The lady of the manor from hell

Well it seems someone at Emmerdale has a decent memory as they've finally found the perfect person to play new resident bad girl Anna de Souza. And, brilliantly, it's Emma Davies from long-defunct supersoap Families.

Emma played ginger-minx Juliet Bannerman who excelled at cat-fights with sister-in-law Fiona, loved bullying downtrodden dullard Chelsea, and may have drugged her little brother at one point while forcing another local to become a prostitute. If there's one thing that Emmerdale needs, it's the B&B becoming a brothel and crack den.

Families gave daytime TV a much-needed shot of glamour in the 1990s. While all the other soaps were horribly obsessed with the kitchen sink, Families featured rich bitches, creepy sugar daddies, escort agencies, swapped-at-birth psychos and mighty-fine drunks driving their cars into level crossings. Despite starting life as a serial set in both Australia and Britain (though much of the Aussie bits were filmed at Granada studios anyway), the soap became truly awesome when the Antipodean elements were axed and the wonderfully messed-up Bannerman clan arrived.

Sadly YouTube seems to be rather free of clips of this once-mighty slice of insane country life, though there's an attic in a house somewhere full of dusty videos containing the last block of episodes. And I've a nasty feeling they may get dusted off sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I'm hoping Emma Davies can bring the same dizzying heights of cattiness to Emmerdale as she did to Families. I'm not entirely sure why the producers are bringing in another de Souza - especially with nice, wino Miles having been axed - but no doubt Anna will be married off to a King in no time, becoming the lady of the manor from hell. Hurrah!