DRW50

Ben and Jordan used to be friends, I guess, it was hard to tell. Then Ben got upset because Jordan and Abi, Ben's friend, spent more and more time together. Ben started being bullied at school and that made Jordan and Abi hang around him less. I think Jordan also said that Ben was using racial slurs against him. I don't know. The story is made up as it goes along.

I think Kris got to know Ricky when Kris was his teacher.

Oh well. If any Eastenders character would fit into porn it's Max Branning...

Wow, Eastenders really is changing

I'm glad Amy wasn't actually raped, that would have been too much, like when Little Mo was raped again on Eastenders. I'm also glad that they mentioned that she reported the attempted rape. I just hope Olly is gone for good. And I hope they aren't going to go back to Amy/Ste -- leave them as friends. The Suzanne/Darren stuff makes me uncomfortable so I was hoping they were going to go through with firing him. I guess Neville is going to regret keeping Darren around. Duncan continues to repulse me. The slovenliness, the endless jokes about his eating and how overweight he is, referring to himself in third person. And the horrible acting most of all. Speaking of horrible acting, having big sad eyes does not make up for Ricky's wooden line readings. He reminds me of my favorite character in Fame (the original, not the flop remake), the cab driver's son. Don't ruin my good memories of Fame, Ricky. So who was the baby Jacqui was taking care of? I almost forgot she was still with Des. That scene seemed to have nothing to do with the rest of Jacqui's story in the episode. Having Kyle in his underwear for all his scenes (although sadly only one close look at his shapely butt) and the big closeup of Darren in his boxer briefs...I guess they really want those viewers back. With the C4 ratings down to 700K I guess they'll need to go even further...

I read that Ian compared Punk Mary, one of my favorite EE characters of all time, to Zsa Zsa. I don't think so, Ian. Mary was not a 30 year old with a frozen face and a fake accent that would make Dick Van Dyke weep. But I am looking forward to the episode though, like you mentioned. The other stuff sounds decent.

That's good to know. Jason is one of my favorite characters, at least when they bother to write for him and he isn't just a hothead. He's also one of the most gorgeous men ever in soap. I hope he gets some good stories and a good love interest.

I know some have said that now that Jo has kids she may want to stay but I think that's not true for a lot of actors. I wouldn't blame her for going -- the writing for Tanya over the last two years wasn't exactly great stuff. It's interesting because 3 years ago you could have said that the Brannings, Max's branch of the family, would have been the future of the show, and then when Jack came along that could have been even moreso, with all the anticipation of his relationship with Ronnie, but, although I love Max, these days you could probably write out Max, Jack, Tanya, their kids, and Ronnie, and the show wouldn't really suffer that much. The show never bothered to integrate them into the fabric of the Square. Integration is what really helps a character, more than anything else, if you ask me. Of course that might not be true for Eastenders these days, I don't know, I might just be speaking of the past. Which characters brought in in recent years do you think have been well integrated?

Yes, Peggy's at Ben's trial; I guess when the story picks back up in a few weeks Peggy may also be back by then. I don't care that much for Peggy in Mitchell mode but I've missed her in this story. I do wonder what her exit will be. I think it has to be more than just going to Spain to live with Grant. I guess it may involve Charlie somehow. As for Vanessa, I wonder if they are waiting to see what happens. I can see her leaving for a while and possibly returning later on. For now I will be surprised if she's anything beyond an obstacle for Tanya, and will never compare to Tanya in Max's eyes, even if Tanya doesn't want to be with him anymore. I also wonder if Jo Joyner is starting to pave her way into leaving the show (she's recently filmed a comedy show during her maternity break) and Vanessa may be someone they fall back on when Tanya's gone.

Were you surprised Peggy took off for two more weeks with what's going on with Ben? That confused me. Babs is like the Erika Slezak of Eastenders

The Pat and Peggy story was a mess. These were two very lonely women being preyed on by a sleaze, yet the story was played as comedy. Harvey was also badly miscast. There were some good moments, it's always nice to see more of Pat without her being ordered around or being put in the hospital, but a lot of it was so embarrassing. I really hated the scene where they began to argue at the opera, it was so degrading. I kept hoping they were faking that fight. The teens stuff was awful. And didn't you think that Zsa Zsa and Whitney looked like pathetic hypocrites for railing against Lucy on a plan they were more than happy to be a part of? And that flashlight gave us an even closer view of Leon's spots. Ugh. Who came up with the idea of having Peter fake the tears for Lucy? That was the same badly acted reaction he had when he actually thought Leon was dead. It just put a great big spotlight on how poorly acted this story has been. The only part I enjoyed was the brief conversation between Fatboy and Mercy but that just points out how stupid it was to have Fatboy spend 6 months going around using painful slang. And he still looks 10 years too old to be a teenager. Bianca and Carol were by far the best part of the episode for me. Liam was OK but I rolled my eyes at him suddenly finding a voice after years of doing nothing more than sitting there, barely reacting, with that damn cap on his head, like a My Buddy doll.

I wonder if they would have done something with Louise killing Ray if the woman who played Louise hadn't had to leave so abruptly. Her exit was...very odd. Some of the Emmerdale actors posted videos on Twitter where they did RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) bows. Some are funnier than others (my favorite is probably from James Thornton) but here they are. You may want to mute your volume first though, then turn the volume down on the Twitvid thing, as it's up at full blast. http://www.twitvid.com/7M1RC http://www.twitvid.com/NFUDY http://www.twitvid.com/GYPHS http://www.twitvid.com/TPMU7 http://www.twitvid.com/2EWZE

Santer giving up on the show so long ago has put Kirkwood in a bad place. Not only has he had to fire a ton of the dead wood left behind, but the dud stories left behind are likely to be blamed on Kirkwood.

I know some fans are worried the Scullys are now pretty much gone, since Lyn is probably on borrowed time and apparently the woman who plays her wasn't thrilled with the show in an interview? Do you think the Scullys are important to keep on the show?

Thanks. I just wondered if that bit meant something definitive for Glenda. I'm glad that Did you hear that supposedly

I think Declan isn't telling her because he doesn't want the whole thing to become even more of a big issue, and he knows that she may want to keep their affair a secret no matter what, because of the affect it will have on Will and Nathan. I'm surprised they are being so open about it. I thought they might at least fake a few fights. I really enjoyed almost all of Wednesday's episode. How many soaps do you watch where you enjoy almost every scene? I loved the bickering between Declan and Edna. I'm glad that someone finally told Adele that Andy beat his wife -- I thought the show might have just decided to drop that. The Barton drama didn't do that much for me although the scenes where John was ransacking Holly's room were very good. Apparently the one thing the actress who plays Holly can do right is wail. I was annoyed by Moira, she was more interested in finger-pointing than in her daughter's well-being. Nikhil is adorable. I wonder if he's a virgin and that's why he's so nervous around Maisie. Did you notice that lingering shot of John's ass when he was looking in the car? I love it

I hope so. As you can see I had to edit mine down a bit as they were a bit too anti-current EE and they probably wouldn't let those be asked Thanks for letting me know about this. You probably already saw this but it's an interview with Simon May. http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2440

Do you have any stories in mind for Pat? Do you have any thoughts on the current pacing of storylines and any changes you might make? Do you have any plans to bring back Shabnam Masood? Is there any character or family, past or present, you would consider to be the core of Eastenders? Do you have any stories in mind for Carol? What was your favorite time in the show's history? What is your opinion on the current state of younger leading men in Eastenders? Do you have any plans to bring in stronger male characters? What are your plans for the Slater family left in Walford (Mo, Kat, Alfie), since Jean, Stacey, and Charlie are leaving? Is there any need for the second pub/club/nightclub (most recently called R&R) which often seems to exist only so it can be set on fire? If so, what plans do you have for it? Do you have any plans to bring in new members of the Beale/Fowler family, or to recast Steven Beale?

Upcoming Stape spoiler, possibly.

These are more photos on what would have been shown. http://tv.sky.com/eastenders-lucas-kills-again-in-pics

I don't know how thoroughly the plot is being changed. If it's big, then I guess the scenes may just not air and someone may be called in to play new scenes. If it's not big, then they might just reshape the scenes to scrub away the part about this woman being a prostitute, and instead Lucas might just be killing a woman with no real background. People have been speculating on this for weeks but since we hadn't heard anything I thought they had decided to stay with the scenes.

I wonder if soaps were better then because people at the network were less likely to pay attention to them. It seems like the more a network paid attention, the more a soap declined.

No. He buried Denise's ex-husband, Libby's father, under that tree after killing him.

I kind of wondered if Kyle was only a short term character all along. Otherwise I think Marquess should keep him because I see real potential there. Unlike with Olly, who fortunately seems to be going soon. The stuff today was just awful and so cheap, as was the stuff with Suzanne and with Loretta and Jake. I guess I will blame that on Allan. Can you tell me how Loretta and Dom broke up?