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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 407694" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 401 - 415 1 September - 20 October 1986 continuedOne nice touch was Heather confiding in Sheila (which mirrored Heather being there for Sheila after the rape and suggesting counselling). This kind of female heart-to-heart is the daily bread of other soaps but still such a rarity in Brookside that such a scene feels important and refreshing. Even more so with Heather who doesn’t trust easily.For Sheila, too, it has been good to see her put in a supportive capacity this way, which is an important way of giving her back some sense of purpose and even power. After recent events, I can imagine a series with less nuance in its characterising her as The Victim or The Defiant Survivor, or swinging between the two. But what’s impressed is how the balance is struck between Sheila’s recovery and other parts of her family and friendship life - from adjusting to Karen moving in with Guy to her amusement at Damon’s pushy girlfriend Gail taking over her house (God - what a nightmare is Gail. And played to perfection as I believe her completely and have known one or two Gails. There are also shades of original recipe Sally Seddon from Corrie, I think).Because of the degree of normality in the Grant household, when Sheila’s post-traumatic stress is triggered it feels more powerful and surprising. The scene with the pushy salesman who invaded her home may not have been subtle, but it did a terrific job of conveying her growing panic, with the subjective shots of him walking towards her calling out her name convincing that this would push her over the edge.I also appreciate that it hasn’t been an easy road back for Sheila and Matty. Despite reconciling at Teresa’s funeral, I like that the difficulty between them has created a kind of strain. This adds layers to any scene they share while still showing them both plugging away at being friends. It makes any connection they have these days feel hard won.Sandra has now left for Edinburgh with Tony the doctor, causing Pat’s usual “petulant child” delivery to hit dangerous new levels. In a scene where his married woman was made it plain bored with his navel gazing it felt she was truly the voice of the audience. It’s nice that Sandra’s had her happy ending, I suppose, but it’s difficult to know what function the tenants’ house now serves, besides the occasional mildly-entertaining visit from Harry. The characters in this household aren’t generating their own stories, so it feels things have to be manufactured. There’s now a temporary new tenant who is a professional thirty-something who is selling her own home in order to move to the area. The difference in backgrounds, and her profession of working with young offenders contrasting with the frequently-dodgy nature of Terry and Pat’s shenanigans has some promise, but it’s all very low energy. The new tenant’s main “thing”, it seems, is a hearing impairment which requires a hearing aid. This is all fine, but with little else to the character at the moment it feels a bit “talking pamphlet” (to purloin James’s expression).Paul and Annabelle’s reactions to Gordon’s sexuality and relationship with Christopher has been interesting enough. With Paul in particular his relatively quick acceptance feels a little unexpected, but with just enough private tut tutting to convince that it’s a journey for him. With Paul and Annabelle the Close’s most conservative characters (small and big “C”), it’s good to see them challenged in this way, and having conflict or lack of acceptance coming from outside forces has given them a good reason to rally round.Carol felt a little like the series’ sacrificial lamb in this storyline. It’s many months since we last saw her (perhaps longer), but she was given a very brief return to be the the voice of homophobic dissent before a hurried exit. Had I been asked to guess ahead of time, I would have imagined any conflict would have come from Carol knowing more than Paul or Anna and perhaps even being something of a confidante to Gordon (similar to how she was with Lucy and her married man). Then again, we know little enough about Carol for her reaction not to be set in stone. And this is 1986, when AIDS panic was at its peak. With so little known beyond histrionic messages, it's believable that Carol would be concerned.In fact, given the times, it feels the Collinses have got off lightly… so far at least. Even Billy Corkhill didn’t give Paul as difficult a time as he might have done after Gordon’s Gay Times arrived at his house, helped by Paul leaning into his rarely-seen liberal parent side by being open about Gordon’s sexuality. His little Margaret Rutherford gurn after seeing Billy off made me chortle. I do have a soft spot for Paul’s more flippant side, and I remember we have plenty more of this to come in the upcoming storyline with Annabelle’s mother Mona (Paul’s line about writing in green ink being a sign of madness has never been forgotten and still makes me smile whenever I see a green biro). Even Harry Cross managed only briefly to take the wind out of Paul's sails with a boast about the grandchild on the way.It’s been good, too, to see Annabelle a little out of her depth as she sets out on her new vocation as a magistrate. It’s funny to think how very different things are in their household from a short time ago.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?