TimWil

That's a GREAT theory, Carl. I hope it's true. I forgot if I wrote here that Tony Jordan told me he'd written a storyline which would have Phil and Billy go to Las Vegas in search of Sharon and Angie would be there running a legal bordello. Anita turned that down and so it was decided to kill Angie off once and for all. Anita's a wonderful lady. I've met her several times. She's a firm believer in "never looking back" so that obviously played into her firm decision to never go back to EE. Bonnie Langford really impressed me in tonight's episode. I think that Carmel isn't at all what she seems, though. I think she's evil. In a Manchurian Candidate evil mum sort of way. And I can't wait.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Max will be departing around the same time that the Gavin & Kathy show will commence. That one will be an absolute monster of a storyline and Max simply wouldn't have fit into it or been given satisfactory screen time while it will be going on. I think this press release that has JW already signing a contract for when he returns is nonsense. That's not how it works. He might never come back. http://m.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a649619/jake-wood-is-taking-a-year-off-eastenders-to-pursue-other-projects.html#~pe0g8JmrkywqOu

I'm thinking that Max will be the one who's falsely arrested for Lucy's murder. His sweet ass will make some lucky inmates very, very happy. I always thought he should have been Lucy's murderer and that he also smothered Emma with a pillow in her hospital room to keep her quiet. Then again he could go on the run and Kat and Alfie run into him in Ireland.

I hated the punk look that Dylan had. He was a good looking kid.

I'm willing him to be bi. WILLING HIM. Sorta like voodoo but different.

I know, right, Brad Eyes? That hairstyle is so 1998.

I hope David explores his bisexuality following Alicia's departure. Maybe he becomes a male escort?

I agree with all you wrote, Ben. Ugh.

Well, the Julia's Theme at Friday's conclusion confirmed for me that was the last time we'll have seen Kat and Alfie together on EE. I think Alfie will end up dying in the final episode of their primetime "soap bubble" miniseries and Kat will return to Walford a well heeled widow with enough £££s to start her own business, most likely buying the Vic, perhaps for her long lost son to run. I think they would have plowed through quite a lot of their winnings by next spring so she might not quite be a millionairess but close enough.

How ironic she was "killed" by a Sugden, then! Katie was killed off in a suspiciously dismissive manner. She didn't even get a tear-stained death scene! A llong-time regular being denied that is telling, indeed.

Yes but killing Katie off read very much to me like a big "F**K YOU" to Winward. Something must have happened for them to guarantee she could never return to the show. I don't think it was simply "storyline dictated."

I think she'll be alright. She's a tough old bird, is June! I had the pleasure of interviewing her for the Gazette in her dressing room at Elstree in 2001. I think I cried for the first time in several years when the photo I had taken of myself with her in the BBC canteen came out overexposed. In the photo she was wearing Dot's rain slicker and clutching the umbrella with the duck handle. I remember her saying to me "I'm in a soap, dear, I'll never get any sort of Queen's Honour." I was so glad she was wrong. Matt Di Angelo sure was bad in tonight's episode but damn, he looked good.

As long as Sean and Billy aren't the new Jack and Vera I'm not fussed.

Well, I Am A Swede, there was also Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! And Dolly the cloned sheep. I was highly amused that there was someone on a British soap named Dolly and she wasn't even a comedy character, she was a leading lady. That shot at the end of the clip with Matthew grinning broadly, thrilled with Amelia's win really is lovely, Carl. He's gorgeous. I bet Charley Webb f**ked up big time, causing him to end their relationshop. She comes off as a bit of a "sullen cow" in that interview with Michael Parr, doesn't she? She doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. I loved her when Debbie first arrived in the village. She's still good, I'll give her that.

Kieron is as obnoxious as his character, probably more so because he's an actor.

I mentioned on the AW thread that my ex was in a Broadway play with Canadian actress Linda Thorson. During that show's run she was up for a role on AMC which never materialized, that of Opal's sister Ruby. When working AMC as an extra a few years later I asked a casting assistant about Ruby and she told me the storyline was Opal looking her up in NYC when she found out she'd married a rich man. Ruby was going to have a fake British accent, Opal was going to spend a few months there as her live-in housekeeper and together they would try to find a non-violent way to bump the rich husband off. For some reason they decided on a different storyline for Opal (they probably wanted to keep her in Pine Valley) so they never got as far as initial readings for it.

It was only on WLIW/Ch 21 on Sunday afternoons for a few months at most. Around the same time WNYC/Ch 31 was showing Irish soaps Glenroe and Fair City on Sunday evenings from 7-8 pm as well as EastEnders on Wednesday nights. WNYC/Ch 31 no longer exists.

Hahahaha, Carl. My ex was in the original Broadway cast of Noises Off with Linda. I saw the show at least a dozen times. I'd never seen a performance deteriorate like hers over the run of a show. She was perfect at first, beautifully directed by the superb Michael Blakemore but as time went on she mugged incessantly and shook her ta tas and butt like crazy. I think she hoped to land a sitcom but it didn't happen. Before she landed the job on OLTL she was up for a role on AMC which never materialized-Opal's sister, Ruby. I gather that Ruby and Opal were estranged and Opal was to look her up after she found out she'd married a rich man.

It certainly is, Carl. She was very talented. Isn't she still working?

Coronation Street very briefly aired on the USA network in 1982. I remember when a few of the cast appeared on Donahue to promote it. They weren't on a video link from the UK, they were live and in person from the studio at Rockefeller Center. Phil Donahue was one of the better talk show hosts but he seemed to have been under the mistaken impression that it was the UK's answer to Cheers. I may have yelled "Even I know it's not a sitcom!" to the TV screen. It was my pleasure recently to get in touch with Sally Dynevor and tell her how cute she was on his show. I remember she reminded me so much of Mia Farrow-she looked so sweet, shy and absolutely terrified. She responded that yes, she was rather overwhelmed by the experience. I only remember her and Michael LeVell (Kevin) on it but there must have been a few others. Emmerdale probably aired in the NY area on WLIW/Ch 21 around 1990 because I vividly remembered an actress named Sally Knyvette who was on it quite heavily as Kate Sugden. According to Wiki she was on the show from 1988-1991. She reminded me a lot as Gillian Taylforth as Kathy on EastEnders-both attractive, athletic looking, likeable blonde ladies.

All these posts and not one mentioned Elizabeth Estensen (Diane)'s amusing facial resemblance to Vicki Lawrence? I saw it the first moment I laid eyes on her in the mid 1990s and continue to see it.

In what way? 😗 I remember when WLIW/Ch 21 briefly aired Emmerdale here in NY on Sunday afternoons. From watching it those few months I'd swear that Dolly Skilbeck was its leading lady character. And a leading lady character named Dolly tickled me no end.

I'm totally exhausted but I finally made it through this entire thread this afternoon. I admit I haven't been a huge fan of Ryan Hawley's but damn, I was impressed by his American accent in that clip from that unsold pilot. He actually pronounced "offered" correctly! Fantastic. That vowel sound (also for words like "coffee" and "office") has been many a British actor's downfall. I vaguely remember the Brit pretty boy who played the son in the doomed NBC series Allegiance f**ked up on his very first line which had the word "officer" in it-he pronounced it "ah-ficer." Heh.

I think Linda Thorson would have been an interesting Iris.

That sounds like a good choice to me.