Y&RWorldTurner

BBC One has made two best of trailers for Peggy in preparation for Barbara Windsor's last episode. I'm sure we'll get another one promoting her actual exit when we get closer to it. The first promo is a compilation of Peggy's infamous slaps, the second one is more general moments promoting something on the BBC EastEnders site. Watch them here: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a264952/enders-trailers-last-orders-for-peggy.html

Today's episode: I enjoyed the Shirley and Peggy exchange too. Shirley's words really cut thought Peggy's delusions about her relationship with her children. Phil is so disturbing to look at. That exchange with Peggy was intense and hard to look at (which it should be). Phil is so far gone in his drug addiction, I wonder how he's going to pull through in the end. Oh, and I also liked that little moment where Pat was doing the dishes and singing along to Patsy Cline's "Crazy." Abi and Heather's conversation about Abi's reaction to Vanessa moving in and her thoughts on the divorce of her parents were very well-written and well-acted. Lorna is a very good younger actress. And this is the best use of Heather in a long time. Vanessa (to Darren): We got you "battered sausage." Carol and Bianca was cute, it's really nice seeing them being calm and more like mother/daughter again. Carol's insecurities are real given that she hasn't been in an active relationship in some time. It's really nice to see Carol's vulnerabilities again. Bianca pressuring Ricky into telling Carol she's "fit" was hilarious, and then Ricky really getting carried away with it. Hell, Ricky and Bianca were cute together at the end of the episode. It's one of the first times in a long time I've bought them as a genuinely loving couple, though, it might be because Sam is about to drop the bombshell about her pregnancy and the possibility that Ricky is the father. Speaking of Sam, Daniella Westbrook really looks better in her natural hair colour and more normal clothing. I know Sam's in jail, but I'm glad she doesn't look like the prostitute Barbie doll she looked like when Santer brought her back last year.

Today's episode: Aunt Sal's speech to Peggy and how she's always about her "faaamly" was classic. If this is the last time we'll see Aunt Sal again, then she went out in a memourable way. Carol and Lewis and their little date and kiss was cute. Carol is finally showing more of her softer side, even though she still has her edge. I wonder why she lied to Bianca about the date, she obviously liked the kiss and smiled after telling Bianca about the date. Zsa Zsa needs to STFU about Shirley not being there for her. Shirley was right to tell her that she didn't have to take her ass in, but she did anyway. But it looks like they're setting up Zsa Zsa leaving, which is only a good thing. Darren and Max are great together, I just had to laugh at Darren getting an erection when he and Abi were watching the Katy Perry video. So Vanessa is moving in with Max? And with Tanya and Lauren coming back soon and perhaps more of Harry, things should get interesting there. She did a horrible thing, but I kind of felt sorry for Glenda. That was a nice scene where she begged Peggy to get through to Ronnie and Roxy so that she could have another chance with them. It hasn't been announced that Glenda is leaving the show, so I still think there's more to come with her, and she may be back in a few weeks after a rest period.

Looks like Kat and Zainab are going to be mixing it up. This is the first tangible piece of news we've gotten about Kat and her upcoming return. http://walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2596

It will be interesting to see how Jane reacts and her point of view in all of this. Her family has been awful to her, keeping secret after secret from her, when all she's done is support and help them. Ian's kids aren't her responsibility, yet she genuinely cares. I can see how this betrayal would push her over a certain edge.

Yeah, it does seem like the fallout mostly focuses on Ian and Jane's marriage, and Jane wants revenge on Ian, not his kids. Though, she'll probably be using them in that.

I wonder if this is how Lucy is being written out until the recast shows up later in the year. One upcoming spoiler says: Though, she doesn't yet know that Jane secretly knows about her abortion. The upcoming Jane storyline has a lot of potential.

Jensen Buchannan was one of the reasons I couldn't stand the show in latter years. Her interpretation of Vicky decimated the character, and before she got fed up with playing Marley, she looked very disinterested and uncomfortable in the role. She didn't have the charisma or stage presence to take center stage as the central heroine, IMO. The writing for both characters sucked too, but Jensen was a very grating presence. And in the later years when Jensen's figure wasn't very flattering and they attempted to dress her more sexy was just a joke. Anne Heche will always be the best Vicky/Marley to me.

So, no comments Elizabeth Levin & David Cherrill era of the show?

I never liked the Donna Swajeski era, even now I find it ridiculously cliched and flat. A lot of the acting was good, but some of the storylines either had ridiculous pacing when I watched on SoapNet, or doesn't seem to age all that well in retrospect. I think what AW did better than most soaps was friendships, and that really seemed to help the show in its final dark years.

I've heard that Paulina was created with Evans in mind, but she was on DAYS at the time and couldn't accept. AW, like most of the PGP soaps, is a soap that I think had a stellar core cast for most of its run. However, the storytelling on the show for the last 20 years or so wasn't all that great or was widely inconsistent. Unlike other soaps, I don't think the show ever really came close to matching its golden era of the 70's, and sort of just lived in the shadows of it for the remainder of its run.

Natalie Cassidy needs to sit her ugly oger-looking ass down. Frankly, her final years on the show were more offensive to me than this. If they didn't show the graphic nature of drug abuse, they would still be criticized. If they're going to do a story like this, they should present it this way. People get too offended, and yet they still want the show to be "realistic." What did people expect from a drug abuse story? Phil to talk about being hooked on crack and never seeing him actually smoke it? The soap audiences complain about the most ridiculous things, especially when they already know the content of the storylines beforehand.

They'll probably build to a reunion of sorts between Glenda and her daughters up to Ronnie's wedding to Jack. That's my speculation. Peggy will be gone before the wedding, and Ronnie will need someone else other than Roxy for support.

Good body, but disgusting dog-like face.

Kelvin Fletcher's dog-face has always annoyed me when I watch.

Preview scene between Aunt Sal and Peggy from Thursday's episode: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LzDBOcmJ2M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LzDBOcmJ2M?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=2LzDBOcmJ2M?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> I love Aunt Sal.

I don't get that, Hollyoaks is a youth oriented show, while EastEnders has a very limited youth portion of its cast and has never really primarily focused on them. If anything, Kirkwood's Hollyoaks used a lot more people who were adults than past regimes or recent regimes have at that show. His Hollyoaks wasn't really the stereotypical teen soap the show was known for up until then. There's always going to be the rotating feature where one group of characters is heavily featured for a few weeks and then a next group. Though, I think this has been handled a little better recently. Kirkwood's Hollyoaks was well-paced in 2006 and 2007, 2008 was hit and miss and the Niall story might have dragged on way too long. Though, overall, I wouldn't say most of his big stories were horrifically paced at that show, some had a tendency to drag though. The last time EastEnders had superb pacing I would say goes back to the John Yorke era, that was really the last golden era for the show where it seemed like everything just clicked.

Today's episode was very well-crafted, I thought. Shirley was just heartbreaking, and this episode really showed how there's no one looking out for her, when she's constantly looking out for Phil and Heather. The scene with Phil at The Arches, and then at Phil's house was just harrowing. It must really crush her that Phil chose the crack over her. I have no sympathy for Heather. I loved when Shirley told her to grow the hell up and that she can't always be there to pick up the pieces for her. The Glenda/Ronnie/Roxy stuff was well-handled too. It's strange to see Roxy comforting Ronnie, when usually it's the other way around and Roxy doesn't typically care about anyone but herself. I'm enjoying Roxy a lot more lately, and her and Ronnie's dynamic is better developed and layered these days. Glenda isn't being written out, so I guess it looks like she'll be trying to prove herself to Ronnie and Roxy over the next couple of months, which should be interesting to see how it's handled. It's strange, but I know a lot of mothers sadly turn a blind eye when they know their husband's are sexually abusing their children. They often blame the child over their spouses. The directing has gotten really sharp and filmic since Kirkwood took over. It like the subtle stylized features.

He has a showreel, it's nothing much, just a few random scenes, mainly from The Bill, with one from Hollyoaks.

Something else about today's episode, Bianca mentioned Doctors and a character on that soap. The show has mentioned Corrie before, but I was a little surprised at the Doctors shout out...

Amello should enjoy this... Alex Carter interview: Page 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/interviews/a262551/alex-carter-lee-hunter-hollyoaks.html Page 2: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/scoop/a262559/more-from-oaks-returnee-alex-carter.html

It was counting down the characters with the most duff duffs (or cliffhangers) and showcasing their most memorable clffhanger in their respective segments.

There's a small part of the Alan/Carol scene in the EastEnders Most Cliffhangers Special, though it really doesn't do the whole scene justice: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YYeZE4W2k?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YYeZE4W2k?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=V2YYeZE4W2k?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Carol's Moment, 4:52 in: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xw9c8qwdHA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xw9c8qwdHA?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=7xw9c8qwdHA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> David's Moment is 2:20 in: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7NPqKQpwhs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7NPqKQpwhs?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=e7NPqKQpwhs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Bianca's is 3:24 in: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdCul0uIMA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdCul0uIMA?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=JxdCul0uIMA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> And since they're returning in a few weeks, here's Kat and Alfie's, with Stacey's in the middle: Starts 2:47 in: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa7FEnQpFS0?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa7FEnQpFS0?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=fa7FEnQpFS0?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

I can never find that scene where Alan and Carol had that huge argument and then she tells him that David is Bianca's father. Carol was heartbreaking in those scenes. As for Zsa Zsa, I wonder how they'll write her and Leon out...

In the scene in today's episode, Fatboy actually thought she was some young hot thing from behind, and then when he realized who she was when she turned around, he was shocked and didn't expect it would be someone who's a "grandma." He really wasn't doing it to be crude, but Carol had already run off.