This year has seen some of the biggest storylines and most emotional scenes to come to the world of televisual soap opera.

There have been highs and very many lows - murders, explosions, psychopaths and shocking deaths - and the cast of our favourites have done a great job once again in bringing us all together every night for an hour or two in front of the TV with our family, catching up with the Corrie cobbles or the Eastenders markets.

We've decided to take a look back over the past year and pick out some of our best memories of the soaps we all know and love.


Coronation Street

Karl became one of the biggest villains around as his behaviour spiralled out of control, and he continued to lie about just how Sinitta truly did die. Fortunately, he was found out after weeks of investigation by Dev, but not before he had one final attempt at escaping with the love of his life Stella.

Karl Munro has been a major villain / Credit: ITV

The bookmakers was taken over by Rob and Tracy as their feud with Peter and Carla continued, but it was Tina who truly threw a spanner into the works when she started to develop feelings for Peter on the eve of his wedding to Carla.

Hayley Cropper was told this year that she was terminally ill with cancer, and it was the start of a gripping storyline that kept the nation weeping tears of sadness when her husband Roy struggled to cope with the pressures of making his wife's final months the best they could be.

That's a story that'll continue on into the New Year, and Coronation Street didn't stop there when it came to gripping moments. Kylie and David feuded as David seemed to lose absolutely everybody around him because of his plotting and scheming, leading the breakdown of relationships all over the street and a coma for his brother Nick, who's now still suffering because of his injuries.

Emmerdale

David and Priya got engaged this year as the news of her pregnancy with his baby broke - but it wasn't going to be all smooth sailing from there on in. Fast forward to the last few weeks, and Priya's been left behind as David's moved back on to Alicia, who he hopes to spend the rest of his life with.

Priya was unable to let her feelings for David subside / Credit: ITV

Rachel and Sam started a relationship which was taken to the next level when he proposed to his girlfriend with a plastic blue ring, and he wasn't the only Dingle who had relations heating up, as Moira and Cain took their business to the bedroom on more than one occasion.

A brain tumour struck Brenda just as she was starting to find happiness with Bob, and the emotional scenes struck a chord with many watching.

Creepy Cameron was to blame for some of the most momentous scenes this year, as we lost Gennie to a car crash and several other characters because of his murderous rampage, all leading to a showdown in the pub where he took a host of villagers hostage, before finally being outdone and arrested.

Declan's state of mind has deteriorated as his world has crumbled around him, leading to him striking his sister Megan on more than one occasion.

Hollyoaks

Much-loved star of the show Brendan Brady - who melted hearts even while being hideous at times - decided it was time to depart the show, and was led to prison after pulling a gun on the police hoping to be killed - but surviving - leaving the doors open for a hopeful return not too long in the future!

Brendan Brady's time on Hollyoaks came to an end

Will killed Texas and continued to lie about his paralysis for a good chunk of the year, and we all waited with baited breath for the moment he would get caught out. It turned out that he and his brother Dodger were to have a scuffle on a roof top, leading to a dangerous fall but survival for them both. Karma meant that Will was left truly paralysed from the fall, before being arrested.

The 'Fall of Sienna' occurred just recently, and as her behaviour became more and more psychotic, she spiralled out of control to the point where she tried to kill herself and her children. Luckily, residents of the village managed to find her just in time and save the children before she too joined the scores of Hollyoaks residents behind bars.

An abuse storyline involving Maxine began, and is to continue on in the hopes of raising awareness for the fact that abuse doesn't have to be physical in a relationship. She and on-screen partner Patrick Blake even appeared on a Home Office advert to campaign for the 'This is Abuse' project.

Eastenders

Preparations had to be made at the beginning of the year to give Derek Branning a true sending off, and as his relatives made plans for exactly that, the other residents of Walford weren't getting their years off to the best of starts.

Derek Branning's funeral preparations were made / Credit: BBC

Bianca's son Liam became involved in the murky world of teenage gang culture and crime, and soon was in over his head. With everyone around him trying to help him, it didn't take long for him to realise that it was time to get out of the situation, but it proved not to be the easiest thing in the world to do.

Max faced jailtime because of a set-up involving Ian, who was being blackmailed by Carl who hoped to frame the father who was in this case, innocent. As proceedings continued, Max was released from prison, much to Carl's dismay, leading to a showdown in the middle of a dirtroad between Carl, Max and Phil.

Janine's return to The Square meant that she was at constant loggerheads with her ex-partner Michael Moon, leading to one of the biggest storylines for the soap this year in which he was ultimately murdered, with Alice Branning in prison, taking the blame after being set up by Janine. 

However, David managed to worm a confession out of Janine, and is planning to use it against her to rinse her of all of her money and assets - just how the New Year will pan out for these characters is still yet to be seen!

Kat and Alfie found themselves coming back together, just as Alfie was due to get married to Roxy Mitchell. Alfie did indeed go through with the wedding, but the papers were annuled soon after when he realised he couldn't live his life without his true love.

So - these are some of our stand-out moments of the year in our four favourite soaps. Did we miss out any of your favourites? Let us know in the comments section below. Here's to another year of fantastic British soap opera!

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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