A welcome crossover

Antony Cotton & Ross Adams.

Speaking of boyfriends for Scott, a couple I really would enjoy is Scott Drinkwell from Hollyoaks and Sean Tully from Coronation Street! They are both adorable and hilarious and I think they would be very cute together! So how about some... Drinkly? I would like to have a crossover. Now. Please give it to me They have both been deceived and need some love. Give it to them. Now.

Todd & Billy

Daniel Brocklebank & Bruno Langley.

I have a new addiction. They are called Todd Grimshaw and Billy Mayhew. And they are super cute!

Chris Finch & Bruno Langley.

Some years ago I watched some old Coronation Street when I found out about Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) and Karl Foster (Chris Finch). But this storyline was from 2003/2004 and I guess back then there was a big issue with gays in soap operas so Corrie got a lot of critique about it, of course. And I didnt like it. One kiss a really slow story when we never got to se anything and just a lot of nagging. So I never completed it. And after that I never really cared for Corrie so I haven't really known what has been going on.

Antony Cotton as Sean Tully.

More than that Bruno Langley/Todd Grishaw returned to Coronoation Street in 2013 after nearly 10 years away and that he is told to be some knd of a villain. It was kind of a big thing that "the gay character" came back. But what I didn't know was that Sean Tully, played by Antony Cotton has been in the series sice 2003! And he is gay! Maybe a late bloomer? I don't know much about him more than that he has a son, had a boyfriend named Marcus Dent that Todd took over, he works in a bar and he later were together with the vicar Bily Mayhew who Todd just have stolen. I would want to know more, both about Todd and Sean! I have to do some research there, both on youtube, wikipedia and dailymotion I guess...

Denise Black & Antony Cotton in Queer as Folk.

Antony Cotton looks familiar? Well yes, he played the wonderful Alexander Perry in Queer as Folk UK, that is, the original Queer as Folk! Oh I love that series.

Billy Mayhew & Todd Grimshaw in their first kiss.

So, back to Tilly! That's their official ship name. A bit boring I think. I would prefer Todly. But I am not to decide here. But these two guys are just so cute! I like them both and they have really good chemistry. And their lve story has just started! And I think t's about time we had a gay priest again! I don't think we had one since Kieron in Hollyoaks? And this one, Billy, si super sexy! So I am looking forward to lots of Tilly in the future! I feel a bit sorry for Sean though. Such a sweetheart!

Daniel Brocklebank in Shakespeare in love.

 And speaking of the super sexy priest, I just cannot believe that he's the same guy that played Sam in Shakespeare in love. Look at him how cute he was!

Anticlimax

Jeremy Sheffield as Patrick Blake.

So the British Soap Awards was a real anticlimax this year. At least for all oaksters. The only prize we got was Jeremy Sheffield who got Villain Of The Year. Well deserved, I have to say! Patrick Blake is really the most horrid villain ever! Well deserved even though he snatched the prize from Ryan Hawley. Robert Sugden is vile, but Patrick Blake is actually worse. I love him!

Ryan Hawley at the British Soap Awards 2015.

As I told you before there was several nominations to be happy about but none of my favourites won. Here are all the winners:

Best Soap – EastEnders

Best Actor – EastEnders - Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale)

Best Actress – EastEnders - Kellie Bright (Linda Carter)

Villian of the Year – Hollyoaks Jeremy Sheffield (Patrick Blake)

Best Comedy Performance – Coronation Street – Sally Dynevor

Best Newcomer – Doctors – Jessica Regan (Niamh Donoghue)

Best Storyline – EastEnders – Who Killed Lucy?

Best Single Episode – EastEnders – The Live Episode

Best Drama Performance – EastEnders – Kellie Bright (Linda Carter)

Best Young Performance – Emmerdale – Amelia Flanagan (April Windsor)

Scene of the Year – Emmerdale – Donna’s Goodbye

Outstanding Achievement Award – Coronation Street - Anne Kirkbride

Outstanding Achievement (Off Screen) – EastEnders writer Rob Gittins

Best On-Screen Partnership – EastEnders – Laurie Brett & Adam Woodyatt (Jane & Ian Beale)

So, one win for Hollyoaks, , one win for Doctors, two wins for Emmerdale and two wins for Coronation Street. That means seven, yes seven, wins for Eastenders! I have nothing against Eastenders (except for their lack of interesting gay storylines right now) but maybe a bit more diversiy next year? And I really do think that Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale) is worth the prize for Best Actor. But, really but, how could Hollyoaks not win the cathegories Best Storyline and Best Single Episode! That is really a scandal! Ste's HIV diagnosis was really one of the best things I've ever seen! So I am a bit grumpy right now. So next year I hope for more diversity and more Hollyoaks. And more gay storylines.

British Soap Awards 2015

So, the nominees for British Soap Awards is out, and I'm complete and utterly shocked that Danny Miller (Aaron Livesy) is not shortlisted for Best male actor! As I told you before, he might be the best actor in the world. At least the soap world. But we do have some panel-nominees to be happy about.

Ryan Hawley as Robert Sugden.

First of all, Ryan Hawley who plays Robert Sugden in Emmerdale is up for both Best newcomer and villain of the year. He deserves to win them both. I hope he do.

Keith Rice as Finn O'Connor.

Keith Rice who plays Finn O'Connor, the guy who raped John Paul McQueen in Hollyoaks, is nominated in the Best dramatic performance cathegory. Finn is such a multi-dimensioned character and Keith Rice does him so well so it's a well deserved nomination. He was really great!

Keith Rice and James Sutton in Hollyoaks.

And speaking of John Pauls rape storyline, that particular storyline is nominated in the Best storyline cathegory. I can't enough describe how well written and important that storyline is. I really think it deserves to win. But I don't think it will win. Coronation Street always wins that one, with some boring storyline.

Ste and John Paul in the waiting room.

And speaking of John Paul, he also has a leading part in the storyline that will win the Best single episode cathegory. It just has to! Ste's HIV diagnosis was among the best things I've ever seen! The episode was so strong and beautifully composed, and I just have left anyone untouched. It just has to win. Otherwise I will be offended.

Well, there is no secret that I am a major Hollyoaks fan, so I have of course already voted them in the Best soap cathegory. I have voted Hollyoaks in all cathegories except from Danny Dyer (Eastenders) for best actor, in the absence of Danny Miller and Kieron Richardson. Go and vote you to!

Gay villains

Of course, there are som gay villains in soap operas. But they aren't that many actually. There are some dumb and stupid guys, some dramaqueens and a lot of them are cheaters, but a few of them are real villains.

Emmett J. Scanlan as Brendan Brady.

Let's start with the villainn of the villains, Brendan Brady from Hollyoaks. Well of course, he have som good sides. He can be kind and hearty, but most of the times he is a bit evil. But I lovee him, because he is so fun! He is violent and exposes Ste for domestic abusement, he kills at least three people during the 2.5 years he appeared in Hollyoaks and he is doing a lot of dodgy stuff. Emmett J. Scanlan is doing a brilliant job playing the character and he was shortlisted seven times for the part in various awards, nominated five times and he won six times. In 2011 and 2012 he won for bort Villain of the year and Best bad boy. So actually, this sociopathic, self-loathing, homophobic gay man, was a real villain. And we haven't seen anyone like him, I would dare to state.

Kieron Richardson as Ste Hay.

Well, Brendan Brady is not the only gay villain we have seen in Hollyoaks. Actually, Kiern Richardson was nominated for Villain of the year in 2008 and 2009 years British soap awards. If you have seen Ste the last years, at least since Brendan stepped into the series, Ste has been nothing like a villain. A bit daft amybe, and he has been cheating more than once, but there is nothing evil in him. It is easy to remember him as the drug-addict or victim of domestic abuse, but back in the days he was a bit of a bad boy. Actually he was a bit of a rebell who crashed a car and left Amy in it, and he is sent to a young offender's institute for that. And when he comes back, he is a slacker with no job who abuses hid girlfriend Amy and even cuts her her at one point. But he get's help to deal with his anger and he is growing up to become a decent guy. But he is quite daft and always makes the wrong decisions and hurt everyone who he cares about, but he has a warm heart and he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, really. And I love him, of course!

Bruno Langley as Todd Grimshaw.

It seems like the British are the ones who have the guts to make the gays the bad boys. And heres one more. Todd Grimshaw of Coronation Street is stated to be a not that nice of a guy. Todd (Bruno Langley) was actually the first gay character in Coronation Street and he came out in 2003. Really? The show has been going on since 1960! A bit embarrassing I think. Well, Todd kissed his girlfriends brother, he then had a secret relationship with the nurse Karl, and then he left the series in 2004. But he came back in 2013 and he is now stated to be in a relatioonship with a guy called Marcus. Well, actually, I started to watch the Todd storyline last year and saw some snogging on Canal Street but I really got bored of it and gave up. It was just about sneaking around and not enough snogging. But I might give it another chance. Anyway, Todd is stated to be a manipulative liar, and since he came back he has been called a  "wily man-hunter"^, "manipulative fella" and "scheming man-stealer in Inside Soap. So, a villain he is.

Danny Miller as Aaron Livesy and Ryan Hawley as Robert Sugden.

And when we're at it, we might as well talk a bit about Aaron and Robert. Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) is a Dingle. That would say it all. he is listed as a villain on Wikipedia, but to mee he seems more like a thug. He has been nominated for, and he has won, a lot of awards, but no ne for villain or bad boy. So he can't be that bad. Of what I have seen, he was just a bit of a troubled teenager. But the guy he is seeing right now, Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) is told to be quite a douchebag, and he is "becomming quite the soap villain these days", according to The Mirror. To be continued about these guys.

Harry Reid as Ben Mitchell.

Well, and Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe, Harry Reid)  should be counted as a villain. Ok, I don't think he is deep-laid evil, but he intrigues a lot, he accused Christian of sexual harassment and he killed his stepmothers friend. Proof enough? But he is only 18, and it seems like most of the times, he just makes the wrong choises. I don't think he will be an icurable villain like Ptarick Blake in Hollyoaks. Hopefully he will grow up a bit and start making the right choises.

Timothy Boldt as Ringo Beckmann.

And then we have dear Ringo from Unter Uns. He is both vicious and vile, but to his parents, he is an absolute angel. While he is the perfect son he steals from his neighbours, he hacks into computers, he breaks up couples and he is unpleasant and rude in general. He is quite homophobic, at least for a while, even though he is bisexual himself and have had some flings wityh men. He actually falls for Yannick (Eric Stehfest), but his homophobic ways makes him beat him almost to death. Later on he makes a scheme just to make Yannick leave Köln. But really, I think he is a breath of fresh air compared to all the naive and a bit boring gay characters in other soaps. I like him! I just think he needs some more boy on boy action.

Transgender and cross dressing

Jared Leto as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club.

Last weekend I saw the amazing Dallas Buyers Club. Jared Leto is really incredible and incredible cute as the HIV positive transgender Rayon. Well he should be because he got an Oscar for the part. Then it hit me that there is really almost no transgender or crossdressing in soaps anywhere. I can't recall any transgender or crossdressing in a swedish soap for instance. But there is some exceptions.

Well, there are some guest characters in both soaps and drama series both here and there, but regulars who are transgender or crossdressers in soaps are not really that common. In drama series there are some more like Sophia in Orange is the new Black for example, but that will be a post of it's own.

The first example of a transgender character in a daytime soap opera (that I know of) is the character Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street played by Julie Hesmondhalgh.

Hayley Cropper.

Hayley, who first appeared on screen in January 1998, is told to be the first permanent transgender character in the world of serialised drama. Way to go Julie! Hayley revealed quite early the she was a pre-operative male-to-female transgender woman who was originally called Harold on a date with her husband to be Roy Cropper. But it doesn't go as smooth as you might hope for Hayley. At first, Roy rejects her because he can't bear the truth (but then repents) and then she looses her job when her boss get to know the truth. But she will have some happy years with Roy and a couple of on and off foster children before she learns that she has cancer and takes her own life in November 2013. What a sad ending for such a nice, and important, character.

Jeffrey Carlson as Zoe in All My Children.

Another transgender character is the character of Zoe in the american ABC soap  All My Children. Zoe, who was played by Jeffrey Carlson, first appeared in August 2006 and last appeared in April 2007. A half a year was all we got from the americans. And that was the first, and as far as I know, only transgender in an american daytime soap. That is not enough I would say. And this seems to be a quite brief and not that deep storyline about a male international rock star who falls in love with a lesbian, comes out as a transgender, has some problems with her parents and then leaves for London. Why did yoy not develop that storyline ABC? But I can guess that the transgender story didn't appeal to the audience. But maybe I am wrong.

Victoria Atkin as Jason Costello.

Hollyoaks is a series that has had numerous gay characters through the years, and they have also had three characters worth mentioning here. We had Jason Costello, played by Victoria Atkin, who was a regular between August 2010 until December 2011. Jason was born as Jasmine and started up by becoming friends with Bart McQueen and pretends to be aboy without his family knowing. Jason and Bart has a fling, Bart thinks he has a gilrfriend, but Jason only wants to be a boyfriend. But to make a long story short, that contains some curing attempts from his mother, a suicide attempt, a serial killer as a grandfather and some jelousy from Bart when Jason dates another guy, Jason leaves for America to start over as Jasmine never existed. So that was an early end for that story as well. I for one, would have wanted to see a development in the relationship between Jason and Bart. But that is just me.

Blessing Chambers.

In February this year (2014) Blessing Chambers (Modupe Adeyeye) entered the Hollyaoks drama. Blessing worked as a glass collector in a strip club when one thong led to another and Dennis Savage was the reason she was sacked. Dennis then offers her somewhere to stay and attractions develops. Dennis can't cope with the fact that she is a transgender though, and there will be a knot on the thread (fnurra på tråden). Blessing kisses Finn O'Connor (that bastard! I wil tell you in another post) who later attacks her and then I don't know more what happend. I haven't seen all the episodes from this year yet because or swedish streaming service is a little behind. But I am very excited what the wrighters has for us!

Well, we have four transgender characters where two of them are from Hollyoaks. But what about transvestites and cross dressing? If you google 'transvestite soap opera' you find nothing! Just a little something about transgender characters. But I happen to know one. And this is also from Hollyoaks.

Kris Fisher.

In 2006 until 2010 we had Kris Fisher (Gerard McCarthy) and I love love love that character! Kris is, even today, the only permanent cross dressing character in an british soap. He is the only permanent cross dressing character in any soap as far as I knows! And he really was great. He was quirky, a bit vulgar, confident and just fabulous! And he was also kind and funny. And a little bit rude, Love him! Over the years we was in a relationships with both boys and girls, and he also had a brief polyamorous relationship with Ravi and Nancy. The actor, Gerard McCarthy once said that he thought that Kris wasn't trying to cross dress or to be a transvestite, he just had an own style. But I don't give a damn about labels, because I think that it is just what cross dressing and transvestitism is all about. To dress, feel and be just as you want. And Kris did that. And Gerard McCarthy was very praised for that. But he also was a bit criticized when his character wore LGBT campaign t-shirts. To that I can only say as the t-shirt: Some people are gay. Get over it!

Gerard McCarthy and Bronagh Waugh.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures with Kris in a skirt. But I hope you enjoy this wonderful picture with the beautiful Bronagh Waugh as Cheryl Brady. Cute and cuter.

Was that all? Yes, unfortunately I think it was. Except for when Romanpretended to be Stella and wore her clothes in an ice skating competition with Deniz:

Deniz and Roman.

...and Janne dressed in womens clothes and presented himself as Jane just to be able to visit Iida in the eating disorders clinic:

Hemmo Karja as "Jane" Haukkala.

...but that doesn't really count. Even though they were very cute, both of them! But we need more transgender, transvestitism and cross dressing in soaps. Because it is more common than you think, and that's why it needs to be more visible. That's what I think!

If there are some more examples of transgenders, transvestites, cross dressers or others who fit under the T letter, please let me know! Leave a comment or send me an e-mail! I am reading them all.
Hugs and kisses!