It’s just abut Christmas, so the soaps are getting ready for juicy festive storylines to pull the punters in by their millions. I checked out EastEnders and Coronation Street this evening, to see the pieces being lined up.

The big EastEnders news is that Janine is back. Last seen despatching her hapless husband Barry, she’s reappeared under the name Judith, to get hitched to an alarmingly old man at a Jewish ceremony. That was enough for Pat to send her sergeants, Ricky and Billy, to somehow thwart the marriage before it started. Which kind of happened, but only when Pat herself appeared.

As ever with stories involving Ricky and Billy, there’s an element of comedy capers involved, which doesn’t always dovetail neatly with the powerful emotions between Pat and Janine. Lest we forget, Pat was the stepmother to Barry the human hamster, so has every reason to be aggrieved with Janine for offing him. This will form a central strand of whatever happens on Albert Square over the festive season, though there’s also business concerning Phil Mitchell, about to become a dad once again, and his slimy father-in-law, that’s simmering.

Coronation Street’s Christmas guest is Ken Barlow’s wastrel son Peter, who hasn’t sussed that turning up to your toddler son’s school reeking of whiskey is not the way forward. Peter blames Ken for being the worst dad ever, which is a bit rich on a street that’s also given us Les Battersby as a role model for errant fathers.

When Peter wasn’t making himself unpopular at the Rover’s Return, Carla was apologising to Michelle there for her capacity to have a bloke die on her then have a fling with his brother, satnavs being more prevalent than moral compasses in Wetherfield. There was some unconvincing business about Rosie Webster selling her story to a journalist too; I’m unsure how much the problem is Rosie’s acting, and how much the improbability of what we’re expected to believe of her since she left home.

So, which show to watch over Christmas? The Janine story has more meat than the return of Peter Barlow, but in other respects I’m more into Coronation Street on present form. The Street has always blended humour into stories more comfortably than its Walford rival, and the stories often seem less contrived. Being a glutton at this time of the year though, I’m likely to watch and enjoy both shows to see what slings and arrows get chucked about while I tuck into a better class of leftovers than I’d normally have access to. Besides, one possible plan for 2009 involves applying to the BBC Writers Academy, so the more au fait with EastEnders I am, the better.