From Den and Angie’s marriage breakdown to Tracy’s murder confession, the soap two-handers that changed everything
Whilst a rarity, two-handers have proved to be a part of the fabric of the genre (Pictures: BBC/ITV/Metro.co.uk)
EastEnders airs a life-changing two-hander between Patrick (Rudolph Walker) and Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) tonight as she confides in him about her sexual assault.
A two-hander episode, which features just two of the respective show’s regular cast, can often explore an extra dynamic to a relationship or help to heighten drama in a storyline by placing focus on the major-players.
The characters in question are often fraught with emotion and layers are peeled back as the story unfolds.
The device, which is most commonly seen in EastEnders, and used less frequently in other soaps, has become part of the fabric of the genre and on occasions received critical acclaim from viewers.
As somewhat of a rarity, and perceived as a stand-out episode, Metro.co.uk takes a look back at some of the best from across the years…
EastEnders: Den and Angie
Raw, emotional scenes between The Queen Vic’s original landlord and landlady Den (Leslie Grantham) and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) play out in EastEnders’ first ever two-hander in October 1986.
As Den begins to open up the pub for the day, Angie begs him to stay and not leave her for his mistress Jan Hammond (Jane How).
The diegetic sound of the washing machine in the background intensifies as their words become more hurtful, and they’re forced to move from room to room by the presence of the window cleaner. It’s like watching a piece of theatre – true kitchen-sink drama at its finest.
With Angie becoming more hysterical, she reveals that she is terminally ill and has months left to live, and Den assures that he will kill her if she is lying. When he heads out to take Roly for a walk, she gives a sinister smile, confirming that she isn’t being truthful.
A whopping 14m viewers tuned in, which more than doubled two months later when he handed her the divorce papers on Christmas Day.
Coronation Street: Tracy and Deirdre
Tracy murdered her boyfriend Charlie with an ornament (Picture: ITV)
In 2007, awaiting trial for the murder of Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward), Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) confessed that she was responsible to her mum Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride).
As the mother and daughter duo talk, they both began to blame one another for incidents from their past, including the death of Samir Rachid (Al Nedjari).
Despite their differences, and knowing what she is capable of, Deirdre assures that she will stand by her daughter.
Neighbours: Sonya and Toadie
Sonya’s final moments were spent watching over her children (Picture: Fremantle Media)
Neighbours’ first ever two-hander occurred in 2019, to coincide with the death of Sonya Rebecchi (Eve Morey) who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The episode began with her taking one final, poignant look around Ramsay Street before driving to a beach house with husband Toadie (Ryan Moloney) and their children Callum (Morgan Baker), Nell and Hugo.
As the family travelled down the freeway they sang and laughed before Sonya had a sudden realisation that she didn’t want a traditional funeral, but a memorial service by the lake instead.
With her vision blurring, it became clear to the viewer that her condition was rapidly worsening, with Toadie blissfully unaware that the chemotherapy would have no effect on the brain tumour she had developed.
After confessing everything to her husband, she urged him to find love again and with the kids playing on the sand in front of her, passed away in his arms in some of the Australian soap’s most tragic scenes.
The episode was the perfect blend of Sonya’s ardour to survive, and Toadie’s raw emotion of losing his life partner.
Coronation Street: Curly and Raquel
Coronation Street flirted with the idea of two-hander episodes on a number of occasions in its first two decades, with some lengthy scenes dedicated to Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix) and her loves, but it wasn’t until January 2000 that they dedicated a full episode to Raquel (Sarah Lancashire) and Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy).
The forty-five minute episode focussed on her return to Weatherfield after four years away, explaining that they shared a daughter and asking for a divorce as she was pregnant with her new partner’s baby.
Curly and Raquel had a turbulent relationship, and this provided much-needed closure to their story as they watched the stars through the telescope in No. 7’s attic.
EastEnders: Kat and Zoe
This episode followed on from the iconic ‘you ain’t my mother!’, ‘yes I am!’ showdown in the Square between Zoe (Michelle Ryan) and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace).
Zoe was desperate to move to Spain to live with her ‘uncle’ Harry (Michael Elphick), but the revelation that Kat had fallen pregnant with her aged 13, and was forced by her ashamed parents to hand the baby over to them at birth, stopped her in her tracks.
Kat relays her heartache at having to watch her child be brought up without the knowledge of knowing her true parentage, and explains that she planned to have an abortion.
The pair lash out at each other, making Zoe more determined than ever to leave Walford, before a final bombshell is dropped that Harry was her father, and had therefore raped her mum as a teenager.
EastEnders: Little Mo and Trevor
On the night of Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth) and Billy Mitchell’s (Perry Fenwick) engagement party, her obsessive and abusive husband Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns) holds her hostage.
Fearing for her life, the audience follow Mo around the house as she tries to escape, but all of the doors are locked. After intense questioning about her new relationship, he begins to pour petrol on the staircase and she is forced to pretend she still loves him to save herself and his baby Sean.
When he discovers that she isn’t being truthful, he begins to attack her again. She strikes a match and following a struggle, it falls to the floor and flames engulf the house, killing him.
The episode marked an end to the years of abuse she’d suffered during their marriage, but also a step forward into her future with Billy.
Emmerdale: Lockdown
Emmerdale implemented social distancing measures for filming (Picture: ITV)
Like most workplaces, soap production sites were similarly affected by the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
To facilitate the change between pre-COVID episodes and those that would feature social distancing measures, a series of six special episodes were produced to cover key characters’ time in lockdown.
Lydia (Karen Blick) struggled as Sam Dingle (James Hooton) tried to keep her safe amid fears that she had Huntington’s disease, whilst Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) opened up to one another about their past lives and loves in the village.
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There was resentment between Mandy (Lisa Riley) and Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) when he found out she’d lied about his dad Paul Ashdale’s (Reece Dinsdale) arrival and Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) making a realisation to husband Jimmy (Nick Miles) that she needed to find herself again.
Chas (Lucy Pargeter) spoke of her concerns for The Woolpack and opened up to husband Paddy (Dominic Brunt) about feeling lost in the wake of their daughter Grace’s death.
The final three-hander episode was a balance between lighter and darker moments between Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), Ellis (Aaron Anthony) and Al Chapman (Michael Wildman), with the latter adding an extra depth to his character who at that point, we knew little about.
Elsewhere in soapland
Peter and Carla’s marriage was explored in two-hander scenes (Picture: ITV)
EastEnders have had no fewer than twenty four two-hander episodes, but alongside that they’ve also focused on other smaller groups of characters and even a one-hander episode featuring Dot Branning (June Brown) recording a cassette tape of memories for her husband Jim (John Bardon) who was recovering from a stroke.
The episode concludes with her admitting that despite staff wanting to discharge him, she fears she will not be able to cope and believes she will be better on her own.
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It earned June a BAFTA nomination for Best TV Actress in 2009.
Last year, to coincide with the departure of Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) from Coronation Street, much of his final episode was dedicated to a candid conversation with wife Carla (Alison King) about how their marriage was holding him back from achieving his dreams.
With the ITV soap becoming more experimental in recent years, it’s a surprise that they haven’t explored more two-hander opportunities, and it’s certainly something we’d welcome in the future!
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