Quitting Emmerdale...

Eli Dingle is a wasted character. I've hardly seen him this year :(

I know!

I wouldn't mind him leaving if only he'd had a good year and we could look forward to an exciting exit. As it is, they only have a couple of months to prepare for it and, with the way they have marginalised him this year, I can't see him getting even a semi-decent exit. Especially as Mark Wylde and Debbie Dingle will be leaving around the same time. They will get the glory and Eli will probably be sent off in the back of a bus. I'd like to be proven wrong, but I've wanted that all year and been proven right every time.

Sad for the waste of Joe/Eli, but let's hope Shane Meadows has some really good stuff in store for Woody.

Well, since he is going, what are everyone's highlights from Joe's days as our favourite scruffy little rascal?

Off the top of my head, I loved his arrival - the penniless drifter the Dingles were so ashamed of that they'd never revealed his existence to even Lisa or Donna. Just a backpack and a cheeky grin... that's Eli all over! He helped rescue people from the show home collapse too and then there was all the drama with Sam and Alice and laying out Cain Dingle!!

I love all the daftness and his penchant for wearing silly hats and not caring a fig what anyone thinks of him. I love his reaction to being hit in the face "not the norse!" All the scams that went wrong and his attempts to turn on the charm. A real rogue.

Then he has also made me feel so sorry for him - particularly with the whole Shane murder arc. His unrequited love for Debbie and helping her cover up a fatal bludgeoning. Being disowned by Zak and trying his level best to put thing right, only to realise Debbie would never forgive him and dissolving into tears with Marlon. Sleeping rough on the streets, too scared to come home, but being persuaded when his big brother told him he was loved.

Awwww! I'm going to really miss him. Best of luck to Joe though - I'm sure there are many other characters he will play that I will love just as much. (Woody for one).

I read about this a while back. What a shame. He is such a great actor, I mean look at This is England! I have loved watching Joe in Emmerdale, he always manages to make me giggle. I hope that before he leaves they give him one last good storyline, but I doubt it. And what's this about a This is England spin-off?

BEEP BEEP RICHIE!

Well, I had lost all faith of a decent storyline, but the producer of Emmerdale has just given a video review of whats to come in 2010 and he mentioned Joe leaving. He did compliment him (said he was 'fantastic') and he said that Eli would be leaving in the spring with a 'cracking storyline'. That sounds promising - we just have to hope that his idea of 'cracking' is at least vaguely similar to ours.

As for the spin-off, it is to be called 'We Were Faces' and will start filming in the spring, to be broadcast later in 2010. It will be a mini-series, comprised of four hour-long episodes, set three or four years after the film. It will explore the problems of unemployment in the 80's as well as the dynamics of the group. Meadows suggested that it would be lighter in tone than the film, but would get darker towards the end, when Combo reappears. The biggest hint we have been given towards plot details, is that there will be a 'wedding that doesn't happen' between Woody and Lol. So it sounds like Joe will be given plenty to do. There are also plans for further series if this one goes well.

Cheers v much for the info.
The spin-off sounds great, cannot wait to watch that. Meadows is brilliant.
I hope the producer keeps to that and he does have a good exit. We shall see :)

BEEP BEEP RICHIE!

I haven't watched Emmerdale for quite some time now. I only ever had it on when Joe had some decent storylines, but they seemed to die a death pretty quickly.

Has he left the show yet? I'm guessing he has, as he is already doing stuff with the TIE spin off.

Was it a good send off if he has already gone?

He left at the end of April. It could have been a good storyline. They had Eli and that illegal immigrant fall in love with one another and plan to run off to start a new life together. Except that Sam - who had a crush on her - found out and had her deported. Eli had some great moments, but the whole thing was very biased in favour of Sam and he had the most screentime by a longshot. They then had a very silly, rushed storyline about Eli on a downward spiral, stealing money and going on the run again. Poorly executed, but his last scene with Marlon was beautiful. He hasn't been mentioned once since he left though.