13 soap storylines that were scrapped before hitting our screens
13 soap storylines that were scrapped before hitting our screens
But the producers can't always have it so easy. Whether it's due to similarities with real-life events, objections from actors or even sudden changes of heart, we've seen a number of planned storylines sensationally hit the buffers over the years.
1. Nick Cotton has an affair with Lofty Holloway (EastEnders)
Walford's original villain Nick Cotton was all set for a very surprising storyline in the 1980s when producers decided that he should have a fling with Lofty Holloway. John Altman, who played Nick, wasn't too impressed with the idea and found himself swiftly axed from the soap for raising his objections with EastEnders' formidable co-creator Julia Smith.
In 2012, Altman's on-screen mother June Brown (Dot) recalled the backstage row by telling The Guardian: "In the early days, we actors had no input. Julia was quite a taskmaster. When Nick was supposed to start a gay relationship with Lofty, John Altman told her he didn't feel it was in character. When he left the room, Julia said: 'Write him out!' They did."
2. Toadie Rebecchi adopts an orphan (Neighbours)
Mischief-maker Toadie Rebecchi seemed to be pushing his luck a little too far in 2008 when he decided that it'd be a good idea to illegally adopt an East Timorese orphan. The original plan was for Toadie's scam to go all the way, but when producers realised that the plot was a bit too silly even for Neighbours, his plans were swiftly forgotten about and he settled on welcoming local lad Callum Jones into his life instead.
Ryan Moloney, who plays Toadie, later recalled: "At first, they wanted to have Toadie adopt a kid from East Timor illegally, which I thought was just ridiculous. And it was just to spite Steph! I was like, 'What are we doing?' Then we never mentioned it again, which I think is worse. We just don't talk about that now, but having Callum there is really cool."
3. Peggy Mitchell kills Archie (EastEnders)
'Who Killed Archie?' was the question that had the whole country talking after his mysterious demise at Christmas 2009, as EastEnders built up to the big reveal in its first ever live episode. 16 million viewers saw Stacey Branning unmasked as the guilty party on the night, but the early plan for the memorable whodunit was actually for Walford legend Peggy Mitchell to be revealed as her husband's killer.
"We settled on Peggy, but then we found out that Barbara Windsor had decided to leave," scriptwriter Simon Ashdown later admitted. "Like most of these ideas it just appeared as a notion. We settled on Stacey. It gave us loads of story afterwards."
4. Grant Mitchell rapes Tiffany (EastEnders)
It was Ross Kemp versus the EastEnders producers in 1997 when they sensationally fell out over plans for a dark Christmas storyline involving his legendary character Grant Mitchell. Grant's marriage to fan favourite Tiffany had been turbulent to say the least, but writers wanted to take their relationship to an all-time low with Grant raping his wife on Christmas Day.
Tabloid reports suggested that Kemp was "absolutely livid" over the storyline idea and planned to quit unless it was scrapped. Knowing that the popular actor was too important to lose, the writers didn't proceed with the plot and a pacified Kemp stayed on as Grant until late 1999.
5. Claire Peacock crashes a tram (Coronation Street)
Coronation Street's 2010 tram crash disaster helped the show to celebrate its 50th anniversary in spectacular style, but the story's roots actually go back five years before that. In 2005, producers decided that a tram would crash straight into the Rovers Return, with Street regular Claire Peacock as the unlucky driver.
We did see Claire apply for a job driving the local trams in a rather sudden desire for a career change, but plans for the dramatic crash were soon shelved. This was amid objections from Manchester transport officials, who feared for the image of the city's tram service if Corrie aired the plot.
Proving that those cunning soap gods can bide their time, Claire didn't escape completely unscathed as the 2010 crash eventually killed her husband Ashley and she left the Street shortly afterwards. But at least she escaped a telling-off from Norris for causing carnage on the cobbles.
6. Amy Barnes's death (Hollyoaks)
In 2010, it seemed that it was curtains for Hollyoaks favourite Amy Barnes as the show's producers decided to kill her off in a sensational fire storyline. Actress Ashley Slanina-Davies announced her exit and even filmed a death scene, but the Hollyoaks bosses were clearly in an indecisive mood as they later gave her a last-minute reprieve.
Amy's death scene was edited out of the fire episode, but it did find its way online as a clever red herring to keep fans guessing in the build-up to the blaze. Amy still suffered some injuries in the stunt and left to recover off screen, but she made a welcome return in early 2011 and stuck around as a regular for nearly two more years. Good news for us, but less so for her enemies in the village like Leanne and Brendan.
7. Sarah Sugden's death (Emmerdale)
This one was never actually confirmed by the producers at Emmerdale, but tabloid reports emerged in 2011 that youngster Sarah Sugden had been spared a tragic death storyline.
Fans of the show had seen Sarah fall ill due to a rare genetic disorder, but it's thought that an original plan for her to die at the end of the story was scrapped to avoid upsetting viewers. Little Sarah recovered thanks to a bone marrow transplant from her 'saviour sibling' Jack and she still lives happily in the village to this day. Well, as happy as you can be when your mum and dad are drama-prone Debbie and Andy...
8. Trudy Ryan's return (Hollyoaks)
Former EastEnders star Danniella Westbrook swapped Walford for Chester in early 2013 when she landed the role of ruthless villain Trudy Ryan on Hollyoaks. She impressed producers so much that they decided to bring her back this year for a dramatic autumn plot involving local gangster Trevor Royle - but sadly it just wasn't to be.
Two months after announcing her surprise comeback, Hollyoaks bosses revealed that Westbrook had been axed for "breach of contract" before even filming her return. Could the recent announcement of Kierston Wareing joining the cast as a similar character called Ashley Davidson suggest a sneaky last-minute rewrite?
9 and 10. Freddie Peacock's kidnap (Coronation Street) and Summer Swann's abduction (EastEnders)
Summer 2007 was set to be a dark time for Coronation Street and EastEnders, as the two soaps both planned to run high-profile child abduction storylines. A major summer plot on Corrie would have seen Claire and Ashley Peacock's son Freddie kidnapped from his bed by Casey Carswell, while EastEnders planned to have Dawn Swann and Rob Minter's daughter Summer snatched by unhinged May Wright.
While several scenes for each of the stories had already been filmed, both plots were scrapped by the Weatherfield and Walford bosses following the tragic real-life disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal that summer. Significant rewrites allowed Casey and May to cause other havoc on the cobbles and the Square without upsetting viewers in light of real-life events.
11. Loretta Jones's dark past revealed (Hollyoaks)
Hollyoaks has a track record for airing some dark storylines in its 6.30pm timeslot, but the show took one risk too many in December 2009 when it planned to air a disturbing plot exploring the controversial topic of child murder.
The dark plot would have seen the past of show regular Loretta Jones exposed, revealing that she and a friend had both been living under new identities after killing a 12-year-old when they were the same age. After the media drew comparisons to the tragic real-life murder of James Bulger, his family objected to the plot and Hollyoaks agreed to axe the story just days before transmission - replacing it with hastily-filmed filler.
12. Lucas murders a prostitute (EastEnders)
Murderous man of the cloth Lucas Johnson was never afraid to get blood on his hands in EastEnders, but one of his killing scenes never saw the light of day. A sinister episode in June 2010 would have seen Lucas visit a local red light district and pick up a call girl named Jade, before driving her off to a remote location and strangling her.
Just one week before transmission, it was decided to drop the death from the episode in the wake of media attention surrounding real-life murders of prostitutes in Bradford. Instead, Lucas spared Jade by praying with her and baptising her. Despite the changes in this episode, Lucas did later murder another prostitute called Gemma off-screen as part of his plan to fake the death of his wife Denise.
13. The Ferreira family commit murder (EastEnders)
The unpopular Ferreira family went down in history as EastEnders failures, but could that have been different if the original plan for the clan had gone ahead? When the Ferreiras were introduced in 2003, producers were planning a blockbuster storyline which would have seen family patriarch Dan murdered by his children and buried in a shallow grave following sustained bullying and abuse.
Unfortunately, the ratings-winning plan went awry when actor Dalip Tahil - who played Dan - was suddenly dropped from the show due to issues with his work permit. The grisly death plot was replaced by the Ferreiras' infamous kidney transplant saga, which didn't prove quite as compelling for fans.
Explaining the fiasco, scriptwriter Tony Jordan later told The Mirror: "Dalip got bloody deported. He was actually on the studio floor and they marched him off. Broken legs, nervous breakdowns - we can deal with that. But when actors are physically taken away by the government and deported, there's not much you can do."
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