Y&RWorldTurner

Kirkwood said when he first started, he, Santer, and Yorke had a meeting to discuss how they were going to fill the void Peggy would leave behind, they figured no one could replace her, so they all decided Kat and Alfie were right for a comeback as they were a popular pair. Yorke is very involved in the big story meetings, from what I've heard and inferred. Kirkwood mentioned that he has to meet with Yorke pretty regularly for consultation.

I can't wait to see what Kat thinks of Roxy. I think she'll hate her from the get go. Kat used to have some wonderful one-liners too. I think Kat and Shirley would make great friends, too bad Shirley doesn't seem to have any real friends outside of Heather though. Do Kat and Alfie return before or after Peggy's exit? I kind of hope before, as I thought Peggy and Alfie had an interesting dynamic.

I loved Little Mo in the beginning and I liked her with Billy, before they ruined that too. I think she has potential if she returned, and they can work on making her stronger. But I think Kat was the big popular one out of all the sisters. That whole tart with a heart persona was just appealing to a lot of people. Dare I say, Kat and Stacey were probably the only big female characters the show created in the past decade. They can't screw up Kat's return, and Peggy's exit, they just can't. I think John Yorke was see that her turn isn't screwed up, since he introduced her. Kirkwood also seemed determined in his interview with Digital Spy to fill in all the gaps for Kat and Alfie.

I wonder if Kat still has that leopard coat she wore all the time. :lol: I could take or leave Alfie most of the time, but I love Kat and Jessie Wallace. I really hope her return isn't botched. I think Charlie, Stacey, and Jean aren't leaving until a few months after Kat and Alfie's return. I think I related a lot more to Kat than the other sisters, she just seemed a lot like women I knew. Kirkwood has two big things at the beginning of his tenure with Peggy's exit and Kat and Alfie's return...

This is what Tony Jordan said: http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2010/02/26/southport-writer-tony-jordan-makes-eastenders-life-on-mars-and-other-smash-shows-gripping-101022-25915849/

I think the Slater's worked because they were all so different, yet they really came together lively as a family unit. They seemed to fit in seamlessly into the show's fabric at the time. I don't think EastEnders has created a successful family since, the Masood's come close though. I also think Sharon's return in 2001 during John Yorke's era is the most successful return ever in EastEnders history, and funny enough, the only ones she had a connection to at the time were Phil and Peggy, I believe.

I wonder if they'll eventually be bringing back more Slater's. With Stacey, Jean, and Charlie gone soon, Kat is only going to have Mo. Though, I suppose, Kat and Alfie will be back to run the Vic, which will allow them to interact with lots of characters anyway. Speaking of Stacey, wasn't she originally based off a young Kat? I think Tony Jordan said Lacey came into audition for the role of one of the Miller's, but she wasn't right for the part, and he thought she looked so much like Jessie Wallace and created Stacey specifically for her with a young Kat as a template.

My favourite EastEnders era is the John Yorke era in the early 00's. Probably the time I followed the show most devotedly. I remember the brief Jamie/Zoe/Sonia triangle, and how I felt bad for Zoe when Jamie essentially just used her that one time for sex. Zoe's much better looking than Sonia. This led to some great Kat/Zoe scenes, though... I could never understand why Sonia got some good looking love interests on this show...

I did like her exit scenes though, when Martin and Rebecca surprised her and then they were driven off in the black cab as Julia's Theme played... <object width="640" 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="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Sonia. Hated her and was ecstatic when I heard she was leaving. Not to mention, and I know looks shouldn't mean anything, but Natalie Cassidy looks like a damn oger. No way do I believe Martin or Jamie would have settled for that.

Live episodes cost a lot of money, I think the one EastEnders recently did for their 25th anniversary cost over a million pounds according to Santer and Yorke. I think it's kind of cool that Marquess wants to celebrate Hollyoak's anniversary next year during its 16th anniversary, and not this year during it's 15th. Very fitting for this show.

Apparently, Marquess has a "disaster" stunt planned for later this year. If that can't bring in the ratings, I think nothing will at this point.

It may already be too late. Viewers tuned out in droves during Lucy Allan's reign of terror, it would be very surprising if Marquess can improve upon her ratings.

Perhaps they meant the climax of the storylines brought in those massive ratings for the show during that time? I think The Bill got some of its best ratings under Marquess, even though many hated what he did to the show. I think the show was regularly getting as many viewers as EastEnders during that time.

Oh wait, this article about Kirkwood claims the ratings were higher during his run. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/may/21/mondaymediasection4

They used to get like 1.5 or closer to 2 million at the height of Kirkwood's reign. I believe Kirkwood's reign was their most successful era ratings-wise, and obviously critically.

Emmerdale logged its lowest ratings of the year last Friday too (before this Friday's ratings), do people avoid this show on Friday's? Corrie and EastEnders were down, but not by much than they were typically, and the EastEnder's repeat on BBC3 got massive ratings compared to the Emmerdale repeat on ITV2. That 7.30pm ratings figures for Corrie was horrific too, but the 8.30 showing had a solid figure.

Any particular reason why the show logged its lowest ratings of the year yesterday? http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/news/a221293/soaps-ratings-roundup-may-21.html

So, is Danny double-crossing Glenda? It sure seems like it after Friday's episode...

Lucy Allan is still credited in next Monday's episode. We might see Marquess's name in the credits sometime next week, or in the week after, I would guess. I wonder what they're going to do with Carmel now that she's finally away from Calvin. Would she make a good love interest for Lee? They're both somewhat "comedic" characters and could be a real quirky couple. Or would Lee be better off paired with Steph as she's like the only one he knows? I don't really like Gilly and Steph...

I think Ben was just using Jordan as an excuse, I think the main reason still is the abuse he suffered from Stella. But Ben's been trying to impress Jordan for a while now, and Jordan really can't stand him. Some are speculating that Kirkwood's been tweaking a lot of this Lucas story, and a lot of the changes we've seen in the last two episodes were down to his tweaks. That entire family treats Tamwar awfully. He's always being told to shut up or do as he's told.

A little preview of next Monday's scenes between Ben and Lucas. <object width="640" 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="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Well, Marquess is getting rid of all of the Ashworths, barring Rhys, soon, so that's going nowhere. It seems like Allan intentionally went out of her way to leave this show in a mess.

Zoe Lister looked stunning and elegant at the BSA's. I've always thought she was underrated, and handled everything solidly that they threw at her when she was on the show. I'd like to see more of her in other stuff in the future... Gemma Merna is another stunning woman, who looks better when she's not wearing Camel clothes or has Carmel hair...

There used to be a few YouTube users who posted full episodes, but I don't know if they still exist. I use The Box, though.