Y&RWorldTurner

A long trailer for the BBC4 movie on the beginnings of Corrie: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rpn9WdbeDo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rpn9WdbeDo?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=0rpn9WdbeDo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Interview with Susan Bower: http://www.atvnewsnetwork.co.uk/today/index.php/atv-today/3866-interview-with-neighbours-boss-susan-bower

I know the reason many felt Den's return failed was because he completely disregarded his morals over time and just became a bitter old freak. You did see a more complex side during his first few months back, but that deteriorated fast. I don't think they ever really knew what direction to take that character once the shock of his return wore off. Like all of Berridge's pets, Den started to pop into the most random scenes with characters where he shouldn't have been, Berridge did the same thing with Alfie. Den's return could have been a lot more, but I don't think Berridge and those writing it were cleaver and creative enough.

I'm surprised it shocked her when they killed Archie off and fired Larry Lamb. Those types of characters never last very long and Peggy doesn't have the best track record with husbands anyway. I'm glad she's happy with her exit, and cool that she mentioned Kirkwood wanted to tie it in with her first set of scenes on the show.

A full version of Peggy's Theme: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIep690y9R0?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIep690y9R0?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=oIep690y9R0?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Yes. Mel and Lisa weren't getting along, and then Lisa threw a glass of wine on Mel. Phil blamed Lisa for everything, Mel went to Lisa/Phil's to take a shower, and Phil came in and fed Mel lies about Steve (Mel and Steve were having problems) and they slept together. Phil and Lisa also had a huge fight and Phil ended up slapping her... Anyway, by the end of the episode, Lisa tells Mel that they're "best friends" and they needed to support one another in what they're going through with Phil and Steve...

It's funny watching that Christmas 2000 episodes (there were two episodes aired that day) that was talked about earlier. Laura, Lisa, and Mel are such pathetic and crying messes. I've never liked Mel and Laura especially, what flat characters. On the contrast in that episode, you could clearly see them setting up story for Kat and Janine. I really liked how they set Kat up in her first couple of months. She was flirty, sexy, and proud, but you knew she was hiding something and there was something to the persona she was putting on. There's also wonderful scene between Janine and Peggy in that episode, when Peggy is all alone and everyone has abandoned her family dinner. Anyway, Janine knocks on the door and comes in to gloat about how alone Peggy is and how Frank brought her this expensive jacket and she asked Peggy (knowing that Frank hasn't talked to her in a while) if Frank even sent her a card. Peggy calls Janine a nasty little bitch and kicks her out. The Slater girls were such lively women in that episode overall, you could understand why they show needed women like that.

There was also talk of how in the late 90's/early 2000 the show didn't have too many strong female characters after Matthew Robinson's revamp. I think this was one of the main reasons Yorke and Jordan created the Slater sisters and brought Sharon back. I think the show may be facing something opposite at the moment. There might not be enough of a strong male influence on the show. Maybe it's time for a male equivalent of the Slater's to arrive with a family of brothers who are all different but somehow blend together as a family unit. Out of the Slater's to return, I think Little Mo and Belinda still have some potential. I like Lynn and she was clearly the most level headed and calm sister, but I don't know how they could bring her back without some thinking she's too boring of a character. I'm interested in seeing how Kat and Max get along...

Sean was the only Slater that was created without any involvement from Tony Jordan, and I think it showed. Next Saturday will mark 10 years officially since the Slater's arrived in Walford, also the day of Ethel's funeral. Much like Peggy's farewell this week, I remember that whole time feeling like the beginning of a new era for the show.

I think Kat and Ronnie are the only female character that deserve their pregnancies given their backstories and the circumstances surrounding Zoe and Danielle. I doubt they'll go down the baby switch route, though. I still wonder how Charlie will bow out. Will they kill him off? Will he go live with Belinda, who Stacey mentioned two weeks ago? I wouldn't mind if Belinda started making occasional visits to Kat and Big Mo again. I always enjoyed her visits in the early 00's.

I think she'll still be pregnant. The little shots we saw of Kat/Alfie in the Kirkwood interview showed Jessie with a baby bump.

Spoiler on what brings Kat back, including a pic of Jessie in a whorish blonde wig : http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/961181/Ender-is-back-in-blonde-wig.html I hope Kat's return makes them take Big Mo's character seriously again, and it looks that way.

Apparently, last night's episode peaked at 9.4 million, which is very good and solid, especially for a Friday episode.

It was John Yorke. It's the Christmas 2000 episode. The Slater's are in it, as is a very young and chubby-looking Charlie Brooks. Here's part 1 of that episode, you can follow the other links for the other parts: <object width="480" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x6hinf?additionalInfos=0"></param><param'>http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x6hinf?additionalInfos=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x6hinf?additionalInfos=0" width="480" height="360" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6hinf_eastenders-xmas-day-2000-part-1_shortfilms">Eastenders Xmas Day 2000 Part 1</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/EveryThingGoing">EveryThingGoing</a>. - <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/us/channel/shortfilms">Classic TV and last night's shows, online.</a></i>

I think she was great mostly from 2001-2003, from late 2003 until her exit in early 2006, it just seemed like a completely different character who only lived for Den and Dennis. There was a certain vibrancy about her in the 2001-2003 episodes. Even when she was still with Phil, they explored her other relationships with the other characters a lot. Then suddenly after Dennis came on and then Den returned, Sharon's life outside of them became almost nonexistent. Her independence seemed to be stripped from her. She seemed to lose that zest she left with in 1995 and had again from 2001-2003.

So, I'm re-watching stuff from the Louise Berridge era on PBS and some following stuff on YouTube... I hate what Berridge did to Sharon's character. After a while, it seemed like all Sharon became was an extension of Dennis and Den. She literally had no personality or life of her own. This type of writing reminds me the stuff typically found on American soaps. Even when Sharon was with Grant and Phil, she was very much her own person with her own identity. I think a lot of that got lost when her life suddenly started to revolve around Den and Dennis. Sharon seems like a brand new character who lost most of the individuality she left with in 1995 and then came back with in 2001. While I enjoyed Sharon and Dennis, that whole era I felt completely rewrote the character and made her dependent on the men in her life. Watching this era over again, I honestly cannot believe this is the same character I loved so much in the 90's and in the early 00's. If they bring her back again, I just hope they remember her most popular incarnation. It's not like I can say Berridge or whoever matured the character more, it felt like they just rapidly changed her to make her more suitable for the men in her life.

Maybe Pat has something coming up. Daran Little Tweeted how much he loves writing for her...

The 20 minute Peggy Revealed special that aired after tonight's episode: It was of course narrated by Shane Richie (Alfie Moon) <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yisjgAO9Rs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yisjgAO9Rs?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=7yisjgAO9Rs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81P69FDimI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81P69FDimI?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=-81P69FDimI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Preview scene for Monday's episode. SO GLAD they're not forgetting to showcase Pat's reaction to Peggy leaving. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGaM2ANfVwg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGaM2ANfVwg?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=aGaM2ANfVwg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Bryan Kirkwood will be on This Morning on Thursday according to Sharon Marshall. It should be interesting to see what he has to say and what they ask him.

Oh, and the special end credits with her theme playing over them. The only time I think they've done that for another character was when Ethel died. Dot might have gotten one of those too, not sure.

God, today's episode was such great final episode for Peggy Mitchell. I'm glad we got a more emotional and character driven episode after yesterday's fire. So much emotion in this episode, so glad she didn't die and there were no big deaths. I think Peggy dying or other people dying would have taken away from the emotional impact of Peggy's last episode. I know some people wanted her to die in the fire or for her to have a more sensationalistic exit, but sorry, this was the best way to go about things. Of course they also showed Peggy's vile side with her wanting Stacey to turn herself in for arson, so Phil wouldn't get blamed. But she recanted all that by the end with her look to Stacey. The episode was just poignant and fitting. Everything she owns and cherishes went down with the Vic, and she's finally come to the conclusion that the Vic isn't the be all and end all of her life. The scenes where Peggy was in the burnt down Vic and heard all the flashbacks of both happy and bad memouries were just fantastic. It reminded me a bit of Elsie Tanner's last episode of Corrie, where she was walking down the street and hearing stuff from years past. I really enjoyed Peggy's goodbyes to Sam, Billy, Ronnie, Roxy, and Phil. All of them were just so fitting. I'm really enjoying Sam this time around, you could feel that she doesn't have a clue what to do with her life with Peggy gone. The goodbye to Ronnie was touching too, with the pregnancy reveal, and Peggy telling her "You're in charge now." I can see why, out of all of them, Ronnie is the most level-headed Mitchell. Sad we didn't see her saying goodbye to Pat, but their final scenes with the joking remarks were a nice touch. Pat is probably going to be sad when she hears Peggy left. I never cry for anything, but in that last minute or so where Peggy walked out of the house and onto the street to leave and Peggy's Theme kicked in, it did give me a lump in my throat and made me a little misty-eyed. That was such a beautiful last scene, and it had Peggy stop for a second to look at the burnt down Vic and the rest of the square, that was a nice touch. I'm going to miss Barbara Windsor and Peggy Mitchell. She's been a big part of the show for most of the eras I've watched religiously. She will leave a void on the show, but I'm excited to see where they go from here. That was a classy, poignant, and respectful exit. Nothing more was needed.

There's also going to be a Revealed special on Kat & Alfie airing on September 24th...

Apparently, Kat's on the phone with Big Mo next Friday, I don't know if we'll actually see Kat though.