BetterForgotten

Daniella is just so strange, I think she's lost her mind, and that can't be blamed on drug use anymore at this point.

So, I guess Daniella Westbrook won't be back as Sam for Peggy's farewell: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/6869795/Daniella-Westbrook-snubbed-by-BBC-for-EastEnders-special.html I wonder if they'll ask Kim Medcalf - I know her Sam felt like a completely different character, but she is technically the better actress and played Sam's definitive storyline (Den's murder). Sam has never been much of a character in general though...

I'm glad that they've remembered that Billy was close to Charlie, and the Slater's for a time at least, were the only family unit he's ever been accepted into. This was something that could've easily been overlooked.

Knowing DTC, Alex Lamb, and Sharon Batten, they'll probably have Grant knock Sharon up in this brief stint, and they'll have her pass it off as Phil's.

Ross on his return on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RossKemp/status/688999112549777409 and https://twitter.com/RossKemp/status/689009959439339520

Sharon's first real exit was amazing, and the chemistry between Letitia and Ross had was in full display. It's also a great display of Tony Jordan's writing, the way he manages to get to the heart of the characters in a believable and uncontrived way. When he wrote the major episodes, he wrote all characters fantastically, even the ones that had little to do with the main story. Sharon was an important link character between the first era of the show and the second era that the Mitchell's ushered in. I wonder if they would have had a lasting legacy on the show if the Grant and Phil never got mixed up with Sharon. Shraongate to this day is the definitive story for both Sharon and the Mitchell's. Hell, they've also managed to piss on the character development Sharon had in her 2001 return - John Yorke did a lot of work to make sure Sharon moved on from the Mitchell's and especially Phil, but all of that is gone now. It was Sharon who walked away from Grant and later Phil, but you'd never know that when watching Sharon in her current state. Th wigs they used to put on Barbara Windsor when she first joined the show are hilarious. I don't think I started to like Peggy until the Matthew Robison era.

The era in and around Sharongate is incredibly strong, everything seemed to gel together in that era. Not just with that story, but with most of the ensemble as well. Tony Jordan wrote a lot of the Sharon/Phil/Grant stuff in that era, and as I mentioned with the Slater heavy week last week, his presense is sorely missed when it comes to the Slater's, Sharon, and the Mitchell's. No one at the show understands these characters as well anymore.

Sharon is the love of Grant's life, but they'll probably ignore that.

WTF?

Kat and Belinda always had a rocky relationship from what I remember. Belinda looked down on Kat and saw her as something she'd never want to be, and Kat was always the one to remind Belinda of where she came from. A lot of the time it was humours though - like when Belinda asked a waiter if he took paper or plastic, and Kat asked her "What are you gonna do? She him your boobs?!"

I'm thinking he's more of a consultant, but we'll see. He never specified what his job title is and isn't answering that question on Twitter. Somewhere Martine McCutcheon is drafting a memo to the Y&R cast, starts 2:15 in:

Part of Young's mandate when the BBC hired him in 97-98 was to revamp EE, which has been seen as being on decline since the latter part of 1996 (though to be fair, Corrie was also having major issues during this time). He and Matthew Robinson were successful in giving the show new life, and did set up a lot for John Yorke's lauded tenure. There's so many factors in what went wrong with Louise Berridge's tenure, but that's another topic.

Speaking of old staff members, I'd never seen Tony Jordan's 2007 British Soap Award tribute for Outstanding Contribution to British Soap before, glad it was posted. If anything, the Slater's (and Sharon and the Mitchell's for that matter) are missing him. He really loved those characters and wrote the best material for them:

O'Leary has worked with JFP since GL, I would be very surprised if she was fired/left. JFP, Young, and Pratt - what a clusterfuck of egos. Let's see where this ends up indeed.

Nowhere else to put this, but WTF? It looks like Mal Young has joined Y&R as a producer, per his Twitter account.

With the Julia's Theme ending for Charlie's death this week, it got me thinking. I think the Slater's are the family with the most Julia's Theme endings in the show's history. Here's a recap of all of their JT moments: - Anthony proposing to Zoe (2002) - Little Mo's return from prison (2002) - Alfie's interruption of Kat's wedding to Andy Hunter (2003) - Zoe's exit and goodbye with Kat (2005) - Stacey's return to Walford after Jean's suicide attempt and looking at a picture of her brother, Sean (2005) - Stacey holds her daughter after giving birth (2010) - Stacey leaves Walford (2010) - Charlie leaves Walford in a train after saying goodbye to Kat (2011) - Kat and Alfie are reunited with Tommy (2011) - Jean leaves Walford with Ollie (2013) - Kat and Alfie leave Walford for Spain after winning the lottery (2015) - Charlie's death after coming to terms with Kat (2015)

Didn't see it posted here, but Alison King confirmed she's leaving for good and not taking a break, as was originally reported: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/coronation-streets-carla-connor-actress-7143401 I'll miss her, but Carla's been trashed for years now, so I am glad she's leaving on her own accord.

I haven't seen it, but I am glad to hear that Sharon and Kat shared scenes in tonight's episode. I know there were endless reports in the press about Dean and Wallace not getting along in the early 00's, which they both denied, but the two characters always should have interacted more in the past.

I think the Masood's had a goof first year that was quickly ruined by excesses on Santer and DTC's part, they could have been stronger, but the show never tried. They've also suffered without Zainab, and have proceeded to trash the character because Nina Wadia won't return. The Foxes have always been an afterthought to this show, Denise is the only one that's appealing, and I don't think she's a character that really needs family around her (but then, they don't invest in her by herself unfortunately). Libby and Chelsea were played by poor actors and never had any development, and Kim is pretty much a parody at this point.

I wonder how Tony Jordan and John Yorke feel about these Slater stories, they really loved and invested in that family. Charlie was mostly a nothing character, but I will miss him too and don't see the value in killing him off as he's not even a main contract character anymore. I see Sarah Phelps has been praising the these stories on Twitter, and it's making me reconsider the pedestal I've placed her writing ability on, and she did write some of the best episodes for Kat and Stacey at one point... As weird as these stories are, I'll always have a special place in my heart for the Slater's, and the show has failed to introduce a successful family dynamic on the show since the initial years of this family.

Kat is wearing the same top she wore in 2001 for the Kat/Zoe reveal - if only the show had the same quality today as it had in those days.... http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/news/a778591/eastenders-fans-have-made-a-fascinating-discovery-about-kats-outfit/

Queen, and your favs only wish they could: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6821619/adele-25-billboard-200-fifth-week-sells-another-million In just 5 weeks, it has already crossed the 7 million mark in the US ALONE. If the sales trend continues, she'll have another diamond certified album on her hands very soon. Absolutely amazing feat during this era of music.

Due to DTC's devotion to Ronnie and Samantha Janus/Womanck, Ronnie will likely never pay for her crimes under his tenure (and probably not as long as his goons Alex Lamb and Sharon Batten are still there as well). Notice how Ronnie and Stacey are the only two characters they try to make excuses for, no matter how wrong both are - they always try to write an "out" for both. It's disgusting writing that's ruining both characters more than they already are. Watch Dot forgive this bitch 5 mins after finding out about the Fatboy situation. Ronnie deserves an epic death that's akin to Steve Owen's from 2001.

Or that his character is a rapist that needs to die (alongside Ronnie).