BetterForgotten

I'm so glad it wasn't Alex Lamb, as some speculated. I also hope that he will break away from the smug, stalled out, bad camp feel DTC always immerses EE in. The Kat stuff was the highlight of this year so far - I wonder if he had anything to do with it? I don't think the cast is that bad at the moment (not as bad as it was the last time DTC/Santer left), but I think Gavin, Kush, Claudette, Vincent, and unless the writing drastically improves, Ronnie and Roxy need to go. It's too bad Kat was finally back to a great place during this most recent short stint, and now she's off as a new EP who helped storylined her best years and most iconic stories is now taking over without her on the show. The Slater heavy material in January would have probably been a lot better if Sean was the one executing it and not DTC.

It's funny and great that they looked back to the John Yorke era for a successor, and not to Santer or DTC's.

This gives me some hope, but Sean has a tough battle to fight as there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen with this show:

I thought her dress and hair were horrific, that's all I paid attention to if I'm being honest.

As a Bowie fan, I don't think her voice was suitable for his material (just felt a little too staged for my linking), but at least she tried and had some energy (which is more than can be said for some of the other performances).

Some cheese is so fun that it's almost campy and hilarious for the wrong reasons (like the Brady Bunch). Full House and probably now Fuller House was just cheesy for the sake of being cheesy (with absolutely no camp factor) , which is why I've always detested it so strongly. I always felt stupid after catching an episode.

I'd prefer Kim but given that Danniella is the original Sam, I am OK with it. Kim actually also appeared in more episodes than Danniella, probably down to the Den murder story in 2005 (and the fact she never had serious, um, "issues"). Though, Kim's Sam felt like a completely different character, not that I minded though. I've never felt Sam to be much of a character in the first place.

I'll give her credit for realizing that her career just wasn't working anymore and taking steps to correct it (and for also focusing more on her singing talent as opposed to press attention). That said, she looked like a cracked out country singer from the 70's.

Why do they keep introducing characters for this piece of sh!t character? http://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/news/leon-ockenden-will-casting-news

So, looks like Danniella is indeed returning as Sam: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz-tv/hot-tv/493221/EastEnders-Danniella-Westbrook-return-Sam-Mitchell

Unfortunately.

Rakhee Thakrar has left the show

Her PR team is really going into overdrive to pay for these appearances to salvage what's left of her career. She's also aware at this point of what a joke she made of herself and is trying really hard to pull herself back up - it's up to her next album's success level to prove if her efforts are working.

Up until the recent secret family for Stacey sh!t, Sean was the only Slater not created by Tony Jordan. Sarah Phelps created him, but only wrote his debut episode and the left the show soon after that. She later said she regretted not being there to contribute to his development.

Michel Legrand's scoring for Yentl is the best thing about that film (sorry Babs): https://youtu.be/mMMOWs2q-Ik

If this is the last we'll ever see of Kat (and Alfie), then I am glad we had this little stint. Its reminded me a lot more of the character I fell in love with from 2000-2005, and the character that's rightfully the show's biggest icon of the new millennium. They didn't get her right for most of the past 5 years, but Kat Slater (she's always Slater to me) will always have a special place in my heart. Her first character arc was the last time this show (and probably most soaps in general) had a strong character arc where we got to see an evolution of a character. This stint proved, if written correctly, the character still has a lot to contribute to the show.

I was thinking today how happy I am that Charlie Brooks quit just as DTC was starting as EP. He would have undone all of the great character development she had since his last stint on the show and would have made her a cartoon character. Say what you want about the show from 2010-2014, but Janine shined and came into her own again. As much as I miss her, I don't want her to return with these idiots in charge. When she does return, I want a return similar to Sharon's from 2001 - I want her to own the Vic and throw those f.ucking Carters out.

Conversely, for the most part, I think they've gotten Kat right during this stint and she's reminded me a lot of the old Kat I fell in love with in the early 00's, too bad she's leaving soon to prepare for the spin-off. With Stacey, I can't deal with her looking like a f.ucking mess and fancy camera angles filming her from each direction on every f.ucking episode anymore.

They really need to stop with this Stacey sh!t, or just write her out for good.