Imo Belle herself has executed the storyline perfectly well. Eden in my view is a very good actress but I just dislike Zak, Joanie and Lisa so given the focus is on them I'm not enjoying that aspect

The mental health storyline itself is excellent but the problem is they've used/hijacked it by the Zak affair storyline which is godawful

Your posts are always good for a laugh.

You really should take to the stage!

It's utterly crap. I'm holding on by my finger tips.

Having read what's coming up re. all the affairs and bed hopping bollocks, I think I'll be switching off for good soon.

It's sad to see what the quality has become - not just in Emmerdale but the soaps across the board. No creativity or talent amongst the writing teams. Think they need to find a better way of recruiting writers because the way they're all going about it right now isn't working.

yep in agreement there...indeed eden is a very good actress and can act the balls off most of the rest of the cast..

charley webb too is great, but both need a good script and imho belles script atm isnt good, she does very well with what shes been given.

Ive said this many times re the 3 main soaps

They are on too often

Reduce them down to 2/3 times per week

Give writers a chance to write better stuff
Balance on cast -equal numbers of older/younger instead of mainly young babes & hunks

Emmerdale cast look like they all are the result of GM-Monaco probably has less number of good looking people living there

Its a soap ok -add some normality/reality -local area is its strength not weakness

Plus too many issues/ticking boxes type stories

For example mental health-raise the issue of how long people wait to see/get the right help
Not diagnosed/treated in private room/released & running the pub the next day-Unbelievable Bullshit (quote from the film Airplane!)

I agree. Eden's been excellent, her breakdown in the cafe being a particular highlight.
However the other characters involved are ruining it. It's unbelievable that Zac and Lisa didn't notice the symptoms after last time and neither did Bailey who is a bloody doctor.
Charity and Cain seem more preoccupied with stupid affairs, Zac gets distracted by a shag from Joannie while Lisa just whinges and shrieks at everyone.
Honestly Bailey and Joannie are just 2 unbelievably unlikeable characters. We all know aren't going to be here this time next year.

tbh i dont think many of the characters are likable now..... nothing to do with the actors/actresses themselves but again its down to the rubbish script and daft or poorly executed storylines. cant stand bailey, dislike joannie and chrissys moany drawl...

laurence is just an unbelievable character, swimming in money but never seems to do a stitch of actual work and this gay denial storyline is cringeworthy. i think they got that wrong, i think they got the belle/bailey plot wrong and belles mental health issues.

that adds to my main moan about them splitting up all the couples to create new couples who you know wont be together by crimbo. crap.

Parts of the story were good, and it had tons of potential. It just feels now like they don't ever want to resolve it. Admission, rejection, admission, rejection, it just goes endlessly round in circles. Even now Lawrence has split with Bernice, it's not gone anywhere. Ronnie is hanging round kind of pointlessly. Bit of a let down, really.

again, its the execution of plot thats cringeworthy.

For her imaginary bully to have convinced her to fake a pregnancy would mean that Belle would have had to have stopped taking her meds before, either completely or just missing doses. Why would she do that? Sure, loads of women have faked a pregnancy to hold on to a guy, but usually the contexts are different and there is clear direction of how it enhances the storyline. This didn't really have that. Maybe it's just poor writing. It would make sense if the baby lie was born out of her not taking her meds, but that aspect has not been addressed, and it makes no sense for her to have stopped before hand. We don't know if Belle even went to her psychiatrist. Why would she? She knows the baby was a lie, so she wouldn't need to go to the psychiatrist, unless Ellie told her to?

They have ignored the main point of the story, and that is Belle's motivation for coming off her meds. They should have been clear about her missing doses due to the stress of the lie, for example, or maybe because she forgot to pick up her prescription. I just feel that this isn't a very positive representation of someone with a mental health condition dealing with stressful situations in the right way. She should understand the importance of not skipping a dose. Neighbours has many faults, but I can't fault how they never forget about Steph being on meds and how important that is.

Homelessness and mental health are a serious issue, and I can see what ED are trying to say with this story, but I feel like the writing isn't strong enough to support it. For whatever reason, the storyline isn't engaging me.

Actually they did show Larry to work quite often...then he had a wee breakdown...then he got shot,so it's kinda understandable, he's taking it easy
I honestly enjoyed the denial storyline, him using Chrissie's teddy bears as target practise, slapping Lucky, insulting basically everyone who crossed him,it was good entertainment. I thought his breakdown was quite realistic considering his time in prison and his aversion therapy, I understood his embarrassment when being confronted by Chrissie about his relationship with Ronnie: he tried to move on with his life and start a family and leave this piece of his past behind him and suddenly Bernice has left, Chrissie knows he's not her father because he couldn't preform and now she's jumping about suggesting he gets with Ronnie( the woman is a subtle as a brick to the face tbh)
The big problem with the storyline is it gets picked up and forgotten about every few months or so, I'd like to see more of it.
The Whites and Belle's storyline seem to divide opinions but they're the only interesting things about the show atm

Emmerdale is FAR from being unwatchable.

I enjoy every episode especially as it has a strong cast. The stories keep me interested with shocks and surprises (who knew Rakesh would hit Chrissie, or how Andy would leave the show).

I like how Cain & Moira have finally split up - Cain is better with Charity.

I watch with my mum - she asked me if Belle was leaving after Friday's episode. I don't know if she is, but if Eden Taylor Draper is leaving, that would be another surprise.

I gave up on EastEnders for unrealistic plots, and far too many characters I don't like, but Emmerdale has always kept me interested for the past 10 years.

I have to be honest, but like a thread I started before, most of you on DS Forums or the soaps Facebook pages seem to moan about every little detail. Why watch if you don't enjoy? I gave up on EastEnders because I didn't enjoy it, but I won't give up on Emmerdale because it keeps me interested.

I have never been a fan of Rakesh, but didnt expect that. I know he was pushed. I would have thought Rakesh would call Chrissie's bluff and blow the whistle on her setting up Andy. Missed opportunity for the script writers.

[=bornfree;83768968]I have never been a fan of Rakesh, but didnt expect that. I know he was pushed. I would have thought Rakesh would call Chrissie's bluff and blow the whistle on her setting up Andy. Missed opportunity for the script writers.[/quote]

I think TPTB knew exactly what they were doing. Rakesh clearly wasn't thinking straight by then - he seemed to go into panic mode and just lashed out. I'm interested to see what''s going to happen next.

Why did rakesh Help Andy anyway? If it's guilt then surely him being on the run would get at his conscience, what type of life would Andy have now. Being in prison would be better as there would be an end in sight. If he felt that guilt why not tell the truth if his conscience can't bear the thout of an innocent man being sent down. Also when is the guilt going to kick in over Tess or Nicola?

Chrissies reaction afterwards shown she's isn't cut out for this ruthless super bitch role, I understand her being scared but to become completely submissive to him shows she will not be able to win any of her feuds if she cowers when they fight back, and when you are trying to destroy lives people will always fight back.

Imagine if rakesh did that to charity or Sadie, one would have battered him and the other would have ruined him.

im sick of the musical chair partner swap.... id sooner see caine with charity, but after going with moira - they should have kept them together. even if caine gets with charity now you know it wont last...and its this destruction of partnerships i dislike.



and you think these plots are realistic?... this is my point, i totally agree about giving up on eastenders because the plots were too daft to laugh at, but emmerdale is going the same way...and THATS my gripe.

the andy being prosecuted for eg... there is not 1 bit of forensic evidence to tie him to the shooting, how the hell would he have been prosecuted?

belles phantom pregnancy..... dragged it out far too long when anyone could see she was lying then she didnt take the opportunity to miscarry .

zack and joannie...?.... really?

the daft way they got marlon and thingy together...

nico and dan...... rubbish!

the standard of execution behind these plotlines is awful.

I think TPTB knew exactly what they were doing. Rakesh clearly wasn't thinking straight by then - he seemed to go into panic mode and just lashed out. I'm interested to see what''s going to happen next.[/quote]

So am I. I hope Rakesh grows some ****s and exposes Chrissie. He needs compensate Jimmy, Nico and Ronnie. The way things are going he is portrayed as a loser who will resort to anything to cover his tracks and that for me gets very boring.

I remember when Rakesh was told that the insurance company wouldn't pay out for the fire he said 'I have a son' and the insurance man said something like, 'so does the woman who is paralysed as a result of the fire'. That said it all really and I agree she, Jimmy and Ronnie need compensating. I really hope that Pryia finds out soon that Rakesh stole the money from the bank account as I agree, him doing everything to cover his track is getting boring now.

Agreed, Emmerdale is very watchable at the moment. Not perfect as there are a couple of storylines and characters I could do without but no soap will ever be perfect. I just ignore what I don't like and focus on what I do.

Belle had her dose lowered by her doctor, pretty sure it was Dr Cavanagh, after she told him she was pregnant. Obviously the lower dose has made room for some of the symptoms to come through. If she's off her meds completely, I'm not at home so haven't been watching too closely, then I presume it's as a result of her symptoms.

Do I think more emphasis should have been put on Belle not taking her meds? Definitely. A lot of the current stories are focusing on the wrong things at the moment but Eden is acting it well and convincingly enough to keep me interested.

The destruction of every couple started under Kate Oates. It's not an IM thing. Although he's continuing it.

I never got why they even had to look for her why when she ran into the cafe did noone go hold on and just call zak or lisa?
Nah they watched her have a breakdown then thought ye you know what just off you go love. I don't think I missed an ep but at the very end of one she was rocking back and forward on the floor while they had the mother/toddler group then the start of the next she'd gone
I don't get invested in couples anymore in ED. Jimmy and Nicola are a great couple but it's painfully obvious their going down the affair route.

The few episodes of Emmerdale I still watch, such as on Tuesday & Wednesday, give me something to look forward to. I look forward to when the episode is over!

They axed loads of characters in 2011, had a good phase in 2013-14, then started ruining characters and axeing some good characters.