DRW50

Thanks. So glad "bedscapade" never became a word. Poor Val - a character they never had any idea what to do with.

I wonder if he'll regret not taking the pay cut. There's always porn.

I still remember wondering if Saint Joss would ever pair up Graham and Riley on Buffy. (spoiler alert - he didn't) I'm glad Chase has gotten a lot of work since.

Thank you for sharing that. Great review - critical without being nasty or hyperbolic. Makes me feel like I was actually watching the show. Daily TV Serials was a very good soap magazine, very adult, not needlessly catty the way some of the other "informative" soap magazines at this time (like Daytimers or Daytime TV Stars) could sometimes be.

TimWil, looks like Jake Wood is no longer a gecko. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/news/a774143/eastenders-star-jake-wood-is-gutted-after-losing-a-major-us-voiceover-job/

I've never seen Judith McConnell dressed so young. Denise Alexander IS Rhoda Morgenstern.

You'd think she would have been too old.

A few December 2002 episodes here. http://www.dailymotion.com/user/currentsoaps/1

How bizarre. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/news/a774001/hollyoaks-fans-complain-over-confederate-flag-seen-in-episode/

Thanks. I hope there's something of her around.

Thanks for posting that. I hadn't seen it. Jamie always looks gorgeous. I wish we'd seen more of him. Diane Parish also stunning. And after them I'd say Bonnie Langford and the woman who plays Shabnam. And Nitin Ganatra is always a pro every year. I guess Danny Boy Hatchard and Jonny Labey must do this type of thing. I wish we'd seen a bit more of them (and I wish Jonny would get a different hairstyle - he's a handsome man). I loved when they started tap dancing, and the bits with the canes...I did laugh at poor Gillian Taylforth during the tap portion, just sort of...being there. It also seemed very...disconnected and random, although they did their best. Sort of sums up Eastenders in its current state.

1) I'm not sure whether it was Karl Davies' choice or not. I've read some fan comments that he was fired. If so, quite a stupid decision. 2) Diane had had an emotional affair with Billy Hopwood, bio dad of Andy and Daz (who was living with Jack at the time and was like a son to him - of course now he doesn't exist...). Jack loathed Billy, as he had been abusive to Andy, had neglected him, been in jail for most of his childhood, and finally had killed the postmaster, Vic Windsor, in late 1998, ending in an 8 year prison sentence. After Victoria overheard them talking and told Jack (who absolutely tore into Diane in a terrifying way), a furious, drunk Billy told her about Jack setting the fire that killed Sarah. Victoria threatened to burn the house down and poured gas and lit a match. Andy told her he'd done it. She ran upstairs and they went to check on her, not realizing the stuff she'd left behind would blow up. Jack was nearly killed. Victoria couldn't accept the idea of Jack and Diane reuniting. As a result they were still estranged when Clive Hornby had to leave for medical reasons several months later. They remained estranged, but Diane learned that Jack had forgiven her and still loved her, and had only stayed away because he did not want her to see him severely ill. I uploaded a lot of episodes from this story (they heavily feature in August 2007) on my channel Steph Stokes. If you don't have time for all that, here's the anniversary episode which features the crux. 3) Diane knew Robert and Andy from around the age of 14-15, and Victoria from around the age of 7. She and Jack had started dating secretly in the last months of 2000, while Sarah was still alive (and with another man, Richie). They had a relationship that was up and down for several more years until moving in together and then marrying near the end of 2004. Diane tried to be supportive but it was tough going with Robert and Andy, who were nearly grown and very damaged. She was closer to Victoria, although Victoria grew to resent her over time for being strict and for being a main priority for Jack. She didn't really become a main parental figure until after Jack had to leave. She has never really had that role for Andy or Robert though. Well she has on paper, but onscreen, the show often does not bother. For lengthy periods of time in recent years a new viewer would not be wrong to assume none of Andy/Vic/Diane were close. Robert's return has brought them together a little more. 4) Annie is still alive, yes. I assume they are doing this out of respect to Sheila Mercier, who is still alive herself. 5) Joe and his second wife miscarried a baby in 1990. His stepchildren with her are dead. They could easily give him a child if they so want, as he was offcamera for a number of years and had various lovers and wives in his time oncamera. 6) No. 7) Gennie's is the 15th, Ashley's the 14th. I remember Ashley's mostly because of an awkward episode in 2001 where he and Bernice were estranged and he decided to throw caution to the wind by dancing wildly at his party with Nicola, much to the bewilderment of the guests. Kate Oates told John Middleton about the story and gave him the choice of whether or not to play it. He decided to take the risk. I'm going to miss him so much You're right, the show desperately needs him. 8) Tanya. To be fair to them, it was Jai that pushed and pushed for her to be there. They weren't going to involve her.

But can't we turn that around? After all, Andy "murdered" Sarah. He then planned to shoot Robert and Katie, nearly killing Jack instead. He then went on to have a sleazy affair with an underage Debbie, and terrorize his wife Jo with physical and emotional abuse. Robert and Victoria had no blood ties to him, and one could call him a cancer. Does that mean Robert and Victoria should murder him? The whole point of Andy's character is that blood ties don't mean anything. He disowned his father and his brother (his brother not even for much of a reason - just because he'd slept with Victoria). He was taken in by the Sugdens and treated as a brother and a son. And Robert was a big reason why. As for "one true love" you know that he cheated on her for months and nearly punched her in the face, right? She was never a partner to him, she was a fantasy, an excuse. He once blamed her for everything that had gone wrong in his life, because if she hadn't cheated, he never would have nearly killed his father, never would have beaten his wife, etc. It was a disturbing, deeply unpleasant relationship that always dragged them both down. If she was still alive I doubt they'd even be together at this point. Robert has done a lot of terrible things, but Andy is no better. The difference is Andy, and everyone around Andy, treats him as a saint, and forgives him anything he does.

Thanks. Great find.

Even after what Andy's done?

I'm glad he's gotten better, as every time I saw him I thought he was wooden.

Could you put any of those on Youtube? If you want me to do it or anything let me know.

I don't think he's lying about Katie. He didn't mean to kill her. I always wondered if they killed Joe because they were angry at Frazer Hines or something.

Sorry to hear this. Polly was such a fun character. She made Rae more human too. At least she's with Earl Hindman again.

Glad to see Nicola back, even if it's more OTT mess. She always entertains me. I wish I could say the same for Rodney - this show has lost so many wonderful older characters in recent years and he is still there. The scenes with Robert and Andy were terrific. It was nice to see a Robert POV for once, and all the decades of history were so believable. It's hard to believe Ryan Hawley has only been on a year - he plays all that past so naturally. Kelvin Fletcher and Ryan are at their best together.

One of my favorite episodes. One of the few attempts to write for Ginger...

I'm glad to know the Jingles scenes worked better at other times. I think in this one the direction was just very flat. What did you think of the Moores? I also wanted to ask - have you been able to listen to any of the audio recordings? They come with a link to a Somerset site that has a lot of interesting history of the show.

It never made any sense to me either. I think they did it to free up Matt, and because they likely felt viewers would eventually start wondering where his children were and why they weren't coming back. It was stupid. At least Corrie never made the mistake of killing off Peter and Susan as children (although they never did anything of value with Susan anyway). When you get to early 1974 I've been uploading some episodes on another channel. There's a character named Dryden you may like.

I'm not sure I can see him in that role, but beyond that, I'm not sure that character should even be on the show.

I wish I could see that (their return to Monticello). I guess hearing about it in such detail is almost as good, if not better.