There have been very few interviews/stories about the James abuse story line, Ste forgetting things has had a lot more publicity, maybe its because they want the concent story line to get underway first

The consent story has had loads of publicity. Like absolutely loads... And that's not a bad thing given that it's a very important issue but then so is child abuse and we've not heard a peep from the writers..and that's extreamly frustrating. Ste's memory loss has had some though not a lot, of publicity and I have no doubt more will come. 🙄 I think it's clear who the chosen ones are.

I also get the impression that Kirkwood did not anticipate the success or popularity of James nightingale. I remember reading a interview from Kirkwood, saying that he's been trying to get Sophie porley on the show for ages and that bagging her was a huge coup for the show. Recently he described her as the rising star of the show. 😶 Don't get me wrong, she's ok and her performances have been decent but I wouldn't say particulalry impressive. Kassius (Jade) on the other hand, has been outstanding throughout and is more worthy of best storyline at next years BSA over the consent plot.

Anyway, back to point, I genuinely think Kirkwood thought of all the nightingales, Ellie would be the one that viewers would become emotionally invested in... But in the end, it's been James. He's the better character and better actor and deserves recognition for his outstanding portrayal of the character and what he's currently doing with the historic abuse story. He's by far the strongest actor of the show, ahead of Kieran and Charlie.

I think was it not for JP walking in on James and Mac they would have had heated words, but James was trying to hid his abuse rather than anything else

JP would have started accusing him of buying his away out of apologies

I guess they will interact on a more friendly way if JP is eating dinner with him now and slowly build to a relationship

Would be nice to see them in nightingales having dinner

Jade is very impressive she and Alfie should be up for the young actor awards, I feel for them when they are on screen

I thought you meant Charlie as in Becca's son and couldnt work out when he was last seen

No Charlie as in Freddie 😂 How he gets nominated for best actor is beyond me.

I think what we can hope for next year is Gregory getting nominated for best male dramatic performance.

See, that sounds totally boring to me. I don't mind this once they've got together but not the build up. I want angst, I want passion. I want to see JP strip away James layers with every bone in his body rejecting it but epically failing. I want to see green-eyed monster James. I want to see JP actually standing up to James and give him a real challenge.

The reason why McDean, Stendan and Chryed worked so well is because they had all these elements. I'm not saying James and John Paul don't but how they're developed over the next year will determine whether the writers can hold onto that fan interest. They've gotten of to a great start, otherwise we wouldn't be here, but there is that danger of thier romance, getting hidden behind the abuse plot. If that happens, there is a possibility of thier popularity declining. I find that most of the success of couple is dependent on how they're developed up until the moment they become official.

It is always a problem with soaps especially HO because of the block storytelling. Unlike a play with a beginning middle and end, they have infinity and must fill so many hours a week. No wonder some weeks feel like it is tedding water.

No matter how hard they try Ste is now not as popular as he was as a part of Stendan. I agree with posts about him needing a strong acting partner. Kieran believes that acting just involves hysteria and large movements. Gregory was fantastic and very moving in his hospital monologue. You could see the effort it took for the character to be honest about his feelings.

I think with everything happening to the nightingales, James' abuse (from both parents) ellies consent, Alfie and Jade, Macs odd love triangle, that a difficult romance with JP would be a lot of focus on one group, and I would like James to be with his family not just JP, he needs to have a relationship with them and work out why they are so distance from him

A bit of back and forward between James and JP wont hurt, and JP distancing himself from James, going on a date with someone else and realising he doesnst want to be there

I pretty much agree with all of this.

I'm not saying it has to be difficult relationship per se. It's just we need to see some angst and toeing and froeing before they get together. I'd be disatisfied if all it took was JP being a confidant to James, for James to realise that he loves him. Nights in sharing meals as they bond is just too soon and I don't like the idea of that being a manoeuvre to bring them together. That's too simple and it doesn't excite me. If the show uses the abuse plot as a means of James pushing JP away, even if it means James being particularly cold towards John Paul, I'd actually prefer that. It would not only come from a place that's real but it would maintain my interest in them as a partnership.

I'm more than happy to see James share some scenes with his family. Tbh, I think that's long overdue but there is no reason why he and JP can't progress alongside that, in the right context.

Agreed. I definitely want some to-ing and fro-ing before they get together properly.

I definitely want to see more scenes of James with his family, with his siblings, there are so few, I don't really know what their relationship is, they seem to have a bond, but a weak one. I want to know what happened during the divorce, how long they were separated, how they felt about James leaving them etc. I want to know why Mac abused James, how none of his siblings knew... basically I just want to see more of this storyline!

From the little interection we have seen, I get the impression that James is more attached to his siblings than they are to him (not that they dislike him or don't want him around, I just have the feeling that they are not too bothered about him in general). I think that stems from the fact that James is older and used to take care of them when they were little, so he was more likely to form almost a parental bond to them. They were also very young when James was around before he and Marnie left (speculating here, we don't know exacly when they left), so they probably don't remember much about him, and don't know him.

Besides that, Nathan, Ellie and Alfie (with Mac) were always a team while Marnie and James were away, and being in each other's company probably meant they didn't miss James as much as he, alone away from his siblings, might have missed them, and longed to be reunited with them.

They all have different personalities, there's a goldmine of opportunities for inyeresting dynamics between James and his siblings, if only the show cared to explore them.

You're absolutely right. I forget the importance of the age gap. When they are together, James almost treats them like kids, teasing them etc, and especially with Alfie he seems to want to form a bond, whereas Alfie seems very unsure of James.
I agree, I think there is so much potential, I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens and if they do finally start to explore their relationship.

So many possibility here. Tbh, I think as Francy said, I don't think james siblings particularly felt alot of emotion when James left because they were so young themselves and almost got used to him not being part of thier lives. I do think they care for James but they haven't bonded with him. Whereas James's feeling towards them are more paternal. As for the abuse, I just think it was a case of them being too young to remember and the abuse taking place in blind sight. I genuinely think they'd all be horrified if they ever found out the truth because they idolise thier dad.

Yes, I think the horror will stem more from the shock that their dad is capable of such violence. They'd probably feel a little bit of unfounded guilt too.
What I love is that I don't think I've really seen this in a soap before (there probably have been plots similar, but not that I've seen), where there is an outcast family member who is trying to form a relationship with this family but is being torn away by his mother and pushed out by his father. Its quite refreshingly original.

Yep and I know we all had reservations when the physical violence storyline was revealed but Gregory is doing such a terrific job with it, it's hard not to become engrossed by it all. Also what separates this story from other violence plots is that the abuse has continued through to adulthood. I don't think I've ever seen that before. However yes, James mum is emotionally abusive and oppressive towards him, which puts an extra spin on the story. Like I've said before, the story itself has the potential to be really explosive. It's already had a overwhelming positive reception from posters here and social media. Hopefully the show knows a good thing when they see it and allow the story to tell itself organically. It wouldn't surprise me if Mac ends up putting James in a hospital one day.

I would assume one of the siblings would be on james' side and move in with him as morticia has moved out

I miss McNight!!

I whole-heartedly agree, is it just me or is there nothing being given away about either of them, but loads about everyone else in Hollyoaks? I need spoilers!

They have had so little screen time and press in the last few months, it's beginning to feel like the show really doesn't consider them much. The focus/attention is always on someone else.

So do I. This sucks!

I feel like that sometimes. I do think the lack of interviews etc has been purely because tptb haven't really made them a thing until recently. Ellie and Freddie was always planned, which is why Kirkwood always goes on about them. However JP and James are relatively new. The show runners have been indecisive about JP's love life, at least that's how it comes across. Hopefully soon we'll start to get some stuff fed through.

I also feel that way about James abuse story but then I have to remind myself that it's only kicked off recently. We only got 3 episodes of it and I do get the impression that Kirkwood and co also decided on this storyline recently and not when James first came on the scene. I genuinely believe they were going to take James background in a different direction and it was never planned to make mac violent.

I should hope they take good care of this story, regardless. Jade and Alfies story is proof of how good character driven drama can be. I just hope they don't sensationalise it in anyway. It would lose a lot of credibility. We all know what HO can be like sometimes. Even JP's story was ruined by the silly plot twist of him going to prison. Still they did do well with cleo's story so maybe that gives us some faith that they are improving and they are learning.

There are spoilers about everyone, but not a word on James and/or JP. They don't even seem to appear in a supporting capacity to other storylines anytime soon. Sigh.

But we can look forward to Ste's newest crisis. *yawn*

I wonder how long before he and Ryan get it on.

The lack of spoilers are disheartening but I was thinking about this yesterday. I don't think Jade and Alfie were in the spoilers at all yesterday, perhaps maybe just a footnote. However cleo, Nathan and Lisa dominated them and look at the episode? It was all Alfie and Jade. I think this may be the case for James and JP or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. I'd feel better if we had a interview or press release of some kind.