For the past few weeks, our forum users have been suggesting the best and worst soap characters of the decade and after some clever non-maths, here are the ten most loved and the ten most loathed…
Taxi for one
10. Katy Fox, Hollyoaks
This. Ish. Acting. Hannah Tointon was perhaps the worst actor we saw in the soap all decade (alongside the guy who plays Ravi, anyway), which is some going considering the levels of talent displayed in Chester. Not only was her acting shocking, the character was an irritating, self-entitled Mary Sue with no purpose whatsoever. She was replaced by the equally repellent Spencer. Both of them seemed to have been brought in to make brother Warren even more repellent than previously thought. Terrible.
9. The Ferreiras, EastEnders
Fortunately the soap has recently introduced some brilliant Asian characters, but the Ferreira family were a real failed attempt at ethnic diversity. Names from different religions and continents, plotlines about cats, no real character development – possibly the worst family unit in soap this decade (though the Mortons and Harrises in Corrie and the Foxes, Hunters and Owens in Hollyoaks give them a good run for their money)
8. Sunny Lee, Neighbours
Neighbours doesn’t have a great reputation for ethnic diversity, and when they finally decide to introduce a non-white main character for the first time in years, they have to make her the most wooden, annoying, drippy character since Ned. Let’s hope Sunny’s failure isn’t an excuse for avoiding ethnic minority casting in the future…
7. Andy the Rubbish Gangster, EastEnders
All the gangster nonsense in EastEnders was dire and nearly killed the soap, and Andy Hunter was the worst of all the rubbish gangsters. Not sexy, not scary, not threatening, not interesting, he plagued us for two years before someone finally put him out of his misery – or should that be our misery?
6. Marlon Dingle, Emmerdale
We are meant to adore the Dingles, but there have been so many of them, and so few of them have been any use. Marlon’s many romantic affairs have been rubbish, and his criminal capers put him on a par with the EE rubbish gangsters.
5. Lyn Scully, Neighbours
A shrieking harpy who long outstayed her welcome, her inexplicable return has wound up most fans of the soap; not least because she is clearly a bad mother who’s abandoned her young son to a life with his deadbeat dad halfway across Australia. Great parenting, Scully. Now fuck off.
4. Max Branning, EastEnders
One of the Square’s irresistible baldies, Max has yet to put a foot right since his arrival. The Branning women, and Bradley, are all fine, but Jack and Max and their huge egos are a real waste of space, despite allegadly being irresistible to the women of Walford. His low point was the affair with Stacey which annoyingly seemed to inspire the terrible Molly/Kevin plot in Corrie, making it even more wrong and hateful as a storyline than it already was.
3. Tom Cunningham, Hollyoaks
The pre-teen angel of death manages to be responsible for all the decent members of his family dying, yet he still lives on. When Mandy and OB both left there were options for him to leave, but apparently he is too important to the show and so stays on as an honourary Osbourne/Dean. Despite being ten, he still acts as though he’s a toddler, and inexplicably Ellis Hollins still bags those ‘best child actor’ awards despite putting in a one-note performance for the last decade.
2. Michelle Connor, Coronation Street
In three-and-a-half years on the Street, Michelle has managed to become inexplicably irresistible to all the men of Weatherfield and have no particularly great storylines. The biggest Mary-Sue in soap at the moment, she shows no sign of leaving despite all the rumours that have cropped up over the years to give us false hope.
1. Ned Parker, Neighbours
Brought in to provide a not-really-needed family for popular character Stu, Ned stuck around for three years, during which time he was the favourite hate-figure of all Neighbours viewers. Thick as two short planks, with their acting ability, Ned’s storylines revolved around rubbish romances and being rubbish at a string of jobs. They even twisted the knife in by introducing more family members when Stu left in order to enable him to stick around even longer. The saddest thing about his departure was that they didn’t even kill him off.
Front cover of TV Quick
10. John Paul McQueen, Hollyoaks
OK, so they screwed things up with him like they do with all their characters, but for a brief while, JP was one of the most interesting teens in soap, with his coming out and trying to come to terms with his feelings for best friend Craig striking a chord with many people. He was also pretty likeable as well – for a time, anyway – and it’s easy to forget how ground-breaking his character actually was.
9. Clare Devine, Hollyoaks
One of three amazing soap bitches in our top ten, Clare was uber-fierce, not least for bullying Tom Cunningham, showing Warren Fox up for the rubbish drugdealer he was and for her amazing airport exit. We’ll just forget about her return and her short-term soap transfer to EE, shall we?
8. The Masoods, EastEnders
The most loved soap family of the decade, led by the most loveable couple in soap, the Masoods proved that, at long last, EastEnders could portray an Asian family with warmth and character rather than resorting to crude stereotypes. Syed might not be quite as loved as the rest of his family, but Zainab, Mas and Tamwar in particular are adored by pretty much everyone who watches the soap.
7. Natalie Harper, Night and Day
Most people have forgotten Night and Day ever existed, but not the good people of LC. Sally Dexter’s performance as Natalie would have garnered her all kinds of awards and recognition had she been in a different show, but hey, coming in at seventh in our top ten is almost as good, right?
6. Eileen Grimshaw, Coronation Street
Eileen arrived as the decade was just beginning and she’s kept us entertained throughout. Sue Cleaver is great and so is the character. A classic soap matriarch she has the potential to be one of the most enduring and popular characters the Street has ever seen.
5. Paul Robinson, Neighbours
Some soap returns are an utter mess. Some, however, are glorious, and this is one of those. Paul has fast become the heart of Neighbours, with the goodie/baddie dilemma he has always had continuing to come to the forefront. His relationship with Rebecca, his reluctant friendship with Susan and his parenting of Elle have all been highlights of his return, and he really is the centre of Ramsay Street now Harold’s gone. Long may he and his on/off limp reign.
4. Janine Butcher, EastEnders
Some of her storylines have been a bit dodgy, but Janine has never failed to please, and Charlie Brooks has put in a sterling performance as Janine mk 3. A perfect example of how growing up in Walford can taint you for life, Janine’s storylines have been a mixture of being a fierce bitch and being so utterly tragic you just want to hug her. It’s a tricky job to not push the character into pantomime, but despite some of the scriptwriters’ best efforts, Janine is still adored.
3. Jane Beale, EastEnders
There is a lot of love out there for Jane. She is one of the best new characters in soap this decade; really believable, sensitive, sensible and as people on the forums pointed out, she has not only survived sleeping with a Mitchell intact, she’s even made Ian somewhat bearable. Laurie Brett is incredibly underrated as an actress and Jane as a character – she gives EastEnders a bit of heart, which is rare indeed.
2. Izzy Hoyland, Neighbours
The best character in Ramsay Street for ages, if not of all time, Izzy was the best kind of soap bitch (see also Janine Butcher and Clare Devine), one whose motives you could understand, and often sympathise with. Being a member of the largely dreadful Hoyland clan didn’t bode well for her, but Izzy soon won a place in everyone’s hearts (and several male characters’ beds). She was even bezzie mates with Harold, and she bowed out by giving birth on the Thames in the ludicrous Neighbours goes to London episodes.
1. Blanche Hunt, Coronation Street
When even non-Corrie fans are voting for a character, you know they were something special. Blanche was far and away the most loved character, and rightly so. Everything about her character and about Maggie Jones’s performance was perfect. The wittiest, archest, sharpest woman in soap this decade will be very sadly missed indeed.
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I agree that Izzy was one of the best soap characters ever.