Casualty was afflicted by the ghosts of season finales past as we ended up with yet another armed siege in Holby A&E. We must be at least into double figures of these by now. No wonder crusty old stager Charlie Fairhead seemed entirely unfazed by the situation to the point where he was accompanying the highly body armoured armed police squad wearing only his scrubs.
Sadly, the permanently morose Selena didn't even make it as far as a cliffhanger, being shot in the neck and pronounced dead in a few fleeting minutes, without even the chance for a valedictory bit of melodramatic dialogue before checking out of the show for good. It seemed a rather rushed and unsatisfactory exit for such a stalwart character.
Before they'd even had chance to mop up Selena's still warm blood, Stitch was on his way too, the hospital's much needed if highly unbelievable bad boy riding off into the sunset. We can only hope he'll return and bring a couple of decent storyliners with him.
I just wish they'd realise that there is a strong show here but it really doesn't need daft soap storylines and flights of fancy to make it interesting. It is after all set in an environment where all sorts of real dramas can be capitalised on.
It could be worse though. For the last month it looks like they've been shooting Holby City through net curtains. Can we lose the "filmic" effect please?
Fun in t'sun
What to Read Next
Steve and Eileen's rather pointless but amusing summer holiday at least provided a bit of a diversion from the frankly creepy Ashley-Claire-Casey shenanigans that continue to loom large over Coronation Street.
Steve's failure to realise that he was getting off with a bloke in drag was causing hoots of "should have gone to Specsavers" here at Hogan Towers though that shouldn't detract from the performance of the lad who did a great job as the hapless MacDonald's would be suitor.
Not a lot of people know
To believe BBC Two's British Film Forever you'd think we simply wouldn't have a film industry if it weren't for Michael Caine. Having loomed large in the show about gangster movies, Caine was also featured heavily in this show about romance though admittedly not quite as heavily as Hugh Grant.
While these shows are an interesting enough way to spend an hour and a half, I really didn't feel as though I was learning anything I hadn't heard a score of times before and the structure of the show seemed to jump all over the place without coming to any sort of conclusion or summing up of the genre under the microscope.
Chip off the old block
Lucy Beale is shaping up to be a great character in EastEnders, with strong shadows of her minx of a mum Cindy shining through. I can't say that I've taken to Roxy and Ronnie Mitchell at all and it might have been better if these characters had been allowed to establish themselves just a tad before dominating screen time the way they have since their arrival.
I'm unconvinced by Tanya's long lost druggy sister too and by new bad boy Jase. It seems we're being flooded with too many new characters in too short a space of time and I've yet to actually care what happens to any of them.
Over in Emmerdale, proof positive that dallying with a Dingle is deadly as one night with Chas was enough to send one unfaithful hubby to the grave. If your one night stand has carked it during the night, don't forget to phone the helpline, or at least apply to go on Trisha.
Oooh dear
It's difficult to imagine why anyone would think that being interviewed by Piers Morgan would do much to repair their battered image but Jade Goody gamely sobbed her way through You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous, a show which merely raked over old coals rather than provide any new insights into why her fame suddenly imploded.
While it seemed a bit of a pointless exercise, it should be required viewing for the section of society that avariciously seek fame for fame's sake and compulsory of those exiting the Big Brother house.
Bits n Bobs
Who in their right mind thought that Baby Ballroom was a good idea? Have we learned nothing since the debacle that was Mini Pops?
Why are so many of the "music channels" no longer showing music? Do we really need so many badly made "fly on the wall" documentaries?
When our intrepid news reporters rush to areas infected with Foot and Mouth, do they wash the contaminated flood sludge off their wellies first?
I'm really annoyed with myself for not seeing the final twist coming in Jekyll but I'm so glad I didn't. Great ending.
Why are BBC Three and UKTV Gold showing almost the same episodes of Doctor Who? I keep getting out of sequence.
New graphics on Sky Sports News. Hate them, like the old ones. Why this obsession with periodically changing perfectly acceptable fonts?
