Soaps preview: Mon 28 October – Fri 1 November

Dark moves on ‘EastEnders', the return of soap royalty on 'Emmerdale' and she’s back (again) on ‘Corrie’. 
 
EastEnders
Finally! They’re getting on better. The week begins with a thawing of relations between Janine and Michael. He gives her a birthday card (she’s 30! Never. How old was she when she killed Barry? 12?) So much so, that she invites him round for dinner.

He bites her hand off (not literally, he wants to poison her, not eat her) because it’s the chance he needs to drop some pills in her wine and have done with her once and for all. But when he gets there, he finds himself unable to go through with it because he sees her being all nice with Scarlett.

[Corrie actor QUITS SHOW]

Never mind though, even if he can’t do it, Alice is back in town! She tells him she considered calling the police but now realises he needs her and there’s a way they can get Janine out of their lives for ever.

Michael, of course, realises this is his chance to use her as a murder weapon. Convincing her that if they can persuade her to head to the Vic’s Halloween party then they can enact the deadly plan there.

Unfortunately she refuses, and so now terrified Alice has to go round to the Butcher house (no place for anyone on Halloween).  Michael goes to the Vic to wait for news.  He soon receives a worrying call from a distraught Alice, races home to find her with blood on her hands.

He goes back to clear up the mess. But finds Janine very much alive. And with Alice caught in the middle of them both, soon, he’s the one lying bleeding. Is this the Ender Michael Moon? And which of the women did it?

Also this week:  Roxy and Alfie come back and agree to cut Kat and Ronnie out of their lives. Because they’ll hardly ever see them in The Square anyhow, right? Come on, Enders, gis a break. This story is STUPID.

Coronation Street
We must remember to cut and paste this intro in for future use: 'After a run in with Jamie/Jez/Danny/Peter/Nick, Leanne left the Street to get her life in order. Now she’s back and ready for a scrap.'

Nick knows that she’s never away for too long and keeps pushing away at his physio so he’s able to impress her when she does come back. But he pushes himself too far and collapses from a panic attack. He’s saved by David (who else?) who ushers him back into Number 8. Filled with compassion and hoping his heroics will help, David is still kicked out by Gail.

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Nick gets back on his feet, just in time, as Leanne’s back on the Street ostensibly to see Simon – but there’s clearly thought of reconciliation in her mind. Things don’t look good however when she walks in on a Halloween party just in time to see Nick completely lose it and flip out (Ben Price is very good at this, by the way) at all the children.
 
She ushers Simon out and he’s left heartbroken, knowing his last chance has gone. Or has it? Just when the ship looks like it has sailed, Gail pops round for a word with her, and does point out that this whole thing kicked off because she paid a visit to Peter on her wedding day…

Also this week: Inappropriate cleavage alert! Liz decides to cheer Elaine up with a girls night out.

 
Emmerdale
Look who’s back! It’s Steph Stokes. It’s the day of Alan’s funeral and Victoria is desperate that it all goes smoothly. But of course, a certain amount of flooding at The Woolpack means it is not ready to host the wake and desperate Declan, sensing a blackmail chance, tries charging a fortune for Home Farm.

Fortunately Megan still has some influence but there’s more for Victoria to stress about as Steph makes a surprise return handcuffed to a prison guard.
She’s still serving a life sentence for killing her brother Terrence (a crime she didn’t commit) but is allowed out on compassionate grounds.

Alan is given a heartfelt send-off – in real life, you can tell the cast certainly wanted to give Richard Thorp who played him an appropriate goodbye – and the wake goes off at Home Farm. But while it is in full swing, Steph escapes from her prison guard. Can she get away for good?

Also this week: Alicia is forced by Priya to tell Jacob who his mother really is.