Y&RWorldTurner

Simon Ashdown said it was being planned as much as 12 months ago, before Kirkwood even joined.

Thankfully, none of her returns were/are permanent.

It's also the old "taking a break" - the same line Letitia Dean and Natalie Cassidy used...

Damn it, there goes my suicide storyline! I guess Ronnie will either go to prison or be sectioned into a mental institution.

I don't know how much difference this is going to make. Philips will be inheriting a wasteland that's already been damaged too heavily. For some reason, I think Marquess was replaced, and they're trying to word this amicably as possible. At least this new guy hasn't been a producer before, in many ways, it's a blank slate. However, if he thinks Marquess has done a good job and wants to continue things in a similar fashion, then nothing will be all that different.

She better fear for her life when Kat finds out too. Kat is going to beat her ass down. If she wasn't afraid of going against Trevor for Little Mo, she's going to kill the woman who stole her kid.

Roxy told Ronnie once that she was more like Archie than she thinks she is, and Ronnie got pissed. It's always sort of been in her storylines that Ronnie has inherited a lot of Archie's nasty traits, even though she claims to hate him and claims she's nothing like him. Ronnie has always been nuts. Poking holes in condoms in an attempt to get pregnant, taking a man away from his family to get pregnant with him and then dumping him when she found out he had a vasectomy, paying Sam to leave town with Jack's baby. She's been mentally ill for years, this baby switch isn't past her. Ronnie wallowing in her self pity and her whole woe is me attitude is grating though. At the end, I want her to commit suicide. I think that is the natural last step for this character unless she's arrested and thrown in prison before then or sectioned into a nuthouse.

An EastEnders spokesman apparently confirmed Samantha Womack's departure: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hjngyAxk_F-Jor0A7x2h3cMwMjmQ?docId=N0000741294283726703A

Nigel Harman actually requested that they kill Dennis off because he didn't want to be tempted to ever come back in the future. It would be interesting seeing her with someone like Max. I would how Tanya would react. I don't know, I like the 98-02 era a lot, but the show seemed really lacking of a soul during the mid 00's, and that probably set a bigger template for the show would become in later years. Back to Sharon, I think the show is lacking a female character like her, if this means she'll return, I think I'll take her any way they deliver her.

Despite everything though and the way he treated them both, I do think Sharon and Kathy were the only women Phil ever genuinely loved. A lot of people still want Sharon and Grant to reunite. The only way that would work is if Grant matured in his years off the show and they forgot his brief crap comebacks.

Simon mentioned in this interview that it was being talked about and planned as much as a year ago, before Kirkwood even joined. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw7hahsIYW4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw7hahsIYW4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw7hahsIYW4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

I wish. At least Sharon existed beyond that tragic plot points in her life and had much more going for her as character than Ronnie will ever have. I want another fabulously camp return though. "Hello Peggy! I bet you never thought you'd see me again." What scares me is I think they'll probably throw Sharon in a triangle with Phil and Shirley if she comes back.

It's funny how annoying Ronnie/Rack fans are. They overestimate her importance to the show. The show recently lost Barbara Windsor and Lacey Turner, if anything, they're bigger losses and more identifiable with the show than losing Samantha Womack will ever be. Some have also said it should have been Kat swapping babies. Yeah, because Kat's been a baby obsessed lunatic for years right? Ronnie will also never be half as iconic as Kat is as a character. Ronnie as character has always been all hype and no substance. There is nothing to this character other than tragic plot points. She's never had a fully developed personality.

I have to say, even though it's a controversial subject, this baby switch story has been written with a lot of emotion and has been delivering great performances from Jessie Wallace, Samantha Womack, and even Shane Richie. The guilt is eating away at Ronnie. She's so afraid of getting busted, but she clearly knows she's done the wrong thing. Kat looks so devastated, she hasn't changed her clothes or put on any of her signature pancake makeup. Charlie is also blaming himself. I've really enjoyed Billy and Julie as support for Alfie over these past couple of episodes. Billy and Julie are good together, and with more development, they should get better. I was actually pleasantly surprised by that scene with Kat, Morgan, and Tiffany by the swings today. How they tried to comfort her in their own way and then walked her back to the Vic. It's not often that I can stand Morgan or Tiffany, but that scene was a nice little moment that you don't normally expect. Can Christian and Syed just die? I'm sure Carl will love the snark between Max and Tanya in today's episode.

Surely John Yorke wouldn't allow that after the disaster the show became after he left when Berridge couldn't adapt to the 4 day a week format and production staff was limited. But could they learn from past mistakes? 2001 was such a hallmark year for the show. The best year ever in the modern era IMO. I can't believe it's 2011 and we're a decade from that. I remember the press when the first fourth episode clashed directly with Corrie and EastEnders won. That added with the Kat/Zoe reveal that year, Who Shot Phil?, Sharon's return, and other things. That was such a peak year for the show, I loved that time.

The funny thing is the ratings appear to be growing or remaining stable. The show has been close to or over the 10 million mark for a while now. Some might be offended by the subject matter, but others are actually tuning into it.

I find most people obsessed are rabid Ronnie or Rack fans. A few even suggested it should have been the other way around with Kat swapping babies. Never mind that this is totally in character for Ronnie, as she's been a baby obsessed lunatic with mental health issues for years now. I can at least say that Kat was never a baby obsessed lunatic, and that's big given her issues with how Zoe was conceived and raised and her miscarriage a few years ago. She's never let the tragedy in her life define who she is, like Ronnie has with her's.

Paul Marquess interview. Part 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/interviews/a295717/paul-marquess-producer-hollyoaks.html Part 2: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/scoop/a295729/more-hollyoaks-chat-from-paul-marquess.html

It's horrific:

Someone uploaded this 2003 clip with Neil McDermott (way before he played Ryan). <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3ymMsejrA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3ymMsejrA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3ymMsejrA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Jessie Wallace was really great in tonight's episode. Kat looked so lost and emotionally drained, the parts where she was singing the lullaby to herself and then when she asked Alfie, "Why!? Why us?!? Why him?!" were very heartbreaking. I'm glad Kat is getting material that isn't about her wanting to fight with people constantly, which was all they seemed to give her in her first few weeks back. There's so many layers and vulnerability to that character, which this story is bringing out again. Kat has always been a lost little girl, and that scene where she wanted her "dad" when her and Alfie visited a dead James who they thought was Tommy proved she still is. Charlie and Big Mo also had a great scene, especially as it seems like Charlie is blaming himself and wanting to comfort Kat, but doesn't know how. I'm glad Big Mo isn't being used as comedic relief for a change as well. The scenes with Billy, Julie, and Alfie were good as well. I thought Ronnie on the bed crying and pounding her head with her hands was a very effective scene too. Her actions are killing her and eating away at her in the inside. Part of me is thinking that it's Jack and Ronnie's idea of wanting the perfect family that drove her to do this. It seems like she wants to hold on to that and thinks this is the only way to do it. I'm glad they had Bianca react too, as she know what it's like to lose a child at birth. They didn't have to tell us this, they showed us with the way Bianca reacted to the news that the baby had died. A person who didn't know Bianca's history might not have understood why this had an impact on her the way it did. Christian and Syed. Who cares? They have to muster up this cheap conflict to keep them relevant, since there is no and has never been in depth or substance in that relationship. Carl will be very happy, Tanya is moving back to Walford permanently.

Have I mentioned how much Danny Miller and his Tweets make me hate him? Not only is he pimping himself for votes for award shows and then feeding the press crap about how awards mean nothing to him, now he's Tweeted how much he hates that EastEnders gets all the press coverage it gets. Seriously, this guy is getting to be as annoying as Kym Marsh. He seems very conceited, and not in the fun way...

Sharon still owns the Bookies, which she let Pat oversee for her for a while. Maybe one day Glenda and Carol's antics and business skills will be taken into account and Sharon will have to come back and sort her business out. Sharon's 2001 return is by far the best and most successful return EastEnders has ever had or done. They did such a wonderful job reestablishing her again. I just loved her surprise return at the Vic, which surprised and shocked the hell out of Peggy. It was such campy fun. The Santer era wasted so many returns that it might prevent the show for bringing people back. People go on and on about what a successful return Santer did for Bianca, but IMO, it was not as successful as Sharon's return in 2001, but Sharon is also a more accessible and iconic character than Bianca.

I kind of hope this storyline will eventually bring about the end of Ronnie's character and she'll have to leave the show. While it's totally in character for Ronnie to reach this point and do the swap, I think the logical next level for her is either suicide or being sectioned for good. She's clearly got mental issues, and hopefully the show addresses them, but at the end, Kat will never forgive her and others in the community will never be able to look at her the same away again. She'll be an even bigger outcast. Ronnie has never been a fully developed character anyway. Her life is just a string of tragic plot points, there isn't a character there outside of them. Plus, with those Mitchell whores out of the way, it gives them a better chance to bring Sharon back. I still at Santer's comment that he didn't want to bring Sharon back because she "overlaps" with Ronnie and Roxy. Fillian at DS summed it up best. Ronnie and Roxy were created by splitting Sharon's personality in half, Ronnie got the tortured heroine where everything seems to go wrong for her part, while Roxy got the spoiled princess part. Nothing is better than the original.