy says, standing up and going to get her coat. “Show me what?” Aaron asks with confusion, standing up in his army uniform and following her into the hallway. “You’ll see” Wendy whispers abruptly, opening the door and leaving with Aaron as both Frankie and Susan decide to let them go themselves. The screen cuts to Minerva, where a drunken Andrea is sitting drowning her sorrows at the bar. “The same again please” Andrea slurs at Geraldine, who is standing behind the bar with Stevie. “Hasn’t she had enough? She’s been here all day” Stevie remarks while she flips her hair and goes to serve a customer. “Are you sure about that dear? I don’t want you to get too drunk” Geraldine says worriedly, as Andrea scowls at her. “I asked for the same again” Andrea sneers, causing Geraldine to shake her head and slam the money she gave her on the bar. “Go home” Geraldine warns, before seeing Keith, Ella and Lewis come into the bar. “Oh look who’s here, coming to rescue me from the deadly poison?” Andrea shouts in a sarcastic voice, clearly far too drunk as she begins to stumble when she stands up. “Let’s just get her home” Keith tells them, as they approach her and take an arm each while Ella holds the door open for them. “I can walk perfectly fine!” Andrea insists, however she ends up tripping when she tries herself. Keith and Lewis ignore her pleas as they drag her out the bar, while Geraldine and Stevie both watch on with concern.

Mark and Lynette are sitting on the sofas in the living room while Luisa stands at the door, clearly looking exhausted. “Have a lovely sleep Luisa” Lynette smiles, as Luisa thanks her for coming over. “It was no bother, nice to get away from the workplace for a day anyway” Lynette says, as Luisa shuts the door and heads upstairs. “I can’t believe he’s settled down, are you actually sure he has? I mean he could easily be lying, it’s one of his worst qualities” Mark tries to excuse what Lynette has told him, as she insists it’s the truth. “I haven’t met her yet, but the way he talks about her she seems a lovely woman who is clearly keeping him in line” Lynette tells him, while Mark begins to believe her. “It was just one visit wasn’t it? He only came over once?” Mark questions her, as she slowly nods in reply. “He asked me to give you something, but I don’t really think you’ll want it” Lynette tells him, going into her handbag as Mark begins to breathe heavily. She hands him a fancy envelope and Mark opens it quickly, reading the invitation to Peter’s wedding. “He’s sick, he’s honestly sick!” Mark angrily says, ripping up the invitation and throwing the pieces up in the air. “He’s our brother Mark, you can’t avoid him forever” Lynette sighs, brushing her hair back worriedly. “Watch me…none of this gets back to Luisa okay? She’s had it hard enough without him cropping up again” Mark sneers at Lynette, before standing up and walking into the kitchen while Lynette sits there sighing to herself as she shut she shuts her eyes. Alex walks into the flat with a shopping bag, looking at Ciara sitting cuddled up with Lillie watching cartoons on the television. “I hope you got a decent film” Ciara says, as Alex sniggers slightly. “How do you feel about watching a whole Walking Dead season?” Alex says in a joking tone, as Ciara looks at him horrified. “No way! Please tell me you’re kidding” Ciara says as she gets up and walks into the kitchen area. “Of course I am, I just stuck a whole load of romcoms in the bag and hoped you like one of them” Alex replies, causing Ciara to smile at him. “I can’t stay mad at you” Ciara says, smiling as she goes towards him and kisses him with passion, much to Alex’s surprise.

Wendy and Aaron are both standing before Jack’s grave in the middle of a cemetery, as Aaron looks totally distraught at it. “I can’t believe it…how? Was it cancer or something?” Aaron asks quickly, with tears forming in his eyes as Wendy puts her arm around him. “He died in his sleep, he didn’t go through any pain” Wendy informs him, as Aaron rests his head on her shoulder. “He was always so healthy, he never had anything wrong with him” Aaron sighs, as Wendy tries to console him. “I can’t believe I missed the funeral and everything, if I had known I would have requested to leave earlier” Aaron heavily sighs, while Wendy tells him not to worry as she gently rubs his shoulder supportively. “It doesn’t matter now, he’s watching over us and he’ll be thrilled to know you’re back home safe” Wendy informs him with a faint smile on her face while Aaron slowly nods. “Can I have a minute?” Aaron requests calmly, causing Wendy to slowly nod. She heads back to the car as Aaron stares blankly at the gravestone. He kneels down in front of it and continues to stare at it with tears rolling down his cheeks, distraught after finding out about his great uncles death. Keith and Lewis put Andrea down on the sofa, as she continues to moan at them both. “What happened to her?” Finn asks as he appears with a distressed looking Gracie. “She’s drinking again” Lewis informs him, clearly annoyed with her as he leaves the room. “What? Is that true dad?” Finn asks worriedly, as Keith slowly nods at him. Andrea buries her head into the pillow while she attempts to sleep on the sofa, while Keith stands there helplessly watching her. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do Lawrence, how can I help her when she won’t let me?” Keith asks him as he comes into the living room and looks at his daughter disapprovingly. “There’s no getting through to her when she is like this, just let her sleep it off” Lawrence insists, clearly disappointed in his daughter as the camera focuses on Keith’s distraught face, unsure of how he can help his wife this time.

NOTE: First Appearance of Aaron Cole (Parry Glasspool).

Cast List (23 Regulars, 3 Recurring, 2 Guests)–

Andrea stumbles down the staircase in her housecoat, while Lewis stands at the bottom looking at her with a straight face. She goes to speak to him however he shoves by her and walks upstairs calmly, as Andrea runs her hand through her hair worriedly and sighs heavily. She walks into the kitchen, where Lawrence is standing cooking some bacon on the frying pan while Keith stands at the sink doing the dishes from the night before. It’s completely silent as she goes over to the kettle and turns it on, turning around and sighing heavily to herself again. “Look I know I’ve made a mistake, but the silent treatment isn’t going to get us anywhere” Andrea breaks the silence, however Keith fails to acknowledge her as he puts the dry plates away into the cupboard. “Please Keith, this isn’t like before…it’s just got all on top of me with mum dying and I had no other way of coping” Andrea pleads with him, grabbing his arm tightly and trying to make him acknowledge her. “I thought we managed to move past this stuff, I thought you were getting the help you needed” Keith replies worriedly, clearly distraught at the situation while Lawrence listens in while he continues to fry the bacon. “It’s just a moment of weakness Keith, nothing more and nothing less” Andrea tries to convince him as he pulls his arm away from her and heads towards the door. “If you had even thought about drinking again you should have gone to one of your meetings to stop yourself, but you didn’t so what does that tell us” Keith tells her in an angry tone, leaving the room while Andrea looks down at the ground, ashamed of herself for turning back to the drink. “I understand why you done it Andrea, we all turn to alcohol in moments like this” Lawrence admits as he puts the bacon onto the buttered bread on a plate. “You’ve got to believe me dad, I didn’t mean to hurt them like this” Andrea says in a genuine way, as Lawrence slowly nods at her. “I know you didn’t darling, but you’ve got to accept they are going to be angry with you for a while, maybe even longer” Lawrence tells her the harsh truth, hugging his daughter tightly as she tries to stop herself from crying when her eyes begin to tear up.

Amelia is standing in her new shop unit on the business district, where she is planning to open up a restaurant. She watches the workmen putting down new floorboards after fixing the electrical wires underneath. “How is all of this coming along then?” Christine asks as she comes through the entrance, handing Amelia a paper cup of coffee from the café. “It’s going well yeah, Alex’s contacts have just finished with the electrical and floor problems upstairs, so we can begin to decorate up there while they finish off down here” Amelia informs Christine enthusiastically, as she slowly nods at her. “Well it’s nice to see my investment is being put to good use” Christine remarks, smiling as she looks around the place happily. “I’m thinking about opening up next month if it can get done in time, these guys are working extremely fast so I think that’s a realistic target” Amelia informs her with more information, as Christine looks more than impressed. “I hope they aren’t cutting corners, you’ll end up needing to pay more in repairs than what you’re paying right now!” Christine suggests to Amelia, who shakes head at her. “Alex says they’re the best and they have decent prices, trust me it will be fine. Now let’s leave them to it because the dust flying about in here is bad for my skin” Amelia remarks in a joking tone as they both walk out and take their helmets off. Maria is standing behind the counter in Beauty as she rubs her eyes tiredly, having spent most of the night going through the accounts. Joe walks in and hands her a box of brownies and a cappuccino, making Maria smile as she takes them and puts them behind the counter. “Thought you might have needed a sugar rush, you look exhausted” Joe remarks as Maria nods at him in reply while yawning. “I am, I was sitting going through the accounts for dad all night” Maria moans, taking a brownie and beginning to eat it. “Shouldn’t he have done that?” Joe questions confused, causing Maria to shrug her shoulders. “He told me he’d only buy the place for me, he didn’t want to have to deal with anything else” Maria informs Joe, who looks at her with sympathy as she is clearly snowed under with the workload. “I’ll take you out tonight for dinner after I shut the gym if you want, it hasn’t been just me and you in ages” Joe suggests flirtatiously, making Maria nod and smile. “Why not” Maria says, looking relieved at getting a night out as she leans over the counter and kisses him softly.

“What’s it like out there? You must have been so scared sometimes” Frankie asks Aaron as the sit in the living room chatting to each other. “It does get bad at times, you miss your family a lot, there are times you wonder if you’ll actually make it back but I have and I couldn’t be more proud to have served my country on the frontline” Aaron informs Frankie, who slowly nods and smiles at him. “I’m so glad you’re home safe” Frankie tells him, getting up and hugging him before leaving the room as Wendy walks in and hands him a can of beer. “I thought you would want that instead of a coffee” Wendy remarks, sitting down on the chair across from the sofa. “Didn’t think you’d still have beer in the house once uncle Jack died, you always hated it in your cupboards!” Aaron says, reminding himself of the past as Wendy smiles and nods. “I still do, but it’s a subtle reminder of him” Wendy tells him, causing Aaron to nod in agreement while he opens the can and begins to gulp it down. “I wish I had got back sooner so I could at least see him again, I just can’t believe that he’s gone” Aaron sighs, while Wendy gets up from the chair and sits down next to him on the sofa to try and comfort him. “I bet you seen a lot of that in Afghanistan though, god I can’t imagine the horrific things you seen” Wendy admits to him, making him nod at her. “I’ve seen things that no one should ever have to witness, I’m just glad I’m home and away from it now” Aaron admits to her, while Wendy pats his pack gently and supportively. Luisa comes down the stairs dressed as Mark sits on the sofa flicking through the television channels endlessly. “I’m going to pop to the shops, do you want me to get you anything?” Luisa asks him, while he comes out of his trance and smiles at her. “You just get whatever you need” Mark tells her, causing Luisa to nod and tell him she’ll be back soon before walking out. Mark puts his head into his hands stressfully, taking out the ripped up wedding invitation from his pocket and staring at it, sighing to himself as he does so. Outside, Luisa unlocks the car door and opens it, before glancing over across the street at the roundabout at the end of the Lane, looking confused as she sees the car which we have seen before, recognized as Luisa’s stepfathers. She tries to walk towards it however the driver ignites the engine and swiftly drives by her, as she begins to shake nervously at the thought of him being back.

Jasmine walks into the kitchen to find Conrad working from home on his laptop as she walks over to the sink to get a glass of water. “You can’t work from home forever” Jasmine remarks, sipping on the water as Conrad rolls his eyes at her. “I’m going to have to while Alison is away, there’s no getting around it” Conrad tells her, making Jasmine feel guilty about the way she has treated the situation. “Look, I can look after him for a few hours I guess, it’ll probably do me some good to talk to someone other than you. I feel like I’m going mad without Elaine around!” Jasmine explains to a relieved Conrad, who stands up and walks over to her, kissing her passionately much to Jasmine’s surprise. “We need to get him a place in the school though, he can’t just stay here every day” Jasmine insists, causing Conrad to nod in agreement. “I’ll do a few phone calls during my break, I’ll get it sorted. Thank you for doing this, I know that it must be quite hard” Conrad replies genuinely, putting his laptop into his bag and kissing her again. “You owe me” Jasmine remarks as he walks out, she then sighs to herself and goes into the living room where Harry is playing his game. “Looks like it’s just us two today” Jasmine tells him reluctantly, as Harry smiles genuinely at her. Andie is sitting in her new flat with Dean, as he sits down next to her on the sofa. “It’s so nice once it’s all done, but if I see one more cardboard box I think I’m going to explode” Andie remarks, causing Dean to laugh a little. “It’s nice to finally have my own place here, I was already here every day anyway!” Dean says relieved, as Andie nods in total agreement. “I’ve got to go to work at Minerva but we should have everyone round when I’m back to celebrate” Andie suggests, causing Dean to nod in agreement. “Yeah, that’d be great” Dean smiles, as Andie looks relieved while she puts her coat on. “I’ll see you later” Andie replies, walking out cheerfully while Dean breathes a sigh of relief as he sits alone, looking around the apartment amazed with it.

“So here’s the kitchen, it’s stainless steel and I’ll let you in on a little secret, it’s the best on the street” Christine says enthusiastically to a couple, showing them around the now empty Foster home which hasn’t been seen since June. “So what are your thoughts?” Christine asks the couple, smiling at them while holding her clipboard. “It’s not for us sorry, thank you for your time” The woman smiles, as Christine slowly nods. “That’s fine, there’s plenty of other houses to choose from” Christine suggests, however they shoot her down instantly. “No I think we’ll be looking someplace else” The man abruptly says, turning around and heading out as Christine heavily sighs to herself, sitting down on the barstool at the counter. Ryan comes in after the couple have left, as Christine smiles at him weakly. “I thought I seen you in here” Ryan says, sitting on the other barstool next to her. “No one wants to buy a house that a strangler lived in apparently, it’s been months now trying to sell this place” Christine sighs, running her hand through her hair worriedly. “It’ll all blow over eventually, it’s just such a big thing that happened it’ll take a while for people to move on” Ryan tries to comfort her, however she doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t know, it’ll probably have rats living in here before people” Christine remarks as she picks up her folders and heads towards the door with Ryan. “Don’t worry about it, we’ve got things to look forward too” Ryan tells her, referring to their wedding and their attempts to have a child. They walk outside and Christine locks the door as Ryan hugs her from behind. “I better go and see her later, give her this invite to our wedding” Christine says to Ryan, looking over at Stephanie getting out of her car and heading inside. “She will come round, it’s not like you were the one that got her son imprisoned” Ryan replies sarcastically, while Christine raises her eyebrow and smiles a little. “But I am marrying the brother of the one that did” Christine remarks, walking down the pathway while Ryan stands with a smirk on his face.

“Honestly I don’t know what I’d do without you, you’re the only one keeping me sane” Ella says to Daniel as they stand hugging each other in the living room. “Surely it can’t be that bad, your mum always tries to do her best to keep your family together” Daniel insists, however Ella shakes her head at him while she walks over to Noah who is sitting in his high chair. “She is a total mess Daniel, I’ve even considered going back to work early just so I can get out of this place for a few hours” Ella sighs, causing Daniel to begin to get concerned about her when the doorbell goes. “I’ll get it” Daniel states, leaving the room as Ella attempts to cheer herself up by playing with Noah. He opens the door and a pale and unwell looking Andrea stands there, smiling weakly at him asking if she can come in. Daniel nods and lets her in, looking at her with worry while she stumbles into the living room. “What are you doing here?” Ella questions abruptly, while Daniel goes over and picks up Noah, then leaving them to it when he goes upstairs. “Not you too” Andrea sighs, running her hand through her hair worriedly. “What did you expect? For me to welcome you back with open arms?” Ella rudely replies, clearly annoyed with her while Andrea sits herself down and breathes a heavy sigh. “You have to believe that it was a moment of weakness, with mum’s death and everything else it’s all been building up” Andrea pleads with her, making Ella begin to show some sympathy for her. “You could have talked to me mum, you’re never ever alone” Ella replies with sympathy, tears beginning to clearly from in her eyes. “I wish I could, but I’m so used to looking after everyone else’s problems I don’t know how to open up myself” Andrea admits truthfully to her daughter, who puts her arm around her trying to comfort her. “Well now’s your chance, talk to me mum…I’m all ears” Ella tells her in a genuine way, smiling at her as Andrea breathes a little sigh of relief while she lifts her head up and smiles back at her.

Christine walks up the pathway towards Stephanie’s house, looking clearly nervous as she raises her hand to knock on the door. She can hear someone coming towards the door on the other side and smiles faintly at Stephanie, who looks unimpressed. “I have absolutely nothing to say to you” Stephanie says, rolling her eyes and avoiding eye contact with her. “Stephanie please just let me explain, I don’t want to lose our friendship over something like this” Christine sighs, causing Stephanie to heavily sigh and then let her inside. She walks over to the sofa and sits herself down, still refusing to look at Christine. “Go on, you’ve got five minutes” Stephanie sternly tells her, causing Christine to grow increasingly nervous when she sits down. “Stephanie you have to believe it was never my intention to try and hurt you, I can’t help that the man I fell in love with is the brother of the person who destroyed your family” Christine firstly tells her, while Stephanie bites her lip and looks down at the ground. “Fell in love with? It’s that serious ey?” Stephanie remarks, standing up and walking over to the bar in the corner of the room, pouring herself a glass of white wine. “Well, yes it is. Stephanie I genuinely love him, I’ve never felt like this for anyone else in my life before” Christine tells her, clearly smitten with Ryan, which Stephanie clearly sees. “I can see that, I must admit you both look so happy together” Stephanie admits, showing a softer side making Christine smile at her. “I don’t want to ever be with anyone else, he just makes me feel so special” Christine explains further, while Stephanie brings her over a glass of wine. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, I understand you didn’t set out to hurt me…I was just angry with you but who am I to try and stop true love?” Stephanie smiles genuinely at her, causing Christine to be relieved at her forgiveness. “I need to give you this as well, I totally understand if you don’t want to come but I want to give you the option” Christine tells her, taking out the wedding invitation from her handbag and handing her it. “I don’t know…a Bolen family celebration doesn’t sound my cup of tea” Stephanie says in a sarcastic tone, looking down at the invitation. “Well me and Ryan would love to have you there, you’ve been there for me since I moved here and I’ll never forgot everything you’ve done for me” Christine says in a convincing tone, as Stephanie thinks about what to do.

Luisa walks into her house with shopping bags, telling Mark that she’s sorry she took so long but she got caught up. She enters the living room and looks a little surprised to find Lynette sitting there with Mark. “Oh, I didn’t think you were coming over today” Luisa says in a questioning tone, walking into the kitchen to put the shopping down before walking back into the living room. “Mark thought there was something that we should tell you” Lynette says with a worried expression on her face, causing Luisa to begin to get anxious about what they are going to say. “What is it?” Luisa anxiously questions them both, standing at the doorway to the kitchen. “I wasn’t going to tell you at first…but I decided that I should stick to what we told each other, that we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other anymore” Mark tells her, while Luisa continues to grow increasingly anxious. “Tell me what?” Luisa abruptly asks, as Mark pats the sofa for her to sit down next to him. She does so, while Mark heavily sighs and Lynette looks away awkwardly. “It’s about Peter…he’s invited us to his wedding, don’t ask me what poor girl is marrying him but I didn’t want to worry you about him being back on the scene” Mark explains to Luisa, who looks at him with total surprise. “Peter? Peter Young? Getting married? You’ve got to be kidding me” Luisa remarks in a sarcastic tone, shaking her head in disbelief. “Sadly not, he really wants us to be there according to Lynette but I told her no” Mark explains further, while Luisa slowly nods as she listens. “He’s been in contact with you?” Luisa questions Lynette, who nods at her nervously in reply. “I don’t ever want to see him again, you can tell him where to stick that invitation” Luisa angrily says, standing up and storming out of the room while Lynette and Mark both look at each other worriedly.

At Andie and Dean’s flat, Andie, Dean, Frankie, Aaron, Finn and Gracie are all sitting on the sofas in the lounge area with a two pizzas between them. “You joined at such a young age, what persuaded you?” Andie asks Aaron, discussing his career in the army. “I don’t really know, it was just always something I wanted to do considering my dad was in the army before he left me with Wendy and Jack for good” Aaron replies to Andie, who raises her eyebrow at him. “What do you mean? Why did he leave you for good with Wendy and Jack?” Andie questions further, while Frankie shakes her head at Andie to get her to stop asking questions. “Sorry, I’m getting a bit personal and we’ve only just met!” Andie laughs a little, however Aaron shrugs it off. “It’s fine…he just couldn’t cope with me anymore with mum not around, he decided it was for the best and I think he made the right decision” Aaron replies, as Andie listens with intrigue. “Have you seen him since?” Andie asks and Aaron shakes his head at her in reply. Tara comes into the flat and quickly takes her coat off, while Aaron looks clearly amazed at her. “Sorry I’m late, I had to make sure mum knew how to work the television before I left” Tara informs them as she takes a slice of the pizza and sits in between Aaron and Frankie. “I’m guessing you’re Aaron?” Tara asks politely, eating the pizza slice as Aaron nods. “Tara” Tara says, smiling genuinely at him while Frankie looks at him suspiciously when he looks at her in awe. “I hope you didn’t have Andie doing heavy lifting, she’s still fragile after the hit and run” Frankie remarks to Dean, who laughs a little. “Which Jennifer caused” Gracie mutters to herself, causing Finn to roll his eyes as he takes his arm away from around her shoulder. “He’s been great to me, like my own little servant” Andie jokingly says, making everyone laugh apart from Gracie who looks as if she’s got something else on her mind. “Just give it a rest will you? For one night at least” Finn whispers in Gracie’s ear, as she rolls her eyes and forces herself to fake smile at him. “Emmerdale is absolutely fantastic at the moment, isn’t it?” Andie attempts to make some conversation with everyone, as Frankie makes an instantly strange face. “I don’t watch because I’m not 60 years old like you Andie” Frankie says in a joking voice, making Andie to get slightly embarrassed as everyone chuckles.

Conrad walks in from work to be instantly surprised as he finds both Jasmine and Harry laughing together while they play each other on a game on the WII console. “This is a nice surprise” Conrad remarks, sitting down on the sofa and watching them play together. “Well today I’ve learnt that I’m absolutely terrible at Mario Kart” Jasmine says in a light hearted tone, holding the WII steering wheel in her hands as she attempts to drive. “I thought she was lying when she said she was bad, but wow she really is terrible!” Harry giggles, causing Conrad to smile genuinely at them both. “I was thinking about just phoning a takeaway, I haven’t got the energy to cook after a day trying to drive on a WII” Jasmine remarks in a joking tone, as Conrad laughs and nods in agreement. Jasmine pauses the game and gets up to go and get the takeout menus, while Conrad smiles at Harry and then follows her in. “I must say I didn’t expect to find you like this” Conrad remarks still surprised as Jasmine laughs. “He’s a lovely boy Conrad, just like his dad” Jasmine informs him, placing her hand on Conrad’s cheek and stroking it. “Thank you for trying” Conrad whispers genuinely, causing Jasmine to smile and kiss him passionately. “Right come on, I want my fish and chips!” Jasmine sniggers, walking back to the living room hand in hand with Conrad. It cuts to Christine entering her house and walking into the kitchen to find both Amelia and Ryan cooking her dinner. “How did it go then?” Ryan asks, smiling at her while he stirs the pot. “It went well I guess, she’s considering coming” Christine tells him, much to Ryan’s surprise. “I’m glad” Ryan remarks, while Amelia hands Christine a sheet of paper with meals written on it. “What is this?” Christine asks confused, reading it while Amelia rolls her eyes at her. “A menu for the reception of course, I’ve decided it’s going to be held at my restaurant, make it a true family event” Amelia suggests to Christine, who smiles at her before asking Ryan what he thinks. “I like the idea, keeping it in the family and the place is pretty big too” Ryan tells her his thoughts, making Christine agree to the idea. “I’m just a bag of fantastic ideas me” Amelia says in a joking tone, flipping her hair to one side as Christine and Ryan both laugh.

Luisa is sitting on Rose’s old bed in Rose’s bedroom, staring blankly into space as she tries to take her mind off of Peter. Mark slowly opens the door and looks at her sympathetically, shutting the door behind him and then sitting down next to her on the bed. “I come in here sometimes to think, I feel like she’s here with me, giving her brilliant advice as always” Luisa admits to Mark, who puts his arm around her supportively. “She did didn’t she” Mark smiles, referring to Rose’s advice. “I messed up so much with her didn’t I? The affair tore this family apart and it took so long to repair, if I hadn’t been so stupid I would have had longer with my daughter actually loving me” Luisa mutters to herself, clearly getting upset while Mark shakes his head and kisses her forehead softly. “Stop beating yourself up about it” Mark whispers genuinely, causing Luisa to nod slowly. “I still really miss her, there’s just this massive hole in my life since she died” Luisa continues to reminisce, while Mark continues to listen to her. “I don’t think you ever move on, she’s still always going to be a massive part of our life” Mark tells her, as Luisa shuts her eyes while a tear effortlessly falls down her cheeks. “I seen this thing on the television the other day, a woman had lost her son to cancer and she was pleading for people to donate to the charity, it broke my heart honestly. Then it reminded me of every single thing I went through that day she died…from finding her to standing by her bedside when she was dead. All the emotions, because you never really do forget about it. You may think you’re getting better…but it always comes back ten times worse and when it does, you realise that... you’re still a parent…even though you don’t get to have your child anymore!” Luisa breaks down into tears in Mark’s arms, while he tries to hold back his own as he attempts to comfort her. The episode comes to an end here, with the final shot being a photo of Rose sat on the bedside, with Luisa’s cries heard in the background.

Cast List (23 Regulars, 0 Recurring, 3 Guests)–

It’s early morning and Tara is sitting on a barstool Alfie’s flat at the kitchen counter while he stands making himself a bowel of cereal. “Sorry for coming over so early, I just needed out of the flat for a while, mum is driving me crazy!” Tara laughs embarrassingly, while Alfie tells her it’s no bother. “The whole DNA thing got to her a bit, she was a bit miffed at how Karl can’t just believe me” Tara continues, as Alfie stands at the counter eating his cereal and listening intently. “You can’t blame him for wanting some sort of confirmation though, I mean he must be going through such a stressful time” Alfie replies, causing Tara to nod in complete agreement with him. “How about your life? Spoke to Jessica recently?” Tara smirks, raising her eyebrow at him as he looks at her confused. “What do you mean by that?” Alfie questions confused, while Tara rolls her eyes and continues to smirk at him. “Come on, we both know that chemistry just oozes out of you two” Tara remarks, causing Alfie to begin to stand awkwardly. “Not if her sister has anything to do with it…anyway, I’m done with women now” Alfie informs Tara, causing her to laugh. “You done with women? That wouldn’t even happen in a parallel universe” Tara remarks sarcastically, as Alfie finishes his cereal and puts the bowl into the sink. “I am, there’s just something up with me. Every time I get with someone I grow so attached to them” Alfie admits to her, much to Tara’s surprise. “You don’t need Jessica, she clearly can’t see how much of a good guy you are” Tara tells him genuinely, however Alfie shakes his head at her. “I’m hardly a good guy Tara, trust me” Alfie remarks, causing Tara to heavily sigh. “Not a lot of people see you like I do, you should try and soften up more with other people” Tara suggests to him, however Alfie doesn’t look entirely convinced. “I’ve burned too many bridges for them to be built again, there’s people that won’t be the same with me ever again” Alfie tells her in a truthful tone, as Tara smiles faintly at him before looking down at a text from Karl on her phone, which informs her the test results have arrived. “I better go, it’s the moment of truth” Tara remarks in a sarcastic tone, getting up and walking out as Alfie smiles genuinely at her, before sighing to himself when she leaves.

Andrea is standing in the kitchen buttering toast when Keith walks into the room in his police uniform, looking confused at her when he sees her. “Want some before you go?” Andrea asks politely, forcing a massive smile on her face. “I’m fine thanks…” Keith tells her, looking at her slightly suspiciously. “I’ve got my AA meeting later so I wanted to get up early and do some stuff around the house” Andrea informs him, eating a slice of toast while Keith continues to look at her confused. “Are you…okay?” Keith asks baffled, while Andrea laughs and nods. “I’ve decided I should try and get myself help again, I shouldn’t have put this family through the stress of my drinking” Andrea convincingly tells him, while Keith begins to believe her. “I admit I was harsh, I know why you done it…I only did it because I love you and I hate seeing you in that state” Keith tells her, apologizing for his actions when Andrea goes towards him. “It all just got too much for me, I know I should have spoken to someone else about it instead of turning to the drink again but I’m so used to caring for my children’s problems I forget how to open up about my own” Andrea explains to Keith, who slowly nods at her accepting her reasoning. “You need to promise me Andrea that you are going to that meeting today, please?” Keith says, still slightly worried about her while Andrea nods quickly at him. “Go on, you’ll be late for work” Andrea insists, pushing him gently out the door. Once he leaves the room, Andrea stands there with her arms folded and heavily sighing to herself, as it becomes apparent much of her actions in the past few moments weren’t genuine. Luisa is standing peering out at Digital Lane from her living room window with a mug of tea in her hand, clearly concerned about the car she seen last week. “Lynette wanted to come over later to see how we were but I just told her to focus on her promotion and not to worry” Mark informs Luisa, having just came off the phone to her. “Rightly so, she deserves every bit of success” Luisa says, clearly a bit distant while she continues to stare out the window. “I was thinking we could go to Minerva or something tonight? We haven’t been out properly really since…” Mark tells her, but not being able to finish his sentence. “That’s a lovely idea” Luisa forces a smile, causing Mark to be relieved. Luisa then goes back to peering out the curtains, however Mark is too happy to notice her actions.

Jasmine is sitting at her dresser applying her makeup as ‘Fame’ by Irene Cara plays on the radio next to her. Conrad comes in after having a shower and goes to the wardrobe to pick out his suit, when Jasmine jumps up and begins to sing along. “Fame! I’m gonna live forever! I’m going to learn how to fly, high!” Jasmine sings causing Conrad to laugh as he lays out his suit on the bed. “Surely you remember that one? We were about, what? Eight or something?” Jasmine reminisces, as Conrad slowly nods at her. “The eighties were the best, the music was so better than the trash nowadays” Conrad replies, drying his hair with his towel before beginning to put his suit on. “Can you turn that down? I was enjoying my sleep” Harry appears at the doorway moaning, causing Jasmine to giggle as she goes to turn the volume down. “Well actually you need to get ready as well, we’re going to meet the head teacher of the school today to see if we can get you a place” Conrad informs a horrified Harry, who’s eyes widen and jaw begins to drop. “God it’s like he’s never heard of school before” Jasmine remarks, folding her arms as Harry gulps. “Can’t I just go back to my old one? I had a lot of friends there” Harry pleads, however Conrad looks at him with sympathy. “It’s way too far away to travel too everyday, it’ll be fine. You’ll make new friends in no time” Conrad tells him convincingly, however he isn’t keen on the idea as he rushes out the room. “He’ll come round” Jasmine tells Conrad, walking over to him and fixing his collar and then beginning to do his tie. “I hope so, I wish I could take him to his old school but it just isn’t practical” Conrad sighs to himself, while Jasmine faintly smiles at him. “You can’t be the perfect dad, sometimes you have to make decisions that benefit yourself” Jasmine informs him, before leaning in and kissing him passionately. “Hopefully by the time this one reaches his age I’ll be used to it by then and will be the perfect dad” Conrad smiles genuinely, looking down at Jasmine’s baby bump causing her to grin at him before kissing him again with passion.

Wendy is standing behind the counter in Jack’s café when Susan walks into the café in her gym outfit, causing Wendy to raise her eyebrow and try to stop herself from laughing. “Not like you to try and be healthy” Wendy sarcastically states, causing Susan to roll her eyes at her while she gets a bottle of water from the fridges. “I’m going to go and get a membership at Planet Fitness, I’ve heard there’s a wedding coming up soon and I want a great figure” Susan informs her, before putting down the water bottle and paying for it. “You are aware that you’re not the bride to be” Wendy jokingly says, causing Susan to roll her eyes once more. “It doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the eye candy, try and find some potential candidates” Susan tells her, as Wendy chuckles as she hands her the change. “And hold on, you’re getting a membership at your ex-fiancée’s gym?” Wendy asks her abruptly, while Susan flips her hair to one side. “Well he’s going to have to deal with it, no doubt he’ll watch me work out…who wouldn’t?” Susan smirks, before walking out the café as Wendy stands smiling to herself at the counter. Amelia is in the upstairs area of the new restaurant building, where she is standing with a decorator trying to make decisions on how to decorate the place. “How about a hot pink splashed all over the wall?” Amelia suggests, while the decorator makes an odd facial expression at her. “Maybe then some nice blue floorboards” Amelia continues to suggest, causing the decorators eyes to go wide with shock. “How about me and my guys decorate the place and leave it as a surprise for you?” The decorator smiles at her, as Amelia grins at him. “That’d be lovely, hopefully at no extra cost” Amelia raises her eyebrow, making the decorator shake his head as he begins writing down something on his pad. Christine comes up the spiral staircase with a builder’s helmet on, looking impressed as she enters the upper restaurant area. “They seem to be getting faster and faster by the day down there, the floors are almost down” Christine says enthusiastically, as Amelia flips her hair with confidence. “I’ll need to thank Alex again for getting me in touch with them, it’s been a godsend” Amelia states, while Christine admires the unfurnished upstairs area. “Seems ideal to host a wedding reception” Christine smirks, causing Amelia to jump excitedly and hug her sister tightly. “It’s going to be perfect, I’m telling you” Amelia states happily, while Christine continues to smile.

Tara and Vanessa are both walking along Digital Lane, heading towards Karl’s house to receive the DNA test results. “I have no idea why, but I’m so nervous” Tara admits worriedly, as Vanessa smiles at her faintly and puts her arm around her. “It’ll be fine, this is just so Karl has some sort of piece of mind, but he already believes you anyway” Vanessa informs her in a convincing voice, as Tara nods slowly at her. “Well we better get a move on and get inside” Tara says in a more upbeat way, inserting her key into the door and unlocking it, entering the house and being followed by Vanessa. It cuts to Karl sitting at the dining table staring blankly at the envelope, flinching slightly when Tara and Vanessa enter loudly. “I thought you would have opened it by now” Tara states, taking her coat off and sitting down as Vanessa stands at the doorway biting her lip. “I wanted to wait for you both to come before I done it” Karl tells her, as Vanessa begins breathing heavily as she sits herself down. “I get so nervous at these things” Vanessa says, slightly stressing out more than both Tara and Karl. Karl takes a deep breath, before beginning to open the envelope as Tara stares down at the table and Vanessa watches anxiously. Karl begins reading the letter in silence, as there is a clearly nervous atmosphere all around the room. “Just confirmed what we already knew” Karl states with a massive smile on his face, placing the letter in front of Tara as it confirms she is his daughter. Tara leaps for joy and hugs her father tightly, as Vanessa sits there smiling massively at them both. “All that for a lousy bit of paper” Vanessa remarks, standing up and going to get herself a glass of water. “Piece of mind, for me and Elaine” Karl tells her, while he and Tara both re-read the letter happily. “Oh and she’s planning on coming back is she?” Vanessa replies with a raised eyebrow, staring out the window. “Quite frankly it’s none of your business” Karl replies, slightly annoyed with her however Tara quickly interrupts and stops the bickering. “Guys please, can we not just have a moment?” Tara smiles, causing both Vanessa and Karl to stop their bickering and smile again.

Susan struts through the automatic doors of Planet Fitness and approaches the front desk, where no one is standing. “Great customer service this is” Susan remarks rudely to Daniel and Joe coming down the stairs together. “Can you deal with this? I’ve got to make a phone call” Joe asks Daniel, but not waiting on the answer as he heads outside. Susan forces a massive sarcastic smile at him as he rolls his eyes and sighs, going behind the desk and logging onto the computer. “What do you want then?” Daniel questions her abruptly, while Susan looks around the reception area. “Nice way to speak to one of your customers” Susan remarks sarcastically, as Daniel huffs to himself. “Susan I don’t have time for your silly games” Daniel mutters to himself, as Susan puts her hands on her hips. “I’m here to get a membership to the gym, not that I need to get in shape or anything” Susan says in a confident voice, causing Daniel’s eyes to open wider as he begins to organise her a membership. “You’ve made the right move, it looks like you’ve put on a few pounds” Daniel venomously tells her, causing Susan to look at him horrifyingly. “You weren’t complaining about my weight when we were together” Susan tells him with a smirk on her face while Daniel prints out a form. “I didn’t really take notice, all I was interested in was getting money and then getting out. The rest was just an inconvenience” Daniel sneers at her, as Susan rolls her eyes. “I hope you’re proud of your reputation” Susan says annoyed, turning on her heels and going over to the seating area to fill out the form as Daniel shakes his head with confusion and gets back to working on the computer. Andrea is puffing up the pillows on the sofa when Finn walks in, looking at her oddly. “Me and Gracie are just going to meet everyone at Minerva, we won’t be out late though” Finn informs her after a moment of silence, as Andrea turns around and smiles at him. “Right, I’m just about to head off to my AA meeting I wanted the place to be nice for your dad coming home” Andrea forces a smile to hide her inner stress, as Finn nods slowly at her and heads out with Gracie. She shuts her eyes and breathes a heavy sigh, rubbing her forehead stressfully as she looks up at the clock, trying to prepare herself to go back to the AA meetings.

Andie walks down the stairs of the flat close, bumping into Jennifer as she also exits her apartment on the bottom floor. Andie tries to walk by her, however Jennifer instantly begins a conversation. “You’re looking well, after the hit and run” Jennifer implies, while Andie breathes a heavy sigh. “Thank you…I better get off” Andie tries to get away again, however Jennifer speaks up again. “Do the police have any idea who done it yet? Any names been mentioned?” Jennifer asks, folding her arms as she does so. “No new information apart from Gracie making me realise the car was actually for her, the stress got to me so much I completely forgot what happened really” Andie admits, beginning to actually confide in her. “Gracie? How would it have been for Gracie if it was you that got ran over?” Jennifer attempts to throw her off the scent, however Andie shakes her head at her. “I pushed her out the way before it hit her, there was enough time for me to run but for some reason I couldn’t…it was like I was frozen” Andie tells Jennifer, who pretends to act sympathetic towards her to get more information. “If you need someone to talk too, I’m just downstairs” Jennifer smiles faintly, as Dean comes down the stairs, looking at them both oddly. “Maybe you aren’t as bad as I first thought” Andie smiles genuinely at her, before walking out the close with Dean as Jennifer smirks to herself, before looking confused as she looks at a text on her phone. Her eyes widen with shock and she rushes out of the close, clearly panicking about something. Luisa and Mark are both walking down the business district together hand in hand, as people continue to sympathetically smile at them. “I hate those smiles, it seems so fake…like why do it” Luisa says, clearly frustrated at something else as Mark raises his eyebrow. “It’s nice for them to acknowledge us, it wouldn’t be a great feeling if they just ignored us would it?” Mark replies, causing Luisa to sigh and place her head on his shoulder while they continue to walk down the business district. “Are you okay about this? You seem a bit…” Mark says, before being interrupted by her. “I’m fine, I just haven’t been out in a while that’s all” Luisa tells him, as they walk into Minerva.

Tara, Karl and Vanessa are all sitting in the living room when Tara stands up and puts her coat on. “Where are you off too?” Karl asks, as Tara flips her hair back once her coat is on. “I’m going to meet everyone at Minerva for a short while, I’ll be back soon don’t get all overprotective dad on me” Tara jokingly replies, as Karl tells her to have fun while she walks out. There is an awkward atmosphere as Vanessa looks away down at the ground. “I must admit, you’ve really raised her well” Karl says, as Vanessa smile at him, slightly surprised by the compliment. “I tried to make her nothing like me, I told her not to make my mistakes but how much of that got into her head remains to be seen” Vanessa admits, brushing her hair back while laughing a little. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? I wouldn’t have kicked off Vanessa, I would have wanted to help you out all that I could” Karl tells her in a genuine way, as Vanessa bites her lip and looks at him worriedly. “I was Karl, I was ready to tell you…I was standing outside your apartment when you and Elaine came out of it, all loved up and happy. I didn’t want to ruin it, as much of a bitch you may think I am I couldn’t destroy it” Vanessa explains to him in a honest tone, as Karl looks at her with surprise. “Me and Elaine only settled down properly about four years ago, we were on and off for a number of years before that, double figures I think, it took me a while to get used to being a dad to Oliver who knew I wasn’t, but we are, well were, happy” Karl replies, as Vanessa slowly nods at him. “I decided to relocate to Paris and I’m still living there now, Tara wanted to come over for more work opportunities but the business she was with ended up ditching her!” Vanessa replies, causing Karl to fold his arms. “Do you want a wine or something? It’s been a long day” Karl suggests, making Vanessa smile at him and raise her eyebrow. “Don’t mind if I do” Vanessa smirks, as they both leave the room to go to the kitchen.

At Minerva, Geraldine is standing behind the bar with Jasmine, as they discuss the recent events with Conrad and his son. “What are you going to do now? Just leave it at that?” Geraldine questions her, while folding her arms and raising her eyebrow at her. “Well what can I do? He’s got a son and now he’s living with me, I love him mum and if this is what it takes then so be it” Jasmine tells her in a stern voice, causing Geraldine to sigh. “I didn’t really think he was right for you at first…and now he’s just ruined any improvement he made. I accept that he’s your choice and I’ll be happy for you” Geraldine tells her in a supportive way, causing Jasmine to weakly smile at her. “Speaking of the devil” Jasmine jokingly says as Conrad comes in and heads towards the bar“ I thought I felt my ears burning” Conrad jokes, as Jasmine comes out from behind the bar. “I’ll come in tomorrow if I have time” Jasmine calls out to Geraldine as they leave the bar, causing her to faintly smile to herself. Rachel comes through from the toilets holding a mop and bucket while Mark comes over to the bar to order a drink. “That’s the toilets gleaming, is there anything else I can do?” Rachel tells Geraldine enthusiastically, as she looks at her with a sympathetic facial expression. “No dear, you get yourself off early, you deserve it after a long day in the café and then in here” Geraldine smiles weakly at her, as Rachel asks if she’s sure. “Of course I am, you need a well earned rest” Geraldine tells her, causing Rachel to thank her as she collects her coat from the back. “Poor thing, she’s been working her backside off to get money to support her family during Janice’s treatment” Geraldine tells Mark, who nods with a sympathetic look on his face. “It’s been a tough couple of months for a lot of people” Mark replies, as Geraldine nods in agreement while handing him two drinks for himself and Luisa. Mark goes to hand her the money for the drinks, however she informs him they’re on the house causing Mark to thank her and smile, before walking back over to Luisa who is clearly looking anxious. “This is nice isn’t it? It feels like ages since we’ve been out of the house together properly” Mark tells Luisa, who forces a faint smile and nods at him. “Can we just have one drink and then go? I’m not really up to it tonight” Luisa sighs, brushing her hair back anxiously as Mark slowly nods at her, looking at her suspiciously.

The camera moves over to the younger group, where Finn, Gracie, Frankie, Aaron, Dean, Andie and Tara are all sitting in a circle around a table. “So I was speaking to Jennifer in the close, surprisingly she was really nice to me…I think we may have misjudged her a little if I’m honest” Andie admits, sipping on a glass of orange juice while Finn and Gracie look at her horrified. “Andie, were you not there during my argument with her in Venom? She’s nothing but a vile, cold hearted bitch” Gracie snaps at her, clearly looking uneasy as she brushes her hair back stressfully. “Gracie calm down, don’t let her get to you like this” Finn says, putting his arm around Gracie to comfort her. “Gracie you look exhausted, are you sure you want to be here?” Frankie asks her worriedly, while Aaron and Tara both just stare at her. “I’m fine! Just leave me alone!” Gracie shrieks at them all, standing up and storming out as the whole of Minerva all stare at her. “Go after her!” Frankie shouts at Finn, who hesitates before getting up and rushing out after her. The screen cuts to Jennifer walking along a recognizable dark alleyway, last seen on the night of the hit and run. She turns the corner and walks towards one of the allotments, taking an envelope with a key inside out and opening the garage door discreetly; looking over her shoulder to make sure no one is there. She opens it enough her herself to get inside, before looking horrified as the car is parked inside. She shakes her head in disbelief, rubbing her forehead stressfully as she tries to think of what to do. She rushes back outside and scowls as she looks around, before sighing and shutting the garage door again. The camera focuses on her annoyed face, before cutting to the next scene. Andrea is standing outside of the community centre somewhere in Wolverhampton, standing outside as she tries to be brave enough to go inside. She puts her head against the wall and bites her lip tightly. She turns around and leans her back against the wall, folding her arms and breathing heavily as she is clearly anxious about the meeting. She stands there for a moment, before turning on her heels and heading down the street, heading away from the AA meeting.

Cast List (23 Regulars, 1 Recurring, 1 Guest)–

Jasmine is standing at the bottom on the staircase calling Harry’s name, telling him that he’ll be late for school if he doesn’t get a move on. “No luck yet?” Conrad says in a cheerful tone, smiling while he stands at the doorway of the kitchen. “If this is what motherhood is like then can I rip up the contract I signed” Jasmine sarcastically remarks, before shouting Harry’s name again. “It’s his first day at this new school, he can’t be late for it” Jasmine strictly tells Conrad, who nods at her in agreement. “Leave it to me, I’ll get him out of that bed” Conrad replies in a joking way, walking up the staircase while Jasmine breathes a sigh of relief to herself. Jasmine walks into the kitchen and picks up her mobile, to find a text from Elaine. The camera moves round to show the content of the text, which bluntly says ‘I forgive you’. Jasmine looks shocked at first, and then confused as she desperately tries to phone her, however it goes straight to voicemail. Conrad and Harry come into the kitchen, with Harry standing in his school uniform with a faint smile on his face. “Turns out he was just getting some extra time on his PlayStation!” Conrad grins, rustling Harry’s hair gently as Jasmine forces herself to pretend nothing has happened. Conrad and Harry are both about to head out, however Jasmine holds Conrad back and makes a facial expression at him to show she wants to speak to him. “You get your schoolbag and get into the car, I’ll be out in a second” Conrad says to Harry, who nods and walks out while Jasmine turns away and puts her head down. “What’s wrong? You were fine a minute ago” Conrad looks at her with confusion, while Jasmine heavily sighs to herself, turning around to face him while brushing her hair back stressfully. “It’s Elaine…she sent me this about ten minutes ago” Jasmine informs him, handing him her mobile phone and folding her arms. “Have you tried to call her? Is this all she said?” Conrad questions her after looking at it, while Jasmine nods her head in reply to both questions. “I tried but it went straight to voicemail…do you think I should tell Karl?” Jasmine asks him, causing him to go silent. “It’s up to you…but if she doesn’t plan on coming back right now then it’s best you leave it for now, at least until you have more than one text” Conrad tells her, handing her the phone back and then kissing her on the cheek, before walking out as Jasmine heavily sighs to herself, tapping her phone against her cheek while she thinks about what to do.

Janice comes down the stairs in her housecoat, looking clearly tired as she enters the kitchen. She glances over at the calendar on the wall next to the fridge, showing her next chemotherapy appointment dated for next Monday. She heavily sighs to herself, looking down as she walks over to the sink and gets herself a glass of water. Rachel enters the room in her uniform for her cleaning job at Minerva, causing Janice to look at her with sympathy. “You don’t need to do all of this, all the stress you’re putting yourself through by trying to sustain two jobs” Janice insists to her; however she shakes her head in compete disagreement. “It’s the only thing keeping us afloat, have you seen the bills for this month alone?” Rachel replies sternly, while Janice bites her lip worriedly, seeing the stress Rachel is under. “I’m going to go in a bit early, I’ve got a long shift at the café later too” Rachel tells her, putting her coat on over her uniform as Janice looks down at the ground. “I’ll have a tidy up around here today I think, it’s all gotten on top of me” Janice informs her, causing Rachel to look concerned. “Don’t push yourself too hard, you’ve got to rest” Rachel warns, before heading out for work. “That’s all I have done” Janice mutters to herself, clearly annoyed with how little she can do to help out with the money issues. At Jack’s Café, Wendy, Aaron and Frankie are all sitting in the café before opening. “This is such a nice place, uncle Jack would be so proud of how well you’ve dealt with everything” Aaron informs Wendy kindly, as she stands behind the counter filling in the takings for yesterday. “It was hard, believe me…but I thought this place would be a nice tribute to him” Wendy explains further, while Aaron slowly nods as he listens. Frankie sits in silence, looking down at the table clearly quite upset about the discussion. “Are you alright? You look upset” Aaron asks concerned, while Frankie lifts her head up and nods at him. “I’m fine…it’s just talking about him, it can get to me at times…” Frankie sighs, trying to stop herself from crying as she dries the unshed tears in her eyes. Aaron faintly smiles at her, placing his hand on her shoulder supportively. “Anyway, what are you going to do now with your new found freedom?” Frankie asks him in a more cheerful way, as Aaron leans back in his seat. “Well the Halloween party tonight at Venom could be a start” Aaron replies, causing her smile to become bigger and happier.

Jessica is standing with her arms folded watching Alfie and Jennifer hanging up the Halloween decorations for the party, as Lewis sits on a barstool on his phone. “Move the pumpkin a bit more to the left, it’s totally out of place there” Jessica moans, causing both Alfie and Jennifer to roll their eyes. “Jessica we’ve been up here for the past half an hour doing this, just pick somewhere” Alfie hits back at her, causing Jessica to glare at him. “I’ve got somewhere to be as well” Jennifer adds on. “Fine, leave it there but don’t complain if someone sees it’s out of place” Jessica loses it, storming off into the office, while Jennifer and Alfie both get off the ladders at either side of the bar. “Is she actually mentally stable?” Lewis remarks, lifting his head up from his phone. “Shut up and do some work” Alfie sneers, walking into the office as Lewis puts his phone into his pocket and stands up. “Do you want to go home? I can cover for you here” Alfie suggests to Jessica, who is clearly stressed out. “I don’t need anything from you” Jessica angrily says, sitting on her laptop at her desk while Alfie looks at her confused. “Stop biting my head off at every opportunity, I’m only trying to help you” Alfie insists, while Jessica slams her laptop shut and glares at him. “I don’t believe a single word that comes out of that mouth” Jessica sneers at him, causing him to roll his eyes and sit back down at his desk across from hers. “You’re going to have to stop being like this at some point, you know that you can’t stay annoyed with me forever” Alfie remarks, opening up his laptop and logging on. “Watch me” Jessica says, smirking at him as the door opens and Abby walks in, raising her eyebrow at Alfie before turning her attentions to Jessica. “Is there anything I can do for this party tonight? I’m bored out of my nut at home and it seems no one wants to employ a girl with eight fingers” Abby sarcastically remarks, causing Jessica to giggle to herself. “Hold on, there’s some flyers I could do with getting handed out” Jessica tells her, standing up and walking out of the office to get them, leaving Alfie and Abby alone. “I hope you remember what I said” Abby remarks to him, while he looks up from his laptop. “You’re in luck because she’s hardly interested anyway” Alfie replies to her, causing Abby to have a suspicious look on her face.

Andrea is standing frozen in the kitchen, staring emotionlessly out the window while Keith comes into the room, noticing the way she is acting. “How was your AA meeting then?” Keith says, causing Andrea to suddenly come out of her trance and turn around to face him. “It was good, I’m feeling a lot better about it already” Andrea quickly lies, however Keith accepts it as the truth. “I’m glad to hear it…I know it isn’t really my place, but don’t you think it’s about time we got your dad settled back at home?” Keith asks in a polite manner, while Andrea breathes a heavy sigh. “I want to wait until he’s ready, I’m not going to push him out especially at a time like this” Andrea informs Keith in a stern voice, as he nods at her in agreement. “Was just a thought” Keith replies after being completely shot down about the idea. “I’ll speak to him about it once I give this house a good clear-out” Andrea informs Keith, kissing him on the cheek as he heads out to work. Andrea then folds her arms and sighs to herself, trying to resist temptation before being distracted as Lawrence walks in. “How are you feeling dad?” Andrea forces a smile at him, as Lawrence faintly smiles back. “I think the question here is how are you?” Lawrence replies, raising his eyebrow at her with suspicion while Andrea looks away awkwardly. Amelia is standing in the kitchen carving into a pumpkin, making a complete mess of it when Christine walks in and looks at her oddly. “Not exactly the best face on a pumpkin I’ve seen” Christine remarks to her, while Amelia rolls her eyes at her. “It’s an Amelia original, it’s priceless” Amelia remarks in a joking tone, flipping her hair while she continues to carve the pumpkin. “Shouldn’t you be at the restaurant or something? You’ve still got a lot to do!” Christine insists while she collects clothes from the washing machine and piles them up on the counter. “I’ve got the decorators in to do it all for me, why do it myself when I can get someone to do it for me?” Amelia smiles, causing Christine to give her a disapproving look. “I’ll need to go and see Ella today, her mum seems to be having a rough time at the moment” Amelia continues to speak, while Christine goes into the cupboard to find sweets. “Yeah…we haven’t actually got any sweets to hand out tonight” Christine admits to a shocked Amelia, who goes into a panic, grabbing Christine’s car keys and rushing out the door. “There’s not enough...petrol!” Christine shouts, but it’s too late as Amelia has already rushed out.

A black cab parks up outside of the flats, with the driver pressing on his horn as Vanessa and Tara come out of the flats together with Vanessa pulling along a suitcase behind her. “Are you sure you can’t stay a bit longer?” Tara asks her, as the taxi driver takes Vanessa’s suitcase and puts it into the back of the taxi. “I’ve got to get back to work, I took all of my sick days just to be here!” Vanessa informs her, as Tara sighs and slowly nods at her. “Come on, don’t be like that, you’ve got your dad here…your friends, a man you probably didn’t tell me about, you’ve made a life for yourself here” Vanessa tells her, placing her hands on Tara’s shoulder supportively causing her to smile at her genuinely. They both hug each other tightly, while the taxi driver remarks that she’ll be late for her flight. “Alright, alright I’m coming” Vanessa says, opening the door to the taxi and then hugging Tara once more. “Look after your dad…he’s a bit of a broken man without Elaine around” Vanessa informs Tara, before climbing into the taxi and plumping down on the seat, putting her seatbelt on and the taxi drives off, leaving Tara standing alone on the pavement sighing to herself, brushing her hair back stressfully before beginning to walk to Digital Lane. Luisa is sitting on the floor with a cardboard in front of her in Rose’s old bedroom, packing away a few books and other items which are in the drawers. Footsteps are heard coming along the hallway causing Luisa to lift her head up and look confused, looking at the door to see Lynette appear in a white blouse and black formal trousers for work. “The front door was open” Lynette says, explaining how she got in. “Shouldn’t you be at work? Mark is just at the store” Luisa replies, looking confused as she gets up off the floor. “I’m on my lunch break so I thought I’d just pop by…” Lynette tells her, looking around the bedroom and then looking down at the cardboard box, as Luisa notices this. “I thought I should do a bit more cleaning…I found a lot of her old storybooks from when she was a child” Luisa explains, laughing a little at the end of her sentence. “Do you want some help? I don’t need to be back at the hospital for another hour or so” Lynette says, coming into the bedroom fully causing Luisa to smile at her kind gesture and nod in reply.

Abby is walking down the business district handing out flyers for the Halloween party, before standing frozen and scowling as she sees Hector coming out of the salon and walking in the opposite direction. She walks towards the bin on the pavement and ditches the rest of the flyers in them, before walking towards the salon and going inside. “What did he want?” Abby questions Maria, clearly referring to Hector while Maria stands behind the counter on the computer. “He’s the owner of this business Abby, isn’t that pretty self explanatory?” Maria replies sarcastically, causing Abby to roll her eyes at her. “I hope he’s acting like he is, it’s not fair on you for all the hours you’ve put into this place for him to take half of the profit” Abby tells Maria, who stops typing on the computer and looks down. “What can I do? The man bought this place for me I can’t complain” Maria tells her abruptly, causing Abby to heavily sigh. “I’ll have a word later, I’m not going to let him treat you like dirt” Abby sternly says, causing Maria to look on worriedly as Abby struts out of the salon, slamming the door shut behind her as a few of the employees turn around and look suspicious. Jasmine is walking along Digital Lane with Harry having picked him up from school, as he looks more positive about it. “I would have took the car but I can barely fit behind the wheel with this bump now!” Jasmine apologises while Harry informs her that it’s fine. They continue walking along the street, before Karl comes round the corner and notices them, waving with a faint smile on his face. Jasmine tells Harry to go inside, handing him the house keys before walking across the street to talk to Karl. “I’m guessing that’s Conrad’s son then? I heard” Karl says, while Jasmine smiles and nods in reply. “He’s a lovely boy, it’s just a shame his mother isn’t in a great place right now” Jasmine replies, as they both stand looking at Harry going inside. “And how are you anyway?” Jasmine asks, looking at him concerned as she can see he hasn’t shaved properly in a while. “I’m alright, just waiting by the phone for Elaine to call or at least text” Karl replies, sighing a little while Jasmine brushes her hair back and looks away. “Look, Conrad said I should wait until I know more but Elaine text me this morning, saying she forgives me” Jasmine admits truthfully to him, causing Karl to look at her confused. “Is that all she said? Did you try to phone her?” Karl questions her anxiously, causing Jasmine to nod her head at him reply. “It went straight to voicemail” Jasmine says, placing her hand on Karl’s shoulder supportively as she can see he is getting upset.

Tara is standing in her bedroom dressed up as a cat for Halloween, with whiskers applied with eyeliner on her face and a fully black outfit and a tail behind her. She giggles at herself before going to open the door, to find Alfie standing there looking at her with a smirk on his face. “Don’t! It’s Halloween alright” Tara says, letting him inside her flat as he tries to hide his smile. “So you’re coming tonight? To the party?” Alfie asks, but already knowing the answer. “Everyone is, and I used to love dressing up so why not?” Tara smiles, picking up her phone from the table and putting it into her handbag. “You look great” Alfie flirts, causing Tara to roll her eyes sarcastically at him. “What are you going as? Don’t tell me the club owner isn’t dressing up!” Tara looks at him shocked but in a joking way. “It isn’t really my kind of thing” Alfie tells her, however Tara doesn’t accept it. “Come on, we’ll get you something to wear from Dean’s” Tara insists, however Alfie shakes his head reluctantly. “It’s not like I’d be missed anyway, like everyone hates me here” Alfie tells her, causing Tara to look at him sympathetically. “Maybe instead of hiding away you should try and make amends with people, believe me they will want to listen” Tara advises in a convincing voice, as Alfie raises his eyebrow when he comes up with a thought. “Maybe” Alfie mutters to himself, while Tara walks out of the flat as Alfie standing with a thoughtful look on face, before following her out. “Come on, get your coats we’re not staying in tonight” Keith says to Andrea and Lawrence who are both sitting down on the sofa. “What are you talking about?” Andrea asks him confused, while Keith bangs the palms of his hands together. “Lewis and Finn are going out to the party tonight and I can’t be bothered with the doorbell going all night with trick or treaters” Keith insists, causing both Andrea and Lawrence to laugh. “Oh go on then” Lawrence says, standing up and walking to get his coat from the hallway as Andrea looks at Keith with a smile on her face. “Where do you plan on going?” Andrea questions him, with her arms folded as she gets up. “Let’s just see where the car takes us” Keith answers, kissing her on the cheek before she walks out to get her coat.

Amelia puts her pumpkin outside the front door, looking on excitedly as she sees trick or treaters all over Digital Lane. “They’re out in full force here, back at home it was dying out, we’d only get a few!” Amelia informs Christine as she shuts the door again. “What about our neighbours? They’d always make that poor girl wear that same pumpkin outfit every year just so they could eat all of her sweets!” Christine asks, reminiscing about the past while Amelia comes into the kitchen and sits down on the chair at the table. “No they finally bought her another costume, not much better though…some witch outfit without a hat” Amelia tells her, causing Christine to laugh while Ryan comes into the room. “I thought you’d be first out there to get all the children’s sweets” Ryan remarks to Amelia, who raises her eyebrow at him and laughs a little discreetly. Out on Digital Lane, Jasmine, Conrad and Harry are walking along the street as Harry is in a skeleton costume trick or treating. “Harry you go up with those kids to Stephanie’s door, we’ll wait here” Jasmine tells him, causing him to nod and rush up the pathway. “Okay what’s wrong? You’ve been acting odd ever since I got home from work” Conrad questions her abruptly, as she looks over at the Gibson house which doesn’t have any lights on inside. “I told him, about the text from Elaine…I don’t think he took it that well” Jasmine worriedly says, causing Conrad to shake his head and rub his forehead stressfully. “Obviously he wasn’t, all sort of things are probably running through his head right now” Conrad says, causing Jasmine bite her lip nervously. “I couldn’t keep it from him, I mean maybe because she’s forgiven me she might be more positive about it now, she could be pulling up in a black cab anyday now” Jasmine tells Conrad, who rolls his eyes at her. “You shouldn’t have told him Jasmine, we have no idea what Elaine is feeling right now, even if she will be back” Conrad tells her in an angry tone, as Harry comes down the pathway happily having got sweets from Stephanie’s. “Come on, let’s go Wendy next” Conrad tells him, turning around and heading in the opposite direction as Jasmine stands sighing to herself, brushing her hair back stressfully before following them down the street.

At Venom, the Halloween party is in full swing as there are shots of numerous people’s weird and wonderful costumes, before moving over to the entrance where Tara and Alfie are standing, with Alfie now dressed up as Superman from the film. “I feel stupid” Alfie laughs to himself, as Tara smiles and tells him he doesn’t look it. “I appreciate you lying to make me feel good” Alfie sarcastically replies, causing Tara to shake her head at him. “If I done this then would you believe it?” Tara says, before leaning in and kissing him passionately, while the camera moves round to show the group all looking at them with surprise. “Maybe I do feel quite like Superman now” Alfie jokingly says, causing Tara to giggle while she flips her hair back. “I’ll be back soon, there’s something I need to do first” Alfie tells her, while Tara nods and watches him leave, before turning around and getting a fright as someone stands before her in a Scream costume. Dean takes off the mask and laughs at how much he scared her, as Tara tries to catch her breath as a result. “You two seemed to be getting close” Andie remarks as she walks over to her, wearing a bumblebee costume, with Frankie wearing a ladybird one. “It’s nothing” Tara tells them, but there is a massive smirk on her face as she speaks, causing Andie and Frankie both to look at each other with smirks on their faces. It pans away to Aaron dancing with a random female, while Finn and Gracie stand awkwardly next to each other. “I told you specifically that I didn’t want to come to this” Gracie moans, as Finn puts his arms around her waist, spotting Jennifer in the corner of his eye. “Come on, just let loose a bit and have some fun, while you still can before you start getting swollen feet all the time with the baby” Finn laughs, causing Gracie to crack a smile and begin to dance with him. Jennifer stands behind the bar rolling her eyes, before sending out a text to an unknown, saying ‘Get rid of it, NOW’, referring to how the car wasn’t disposed of as she thought it was. Aaron comes up to the girls at the bar, asking if he can get any of them a drink. “Three vodka shots would be lovely” Frankie remarks, while Andie and Tara both raise their eyebrows at her. “What? There’s no point in coming out unless you’re going to have a good time!” Frankie says, causing both Andie and Tara to smile and laugh. “Thanks” Tara says to Aaron, who looks at her in complete awe again. “My pleasure” Aaron replies with a grin on his face as he hands over the money for the vodka shots.

It’s now later in the evening as the trick or treaters have all been and gone, while Alfie walks along the dark Digital Lane with his hands in his jacket pocket, having changed out of his costume. He stands outside Christine’s house, which is completely dark through the closed curtains at the windows. He begins to breathe heavily to himself, clearly thinking about what he is about to do as the screen moves inside. Christine, Ryan and Amelia are all sitting huddled together in the dark living room watching a horror film on the television. “I think I should go and get some more popcorn” Amelia states, sitting forward to pick up the empty bowl. “Scared are we?” Ryan remarks in a joking tone, causing Christine to giggle a little as she rests her head on his shoulder. “Of course not…just peckish” Amelia lies, looking clearly frightened as she tries to avoid looking at the television screen. Amelia walks out with the bowel and goes into the kitchen, causing Christine to get up. “I better help her out, she’ll get it everywhere” Christine says, clearly scared herself as she walks out, causing Ryan to shake his head and laugh to himself, continuing to watch the film. “Who are these for?” Christine asks, standing in the hallway noticing a bunch of flowers sitting on the table next to the front door. “Oh, they’re for Christine’s gravestone…I was going to go tomorrow” Amelia states to her, causing Christine to look pleasantly surprised. It quickly cuts to show Alfie walking up the steps and heading along the decking towards the front door outside, before hearing Christine and Amelia’s voices inside. It then cuts back inside to the hallway, where Amelia stands at the kitchen doorway with the bowl of popcorn while Christine folds her arms and looks down at the flowers. “I’ll join you, it’s about time I went” Christine insists, however Amelia smiles and shakes her head at her. “I think she wouldn’t want you anywhere near her gravestone, don’t you?” Amelia remarks, coming fully into the hallway. Christine sighs to herself, while Amelia looks at her worriedly. “Come on Christine, you murdered her…who would want their murderer anywhere near their grave?” Amelia makes matters worse without even realising it, as Christine is beginning to get visibly upset. “It was an accident Amelia, I never meant for it to happen the way it did…you know that” Christine says to her, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. Amelia looks at her sympathetically, putting the bowl down and going to hug her sister tightly. The camera pans outside, where Alfie stands outside having heard every word with a shocked expression on his face, stunned at what he has just heard.

Abby walks along the balcony of the flats in a council estate with a disgusted look on her face as hooligans shove by her, searching for Hector’s flat before coming across one with the door slightly opened. She has a suspicious look on her face, looking down at the bit of paper with the flat number on it, which matches the door’s number. She slowly pushes the door open and enters the council flat, shouting hello as it looks as if no one is home. She enters the living room and jumps with a fright as she sees Hector sitting in the dark alone on his scruffy sofa. “Attention seeking as usual? It’s a shame I’m not Maria or else I would actually care if you were dead” Abby sneers at him immediately, while Hector lifts his head up and stares at her. “Is that all you’ve came for? To have a dig?” Hector replies to her, as she folds her arms and looks away awkwardly. “Well I just want to warn you that you may be able to push Maria over for now, but she’s slowly beginning to believe what me, Jessica and Ryan have said all along” Abby informs him with a smirk on her face, waiting to see his reaction. “You always were the smartest weren’t you? There was just something about you that the others didn’t have…” Hector admits, causing Abby to roll her eyes as she begins to become uncomfortable. “I’d be flattered if this wasn’t coming from a compulsive liar” Abby remarks, continuing to stand with her arms folded. “You can always see right through people…you may not realise it Abby darling, but you’re more like me everyday” Hector tells her, knowing it will extremely get to her. “Excuse me? I’m nothing like you!” Abby hits back angrily at him, however Hector shakes his head and laughs at her. “That’s what I would say” Hector grimaces at her, causing Abby to become uncomfortable as she begins to breathe heavily. She says nothing, clutching her chest tightly as she rushes out, while Hector leans back into the sofa, smirking to himself as he does so. Back on Digital Lane, Andrea, Keith and Lawrence are all walking along Digital Lane heading towards their house. “That was a lovely meal, I haven’t been out in a very long time” Lawrence admits, causing Keith and Andrea to look at him with sympathy as they walk towards the door. “Keith, the lock has been kicked in, look!” Andrea says horrified, gasping as she can see the house has been broken into. “Don’t go inside, they could still be in there. I’ll phone the police just in case” Keith warns them, as Lawrence nods and takes a step back. Andrea curiously pushes the door open and slowly walks into the dark hallway, looking around carefully and breathing a sigh of relief, as it seems no one is there. Suddenly, a hooded figure bursts through from the kitchen with a bag; he punches Andrea’s face causing it to bang against the wall, making her to collapse into the cabinet violently before falling down to the ground unconscious as blood begins to come from her forehead. “Andrea!” Lawrence shrieks as he rushes inside with a horrified expression on his face, while Keith rushes to the doorway, becoming speechless when he sees her lying there, frozen with shock. Lawrence holds Andrea’s head in his hands, looking at her with extreme worry while reaching for the phone to call for an ambulance.

Cast List (29 Regulars, 1 Recurring, 3 Guests)–

No. Of Episodes in 2014: 126
No. Of Episodes Overall (25th November 2013–31st October 2014): 143

PRESENT CHARACTERS

075 Episodes: Jessica Bolen
074 Episodes: Karl Gibson & Christine Walker
073 Episodes: Jasmine Feather
072 Episodes:
071 Episodes: Frankie Cole
070 Episodes: Ryan Bolen
069 Episodes: Elaine Gibson & Maria Bolen
068 Episodes:
067 Episodes:
066 Episodes: Luisa Young
065 Episodes:
064 Episodes:
063 Episodes:
062 Episodes: Gracie Foster
061 Episodes: Wendy Cole
060 Episodes: Ella Hunter
059 Episodes: Stephanie Collins
058 Episodes:
057 Episodes: Andrea Hunter
056 Episodes:
055 Episodes: Mark Young & Conrad Steele
054 Episodes:
053 Episodes: Finn Hunter
052 Episodes: Stacey Collins
051 Episodes: Ciara Goldburn, Andie Marcello & Rachel Henderson
050 Episodes: Janice Goldburn
049 Episodes: Daniel Taylor & Tara O’Neill
048 Episodes:
047 Episodes:
046 Episodes: Keith Hunter
045 Episodes:
044 Episodes: Lewis Hunter
043 Episodes: Alfie Goldburn
042 Episodes:
041 Episodes:
040 Episodes:
039 Episodes: Amelia Walker
038 Episodes:
037 Episodes:
036 Episodes: Geraldine Feather
035 Episodes: Sophie Collins
034 Episodes:
033 Episodes: Alex Carter & Abby Bolen
032 Episodes:
031 Episodes:
030 Episodes:
029 Episodes:
028 Episodes:
027 Episodes:
026 Episodes:
025 Episodes:
024 Episodes:
023 Episodes:
022 Episodes:
021 Episodes: Joe Wilkes
020 Episodes:
019 Episodes:
018 Episodes:
017 Episodes: Jennifer Hudson
016 Episodes: Dean Graplin
015 Episodes:
014 Episodes: Hector Bolen
013 Episodes:
012 Episodes:
011 Episodes:
010 Episodes:
009 Episodes:
008 Episodes:
007 Episodes:
006 Episodes:
005 Episodes:
004 Episodes: Aaron Cole
003 Episodes:
002 Episodes:
001 Episode:

RECURRING CHARACTERS

024 Episodes: Jamie Collins
017 Episodes: Susan Cole
015 Episodes: Lucas Carter
011 Episodes: Stevie Feather
010 Episodes: DCI Austin
009 Episodes: Lynette Young
005 Episodes: Eva Richards

GUEST CHARACTERS (CURRENT ONLY)

009 Episodes: Lawrence Weston (6th October 2014–)
006 Episodes: Harry Steele (6th October 2014–), Vanessa O’Neill (30th May 2014–4th June 2014, 17th October 2014–31st October 2014)
003 Episodes: Alison Fisher (6th October 2014–)

DEPARTED CHARACTERS

038 Episodes: Sandy Foster
031 Episodes: Dwayne Foster
027 Episodes: Rose Young
025 Episodes: Jack Cole
023 Episodes: Brad Foster
019 Episodes: Drew Ross
018 Episodes: Oliver Potter
016 Episodes: Elena Herefordshire

MONTHLY WINNERS

January: Maria Bolen – 14/16 Episodes
February: Jasmine Feather – 11/12 Episodes
March: Ella Hunter – 9/13 Episodes
April: Sandy Foster & Elaine Gibson – 10/12 Episodes (not including Dark Shadows spin off episodes)
May: Wendy Cole & Frankie Cole – 10/13 Episodes
June: Ella Hunter – 13/15 Episodes
July: Luisa Young & Mark Young – 5/5 Episodes
August: Mark Young – 11/13 Episodes
September: Jessica Bolen, Janice Goldburn & Ciara Goldburn – 12/13 Episodes
October: Jasmine Feather, Tara O’Neill & Conrad Steele – 12/12 Episodes
November
December:


Jasmine secures her second monthly win, appearing in all 12 episodes in October. She joins Mark Young and Ella Hunter as double monthly winners respectively. Tara O'Neill and Conrad Steele also secure their first monthly wins, appearing in all episodes in October also.

The episode opens with a private hospital room, where Andrea is sitting up on the bed in her hospital gown as Keith sits by her bedside while DCI Austin and one of his colleagues stand questioning her on the break in. “Can you remember what the figure looked like? Did you see his face?” DCI Austin questions in a slightly sympathetic way, taking notes in his little black book. “I don’t know…he was big, strong I guess…I didn’t see his face” Andrea slowly replies to him, clearly shaken up by her ordeal as Keith places his hand on hers gently. “Well if you can remember anything, anything at all then just give us a call, it could be vital to finding out who done this” DCI Austin explains, handing Andrea his card with a sympathetic smile on his face, before leaving with his colleague while Andrea heavily sighs to herself. Ella, Lewis and Finn all then come into the room, followed by Lawrence as they come to see how she is. “Someone ought to do something about the crime rate around here” Lewis remarks, reminiscing about his attack earlier this year. “Let’s face it though, they aren’t going to catch who done this. The police are useless…no offence dad” Ella adds on, causing Andrea to look down awkwardly. “This isn’t helping” Lawrence tells them, hinting to them to stop being so negative about it. “I can’t stay long, I’ve got a lecture at midday and then some lab work after it so I’ll come round tonight to see you after it all” Finn explains to his mum, who smiles at him faintly and nods. “I’m fine honestly, in fact they are planning to let me go today anyway. It was just a bump to the head that’s all” Andrea insists she is fine, however Keith can clearly see she’s not. “I’ll get Daniel to look after Noah so I can come round as well” Ella states, trying to be there for her mother. “Come on, let’s give her some peace and let her get some rest” Lawrence insists, beginning to push them all out of the room while telling Andrea he will be round later. She nods and smiles at him, while Keith gets up and kisses her softly on the cheek that isn’t bruised. Andrea sits alone on the hospital bed, heavily sighing to herself as she puts her head into her hands.

Alfie is sitting at the breakfast bar in his apartment, staring blankly down at the bowl of cereal before him while he thinks about what he heard at Christine’s house. There is a knock at the door, causing Alfie to sigh before he goes to answer it. Tara pushes her way in, putting her hand on her hip as she turns around to face him while he shuts the door. “Where did you go last night? You never came back to the club” Tara questions him with a suspicious facial expression, while Alfie scratches his neck awkwardly. “I just had to do something and then I went to clear my head” Alfie informs her, while Tara doesn’t accept that as an answer. “What did you have to do that was so important?” Tara interrogates him further, making him become visibly uncomfortable. “It doesn’t really matter…how was the party anyway?” Alfie says, trying to change the subject much to Tara’s disapproval. “It was good yeah, you missed out” Tara remarks, sitting down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “At least you had fun without me” Alfie remarks, pouring his bowl of cereal down the sink. “Okay let’s stop pussyfooting around, tell me what’s going on” Tara says outright, noticing his unusual behavior. “What are you talking about?” Alfie replies with confusion, as Tara folds her arms and raises her eyebrow at him. Alfie glances at his calendar on the wall, realising that today is Janice’s second chemotherapy appointment. “It’s just…it’s my mum’s second chemotherapy appointment today and it’s been on my mind for a while now” Alfie quickly excuses his behavior, as Tara accepts his reasoning. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed for you to tell me when you’re clearly worried about her” Tara apologises; however Alfie tells her there is no need. “If you need anything, even just someone to talk to then I’m here for you” Tara replies, smiling genuinely at him while Alfie awkwardly looks down at the ground. On Digital Lane, DCI Austin is standing in front of Karl at his doorstep questioning him on if he has seen anything relating to last night’s break in. “I didn’t see anything sorry, too busy sitting in front of the television all night” Karl tells DCI Austin, who nods and tells him if he finds out anything to call the police station. Jasmine is walking up the pathway, nodding to DCI Austin as they pass each other before she tries to speak to Karl. “What was that all about?” Jasmine questions, looking over her shoulder at DCI Austin getting into his car. “Next door had a break in apparently, Andrea got knocked out during their escape too” Karl informs her of the situation, causing Jasmine to look shocked. “Terrible…look Karl, about Elaine-“ Jasmine begins to say but is interrupted by Karl quickly. “I don’t want to hear it” Karl tells her, slamming the door in Jasmine’s face as she brushes her hair back stressfully.

“Get that down you, you’ll feel much better after it” Wendy tells a hung-over Aaron in Jack’s café, placing a full English breakfast down in front of him as he groans at the sight of it. “Don’t shy away from one of Wendy’s full English breakfasts, you’ll never eat anything like it” Luisa jokes as she stands at the counter with a takeaway coffee in her hands. “I’m guessing that’s your great nephew Aaron?” Luisa asks her, causing her to nod while smiling as she watches him try to eat the breakfast. “It must be nice to have him back from the army, I can’t imagine what it’s like to know one of your family members are out there fighting for this country” Luisa explains, as Wendy nods in reply to her. “It’s such a great feeling…he hasn’t really told me much about what he seen and quite frankly I don’t want to know, he must have seen some really horrific things” Wendy admits to her, while her smile slowly fades to a facial expression showing worry. “You don’t need to worry about that, he is here now and that’s all that matters” Luisa tells her supportively, causing Wendy to smile at her as Luisa turns on her heels and leaves the café, looking over her shoulder to smile at Wendy again. Abby is sitting alone in the living room of the Bolen house, looking down at her shaking hands as she thinks about what her father said to her. Jessica comes in and looks at her suspiciously as she puts her coat on. “It’s torrential rain out there all of a sudden, I swear it was sunny a few minutes ago” Jessica tells her, annoyed as she zips up her coat. Abby doesn’t say anything; instead she continues to look down to the floor. “Christine and Ryan want us to go over in about a hour to discuss some final preparations for the wedding, I need to go to the club first but I’ll meet you there” Jessica explains to a vacant Abby, who clearly isn’t listening to her. “Okay, what’s wrong with you now?” Jessica abruptly questions her, as Abby lifts her head up and looks at her confused. “What are you talking about?” Abby replies, trying to avoid telling her. “You look as if you seen a ghost last night” Jessica mutters, sitting down on the sofa next to her. “I’m fine” Abby says in reply. “You’re always fine, it’s okay not to be you know” Jessica tells her, however Abby smiles and shakes her head at her. “I told you, I’m fine” Abby replies, slightly annoyed as she stands up and leaves the room, while Jessica sits with a suspicious look on her face.

A red sports car speeds into Digital Lane, screeching loudly as it comes to a standstill outside of the Collins house. Sophie steps out in a black dress with a red blazer over it, trying to run towards the door in the torrential rain but tripping up on the steps and falling into a massive puddle. She groans to herself while she pulls herself back up and then dragging herself towards the door, knocking on it heavily. Stephanie opens the door and looks at her with a smile on her face, before laughing as she looks at the state she is in. "Don't even ask" Sophie says, walking inside and taking off her now ruined blazer and sitting down on the sofa. "How are you? I didn't think you were going to be coming back" Stephanie says, sitting down on the sofa chair across from her. "It's all changed too much for me now, I decided I belong here instead" Sophie explains to her, shivering from the cold as Stacey comes in with a blanket for her. "How is Jamie settling in down there?" Stacey asks, as Sophie wraps the blanket around herself. "He's great, he's settled in well down there, made some friends, no one knows about what happened either so it's exactly what he wanted" Sophie informs them both, much to Stacey and Stephanie's happiness. "I'll need to go down and see him, I'll only be convinced once I see it for myself" Stephanie replies with a raised eyebrow, while Sophie shivers again. "Stop worrying, he'll be fine!" Sophie insists, as Stephanie informs her it's her job as a mother to worry about her children. The screen cuts to Jasmine as she stands ironing in the kitchen when Conrad comes into the room, taking off his tie and sitting down at the dining table. "I thought you had a meeting today and wouldn't be back until later?" Jasmine questions him with confusion, stopping her ironing to question him. "It got cancelled and I decided just to come home" Conrad informs Jasmine, who nods at his explanation. "Well since you're here you couldn't go and talk to Karl for me could you? I've made a right mess of things and you're the only person I know who will make it right" Jasmine flatters him, as Conrad looks at her totally unconvinced. "It's not my place to say anything, how will we know if Elaine's ever coming back...I refuse to make him believe that she will when I don't know" Conrad sternly replies, clearly trying to stand his ground as Jasmine heavily sighs to herself, looking down at her baby bump as she does so.

Janice is standing outside the hospital staring up at the direction signs, directing people to different areas for their treatments. She stands heavily sighing to herself, gulping as she looks down at the ground. “Mum!” Ciara shouts from a distance, crossing the road herself with her arms folded, shivering in the cold as she walks towards her. “I told you that you don’t need to come” Janice insists; however Ciara smiles and shakes her head at her. “Lillie is at nursery all day and I’ve told Alex to pick her up, so I haven’t got any commitments” Ciara informs her, causing Janice to crack a smile at her supportiveness. “Thank you” Janice whispers, showing her more vulnerable side as Ciara places her hand on Janice’s shoulder to try and comfort her. The two are about to walk inside when Ciara spots Alfie at the corner of her eye, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief as she stops Janice walking and tells her to turn around. Janice smile gets bigger as Alfie comes over to them, hugging his mother and then his sister. “I thought I’d keep you company” Alfie says in a genuine way, when in reality it’s to try and escape the thoughts of what he heard at Christine’s. “What would I do without you two ey?” Janice states, putting her arm around them both as they head into the hospital. At Minerva, Andie is standing behind the bar with a sympathetic expression on her face as she watches Rachel on her knees scrubbing the floor until it is sparkling. “The barrels need changing by the way” Andie informs Geraldine, who walks in the entrance to the bar after spending the morning at a meeting. “Stevie can do it when she gets up, if she ever does decide to drag herself out of bed today” Geraldine remarks, going behind the bar and heading into the back lounge area. “Rachel that floor is shining, you don’t need to clean it anymore” Andie shouts across the bar, as Rachel lifts her head up and smiles. “It’s alright…it’s a good way to take my mind off of what’s happening today” Rachel replies politely, before going back to scrubbing the floor as Andie bites her lip and looks away. “Look it’s quiet today, why don’t I help her out for a bit? I’m pretty useless behind here until someone wants a drink anyway” Andie asks Geraldine, who is standing on the staircase in the hallway about to head upstairs. “If you want, but you won’t be getting any extra pay” Geraldine says in a joking tone, causing Andie to smile and nod before coming out from behind the bar and going to help Rachel clean, much to Rachel’s surprise.

Ella pushes the pram with Noah inside into Planet Fitness, where Daniel is standing at the reception on the computer, before looking up and being surprised, coming out from behind the desk to talk to Noah in a babyish voice. “I’m going to need you to look after him for me, mum’s getting out and I need to go and pick her up because dad can’t get out of work” Ella informs him, handing him a bag full of Noah’s things. “I can’t take him right now, I’m supposed to be working” Daniel says, standing up and looking at her with confusion. “Can’t you just look after him in the office? You don’t have any personal training sessions today do you?” Ella asks him, raising her eyebrow as Susan stands eavesdropping behind her, pretending to be queuing. “Actually, me” Susan remarks, as Ella turns around and looks up and down at her. “And you are?” Ella questions, while Daniel begins to go into a silent panic. “Ella” Daniel says, as Susan folds her arms. “Susan, I’m guessing Daniel hasn’t told you about me” Susan snidely remarks, causing Ella to look at her confused. “Who is she?” Ella turns around to Daniel, who has a blank expression on his face. “She’s just one of my clients, you get off to pick your mum up I’ll look after him” Daniel quickly replies, kissing Ella on the cheek gently as she continues to have a confused expression on her face as she leaves. “Daniel Taylor trying to be a good dad? Poor kid” Susan sneers, smirking as she heads up the stairs to the gym area while Daniel heavily sighs to himself, looking down at Noah in the pram. Luisa walks into the living room with a basket full of clothes ready to go into the washing machine, before noticing Mark standing at the living room window peering out. “Who are you stalking now?” Luisa remarks, smiling as she puts the basket down on the floor. “It’s more who’s stalking us” Mark replies bluntly, continuing to look out the window as Luisa folds her arms and raises her eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” Luisa asks, walking over to the window and joining him. “That silver car over at the cul de sac, it’s been just sitting there for ages and I swear I’ve seen it before” Mark explains to Luisa, who instantly recognizes it. “You’re probably just imagining things” Luisa brushes it off, walking away from the window with a clearly worried expression on her face as she walks into the kitchen. Mark stands with a suspicious expression on his face, before turning away and slowly walking away from the window.

Abby is walking along the same outside balcony of the council flats where Hector lives, glancing down at the rundown estate below before nervously walking through a bunch of hooligans, which one of them wolf whistle at her, causing her to shiver with disgust as she heads towards Hector’s door and instead of knocking she just walks in, knowing the door would be unlocked. “I thought you’d be back” Hector remarks as Abby enters the living room, not making eye contact with him as he sits on the sofa. “I don’t want to hear your voice…all I came to say is exactly what I said last night, I am nothing like you at all and I will not let you waltz back into this family and tear it apart, you may have gotten far while I was away but I’m back now, and you controlling Maria ends now” Abby shouts at him in a clearly furious way, still not looking at him as Hector shakes his head and laughs to himself. “I don’t remember saying anything funny” Abby sneers through her gritted teeth, clenching her fists together as Hector rolls his eyes. “Look at yourself! You tell yourself you’re nothing like me but all we have to do is look at your fists right now, you would punch me right now and not even think twice about it” Hector speaks up, while Abby breathes heavily with anger, trying to remain calm in his presence. “Stop it! Just stop it!” Abby shrieks at him, as Hector grimaces at her. “Whether you like it or not, I’m part of this family again…SO GET USED TO IT” Hector shouts at her from his seat, as Abby scowls at him still with her fists clenched. Abby says nothing as she just stares at him with a blank expression, before turning away and storming out as Hector puts his head down and sighs to himself. Abby stands outside panting for air, trying to catch her breath as she leans over the balcony. She composes herself, before turning around and walking towards the stairs, with her high heels echoing along the concrete as she does so. Stacey comes down the stairs putting her coat on, then putting on a pair of Nike trainers as Sophie comes into the room. “Where are you going? You can’t leave me alone, mum’s already left to go to the store!” Sophie asks, holding a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. “I’ve got my counseling session, I always go every week?” Stacey says, looking at her confused as she flips her hair back. “Oh yes, silly me” Sophie faintly smiles, before telling her that she hopes it goes okay as Stacey heads out the door. Sophie stands alone with the mug of hot chocolate in her hands, sighing lightly to herself as she looks around.

“I hope Alison gets better soon because wow that clinic is expensive” Jasmine remarks, going through the bills for last month at the dining table when Conrad comes in. “It’s Harry’s mum, I want to make sure she gets better so she has to have the very best” Conrad replies, sitting down across from her and looking at the bill himself. “Well we’ve got to start thinking about this one too, the baby is only a couple of weeks away now and I want to make sure everything is perfect for the baby” Jasmine tells him, looking down at her baby bump as she has her hands on it. “It will be, trust me” Conrad tells her convincingly, getting up and kneeling down next to her, placing his hand on her bump. Jasmine giggles a little as she can feel the baby kicking, causing them both to smile at each other before leaning in and kissing each other passionately, just as Harry walks in and pretends to vomit. Jasmine and Conrad look at each other and laugh, before kissing each other again as Harry runs out the room. Frankie and Aaron walk inside their home, taking their coats off and hanging them up on the rack. “I think I’ve got a cold coming on, I’m feeling terrible” Frankie moans, walking into the kitchen and sitting down at the dining table. “I see you’re still a drama queen” Aaron jokingly says, causing Frankie to pretend to act offended. “You look exhausted, did you not really get much sleep last night?” Frankie asks with concern, looking at him worriedly as Aaron looks away awkwardly. “I don’t really get much sleep anyway” Aaron bluntly tells her, acting unusual as Frankie is now looking at him confused. “You’re home now though, surely you must have missed your own bedroom…if I was you I would probably have never left it!” Frankie says in a joking tone, trying to make him crack a smile as he simply looks down at the table awkwardly. “You can talk to me about anything you know, I’m all ears” Frankie tells him, as she can clearly see there is something on his mind. “I’m fine honestly, in fact I’m going to try and get some rest now” Aaron smiles weakly, standing up and heading upstairs while Frankie sits at the dining table with a suspicious expression remaining on her face, knowing something is wrong. Upstairs, Aaron is sitting on the end of his bed with his head in his hands, clearly stressing while he rubs his eyes harshly, causing them to go bloodshot as he plumps his whole body down on the bed.

Daniel is sitting in the office area in Planet Fitness with Noah on his knee as he goes through documents on his desk, before Joe enters and has a confused look on his face as he sits down across from him. “Don’t even ask” Daniel remarks, causing Joe to laugh a little to himself. There is a knock on the office door and Amelia enters with two large black binbags, causing both Daniel and Joe to look confused. “Yes, we’ve ran out of room in our bins in the back of the restaurant…could I use some space in yours? It’s barely full!” Amelia smiles enthusiastically, while Daniel stands up and puts Noah into his pram. “Yeah sure…I didn’t realise you were opening a restaurant, are you a chef yourself?” Daniel questions, causing Amelia to laugh however Daniel doesn’t know why. “God no, I’m far too glamorous for the kitchen Daniel, you should be able to tell by looking at me” Amelia remarks, smirking as it causes Daniel to laugh a little. “I’ll be sure to check out the place when it opens up” Joe adds on, as Amelia smiles and nods. “We’re going to be using it for Christine and Ryan’s wedding reception actually so you’ll be there then” Amelia informs him, causing Joe to look impressed as she and Daniel walk out the office, while Daniel tells Joe to look after Noah for a minute. He rolls his eyes as Noah instantly begins to cry, causing Joe to sigh as he gets up to go towards his pram to lift him up. At the hospital, a nervous Andrea is sitting on the end of her bed waiting for Ella to arrive. She twiddles her thumbs until Ella comes in, with a faint smile on her face as she asks how she is. “Yes I’m fine, just want to get out of this place” Andrea informs her, as Ella nods. “Come on then, I don’t have all day” Ella jokingly tells her, causing Andrea to weakly laugh as she gets up off the bed, holding her ribs in some pain as she does so. “Are you sure you’re ready to come home? You look like you could do with another night” Ella asks her worriedly, as Andrea shakes her head at her. “No I’ll be fine once I’m in my own bed at home” Andrea insists to her, causing Ella to look totally unconvinced. “Come on, it’s like you said, we don’t have all day” Andrea remarks, walking out of the hospital room as Ella bites her lip with concern, following her out reluctantly.

Christine and Ryan are both walking down Digital Lane together hand in hand as they head towards their house, with Alfie’s car seen in the background parking outside the Goldburn house. “You’re going to need to be out of the house tomorrow, my wedding dress is arriving and I don’t want our wedding to be cursed if you see it!” Christine insists to Ryan, who rolls his eyes in a sarcastic way. “You don’t really believe all of that nonsense do you? Our wedding day will still be perfect no matter what” Ryan flirtatiously tells her, causing Christine to smile genuinely at him. “I don’t know…my aunt Jill got caught in her wedding dress by her husband to be and she ended up dying the next day…although she was almost one hundred years old” Christine says, biting her lip as Ryan laughs and shakes his head. “She was getting married at one hundred years old?” Ryan asks her, while Christine laughs to herself about it. “Don’t even ask” Christine remarks, as they walk up the pathway towards the steps leading to the door, where Abby is sitting huddled into herself, causing Ryan and Christine both to be confused. “Abby? Are you alright?” Ryan asks her, kneeling down before her as she sits with a blank expression on her face. “Can I come in? I really don’t want to go home right now” Abby replies bluntly, emphasizing that she doesn’t want to return home. “Of course, come in” Ryan says, helping her up and walking towards the door, looking over his shoulder with a worried expression to Christine, who stands helplessly following them inside. Alfie, Janice and Ciara all get out of the car having spent Janice’s second chemotherapy appointment together. “Where was Rachel today? I thought she would have been there” Alfie asks, bringing it up as Janice looks away. “She’s been really really busy with work recently, I told her not to worry about it” Janice tells him, while Alfie raises his eyebrow suspiciously. “If you guys are struggling…I can help” Alfie says, as Janice shakes her head at him and smiles. “I wouldn’t take your hard earned money off of you son, keep it for a rainy day” Janice says, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she slowly drags herself up the pathway and heads inside. “Thanks for today Alfie, you being there for her truly means a lot to both of us” Ciara tells him, smiling at her brother before giving him a hug. “It’s a clean slate for all of us, if we really put our minds to it we can forget about everything that happened” Alfie replies, as Ciara smiles again and nods, before turning away and walking up the pathway while Alfie stands for a moment, staring at Christine’s house at the end of the Lane with a suspicious and thoughtful expression on his face, with Christine’s secret still heavily flooding his thoughts.

NOTE: Sophie Collins makes her debut as a regular character, previously on a recurring contract since 2013.

Cast List (31 Regulars, 2 Recurring, 1 Guest)–

Read the full article here.

The episode starts with a shot of the clock in the Hunter’s house hallway, which shows the time is half past three in the morning. Footsteps are heard stomping down the staircase, soon to be revealed to be Andrea as she rushes towards the front door and checks it’s locked. She breathes a sigh of relief when she discovers it is, turning around and leaning her back against the door stressfully. Keith comes down rubbing his eyes exhaustingly, looking confused as he sees her standing at the door. “What are you doing?” Keith questions, trying to keep his eyes open to look at her. “I was just checking the door is locked, it is so just go back to bed…nothing to worry about” Andrea forces a smile as she slowly makes her way back up the stairs, while Keith heavily sighs to himself, clearly worried about his wife’s mental state after the break in. It cuts to Maria walking along a dark and lonely Digital Lane, holding a large pile of paperwork in her arms and her house keys in the other as she walks up the pathway and up the steps onto the decking area before the front door, before noticing Abby sitting on the chair with a glass of wine, simply looking out onto the Lane. “What are you doing out here? It’s half past three in the morning!” Maria says, looking down at her watch as Abby turns her head and looks at her. “I’m just having some alone time…” Abby replies bluntly, not really telling her what’s going on. “Come on, this is me you’re talking too, you can’t lie to me” Maria tells her, walking towards the seating area and sitting herself down, helping herself to a glass of wine which is already there. “You know that I don’t talk about…feelings and stuff, I don’t even know why you’re bothering to ask” Abby replies, emphasizing the word feeling as she sips her wine. “You used too though, well I think you did at least. I don’t even know what happened to you, you just started shutting me out…” Maria admits to her, as Abby shows no reaction to her statement. “I’ve never opened up about how I’m feeling, I learnt not too because whenever I did I was threatened with a slap” Abby remarks to her, referring to Hector’s previous issues as Maria looks away awkwardly. “It’s too late, well early for this, come on let’s just get to bed” Maria says, standing up and picking up her paperwork as Abby also gets up. “Why are you home so late anyway? The salon shut ages ago” Abby questions, following her towards the door. “I had some paperwork to sort out, it’s done now so I don’t need to think about it again” Maria insists, opening the door and walking inside as Abby has a suspicious expression on her face, slowly following her inside.

It’s now early morning and Janice is sitting at her dresser once again, staring emotionless at her pale reflection in the mirror. She sighs to herself as she takes her hairbrush and begins to run it through her hair, before noticing a clump falling out on the left side of her hair. She puts the clump into her hand slowly, staring at it as she does so. She stares at the clump of hair with a horrified expression on her face, covering her mouth with her other hand in shock before breaking down into tears. She begins to breathe heavily as tears roll down her face, while she then gets up and turns around to look at her bed, noticing a few small clumps of hair on her pillows. She clutches her chest tightly, looking back down at the clump of hair in her hand and beginning to cry to herself again, getting more upset this time. Jasmine walks down the stairs in her housecoat with her hair tied up as she makes her way into the kitchen area, where Harry is sitting eating his breakfast while Conrad stands cleaning up the mess on the kitchen counters. “Someone else cleaning in this house? That’s a first” Jasmine remarks, passing by him and opening the fridge. “I can be helpful when I want to be” Conrad replies, wiping the counter clean as Jasmine pours herself a glass of milk. “Well for once it seems you both are actually ready to head out to work and school without me needing to organise everything, so I’ll just go back to bed” Jasmine remarks, walking by as Conrad asks if he can have a word. “What is it?” Jasmine asks him intrigued, walking into the hallway and shutting the door behind her so Harry can’t hear. “It’s Alison, apparently things are going well so far and she may even be able to have visitors soon” Conrad informs her, causing Jasmine to smile however it quickly fades when she realises Conrad isn’t as happy about it. “Okay go on, what is it?” Jasmine folds her arms and raises her eyebrows at him, while he stands there awkwardly. “I’ve just loved having him living here with us, we’re like a proper family and with this little one coming soon it’s only going to get better. When she gets out she’s going to want to take him back” Conrad explains to her, making Jasmine realise the situation as she heavily sighs to herself. “He is her son Conrad, whether we like it or not she has rights…let’s not think about this right now anyway, she could be in there for months yet” Jasmine insists, kissing him softly on the cheek before walking up the stairs as Conrad stands rubbing his forehead stressfully.

Ciara walks up the stairs in the flat and walks to the entrance of her apartment, inserting the key and casually entering her apartment, where Alex is sitting on his laptop on the sofa in the lounge area. “I see you haven’t moved since I took Lillie to nursery” Ciara remarks sarcastically, taking her coat and scarf off. “I’ve got some work to do, I decided to work from home today alright” Alex tells her in a vaguely annoyed voice, causing Ciara to raise her eyebrow while she stands unloading clothes out of the tumble dryer. “Well I hope you weren’t planning on me staying because I’m going over to spend some time with mum today” Ciara informs him, folding the clothes up and putting them into a basket. “Can’t you stay? I don’t want to be lonely” Alex says in a joking tone but asking a serious question. “My mum needs me more than you do right now” Ciara says, leaving the room with the basket full of clothes while Alex sits there with a scowl on his face, clearly not happy about it. Tara walks into the Gibson house, where Karl is sitting reading a newspaper while eating a piece of toast. “Is that your breakfast? You’ll end up fainting with starvation” Tara questions him, folding her arms and looking at him oddly. “It’s sufficient” Karl replies, continuing to read his newspaper. “Come on, I’ll take you to the café and we’ll get Wendy to make you a proper breakfast” Tara states, taking his coat off the hanger and holding it out for him to take. “It should be me looking after you right now, I’m not doing a very good job of fatherhood am I?” Karl sighs to himself, taking the coat and putting it on as Tara looks at him sympathetically. “You’re still my dad. Just let me look after you right now” Tara tells him, putting her arm around him as they walk out the room and into the hallway. “I don’t know what I done to deserve the perfect daughter” Karl remarks, causing Tara to smile at him genuinely as she opens the door. “Me nether” She sarcastically says, making Karl laugh a little as they walk out of the house.

Sophie is walking down the pathway from the Collins house, leading onto the pavement of Digital Lane when she bumps into Amelia who is passing by. “I didn’t realise you were back yet, last I heard you were living it up in London again” Amelia states, looking quite surprised to see her. “Yes I was, but it’s all just changed too much for me…it’s such a fast paced city” Sophie explains to her, while Amelia slowly nods as she listens. “Well what are you going to do now you’re back?” Amelia asks politely, making Sophie question her ambitions. “I’m taking it day by day, I think I’ll stay out of opening businesses for now” Sophie says in a sarcastic tone, making Amelia giggle a little. “I’m about to open a restaurant over on the business district, you should check it out when it opens” Amelia informs Sophie, who nods and tells her she will attend. Amelia begins to walk off as Sophie raises her eyebrow suspiciously when she sees DCI Austin and one of his colleagues getting out of an unmarked police car outside the Hunter house. She folds her arms and continues to watch as they head inside. “So? Any updates who done this?” Keith questions DCI Austin, walking into the living room where a clearly fragile Andrea is sitting. “Not so far I’m afraid, we’ve put out an appeal for any witnesses to come forward that seen any suspicious movements, but so far that’s all we have to go on” DCI Austin admits to the scared couple, who both look at him with disappointed looks on their faces. “Exactly the same as Lewis then?” Keith says in an angry tone, while Andrea puts her head down and stares at the ground. “There isn’t much else we can do right now, hopefully someone will come forward with some new evidence, we will keep you posted” DCI Austin explains, as Keith slowly nods, accepting it as he knows how hard being a police officer is himself. DCI Austin and his colleague then slowly leave, as Andrea sits clearly frightened about what could happen. “Don’t worry, the person who done this won’t be coming back” Keith tells her convincingly, putting his arm around her supportively. “You don’t know that Keith” Andrea snaps at him, standing up and swiftly walking out, as Keith puts his head into his hands and heavily sighs to himself about the situation.

Jessica is sitting on a salon chair in Beauty getting her hair done by one of the hairdressers while Maria sits in the other chair reading a magazine casually. “Don’t you have some work to be doing? You’ve been so busy recently” Jessica asks, looking at Maria through the mirror in front of hair. “I’m just taking a break, I’m entitled to that surely?” Maria replies, continuing to read her magazine. “I’m guessing owning a business isn’t all you thought it would be?” Jessica says, raising her eyebrow a little. “No, it’s not that. I love this place, it’s probably my only good decision in life” Maria states, putting the magazine down. “Well what is it then? You’ve been stressed a lot recently” Jessica pushes for an explanation, as Maria stands up and turns away from her when she sees Joe coming in. “It doesn’t matter” Maria says over her shoulder to Jessica, who rolls her eyes and picks up the magazine to read it. Christine is sitting at her desk across from a couple in the Estate Agents, typing away on her computer while she tries to sell a house to them. Amelia walks in and smiles, handing her a paper cup with coffee inside as Christine thanks her, before going back to trying to sell the Foster house. “Oh the Fosters home, it’s lovely in there. I can promise you that this place has changed a lot since the scandal there, it’s full of lovely people” Amelia says in a convincing voice, as the couple look at her confused. “What scandal?” The woman questions, while Christine’s eyes go wide with anger as she looks at Amelia. “What rock have you been hiding under? The son strangled a handful of girls around here, even killed one of them!” Amelia informs them, not realising at first how much she is damaging the sale. “Amelia, they’ve been living in Spain for the past few years” Christine sternly says, looking at her angrily as the couple sit horrified. “I think we’ll be looking for someplace else” The man tells Christine, as they both stand up and look at Amelia oddly, before walking out. “That was just fantastic Amelia, do you know how hard it is to even get someone to consider moving in there?” Christine angrily snaps at Amelia, who now has realised what she was saying. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise, you know me…I don’t think before I speak” Amelia says worriedly, brushing her hair back worriedly as Christine rolls her eyes. “It’s alright, it’s just been a bit hard recently…the market for houses right now is terrible and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better” Christine sighs, rubbing her eyes tiredly while Amelia looks at her sympathetically.

Ciara walks into the Goldburn house, looking confused as it’s in complete darkness. She hangs up her coat and calls on her mother, however there is no reply. She slowly walks into the living room, turning on the lamp and jumping with a fright as she sees Janice simply sitting there frozen on the sofa. “Mum?” Ciara says, looking at her with concern as she sits down next to her. Janice doesn’t say anything, instead she raises the palm of her hands and shows Ciara the few clumps of hair that has fallen out of her hair. Ciara looks at her with shock, covering her mouth to try and hide it from her mother, however Janice knows exactly what she is thinking. “I guess I should have seen it coming, you see it all the time on the news…I just didn’t like to think it would happen” Janice explains, while Ciara puts her arm around her supportively. “There are no words for this” Ciara admits to her, completely clueless on how she can try to make Janice feel better. “In a couple of weeks time I’m going to have patches all over my head, I’ll look even worse than I already do” Janice says, while Ciara breathes a heavy sigh, looking at her with tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I-I…I want to shave my hair off” Janice admits to her, much to Ciara’s shock and surprise. Ciara is speechless, while Janice bites her lip as she looks at her. “I don’t want to wake up every morning and feel like this, this cancer is already bad enough…I know this is asking a lot of you…but I want you to shave my hair off, please” Janice pleads to her, causing Ciara to be completely distraught as she bursts into tears in front of her. “I can’t! I can’t!” Ciara shouts with tears running down her face, while Janice tries to hold back her own tears as she puts her hands on Ciara’s shoulders supportively. “Please Ciara! Please do this for me!” Janice replies, not strong enough to hold back her own tears as they begin to effortlessly fall from her watery eyes. “Don’t you think you’re rushing into this? I don’t want you to have any regrets” Ciara tries to calm herself down, while Janice wipes Ciara’s tears away gently. “I should be grateful that they even have the treatment these days to kill this cancer, all I care about is what I look like” Janice remarks, now wiping her own tears as she is calmed down. “Anyone would be upset about it mum” Ciara says, but Janice quickly interrupts. “I tried to avoid Rachel all morning just so she wouldn’t see me like this” Janice says, sighing to herself as Ciara looks at her worriedly. “She wouldn’t care” Ciara says, however Janice shakes her head at her. “But I care!” Janice replies, looking down at the ground. Janice then takes Ciara’s hands and holds them tightly, as they both stare at each other. “It will be better this way Ciara, at least for once during this battle I will be in control of what happens, not the cancer” Janice convincingly says, smiling weakly at her devastated daughter as she tries to stop herself from bursting into tears again.

At Jack’s café, Karl and Tara are sitting at a table across from each other, having spent most of the day together in there. Jasmine walks in and smiles faintly at Tara, who looks at her coldly before turning her head away. Jasmine sighs to herself, walking over to the counter and ordering a coffee from Rachel. She stands looking over her shoulder at Karl and Tara laughing together, smiling at the sight as Rachel notices this. “They’ve been here since I started my shift at lunchtime, it’s such a beautiful story isn’t it? Apart for so long and now they’re finally together” Rachel remarks, while Jasmine nods slowly in agreement. “It’s more Elaine who I’m thinking about right now, she must be going out of her mind wherever she is right now” Jasmine remarks, folding her arms while Rachel bites her lip with a thoughtful look on her face. “Do you think she’s planning on coming back? Surely if she isn’t she would have pushed to sell the house and stuff by now?” Rachel questions, making Jasmine think about the situation. “Elaine isn’t one to stay away from trouble” Jasmine abruptly tells Rachel, who nods at her in agreement while handing her the coffee. Jasmine takes one last look at Tara and Karl, before walking out sighing again to herself. Abby locks the door to the Bolen house and begins walking down the pathway, before rolling her eyes as she sees Sophie across the street. “Not faked your murder again then?” Sophie sneers at her from the other side of the street, while Abby flips her hair back. “Got another failed business in London then?” Abby hits back at her in a sarcastic tone, shutting Sophie up as she looks at her with a disgusted expression before walking along the street. Abby laughs a little to herself, before walking in the other direction as she bumps into Jessica who is coming home. “Do you know if dad has said something to Maria? She seems a bit…off if you know what I mean” Jessica asks Abby, who awkwardly looks away. “It wouldn’t surprise me, it’s beyond me how she hasn’t accepted he hasn’t changed at all yet” Abby remarks, folding her arms while Jessica nods in agreement. “There’s no getting through to her really” Jessica says to her, causing Abby to nod in reply. “We’re probably overreacting though, she’ll just be overwhelmed with how much work you need to do to run a business” Abby says convincingly, causing Jessica to consider it as she heads back to the house.

At the Hunters, everyone is gathered round the table apart from Andrea, who hasn’t gotten out of bed upstairs. “Do you want me to go up and see if she’s okay? It can’t be good for her being up there on her own in that state” Ella asks Keith, who puts a plate of food down in front of her. “I’ll go up in a minute and see if she wants anything, but it’s best to take it slow right now” Keith replies, while Lawrence sits himself down at the table. “I’ll go back home soon, so I’m out everyone’s way” Lawrence insists, while Keith shakes his head at him. “You aren’t in anyone’s way, it’s been a pleasure having you here” Keith says in a convincing voice, sitting down next to him at the table. “I just feel like I’m in everyone’s way here at times, it will be best for me to go back home” Lawrence replies, while Andrea enters the room and it goes silent. “You aren’t going anywhere” Andrea says abruptly, walking to get her plate of food. “I was going to take that up to you” Keith says, while Andrea takes it over to the table and sits herself down. “You know I don’t like crumbs all over my bed” Andrea says, acting extremely distant as no one is able to engage in conversation with her. It’s completely silent as everyone awkwardly eats, while Andrea slowly attempts to try and eat. “You don’t have to eat what you don’t want too” Keith smiles faintly, as Andrea is clearly struggling to be normal. “Is that door locked out there?” Andrea oddly asks, standing up and rushing out as Keith heavily sighs. “Dad you’ve got to get her some help, it’s just been one thing after another recently and it’s only getting worse” Lewis sternly says, while Finn and Ella nod in total agreement. Keith puts his head into his hands, while Andrea comes back in and sits down calmly, having checked the door is locked. It cuts to Tara and Karl who are walking along Digital Lane heading towards the Gibson house. "The bonfire was cool, we never usually done it over in France" Tara says. "It's pretty big here, me and Elaine used to set off fireworks in the garden" Karl replies with a faint smile on his face. “I forgot to ask…I’m guessing you haven’t heard anything from Elaine yet?” Tara questions Karl, who suddenly goes quiet and shy. “No…she apparently texted Jasmine saying she forgives her but that’s it” Karl replies, while Tara bites her lip worriedly. “Do you think she’ll come home?” Tara questions, while Karl shrugs his shoulders at her. “I don’t know…I really don’t know” Karl states, rubbing his forehead stressfully as Tara looks at him worriedly.

The screen pans across a beautiful indoor pool area in a hotel, before moving across the room to a hot tub where Elaine is seen sitting with a glass of white wine relaxing alone. Footsteps are heard walking along the poolside, before approaching the hot tub area and placing a laptop down in front of her, on the Eurostar ticket website. "How many times do I need to tell you? I'm not going back there!" Elaine says to the figure, rolling her eyes as she slams the laptop screen down. "Oh yes you are" The figure replies, while the screen slowly turns to reveal her son Oliver standing there with his arms folded, insisting she goes back to Digital Lane. The screen cuts to Ciara sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine, staring emotionless at the wall as she is clearly thinking about what Janice told her. A key is heard being inserted into the door and Alex comes inside, locking it once he is fully inside. "Didn't you get my text? I was waiting for ages outside at the bonfire!" Alex says in an angry tone, taking his coat off glaring at her. Ciara looks at him confused, before checking her phone and seeing the text. "Oh sorry, I haven't checked my phone all day so I didn't see it" Ciara replies, brushing her hair back stressfully while Alex looks unconvinced. "You didn't want to see it more like" Alex remarks, going into the kitchen area and getting a beer from the fridge. "I've just had a hard day that's all, I honestly didn't check my phone" Ciara tells him as she can see he isn't convinced about her reasoning. "Oh yes I forgot, no one else is allowed to have a bad day apart from you" Alex sneers at her, causing Ciara to look at him surprised. "What are you talking about?" Ciara questions him, folding her arms and staring at him intently while he gulps down his beer. "It's your fault I was out there in the cold waiting on you, you don't really expect me to believe you simply just didn't check your phone?" Alex replies coldly, before walking off as Ciara stands there sighing to herself, beginning to blame herself for something she couldn’t control.

Elaine and Oliver are now sitting out on the balcony of the hotel in the heart of the city of Belgium. She sips on a glass of white wine while looking out onto the city, as Oliver continues to glare at her. "I wouldn't even know what to say or do if I went back, so much has happened" Elaine admits to her son, who bites his lip thoughtfully. "You have nothing to lose mum, it wasn't you keeping such a massive secret it was Tara" Oliver tells her convincingly, however Elaine doesn't look convinced at all. "But there isn't anything for me there now, Jasmine probably won't want to speak to me again after the scene I made...me and Karl are borderline finished" Elaine explains to him, before Oliver quickly interrupts. "Says who? Mum you and Karl have gotten through much worse than this" Oliver tells her, while Elaine smiles faintly and nods her head. "I don't know about it this time...I mean he tried to kiss her, was he thinking about me at that point? No! He didn't care about me or how much it would hurt me" Elaine begins to go on a rant, gulping down her wine as she finishes. "We all do things we regret mum, if I know you both as much as I think I do then you and Karl can easily push through this no bother" Oliver tells her in a convincing voice, placing his hand on Elaine's shoulder supportively. "I don't even know what I'd say to him, we left it on such a bad note I don't know how we're supposed to fix it, it's different this time" Elaine admits honestly to her son, who looks at her sympathetically. "Well you'll never know how to fix it unless you go back" Oliver replies, hinting at the ticket he bought her to go home. Elaine stands up and walks over to the railings of the balcony, breathing in the fresh air as a slight breeze blows through her hair. "Come back with me? Just for a short while. I could do with the moral support if it all goes tits up" Elaine tries to lighten the mood, while Oliver looks away awkwardly. "I don't know...I've left that place in the past and moved on, I'm a chef in Brussels, what more could I want from life?" Oliver smiles at her, standing up and joining her at the railings. "Mum it's time to go home, you've been hiding away for far too long and it's stopping now" Oliver puts his arm around his mother supportively, while Elaine simply looks out onto the beautiful city of Brussels with fireworks in the clear sky for Bonfire night, breathing a sigh of slight relief as she does so.

NOTE: Return of Elaine Gibson (Tanya Franks) and Surprise Guest Appearance of Oliver Potter (Jonathan Bailey)

Cast List (21 Regulars, 1 Recurring, 2 Guests)–