Been away, catching up....
eddiemairswife - re: Emily only spraining her ankle when she fell. Surely you know that Emily is unbreakable? I mean, Richard Hillman gave her one helluva whack on the head with a shovel and she survived.
I wondered at first if this was a bit of a filler storyline, but as we hadn't seen Emily for ages, I suspect not. Which makes me wonder if it is potentially leading somewhere or setting something up for the future? Whenever anyone else leaves a soap it is heralded with much publicity but as Eileen Derbyshire doesn't do publicity (good for her, fed up with all the younger ones turning up for opening of an envelope) we probably wouldn't hear about it until it happens. I think Granada would give Emily a happy send-off - going to live with Freda or Spider - if it comes to it.
Personally I hope she stays as long as she can. She's one of the few totally believable characters left that the writers haven't ruined by making them have personality transplants at some point.