DRW50

Monday was when the siege week started, but last Friday was when they started showing Tony in prison and when they introduced his cellmate, Robbie, who came to Weatherfield to pave the way for Tony's return.

The prostitute killing which Lucas was supposed to be involved in has now been dropped, and the plot will be rewritten. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a223152/eastenders-to-drop-lucas-prostitute-link.html This is what would have happened: http://tv.sky.com/eastenders-lucas-kills-again

Do you think she was upset about this story about Steph carrying Dan's child? I know some fans were not sure about what this would do to the Libby/Steph friendship. Are there any past characters you think could return and help fill the void?

Thank you, Jon, for your corrections and your insights, I appreciate them. Was Windsor still at the show when they began killing off the Ames family? And also, is it true that they almost got a syndicated deal after they were canceled?

Unless they age her a few years and get rid of that awful Mockney accent, I'd rather she not return. I thought she was awful in most of the teen scenes, she was a little better with Phil, Shirley, and the kids.

The court stuff still isn't working for me, aside from Norris and Mary. I like seeing James Fleet and the scenes where he took Carla and Hayley hostage were tense, I loved when Tony swanned into the room and ripped the tape off Carla's mouth ("that's three layers of fake tan gone"), but why exactly would Roy or Carla automatically do anything that this strange man wants, a man who happens to come to Weatherfield just as Tony escapes from prison, and who is talking to both of them? I guess they just don't know each other well enough to compare notes. Kim Crowther interview. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/scoop/a222874/corries-kim-crowther-talks-siege-week.html

I didn't think Adi was that bad but they spent so much time making him look weak it became kind of depressing. I guess that was to set up what was going to happen, or never happened. That Sasha Perkins woman, she was initially just supposed to be his friend, wasn't she, and then when they decided not to make him gay, suddenly they had them get involved? The only two I didn't like were Ronnie and Tariq...which was apparently why Berridge decided to center the Ferriera stories around them after the father was deported.

That far off? So does that mean Collinson is next? Or am I missing someone?

Deirdre's at it again. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2996417/Coronation-Streets-Deirdre-Barlow-caught-on-CCTV-kissing-Nigel-Havers.html

They discussed Ben and Phil, Peggy said maybe Ben was better off with Ian and Pat told her not to talk that way, not to be depressed. The pacing issues aren't new for the show, they started around 2008 or so, which is why I wondered if it was down to budget cuts. I just think Peggy's absence from this story has been a bit odd.

I sort of liked Ash and Kareena -- I thought there was something natural about her, when she wasn't crying or whining. I thought Ash had the potential to be a good character and also something different for Eastenders. I really wonder if they will come up with a story for Carol or not. Or just keep her this way until she goes. She's kind of like Frankie Osborne at the moment, or what Kirkwood turned Frankie into, so he may like her this way. I just wish more recent viewers got the chance to see what she can be. I love Carol so I can give her a break but if I didn't know who she was I'd probably be bored with her or see her as an interfering drag. I think they should have some man Carol knew when she was a teenager, before she met David, come to town and sweep her off her feet. That would let her have some romance and fun and may also cause a reaction in Bianca, since David and Carol were never together, at least not when she was growing up. The Pat and Peggy stuff was fun, I agree. I think if not for all the silly stuff already with this story I would have enjoyed today's more but it was better than I expected, the little moments like sneaking through the kitchen. I just hate Harvey. The actor is a horrible ham. He seems like something Anita Turner would have put on Emmerdale. Do you think this new person may be in to help with the pacing? The pacing has been such an issue for a while now, and it flared up again with Peggy returning after being absent for all of the story with Ben and Phil and Jordan and Lucas, with just a casual comment from Ian that Ben doesn't want to see Peggy. I know some of this may be down to budget but it's jarring.

Thank you so much Brent! I have wanted to hear more about Joel Crothers's Secret Storm role for years, as that's what he left Dark Shadows for. Do you remember any of that? This all sounds fascinating. Was Secret Storm the first soap to do an identical twin story? For some reason I always thought All My Children was, with Kitty/Kelly. Were a lot of the soaps doing stories about hippies and bad counterculture types at this time? This was around the time Edge of Night had Dorothy Lyman as an evil hippie who tried to kill the show's young ingenue, wasn't it? The one with the rich widowed father. That story about Amy and Irene sounds chilling. You may have already seen this, but this is the first part of a Love of Life episode from around the time you may have been watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qblvMGB6Snc I posted this in the other thread but in case anyone didn't see it in there, this is a Secret Storm from 1966: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ7A5Sc0Pnc&feature=related

They don't really have anything for Bianca to do either. They are just in a holding pattern. I think the only reason they had Carol come back was as a nod for the anniversary, and to introduce Billie, who, judging by the way he has been forced on viewers, they probably thought was going to be a great star. I would love to see them do more with Carol but I'm not counting on it. At least there is a little depth in her back and forth with Bianca and it's nice to see them moving beyond Bianca shrieking at Ricky. Really they don't seem to have anything for anyone to do on the show. Never have I seen a show that just takes months and months of the year off the way Santer's EE did. You watched the January 2004 Scotland stuff with the teens right? Did you think that was better or worse than this? I thought it was better, even if I wouldn't have minded seeing Gus and Tariq go up in flames.

I forgot they aired two hour long episodes last week. Thanks for all the info.

So will they be airing more episodes later on or are those episodes just not ever going to be made?

They've already dumped an episode from this week's schedule, haven't they? I wonder why they didn't do what they did in 2006 and air them later at night.

I was hoping it might mean someone would help him come up with ideas like how not to let rape and incest revelations be forgotten as soon as they are spoken.

Does that mean giving him even more responsibility, or less?

I don't see the point of starting HD when most of your scenes are set in jail or in a brown courtroom. I liked the way Gail was with her cellmate, stroking her hair. I still wish they could bring her onto the Street. All the stuff with Tony's escape was somewhat campy and the court stuff was not too good until Tina testified. I have gone off Tina with the Graeme stuff but damn was Michelle Keegan good in those court scenes. Did it seem like almost everyone was overacting because they were in a big episode?

Aaron promo, November 2008. I never even knew he had his own promo.

So, today's episode... The Pat/Peggy stuff wasn't bad, this has all been done before, but it was nice to see them talking seriously and with no woeful "comedy." Harvey is atrocious and the mugging he gets up to is just shockingly awful. The only part of those scenes I liked was when Pat realized he had given her cheap earrings -- Pam St. Clement did a great job showing how worthless Pat felt. It was nice to see Dot, Patrick, and pointless Liz brought into the story about Liam. Dot was great, although I think her reading the obituaries for fun was a bit out of character. I wish Carol didn't always have to be so serious but I'm glad she made an effort for Liam and that they had Bianca lash out only to realize Carol was right. It was nice to see Ricky being written as a more mature person, and it was also nice to see Ricky and Bianca having fun at the start of the episode. Most of the time their scenes amount to a) Bianca is angry and b ) Bianca hurls abuse at Ricky. Billie makes my skin crawl. He behaves like a brat even though he is too old to act this way. Everything about him just puts me off, especially when he has that damn smug look or that damn pout on his face. The way he undermined the attempt to help Liam was disgusting and showed again how immature he is. Do you get the feeling that the show thinks this is cute? The teens were mostly pointless. I thought Melissa Suffield was VERY good in those emotional scenes with Leon by the fire. The rest of the stuff was just tired and wooden. Is anyone else still kind of disturbed, for lack of a better word, with seeing people who look so much older than teenagers passed off as teenagers? They dress Leon like a sitcom father (having a spotty face doesn't automatically mean you're a teenager) and Zsa Zsa looks like a middle-aged mother trying to recapture her youth. I can't stand listening to her fake accent. Ugh ugh ugh. The only thing worse is Whitney whimpering about Billie. Fatboy is less annoying, although he also looks too old for this nonsense. I'm glad Mercy is back, hopefully she can provide some sort of balance. That fight and the cliffhanger was just amateurish. Was that a 30 year old man who was beating up Peter for making a pass at his girlfriend? Peter looks so much younger than most of the other "teens" it is just awkward. And then the bit where we were supposed to think Peter ran Leon over? If only! Janine can give him some lessons in making that stick.

Good interview. She sounds a bit nutty, which could be fun. I am glad they didn't try to have her put on a fake accent. The Dick Van Dyke accent is exactly what other recent EE hires (especially Dotty) had. Is their producer interview for this week up yet? Here's a photoshoot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_B2m2WhhEg

Can anyone tell me how Loretta and Dom broke up? Wasn't it something about him stalking her? How ironic. This story is a bore but I'm glad to see the Deans all being a stable family again. They got really ugly in 2007/2008. It's kind of funny that Ravi seems to be pretty smart now -- figuring out Malachy's motives before Kris did. I remember Ravi being a meathead when I watched his stuff a few years ago. I know it's probably still too late for Malachy and Mercedes but I thought their argument scenes were strong, the best part being Jacqui's face when she heard them upstairs. I love Jacqui. You know those guys who have great bodies but they don't do anything for you? That's Olly. I really like the DI or whatever they call them in the UK. She's efficient without being too much of a cardboard cutout. Doesn't it seem like the UK soaps do a better job with their detectives than US soaps? Even if they aren't overly bright, you still like watching them. Like Marsden on Eastenders. Or the guys who are investigating Gail on Corrie.

Come on, Josh always looked like a Muppet. Whoever convinced Anthony Quinlan to get his hair cut should get a raise. He has a very hot body and as the character has grown up emotionally it was mostly just that stupid hair which was holding him back. Kris worse a dress to Calvin's and Carmel's wedding.