DRW50

Part 2 of the Matthew Robinson interview. http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2315 Some fascinating stuff. He was the one who cast Den, Dot, and Pauline. Den helped him cast Billy Mitchell many years later (smart move with Perry Fenwick -- I honestly think Billy would be long gone if Perry weren't so good). He's not a Michelle Collins fan!

I would put this down to the really lousy acting from the "hair model" (finally that term becomes useful) who plays Danny. Danny was also very much wanting to break up Ronnie/Jack, before he abruptly stopped focusing on Ronnie when he realized Roxy was an easier mark. The thing with Danny is that we have no idea whether he's actually their brother. There were no tests, and we have never seen any of the conversations between Glenda and Danny. I am guessing that either they're both cons, or that they're cons as well as lovers. I'm just glad my initial fears that they would try to do Shannis 2.0 between Ronnie and Danny didn't happen. I LOVED the scene where she dismissed Danny's running back to Roxy with, "That's OK. You're her poodle, not mine." That is probably my favorite Ronnie scene of all time. Those scenes seemed odd. Lauren saying she didn't want to be happy around Max because of Bradley -- that line should have gone to Abi, as Lauren has never been very close to Max. I guess all of this was to show us how weak Max is compared to saintly Jack. All I kept thinking was that Lauren ran Max over and it's hard to go back to the scenes about Max and his long-suffering kids after that. The other thing was that I was again focused on what strong chemistry Jake Wood and Lacey Turner in those scenes. I really wish the show would put them together, especially if that puts out unbearable Tanya. The Ben scenes have been poorly written. They never should have had it where he would seem like he was just being a brat. He was badly damaged from the abuse inflicted on him. They should have had this referenced earlier on because I think people have less sympathy for Ben than they should. I liked those scenes too, mainly because of Charlie Brooks. When she gets the chance to act, few are better. Finally, a decently written Janine scene. I also thought whoever plays Ryan did a good job. Lindsay Coulson really was the lifeblood of most of the Jack shooting scenes. I especially loved her grinding her worthless son down to nothing. He is a user and loser and also continues to remind me of Barney.

Thanks! There must be some thing about three named people at EE, what with Dominic Treadwell Collins now ruling the roost. I wonder what she wrote in 2008. I have watched some of today's episode, not that far into it yet but I did love all the stuff about Jack being so helpful to his family what would they do without him. The only thing he's ever helped himself to is lowering the skirts of every Mitchell but Peggy. Didn't he even throw Tanya and her children out on the street when he had enough of them? I think my biggest LOL of the day was seeing Roxy with Amy. I thought she had sold that child for bad hair extensions.

I don't think it's unrealistic for them to fall in love but it's more that I don't think they have bothered to tell a story where Janine has ever loved him. He did seem to care for Janine, but she rejected him over and over for Archie and his memory. I don't think she'd care about Ryan unless they wanted her to be used to prop Stacey. Wasn't that script editor the one who was around during the generally awful 2006 period?

They never knew what to do with her. Being used as Jack's piece is degrading. Who can forget the notorious coke addiction that lasted for about 2 weeks. Knowing Eastenders, Libby will probably be the one who stays forever.

Tiana Benjamin is quitting Eastenders. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a212028/tiana-benjamin-quits-eastenders.html Given the poor stories they've given Denise for so many years I will be surprised if she is kept around.

I'm not going to puke, but I am confused. Can you tell me when she even decided she loved Ryan? She threw him over for Archie without much regret. She has mourned Archie for months and said he's the only man she loved. Meanwhile, Ryan suddenly started scolding Janine over her personal choices even though he came on the show as a somewhat sleazy, bad boy (at least he's forgotten he's related to Whitney -- can't blame him there). I think this is just being done so that Janine can freak out over Stacey and the baby. It's always this big plot driven stuff with her, they don't bother to write for the character. I think they see her as some type of Dynasty figure.

For some reason it seems like longer than a year to me. Perhaps because the GL I most remember was gone a long time ago. Yet other days I feel like it was just last week. Here's the first part of a 1982 episode. That has some really wonderful camp scenes with Helena/Quint, some warm Bauer moments, and Kelly in a white Speedo!

I think if Daz had stayed around they may have had more story together. They were setting Aaron up at that time as having major feelings for Victoria and she used him to get to Daz, but there were hints she may have felt more. Paddy/Viv was a mess. I think they just wanted a scandalous affair and they wanted to break up Paddy's very quiet marriage to Emily, and cause drama since Viv was Emily's boss, but it was a story that a lot of people were a bit repulsed by. Viv became this very horny beast and started lusting after Paddy, and although he tried to resist, he and Emily did not have sex very often, so he gave into Viv. They even had sex in the shop -- I think Marlon walked in on them and just about went blind. The best part of the story was when Emily found out and tore the shop apart in a rage. That story is what led to Debbie giving baby Sarah to Emily. Nicola/David I thought actually worked well together, the problem was that at the time they had no real idea of what to do with Nicola. They brought her back as a "superbitch", plotting to kill her rich husband. David was part of that. That really was not in character for Nicola whatsoever. After that story ended with the husband exposing and dumping her, she had one comic relief money scheme after another after another. Finally the whole thing ended when she couldn't go through with taking the church away from Laurel and Ashley. David dumped her and never looked back. I do think they were a decent couple, even if he looked a little too young for her, but they had some weak and "panto" stories. I remember one where Nicola worked as a dog-walker and she and Val's annoying daughter Sharon fought over David, then David and Nicola hid in Sharon's room as they heard her trashing David to her rich friends. This all ended in a big food fight in the Woolpack.

Yes. I haven't seen the episode yet. I wonder if Maslen was any better. Or if Ben can make Zsa Zsa entertaining and less like a 40 year old transvestite. Story coming up: http://tinyurl.com/ykda9yh

She was on the show about 7-8 years ago. I don't think she was ever a serious love interest for Paddy, just interim, or they were just friends. At that time he was getting involved with Emily (I miss her!). The woman who plays the vet is married to Jeff Hordley/Cain in real life. She also played Casey on Corrie a few years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Carswell

What happens when you shoot a plank of wood?

I'm surprised they are going to involve Janine. They had Janine feel bad for about ten minutes and then she stopped caring. She's even taunted Ronnie over killing her child. This must be some rehab attempt.

I don't get tired of Janine because she's self-destructive, it's because they have no idea what to do with her. The last time she was on the show she caused serious havoc for people. Now she's kind of a joke, and all they can come up with is having her use kids, like she did with Morgan or with Tiffany, or having her as some random plot device, like when she ran over Danielle.

First part of an interview with Matthew Robinson, who produced from 1998-2000 and did a lot of big stories in that era. He also fired a ton of cast members, some of those decisions, like the exits of Kathy Beale and Cindy Beale (and the death of Cindy) having longterm repercussions. I remember I was watching episodes from around 96-97 at this time on a PBS station and when I found Walford Web back then I looked at a cast list for current UK episodes and couldn't believe that a lot of my favorites were gone or going, like Gita, Ruth, Simon, Tiffany. I guess in some ways it worked out but I still miss some of those characters, like Gita. http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2314 You can sense the hatred for Martine McCutcheon.

Corrie's 50th anniversary logos. Can't say they do a lot for me. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/scoop/a211428/corrie-unveils-50th-anniversary-logos.html

I think that would have been a little less jarring if they hadn't edited out most of the scenes where Aaron was beating Paddy senseless.

If anything you would think Phil being married to Shirley would lessen his chances of getting a child. She abandoned her two children and to this day they loathe her. How would she be seen as a proper mother?

Hollyoaks has so many interracial couples, it's almost difficult to find any black couples in the show's history. I'm glad they are at least going to finally bring in a mixed-race family, not just a brief pairing that goes nowhere.

Phina Oruche is joining as the matriarch of a new mixed-race family. She was on the last series of Footballers' Wives. You may also remember her from Buffy, she was in several episodes as Giles' girlfriend, around the time of the mute episode. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a211351/footballers-wives-actress-joins-hollyoaks.html

Danny Miller/Aaron, Dominic Brunt/Paddy. You're right, they were great, and they did a good job of showing and telling us about Aaron's self-loathing.

He was a con artist but one who wanted to become some type of showbiz name. He was also less goofy at the time. He was a double act with Butch, who was somewhat dumb (he was like Sam). He spent a lot of time as the close friend of the show's Mary Sue heroine in those years, Kathy. I think it was once he met Tricia that he started to become more of what he is now -- goofy but also serious and emotional. She was his big love. In emotional moments he would yell "TRICIAAAA! TRICIAAAA!!!" I hope they put some of the stuff on Youtube or somewhere else with Tricia's mother, Steph Stokes. Have you ever seen her? She is beyond fascinating, she's just this complete monster with a baby voice, yet you can't quite hate her.

Marlon. I kind of wonder if they may bring that up again at some point. It's funny, Marlon came on the show as a con artist, one who drove a fancy car (not his) and sunglasses and wanted to be a big name. Hard to believe today.

I loved Kat in her first few years. I enjoyed her relationship with Dr. Trueman and the Kat/Zoe story broke my heart, even if I wanted to throttle Zoe most of the time. I didn't see a lot of the show after the daughter reveal, so I didn't see her Alfie years until more recently. I can see why some weren't too crazy about that, and Kat also changed, as Jessie Wallace was going through so much personal stuff. Still, she seemed to have the Kat humor which made her stand out. I hope they won't forget about that. Kat was the classic Eastenders character -- tough on the outside and vulnerable on the inside. EE's strongest characters, male and female, often end up like that. I hope they take Stacey back to a supporting role for a while, she needs it after all the crazy stuff her character has done. I also hope they can take the Slaters a bit more back to the fun and lively place they used to be in, also with some heart, in their first few years. I have no desire to see Lynne or Little Mo or Zoe again, or Sean, but I'd like to see Belinda. I know you've probably already seen this but the beginning of this clip is classic. And Charlie Slater as the tough guy, hilarious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qmw0_Kdh5s

Hard to imagine Bianca was going away to fashion school. Stacey was going to do that too. That way lies doom apparently.