Y&RWorldTurner

Kris Green said Zoe/Vanessa provides a fun element that's been missing from the show for a while. I'm intrigued, I hope they don't botch the character with poor development or make her some inane plot device once Jo Joyner comes back from maternity leave. No, probably on Friday, since that's when it was posted last week. Zoe and Jake seem to get on well, I hope they share great chemistry on-screen...

New Zoe Lucker interview: Page 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a222602/zoe-lucker-talks-max-jodie-and-dancing.html Page 2: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a222600/zoe-lucker-vanessa-gold-eastenders.html

I know some posters on Digital Spy were fond of Evans' work earlier in the year, and he does seem to have an extensive list of credits on IMDB, but not much is known about or talked about him. But the first epsidoe writer probably means very little, since these first batch of episodes are from the handover period that happened in late February.

Our drear dannigold already posted this info in the other thread. The writer for Friday's episode, Kirkwood's first credited episode (sharing the EP title with Santer, which will be for a two week period), is Matthew Evans.

I watched the first Monday episode earlier, the show looks decent in HD for a first HD showing. I was bored for most of the episode though, not really intriguing going on to me.

Just started watching today's episode, and I know it's going to be painful with the teen storyline dominating this hour-long episode but... Carol (to Ricky and Bianca): Where are the kids?!?! Ricky: Oh, Janine took them out! What? Who trusted Janine with the kids? And we've gone months without Janine and Ricky sharing any scenes, and now on a day when Janine's not on, she has the kids...

Don't worry, Kris occasionally still wears a dress every now and then... And the show is about to get another revamp with the new producer's work beginning on July 5th.

EastEnders always has the best promos. ITV gives their soaps some rubbish and cheap promos that usually gives everything away.

EastEnders has always had cast turnovers and an influx of characters coming it. It's almost apart of the show's roots. Santer seemed to keep everyone, no matter how useless they were. I'm glad a lot of the dead weight is being fired now. I think it's for the better. The show had very little teens during the early years, and even up to a few years ago, the teens weren't any major part of the show. They need to retool the teen set and keep them as supporting, not lead. I think the cast cull of '98 actually helped the show. I didn't like a lot of what I saw from '96 and '97, by the late 90's, the show seemed more lively again. John Yorke's era in the early 00's just improved on that and his new creations (like the Slater's) just fit in perfectly. If done right, this new era could be just as successful.

This show needs a burst of energy, and all of those fired so far were nothing but dead weight. I don't understand any particular outcry over them. Lucy will probably be back in no time with another actress. Let's get real here, the character had a lot of potential, but Melissa wasn't THAT great of an actress...

Kris Green said on Twitter he saw Kirkwood's first credited episode and liked it a lot, he thought Vanessa, Kim, and Mercy's grandmother were all great, and that Jodie was alright and has potential... He also said the "humour" was a lot better than it's been in a while in that episode. I guess we'll see for ourselves on June 4th...

I think the character has potential, but if she's written out, and then eventually recast in a year or two, it can give them time to retool their teen scene and eventually (and hopefully) bring the character back stronger than ever. While I think others can be cut before her, losing Lucy temporarily isn't a huge blow Wasn't Janine played by like 3 different actresses before Charlie Brooks? I remember that ugly one that played the character during her early teen years... The character can always come back with a better actress in a year or so, and hopefully by then, the teen scene/younger set will be stronger.

Laurie Brett said that the abortion reveal was going to be a slow-burner, so who knows...

I think the Lucy character had a lot of potential. Now they don't have any young female characters left, except Whitney... I wonder if they'll recast in a year or so...

ABBA - Thank You for the Music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfM9gQkfwyg&feature=related

ABBA - Take A Chance On Me <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>

What's so compelling about Ronnie? She just suffers, suffers, and suffers. After a while, who the hell cares anymore? Her "bond" with Jack is so weak too.... There's something strangely cold and unsympathetic about her too. Like no matter how much she's suffered, it's hard to sometimes feel anything for her. The Pauline Fowler syndrome? I think Ben was right when he said he liked the idea of who Ronnie was supposed to be, just not what she translates to onscreen. I agree completely with that.

I think the friendship thing is very important. Bianca doesn't have anyone like Tiffany anymore to balance her out. The Tiffany/Bianca friendship was a big part of both characters and one of the strongest on the show. I'd get rid of both Ronnie and Roxy if it meant we could get Sharon back on the show. I think Sharon adds a lot of heart to the show when she's around. I wonder how much will change with Kirkwood there, John Yorke seems to think very little is wrong with the show and its currently the best its been in years. I don't know how he doesn't see the contrast between the show he led in the early 00's to the show that's going on now. Maybe Kirkwood/York/Collins will be a better combination. Collins did say Kirkwood has a "brilliant storytelling mind" and Kirkwood did cut his teeth as a storyliner on Corrie in the early 00's, when that show was very strong.

I wouldn't mind seeing Jack gone too, but I think they're invested in Jack and Ronnie in the long-term. They obviously see them as some supercouple they can bring together then breakup, and then bring together, and then break up, etc. I really hope Maslen or Womack decides to leave at one point. LOL! I think Sam Womack is a great actress, but Ronnie just isn't that compelling of a character, nor is Roxy. I cringed when I think Santer said Ronnie was the new Sharon the of the show, the new tragic heroine. Ugh, first of all I thought you had to be likeable to be one of those? I don't find Ronnie as a person to be very likeable, whereas, even when Sharon was selfish, there was a very genuine person there that I miss. I just think Ricky and Bianca's arm of the family is so useless, and it would be very lazy and kill them forever if there's another adultery story for them. I also don't think either character has any potential with anyone else on the canvas at the moment. With the way Bianca dresses, I would laugh if she went back into fashion. Bianca definitely shouldn't have as many kids as she does though. It really ties the character down, IMO. Billie should die in war or something. A lot of these returns were just pointless and were done in a way where little story could be tapped into after the initial return stories.

I think Ricky and Bianca and their million children need to be written off this show. They had their time in the 90's, and that time is over. They've had no story and really as a happily married couple have little story potential left. No one wants to see either of them cheating again to create conflict, and I hate the fact that Bianca is tied down by so many damn children. These characters should have stayed gone, and now that they've remarried and are happy, I think it's time they get written off again. They obviously don't know what to do with them. I like Carol too, but at this point, she needs to go as well. She's too concerned with a dud like Billie and doesn't interact with anyone else. I wouldn't be sad to see Carol and Billie written out at this point. This show has too many wandering Branning/Jacksons, I would just keep Max's arm of the family and we know they're not going to get rid of Jack (and thus Ronnie).

I also loved the Shirley and Minty scenes at the beginning of the episode. Shirley is another one that has so much potential...

I'm glad Ben told Phil off and Ian told Phil what a bad father he is today. I think Charlie Jones did some of his best work today. The teen crap was in preparation for next week, and is as lame as ever. Ugh at Billie zapping Whitney of all her personality. I did like evil Lucy and her telling Billie about Leon/Whitney though, and her rude attitude towards Adam. :lol: I'm telling you, they need to develop Lucy more and make her more central to major storylines. Especially with Stacey gone, Lucy needs to fill that void.

Not really, most of Santer's stories don't end until August/September, and he'll share the EP credit with Kirkwood for two weeks. We probably won't notice any major changes on the show until August or September.

Yes, apparently...

If anything, if ITV wants to slash budget or whatever, they'll decrease the number of episodes produced a week from 6 to 5 or 4....