Y&RWorldTurner

I haven't heard that rumour, but I haven't seen either character in any detailed future spoilers either. I would hope Rick and Bianca won't face yet another infidelity storyline.

Today's episode: Poor Jean. The cliffhanger was so scary, it really looked like she had killed herself just as Kat came in. I think they've finally gotten a handle on Kat's character again. We were seeing too much of the tart and not enough of the heart. One thing is Kat has always been fiercely loyal to her family members, so it was nice to see her trying to protect and comfort Jean. Kat (to Ronnie) Fancy a swap? Says it all... Oh Carol, sit your ass down and get away from Connor. She should have let Phil kill his ass. Whitney is a selfish and nasty little [!@#$%^&*]... So Pat's disowned Janine again, I wonder how long it will last this time. Those were great scenes when Pat laid into Janine in the hospital and then when she apologized to Jean for accusing Stacey of stabbing Janine. Poor Dot is so lonely. I felt sorry for her when everyone left the house at once and she had no one else to talk to. People just assume she's too preoccupied with taking care of Jim, but she really could use the company of others. I did enjoy the Boxing Day party scenes at Dot's though.

Small and bad quality New Year's promo: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5im4fS-B3M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5im4fS-B3M?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=N5im4fS-B3M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Today's episode: I thought I was going to vomit at Tiffany's little cutesy scooter act in the beginning. Seriously, that kid annoys me when they write her that way. That said, I thought this episode was a nice low-key follow up to yesterday's episode. Gillian Wright was great, and I loved the scenes in the beginning when Kat was trying to comfort her, and then towards the middle when she was lashing out at Ryan. I'm glad they decided to keep Jean. I wonder how they're going to temporarily write her out though and how they'll write her back in a few months. Loved Pat slapping the sh!t out of Ryan, but you could tell how in denial she tried to be about Janine stabbing herself when she found out, though she knows Janine is very capable of it. With the HD move, I can see Pam St. Clement's drawn on eyebrows even more... Kat/Shirley/Ronnie were a nice light balance, but with what's to come, you know it won't last... I don't care about Whitney/Bianca/Connor/Phil, though I guess this will tie into Patsy Palmer's maternity leave. Loved all the scenes at Dot's Boxing Day party. Nice cliffhanger with Ryan pulling out Janine's chords in an attempt to kill her.

Kate Ford has never been a great actress, but I don't remember here being this bad before. Maybe she'll improve as she settles in the role better again, but she's been atrocious since her return so far.

I believe so, I know Corrie isn't on today.

The peak was 11.7 million. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12080132

Preview of Sunday's episode with Pat's slap: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it1O6VBIw34?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it1O6VBIw34?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=it1O6VBIw34?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Looks like Pat will be giving Ryan a good slap down in tomorrow's (Sunday) episode:

Now that I've had the time to watch the episode in full... The show looks great in HD. That was a great way for Stacey to leave, she had wonderful scenes with the people she was closest to and shared the biggest history with - Max and Jean. Janine is a sick little f.uck for stabbing herself like that just so she could get revenge on Stacey. Pam St. Clement has a great voice, I loved when the little we got to see of Pat singing Fever. All the scenes with Jean and Stacey were wonderful, especially dealing with their differences and how Jean dealt with the news of Stacey being murderer before coming around again and supporting Stacey. Ronnie and Roxy need to sit their asses down, but their reactions were totally in character. Stacey and Max's scenes stole the episode though. The way he was able to get her off the roof, and then at the airport when he confessed that he was still in love with her, but she realized that they couldn't be together and are better off as a best friends. Part of me wanted Max to leave with her. Max and Stacey's bond is just so strong. Yes, it makes Max look like a bad parent for waning to leave his kids behind for Stacey, but it's totally in character for him and he would literally do anything for Stacey. Oh, and Max looking into the sky as the plane was flying away when Julia's Theme kicked in with Stacey on the plane, that was a great touch. At least the door is left open for Stacey. She was overused, but I think after some downtime, she would be good for a comeback in 5 years or so. The show is going to feel her loss definitely. Lacey Turner was a rare find who was able to handle everything successfully that was thrown at her, even as the character suffered from very bad writing at times. It's also good that the show can now finally move on from the Archie story...

Kathy is the only other character that had a special version of Julia's Theme for her exit. God, I wish they could bring Kathy back from the dead, and they could, but after the Den fiasco, the BBC probably won't allow another return from the dead type story.

Stacey's last scene: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjIeDW6WNs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjIeDW6WNs?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=VmjIeDW6WNs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Kathy's 1998 exit: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcDJKokBI7k?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcDJKokBI7k?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=EcDJKokBI7k?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> I love final scenes like these for some reason...

John Yoke apparently said there's some deal with Lacey to do some one-off projects for the BBC. I guess it's similar to the deal Jessie Wallace had when she left.

I wonder if the BBC has enough money to do stuff like that anymore, but it's a good idea. Stacey's exit sounds similar to Kathy's exit from 1998, which I loved. Of course, they're both under very different circumstances. I heard that Stacey didn't have a real goodbye scene with Kat though, which I would have liked. I don't know why Santer never "got" Janine, Kirkwood seemed to get her better almost immediately.

It looks like a great exit, Lacey/Stacey deserves it. She did carry the show for good periods at a time over the past 5 years. If any character was the face of the show in the late 00's it was Stacey, the same way Kat was in the early 00's.

I didn't see today's episode yet, but apparently, Stacey got Julia's Theme. I think this is the first time a character has gotten it twice in the same year and the first time on Christmas since 1992.

I did really feel for Stacey at the end of the episode with the guilt and shame written all over her face. Lacey can make Stacey sympathetic even when the character shouldn't be. They will really feel her loss for a while I think. I wonder if they're giving Kat that new friend because she won't have Stacey and her sisters to bounce off anymore. I was surprised at how well it worked in this episode. It wasn't "OMG look what we're doing," it felt just right and effective for what it was supposed to do. This episode felt more like the early 00's to me, before the lost some of its heart in the mid/late 00's.

I enjoyed today's episode. Peter seems to finally have come into his own as a character, too bad it took Thomas Law's last episode on the show to accomplish this. I wonder if he'll be back or if they'll recast, as we already know Lucy will be back in the New Year, unless plans have changed. The Max and Janine scenes were very good, but Janine and Lauren are right about Max. He's prepared to drop everything and see Bradley branded as a murderer just to protect Stacey. Too bad Stacey and Max were never allowed to become a legitimate couple, because that's where the real love affair is IMO. Bianca getting arrested and then them finding all the other stolen goods her kid stole for her. I felt sorry for her having to have her entire family watching her being driven away by the police, but it was all her fault in a way for stealing and then setting that type of example for her kids who were just following after her. I loved the way they cut the scenes between everyone as Kim was singing her solo Christmas carol. I'm interested in seeing where this business about Kim and Denise running a B&B together. I for sure thought Janine was going to air Stacey's confession to everyone in the Vic, I was thoroughly surprised by the Ho Ho Ho's! I guess Max switched the recordings, again proving the lengths he'd do to protect Stacey. In one of the deleted scenes Lauren tells Max something about how he'd pick Stacey over her and Abi any day. I can't say I would disagree with that in any way. Stacey is clearly the one who "got away" for Max. The overall community and Christmas atmosphere on the show was very strong too. I always love the background music EastEnders uses on Christmas. Now on to Stacey's exit tomorrow. Don't forget the show is airing on Saturday and Sunday, guys!

A video on the move to HD with some BTS people, as well as a small skit with Himesh Patel and Charlie Hawkins: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkuveUMtkkw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkuveUMtkkw?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=hkuveUMtkkw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Stacey and Max seem to be the hidden love story. The glances they exchange, how it tears them apart that they can't speak to one another in front of Lauren, and yesterday when Stacey told him, "What was I supposed to do? You abandoned me!" I think Stacey's last scenes are with Max too.

Yeah, her exit is on Saturday. EastEnders always airs on Christmas day, no matter what day of the week it falls on. It's almost become a Christmas tradition in the UK since the famous Den and Angie divorce papers episode.

So, I'm guessing Dot has something big coming up this year, as Ashdown specifically mentioned doing a focused episode with her in the new year. June deserves it. It probably won't top the one-handed Tony Jordan did for Dot a few years ago though.

New Simon Ashdown interview from Walford Web: http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2772

I think she picked the right time to leave too. There's not much more that can be done with Stacey anymore at this moment. Though, the show will probably not find such a popular and successful younger actress again. I'm interested in seeing her on Being Human next month. I've never seen her as any character but Stacey. I think she'll face the same situation Jessie Wallace faced when she left. She's just so identified with Stacey, it will be hard for the public to think of her as anyone else, but in interviews, Lacey and Jessie seem so far off and shy compared to their characters. I can see her doing some one-off TV projects and theater and maybe returning to EastEnders in a few years.

Lacey Turner interview: Page 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a294580/lacey-turner-stacey-branning-eastenders.html Page 2: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a294584/more-chat-from-eastenders-star-lacey-turner.html