TimWil

They were very close to doing it. The actress they were most interested in was Lynda Bellingham, who passed away last year. I want the show's oldest secret (Grant and Michelle's son Mark) to finally be brought out into the open. That's why I'd like to see a Michelle recast. I wonder if Sharon even knows-I assume she did find out during her extensive stretches of time in the US.

I'm all for a recast Grant AND a recast Michelle, Carl, but you know how them Brits would get absolutely rigid with indignation about it. God forbid that the show, in order to move the show forward, feels it has to recast. Well, they did it with Mark Fowler and they did it with Sam Mitchell and they will do it again. I know for a fact they were seriously considering recasting Carol when Lindsay Coulson turned them down for the umpteenth time (around when Bianca and her brood appeared).

I take your point, Ben, but I do think, for dramatic purposes, she won't tell Mas, Buster or Dean anything about Jade/Roya for weeks. Forget about Fatima now, didn't SHABNAM know about her baby? That would explain her seemingly over the top reaction whenever the subject of Roya was brought up.

The prospect of a Shirley spin-off is truly frightening. I'll have nightmares tonight of her bumping off Ronnie and her and Roxy running off to Spain together in a remake of Eldorado. At least Aleks might be there in just his black underwear briefs, bending over something. I have a feeling that Shirley will keep the medical condition of her granddaughter to herself for a while. Why didn't Fatima mention Jade/Roya's medical condition to Masood? She definitely knows, right?

She did have a decent episode this week with Carol. However it's obvious DTC and Co. are not very interested in her or her love interest Lee, even if he is a Carter. So after Friday's revelation I doubt it will turn out that Dean had raped Shabnam in that club. That would be "piling on," wouldn't it? However I can see the little girl passing away due to her medical condition sometime this fall resulting in a drunken Dean having a massive meltdown in the Vic, wailing "I'm being punished!" and confessing his rape of Linda.

How can you say she barely knows Phil? There was a long stretch where he stayed with her and Grant. And just because we never see Phil talk to her on the phone doesn't mean he doesn't. It's quite possible she can come to Walford initially without Grant. She's 18 years old now. Bright Eyes, I thought Harold did a good job in the episodes when Lola gave birth. She obviously works very hard. I just don't think her or her character have been very interesting. Of course a lot of this is because of the writing. I think she would have been more believable as a "bad girl," anyway.

Danielle Harold wasn't very good, though, in my opinion. There's been speculation that she's had health issues. Is Jamie Borthwick next? I think there's a very real possibility that Courtney Mitchell will be brought in to fill that age slot.

Relieved about Jennifer Warren...thanks!

I agree, Carl. It just didn't feel right to have him end up a pitiful wreck, dying in the arms of Ken Barlow. He should have left in a flash car, passing by Deirdre and Ken and saying something like "It's never over, Barlow."

That was very sweet, Carl, thanks for sharing it.

"We forgot about the flowers." Damn, I loved Ice Castles, too. Those stunning shots of Jennifer Warren (she's passed away, right?) and Tom Skerritt stick out in my memory.

It's dumb, Ben, I don't understand it.

Well THAT was a duff duff worth remembering tonight. And it totally explains the wacky writing which led Shirley to that door. Kush's romantic inclinations are really pissing me off now. Who the f**k does he really want? Or does he just want to use his dead wife Safira to keep his one night stand winning streak alive? I'd actually love there to be a twist that he and Paul had a one night stand. Now there's a couple I could root for.

One of the directors, Duncan Foster, tweeted today he was about to start shooting Emmerdale's "biggest episodes ever."

It just seems like Masood has had a personality transplant these past few months to twist this Roya storyline into a pretzel. It's awful. I like the actor and he deserves better. Bonnie Langford continues to impress me. I love me some Barbara Windsor but Langford is already turning in a subtle, varied performance that Babs never has. DTC must be after her to sign a long term contract. She does panto every year, though, so maybe Phil and CarMEL will run off together?

Hah, Carl! They really do seem to have the visual equivalent of a tin ear when it comes to eye candy. I do think Tim whatsisname is handsome but sexless.

Thanks for posting that, Carl. Those BBC graphics might be my favorite.

So what will it take for Dean's being a rapist coming to light in such a way that he'll get his comeuppance? Perhaps there could suddenly be an arrest of someone who took video of couples having sex in West End clubs. And one of them clearly shows Dean forcing himself on a barely awake Shabnam. That should be proof enough, right? Maybe not enough to convict Dean in a court of law but enough to expose him (sorry for the pun) for the rapist he is.

I certainly would have preferred that she spent her time playing a frequently drunk, bonkers Hope rather than Janet from Another Planet on AMC.

I agree, Dion. It gives it more of a specific identity as a soap set in London.

I didn't take it as an insult, Carl! I wasn't a fan of that kid at all, either. OK, so Phil doesn't know yet that Kathy's Gavin is Sharon's Gavin (if that even is true)? If he did he wouldn't have sent Sharon to that address. Speaking of "real dad" he lives in Notting Hill? That triggered a memory I had of a conversation between Sharon and Chrissie in 2004. Sharon asked Chrissie if she was content and Chrissie said "Well, I wouldn't mind a penthouse in Bayswater but apart from that I'm fine with what I have." Bayswater is only blocks away from Notting Hill, they're basically the same neighborhood. Yep, if I won the lottery I wouldn't mind a penthouse in Bayswater, either. I wonder if that scene on Friday's episode was actually shot in Notting Hill. The block did look similar to a street very near the Notting Hill Gate tube station. It's the street I'd use on Saturdays to avoid the mob of people heading to Portobello Road.

That kid on GL ended up playing Damien in the remake of The Omen, though, Carl. I know his dad!

I think DTC and Co. are totally treating Bobby's storyline as camp. It's his/their chance to do an homage to The Bad Seed, except Bobby is no cold blooded killer like Rhoda Penmark. He''s a sad, disturbed little boy who did something terrible which resulted in the death of his sister.

I agree about the fake dad story, for once they didn't try to stretch that puppy out. I also agree about Ian and Jane. Yes, Cindy was becoming tiresome and demanding but why were they so incredibly cruel to her? I wonder if Adam and Laurie spoke up about that. And where's Cindy's grandmother Beverly, the one who raised her? And will her father Nick Holland ever show up? I also think there's a twist re Claudette and Les and they've only been confidantes all these years-but, do we care, really? (snarky Cindy voice)

Really? For such a major character? That's odd.