I think, personally, that Val's death was one of the best soap deaths and had one of the best soap exits ever. Phenomenal exit for a phenomenal character!

Great acting from Chris chittel

No. The dialogue for Val was good but the whole thing was let down through numerous flaws such as the useless emergency services, Val's free arm which was able to allow her to smoke but not attempt to in any way prevent her death. I thought it was a good exit but the unforgivable flaws made it far from the best.

Was iconic

they totaly ruined it tonight

I thought it was very well done

It was good but for me it's still Sarah Barnes' death in Hollyoaks Later plummeting to her death after her parachute fails.

Certainly the most disturbing I've ever seen in a soap. As Dee123 has already stated, it was all very Final Destination and, for me, a very unexpected and shocking way for such a huge character to bow out.

Charlie Hardwick deserved such an exit for amusing and entertaining us all for the past 12 years. Surely the writers will miss penning all those delicious one-liners and put downs of Val's!

Overall I think it could be. The actual build up to her demise with Diane was good and the final moment shocking but otherwise run of the mill. And then unexpectedly, for me anyway, we had her final scene with Eric. My initial reaction was oh no, big mistake but it was so moving I was completely won over. Great performances from both Charlie and Chris and excellent writing imo. They even pulled a decent performance out of Matthew Wolfenden! I mean no offence when I say that it felt more like Charlie had actually died in real life than Corrie's send off for Anne recently.

I agree, a brilliant send off for a brilliant character. To kill Val off in a 'normal' or run of the mill way would never have done - her exit was so wonderfully original and unique; just like Val.

You could not be more correct
Val's story has touched me all night

Apart from stunts etc, I would say Ethel Skinner's exit on EE was wonderfully done

It was the best death of the disaster at least and certainly unique.

I'm gutted that she died but if she had to die that I cannot imagine a better way for her to go. That image of her reflection on the shard of glass as she smoked her cigarette and delivered her final monologue was nothing short of iconic.

I've just turned on ITV2 and it happened to be the exact point of Val's death. I'd forgotten how they had framed her face with the glass forming the letter V as she looked through and said " I'm HIV Val....,..". And the shard falling together with the boot closing still made me jump even though I knew it was going to happen.. Together with Fridays episode with Erics realisation that she was dead definitely makes her death one of the best IMO.

I wasn't keen on the preamble of her arguing with Diane but the actual death was brilliant. The sound of the glass breaking becoming the boot closing was inspired.

The build up was very good, because the sounds of the creaking and glass falling made it more realistic and intense.

I thought it was a perfect ending for the character of Val, to accept her fate while also putting her sister first. While the cigarette was a perfect touch, just the right amount of camp.

For me her death is up there with the beautiful exit that Jack Duckworth received.

I think it was very imaginative and original as a way to kill off the character, particularly with the camp irony of being killed by one of the mirrors she was posing into

I agree, loved Val's sense of humour right to the end.
Also sends out the right messages about faking your own death.
Be careful what you wish for.

It was imaginative. It was also touching that she let Diane be saved first even though there was the great big piece of pointy glass above her which probably decapitated her. I disagree that she could have saved herself with her arm free enough to smoke. She was covered in glass and other debris which needed lifting off. The firemen have thick gloves for things like glass. If you do it yourself you could lose fingers or even half your hand and you're still not getting out. Mind you if it was your fingers versus your throat I think some people would try. I liked the bit where Eric saw "Val's ghost" before accepting she was gone. Trauma can do that to you. People who've been attacked "see" their attackers after the event through trauma and people who are bereaved "see" their loved ones. I thought that was well thought out and acted. Chris Chittell is a great actor and is a nice man in real life. I'll miss Val. I won't miss Ruby as I found the character boring and I think the actress was ten times better in Bad Girls.

Yeah I know what you mean. I'm feeling more for the loss of Val already than I have done for Dierdre. I didn't even cry when Ken and Tracey were told of her death. But I know I'm going to be sad at Val's absence for a very long time. Not only was she funny but she also had a lot of stage presence and charisma. A lot of actors just don't have that.

I havent watched Emmerdale regularly all that long, I tuned in to watch Katie Sugdens death as I knew she was a fairly big character. But I loved Val and I did think her death was absolutely fitting amd one of the best soap deaths I have ever seen

As was Pat Butcher's.

The only thing that let me down about that, aside from Derek, was the unecessity of it