Y&RWorldTurner

I've never seen her, but looks like she's someone Jean works alongside in the market.

Syed always looked more interested in Amira than he ever did with Christian. I guess it didn't help that Preeya and Marc are dating in real life.

Oh, I also laughed when Jean tried to invite Patrick to Ina's surprise birthday party.

Today's episode: Syed annoyed the crap out of me. This whole woe is me attitude and how everyone else is to blame for the mess in his life and he has no choice in any matter. Whatever. I found him entirely unsympathetic during that therapy session. The scenes with Christian when Christian almost ran into Adam and then in Christian's apartment were weird. These two have no chemistry, IMO. Nothing ever changes with Syed and Christian, everyone else is always to blame and they have no accountability. I liked the Shirley and Ben scenes where she was teaching him how to act in prison and all the lingo that goes along with it. The boxing stuff with Ben and Jay was a little much on Phil's part, but I expect nothing else from him. The Lucas stuff was really good, especially how he lied through his teeth to Patrick. Don was really good in those scenes. The Ian and Zainab exchange was funny as hell

Charlie Brooks (Janine) is a bleached blond again. The article also hints that Janine may be exploring her more darker side again. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1294311/Call-boys-blue-EastEnders-bad-girl-Janine-Butcher-looks-like-shes-good-again.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

I question how much the BBC is committed to a long-term relationship between those two. I think the actors don't have any chemistry with one another, and the build up to their relationship has been piss poor thanks to the Santer era. Kirkwood has inherited a mess when that couple is concerned. It will be interesting to see if he can make them more interesting and developed like he's done with the Lucas story. It will be horribly repetitive if their next storyline is some triangle or something that tears them apart, since that's been their story since day one. I don't know how much else they can explore with Christian and Syed once they get together legitimately. It almost feels like they've been tapped out before they legitimately became a couple. I mean, there's been gay bashing, Syed being disowned, a triangle with Amira, working/professional encounters, etc with these two already. It almost feels like they can't chart new territory with these two one they get together for real. Maybe one of them can deal with some sort of illness or something...

I found my answer about Denise's other sister, Daphne, who will attend her "funeral" next week.

I wonder what's going too happen to Lucas at the end of this storyline? Is he going to commit suicide? Allegedly, this storyline is climaxing during the last week of this month. I wonder if Denise is going to be an unwelcome guest to her own funeral or something like that. Does Denise have another sister other than Kim? Lucas mentioned calling her "sisters." Did Denise ever find her real father? I know she initially came thinking Patrick was her father, but he wasn't. I don't mind Abi having a fast crush on Darren, isn't she like 13? I know a lot of young people who start crushing after they first meet someone. This is the same Abi who was acting like Jordan was her husband when he was in the hospital a few months ago. Tanya and Max's sex lives must have screwed her up for good. When Syed and Christian get together, I hope they live happily ... on the backburner. I think the show will get tired of them soon and they'll be written out, or one of the actors (probably Marc Elliot) will leave and they'll write them out with a happy ending of some sort.

I can't and won't understand the fascination this show has with Cheryl/Bronaugh Waugh. They really need to stop trying to make her happen as one of their core stars, she's ugly, not funny, and doesn't have the least bit charisma or chemistry with her co-stars. I know Marquess is a big fan of her's too, so we can expect seeing tons more of her under his reign.

Tameka Empson (Kim Fox) interview: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a239209/tameka-empson-kim-fox-eastenders.html

I know. We probably won't find out until this person is credited months from now. Unless it leaks (doubtful, since it isn't considered a newsworthy item).

Today's episode: I liked that everyone around town was talking about Denise and her disappearance, stuff like that really ads to the community-based atmosphere. Those Beale/Masood scenes over Christian's shares were hilarious. Hopefully, Christian starting his own gym will mean a better and fresher start for this character. I still hated how he and Syed were making eyes at each other, a pathetic pair these two are. I loved the scenes between Peggy and Phil when she prevented him from taking Ben and Louise out of the country. They're really highlighting Phil's bad parenting choices in this story. The scenes with Ben and Shirley at the end of the episode were also quite good when Ben told her how much he needed her and how much Phil needs her. Carol's back! I love how she goaded Darren for rent money as soon as she found out he would be staying with them. I think it makes sense that she would back off once she found out he was paying maintenance for George, since Carol basically raised so many children on her own. Does Abi now have a crush on Darren? It now seems that way... Is that Denise's body or not? Lucas could have easily said it was to get the police to back off and to keep himself in the clear. There's a lot more to this story that we probably don't know about. Is it me or does it seem like the family atmosphere is coming back to this show? We had family interactions with the Mitchel's, Branning's, Masood's, Beale's, Fox/Johnson's in this episode alone. They all felt genuine and not forced too.

I can't say anything really stood out about her tenure from what I saw. It was all pretty short-term and dull and aimless as ever. Nothing seemed to have much of a direction, and her new characters were horribly executed and were more like caricatures (see Cheryl).

I know Kirkwood said something to the effect in one of his last Hollyoaks interviews that the stuff that aired during his final year or at least the final 6-7 months or so of his tenure were altered and changed a lot by the time it hit the air, though since they were his stories, he was still credited for them. I don't think Allan really cared about families, she clearly wanted to boost the younger crowd and the university aspect of the show. I think it was her goal to establish the new students on the show, and it really didn't work since all of her new characters were so poorly defined and she caused tons of damage to the existing characters she tended to use heavily. Since the Roy's were so new, she must have considered them expendable and easier to get rid of. Why she loved Anita so much, I don't know...

Did they ever explain what ever happened to Spike? I did enjoy how jealous Craig was of Spike/John Paul and how Spike would rub it in his face.

I always thought he was the backbone of the McDean pairing, and was supposed to be conflicted and confused, which he played really well in that story. I really did think I cared more for them because of Craig and not John Paul looking back. Craig and his confusion and self-hatred were the best parts of that story, I thought. When I look back at McDean, it's always much more interesting to look at it from Craig's perspective than John Paul's. I've never really been impressed with James Sutton's acting to be honest.

I didn't know Guy Burnet recently appeared on one of those crappy Disney Channel shows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEvZ8wK2NZA

It should be interesting to see the transition over the next year or so with this show, with Kirkwood hiring a new sorylining team, the show getting a new story producer, and the changes Kirkwood wants to implement. I wonder how much things will change and how they'll develop story. We've already seen some changes so far under Kirkwood, but of course it will take a while before the show is purged of Santer's content and storylines. ETA: Doesn't EastEnders always have big ratings during the Christmas to New Year's period? That could help explain why the ratings for the wedding were so strong.

It must be because they're gay, like Luke & Noah. No matter how much they suck and how bad their storylines are, some people will force themselves to love and support them because they're a gay couple.

She did, she had a long relationship with Hollyoaks and apparently worked her way up there before Marquess decided to shake up the production team earlier this year. I guess Kirkwood really trusts her and is comfortable working with her. I still wonder when we're going to hear about who is the new Series Story Producer...

I really haven't been impressed with Marquess' first week at all, the show just seems as lifeless as ever. I guess we'll have a more accurate picture of his show when the Costello's debut pretty soon. But so far, unlike on EastEnders, there hasn't been much noticeable or subtle change in this transition period.

Barbara Windsor getting crapped on by a bird during filming, and in the last pic, Zoe Lucker trying to conceal her laughter over what just happened: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1293577/Everyones-critic-Bird-gives-Barbara-Windsor-verdict-Enders-set.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

It does seem incredibly strange how they've managed to keep Denise's fate a secret without any leaks. I can't remember the last time something similar was done. Whatever they did, it's got people talking and speculating about Denise and how she'll come back if she isn't dead.

Kris Green's goodbye message to DS readers: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/scoop/a240796/from-one-dream-job-to-another.html A montage that was made of him using Julia's Theme. LOL! http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a240929/kris-green-the-farewell-tribute.html

Hole - Malibu <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>