Emmerdale needs one thing and one thing only right now: Meena Jutla back from prison. The soap is in dire straits as far as I am concerned and only she can save it.
I have been writing about soaps for 20 years and a fan for 40. I love them. But what I’m not loving right now is Emmerdale.
Emmerdale (and Meena) the great!
It wasn’t too long ago that Emmerdale felt like the poor relation of the Big Three. Despite delivering on storylines, cast and performances, something didn’t quite hit the mark in the same way it did for Coronation Street and EastEnders. They were often overlooked at awards ceremonies and always seemed to be the bridesmaid, never the bride.
And then things changed when Kate Oates arrived on the scene. She started in 2010 as a story editor overseeing such storylines as Aaron assisting boyfriend Jackson to die and the amazing 40th anniversary episodes. In 2012 she took over as series producer and the storylines kept coming.
From Cameron Murray’s Woolpack siege to Donna Windsor’s terminal cancer, Aaron’s childhood abuse confession and his subsequent pairing with Robert Sugden to create the iconic Robron, Emmerdale was on fire.
Even after Kate left the soap in 2015, it continued to strengthen its position. It has taken home Best British Soap at the Soap Awards numerous times and the likes of Danny Miller (Aaron Dingle), Lucy Pargeter (Chas Dingle) and Mark Charnock (Cain Dingle) deservedly won acting accolades.
And just when it seemed like the soap couldn’t get any better, along came Meena Jutla! Arguably the greatest serial killer ever to have graced Soapland, she caused havoc without anyone knowing about it. Yes, it was ludicrous, yes it was far-fetched, but boy, was it entertaining to watch.
Even up until last year, with the brilliant 50th anniversary episode and prior to that Faith Dingle’s heartwrenching death (a masterclass in how to do soap), Emmerdale was still number one in my eyes. It was still on top.
What’s happened to Emmerdale?
So what’s happened this year? Well, not a lot, to be honest.
The first sniff of an interesting plot came when Caleb and Nicky were revealed to be father and son, working against Kim Tate. Not only that, they were Frank Tate’s secret son and grandson.
Wow, this had real potential.
But where did it? A load of land deals, talk of financial nonsense and lots of very obviously suspicious facial expressions. Even though the reveal episode was good – Claire King as Kim Tate came into her own and proved what an asset she is to the show – what’s happened since? Someone pushed Caleb, he was in a coma for five minutes, woke up, realised who did it and forgave son Nicky within one hour episode. Where’s the drama?
Let’s break down tonight’s episode.
Breaking it down
Firstly, we have Mack. Who is, frankly, horrible. He’s a good character, with good potential (and great eye candy!) that has been wasted. He’s insufferable. How dare he treat both Chloe and Charity the way he did only to have both women mooning over him?
Tonight he had to audacity to ask Charity to leave his house in case Chloe saw her there when Charity was the only one who supported him when he was looking at a murder charge. Then he waxed lyrical about how much he liked Chloe and how much he had missed her.
This is the girl who months ago he was telling he wanted nothing to do with, she repulsed him and was trying to get her to leave. Are we expected to believe he was hiding genuine feelings for her all along? Nonsense.
And then there’s Amelia. Trying to provide for her baby daughter by doing online make-up tutorials. Last week, she and Dan were in dire straits financially, this week she’s made 50 quid, is dining out at the Hide, buying a leg of lamb and insisting now she doesn’t have to worry about buying budget food. Oh if only £50 made us all so rich! Come on.
Meanwhile, Caleb and Nicky are all pally, pally. Totally forgetting Nicky pushed Caleb off a cliff only seven days ago, and rebuilding their father/son bond. Lovely. But boring.
No love lost here
No couples are working for me: Laurel and Jai living in domestic, blended bliss doesn’t wash, Mandy and Paddy rekindling things is not for me – and why do they have to make their sex scenes so comical?
And then there’s Tom and Belle. They were broken up and arguing. About what? No, I’ve got no idea either. Anyway, good news is they kissed and made up after some guff about him turning into a nervous wreck around her.
And that was the cliffhanger. Wow. Can’t wait for next week. Unless this is leading to a Tom being a psycho story, I’m just not interested.
Listen up, Emmerdale: Bring Back Meena!
Frankly, if we are looking at another psycho storyline, don’t both with Tom, look no further than Leeds jail.
Bring back Meena.
The soap needs some joy. It needs some humour. And it needs to off some dead wood. Meena can do it all.
Every time a prison visit is mentioned, fans hope it means Meena will be back. Only the other week, Charles visited his father and viewers had desperately hoped it would actually be Meena he was seeing: “Please tell me it’s Meena he’s visiting,” declared one on social media.
I guess it would have to be a prison escape for it to work. There’s very little chance she’d ever get off her rap sheet, even with all the will in the world. Unless they did a Tracy Barlow and had a key witness disgraced so her conviction fell apart (we’ll just ignore the small matter of holding the courtroom hostage, eh – if EastEnders can bring back Cindy Beale, I don’t see why not).
But oh what relief Meena could bring stalking in the shadows for a few weeks, secretly targeting the characters who need to go (I’m looking at you, Mack) and bringing this once great soap back to life.
I’d be totally here for it. But what I’m watching on screen right now? I’m absolutely not.
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2023 – meet them all here!
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour episode on Thursdays.
For all the latest soap spoilers, news and chat come and join us at Soap Daily now!
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!