DRW50

They tried to bring David back this year (which must be why they suddenly acted like Bianca longed for David), but Patsy said that Michael French was too busy working. I still think there are plausible ways to bring back Kathy or Cindy. If you don't see someone die oncamera, they don't have to be dead. Bringing back Kathy or Cindy is no more "shark jumping" than burying a man alive.

Hollyoaks Freshers has started. There are also a lot of very short videoblogs featuring Lee and other characters. http://www.youtube.com/user/hollyoaks

Max and Kat could be riveting. I say they should think about going for it. I also wouldn't mind seeing him in more scenes with Denise. They had that bad date a few years ago. I'm so glad that over the last 5-6 months they have had Denise stop screaming. I think for a few years someone thought every woman on EE needed to scream her lines, if she could. I don't think that suited Diane Parish. I didn't realize photos had already come out for Tanya and Greg. I saw one at Walford Web's forums, as a banner. He looks a bit terrified behind the smile, perhaps because he knows Max will try to tear him limb from limb...or Tanya said, "I buried my last man alive," right before the photo was taken...

That's right. I forgot about Diane. That could be interesting. I keep meaning to watch more of that channel. I am afraid of jinxing it. I was just thinking about Peggy and how the yelling tends to suit her character...I think Eastenders has two modes of iconic female characters, those who are loud and proud to mask their pain but are dying inside (Peggy, Angie, Kat, Pat, Stacey), and the woman who struggles more quietly but is a survivor (Michelle, Sharon, Kathy - when she was on the show). I think the show was trying some of the former with Roxy and the latter with Ronnie, although it hasn't quite worked out. I'm not sure what the recipe is for a male character, although the "hard man" seems to be the most known. I've always liked Jake Wood but there's always been a certain wall there for the Max character, mostly down to his stories always being about him screwing up. I feel like the last year has broken through a wall for the character, and I feel like if they keep on this way he could become one of my all time favorite characters (although that list is kind of odd -- I'm sure Sue Osman, Nigel, Punk Mary, etc. would get a shrug from a lot of viewers). I also think he could become a huge asset to the show. To me he's carried a lot of 2010, even if he hasn't gotten the attention.

I watched the most recent Peggy promos. The "Go Now" one was a lot of fun. When was Peggy pushing the bust off the bar, and smashing things with a bat? And who was she enraged at when Mel held her back?

Michelle not being there hurt a lot. On many levels, with Den as well as Vicky and Sharon and Pauline. I almost wish they had just recast. I do think that Dennis, Sharon, Chrissie, and to a lesser degree Den, helped revive the Watts and showed what the family can be. I don't think Grant will ever be back but if he does come back I agree I wouldn't want him with Sharon, or Phil with Sharon. Hopefully that would not happen, it's so lazy. The past is sometimes the past for a reason. I really want Sharon to find out that Phil caused Dennis to die, or helped anyway. The last Oriental character I remember on Eastenders was a con artist named Li who was involved with Mickey Miller. Santer wrote her out in summer 2007. She didn't want to commit to Mickey so she moved to be with her mother. As for ideas, I would bring Kelvin in, perhaps single, with some kids, and an estranged wife who pops in and out. I would bring in a lesbian couple, one of whom used to be well off but lost a lot of money in the recession, the other came from a poorer background. They could have one or two kids. The one who is more from money fits into Walford more easily, in spite of some culture shock, whereas the one who was poorer struggles to deal with memories of the rough treatment she faced when she lived in places like Walford. I would also bring in Kenny Beale for a visit, to introduce some of his kids (perhaps Elizabeth who was on the show with him in 1988) and grandkids. I know the actor who played Kenny is dead but they can recast.

9/77 SOD. Elizabeth Kemp and Pamela Lincoln say goodbye. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

Thanks. I love Shameless.

Sept. 77 SOD interview with Lenore Kasdorf (Rita). SOD Publishing Inc.

I liked Steve but not so much when they had him in the feud with Phil (which he was going to lose of course) and the relationship with Mel. I thought he was best with Matthew Rose. I agree that they planned to take Stacey as the new Kat. While that might not have been the best idea ever it could have been more fun and balanced than all the misery piled on Stacey. She has just been buried in it for years. I love the Jacqui character on HO when they get her right, and part of that is the resemblance to Kat. Mercedes also has that resemblance but Mercedes has no heart. Jacqui does. So does Kat. I think the Watts legacy as it was had already been all but forgotten anyway. Sharon was there but as much as a Mitchell than a Watts. He hurt it but also helped bring it back. I think the biggest mistake was the casting and writing for Vicky. That would be interesting. The last soap which did that was Brookside, 20 years ago. What was Yorke involved in at Channel 4?

I wonder if he kept the show underbudget or something. Or perhaps they felt Edge was an odd show to deal with or they were scared of interfering too much after their decision to move the show killed its ratings on CBS. I agree, lucky Nancy. Edge had some very handsome men. Sorry about posting the same photo twice

9/77 SOD, Dream Date with Tony Craig. SOD Publishing Inc. Here's the intro:

I think in some ways they are victims of their own success, in that the Slaters were so huge for a few years there and since then they tried to bring in other families with a similar splash, and it didn't really work (like the Millers), or there's a backlash against loud women, as Eastenders has become known for that. There was also no real sense of family on the show over the past few years -- if the Slaters had been introduced later you probably would have rarely seen them interacting. It took over two years for the most recent version of the Brannings to be believable as a family. It's like the McQueens on Hollyoaks, they had so many family scenes that first year and then afterwards less and less, and there was little heart. I think the heart really went out when Kate Harwood was there, I was watching Little Mo's exit back when the clip was on Youtube, and while I don't think anyone would argue that her best years as a character were gone, it was just so dispiriting to see a woman who had been at the center of some of the show's most emotional storylines ever, yet she left in a very very cold manner, not wanting to have any real goodbyes, not wanting to hug Billy, nothing. I can't remember if Yorke was at the BBC when they brought Den back but something tells me he wouldn't have done it. The thing is there was so much potential in Den's return. So even with the 2004 mess and the webcam scandal I would say his return was worth it, probably moreso than a lot of returns in the last decade. But they could have done so much more. Even if they couldn't bring Angie back they could have had more with people like Pat at least. They didn't even show most of the characters reacting to his return from the dead, did they? Berridge's era does seem dull, I think if there was any bright spot to her time with the show it's that I could see she did think fondly of certain characters and she did try to move them on to places they should have gone. I think she did a lot to help the Janine character, I think she did a lot to give Sharon a new dimension (I know Yorke had moved her on from Phil, which was needed, but I hated Tom and the whole "he's a bully what fun" stuff). I thought that, if you take out that annoying as hell nanny, she gave Phil perhaps his best love interest in Kate and some good material. And while I think she ultimately left Pat stranded, I can understand where she was going with Pat and I do think Pat and Roy were over as a couple -- she just didn't seem to realize that she needed to build Pat's connections up more before she killed Roy off. For me Eastenders is more about the characters than the stories, and about a certain atmosphere. I do think Yorke got that atmosphere. I think Berridge, with proper help, could have known, because I think her ideas on where the show had strayed from (lack of minorities, lack of a rough edge, the Watts) were right. She just didn't execute anything that well and she made some stupid choices. Santer is probably the one I felt, aside from Kate Harwood, got Eastenders the least, but then, his era was a big success so who am I to say that? I think they would have had to tone Kat down if she'd stayed, and they were clearly going towards that (one of her last scenes had her scrubbing her face off in the Vic bathroom). But the end was clear for that character. There was nothing left for her if she had stayed. I can't think of what she would have done. I have this awful vision of them pairing her with Kevin Wicks. Mel -- she came on at a time when the show had lost a lot of female characters so she kind of lucked out. I remember when they moved her up by having her dump Ian for his lies. I just thought she was princessy ice queen. If Tamzin hadn't become so popular outside of EE I wonder if she might still be there. The next year is crucial for Eastenders because it's going to be a real building block. I think Kirkwood did a good job with families in his first year or two at Hollyoaks. I hope he can do the same at EE.

8/31/82 SOD article on a party for Texas! Network Publishing Co

I didn't know that either, about the rivalry for Mel. At that time it did seem like Mel was being shoved at viewers as the show's lead heroine -- no thanks. I guess you saw the interview with Tony Jordan that was on the Slaters in Detention DVD? I am not as fond of that era as you, mostly because I don't like seeing so much Phil, but I agree it was certainly a very strong period of time for the show. The show had a lot of polish without losing its core identity. It's a shame Anita Dobson refused at the last minute to return to the show -- I think that Yorke and Tony Jordan could have done a lot with her. That's interesting about the casting for the Slaters. It worked, as they were very believable as a family from the start. The only one who for me has sometimes never been entirely believable is Big Mo.

One of my favorite Martha and the Vandellas songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IFETIi0zk

Thanks. Would Raven's mother Nadine also be on the list? I thought that Beverly Penberthy said she wanted to leave but I don't know. From what I've seen I really liked her as Pat. Some of those firings are such a waste, especially Grant and Joyce on ATWT and Russ on AW. And with AW it ended up with one wave after another of flop new characters and families, until somewhere around 1983 or 1984.

I thought this was a pretty decent episode. I know some are upset that the show hasn't had a lot of big cliffhangers but I will trade that for consistent episodes, which we've had for the past few months. I don't care about anything with Heather/Minty; I did watch the part where Shirley threatened "Richard" -- that was fun. Even though Jane's baby rabies did scare me with its intensity, I do feel sorry for her -- probably the saddest scene was when she realized Peter had been lying to her. I'm surprised Peter hasn't let Ian know yet that Jane knows. I wonder where they're going to go with this story. I guess this is the last we will hear of Kelvin, although I hope not. I know there is some upset over Lucy not having a bigger exit but I don't know if she needed one, she's coming back. Santer spent too much time pushing Melissa Suffield the actress, not Lucy the character, and Lucy as a character suffered. I don't envy the actress who replaces her because a lot of people are already saying no one will compare to Melissa. I'm glad they haven't forgotten what Denise is going through. Jordan is annoying but that doesn't mean the story needs to end. Nice to see that Tamwar was written as less of a bizarre plot device today. Great to see more of the Masoods; there still seem to be some tensions between Masood and Zainab, sadly. The writer of this episode finally found the perfect outlet for Marc Elliot's theatrical acting style by giving him that monologue to Shabnam. The scene where he watched the family video and for a second thought Zainab missed him or was going to mention him...good stuff. Can't wait until Becca is gone, she is such a desperate control freak. I'm happy the spoilers misled me and the fallout between Max and Stacey was based on a misunderstanding, not on Max distancing himself from Stacey. Their talk in the kitchen was moving and showed yet again what chemistry Lacey and Jake have. Max's scene with Abi and Vanessa was also good. Jo Joyner's maternity leave and Charlie Clement's departure have been the best things that ever happened to Max as a character. I still don't quite understand why they no longer mention Bradley's love for Doctor Who or other sci fi stuff like BSG, and now only mention Star Trek.

I'm hoping the recasts are the start of investing in the younger group. One of the few things I liked about this younger group was the friendship between Tamwar and Darren and that seems to be gone. That's a great idea about Kim and Syed. I was thinking Janine but that would probably be a disaster. Allcock/Shirley would be interesting, especially to see Pat's smirk when she hears the name...

Chastain was the one who was going to be written out of the show and then basically became headwriter? What were some of his other blunders? GL and ATWT managed to survive their firings (the severe GL firings probably weren't until more around 83-84 anyway), and I guess AW did (I'm not sure of anyone they let go aside from John Randolph -- did they fire Beverly Penberthy or did she want to leave), but it sounds like SFT might have still had a chance if they hadn't been so callous. I'm sure it must have caused the ratings fall the show faced near the end of their CBS run. Sorry to post all those pictures in a row. There were a few I hadn't seen before so that's why I included them.

I still can't believe that. I really would like to see that scene. They didn't actually show her interest in this man, they just had Stu read a note, right?

The show needs more attractive guys, they should keep him around and put him with, I don't know, Roxy or someone. That's true. Who would you have as his friend? An existing character or a new character? I wish they'd develop Tamwar's character more. Recently he's just seemed to be a plot device, and his dialogue with Syed in this last episode was so generic. He could have been some best friend of the housewife from a 1953 soap. I miss when he used to be quirky and funny. Although that scene where he was in a fetal position after Christian leapt at him was kind of hilarious.