EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

Ben Hardy's view on the Lucy Beale reveal:

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/news/a794005/ben-hardy-eastenders-lucy-beale-killer-underwhelming/

 

Ross Kemp interview:

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[DRW50]

https://twitter.com/BBCOne/status/730756492526129153/photo/1

[TimWil]

Tonight's episode was quite moving although at times it seemed more like Steve McFadden and Barbara Windsor onscreen than Phil and Peggy. The improvisatory feel of their scenes during the travelogue bit didn't help. I'm pretty sure the pie and mash shop they were in is the one in Borehamwood, about a few blocks away from Elstree.

[BetterForgotten]

Did they really try to reference this Sharon/Peggy scene from 1995 and get it all wrong?

 

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[NothinButAttitude]

I was actually impressed tonight. I've been impressed with how they've handled Peggy's situation tonight. 

 

Peggy has never been my favorite as I always loved to hate her. She'd be OK at times but I always sided with Pat or Sharon in her rifts with people. However, Peggy has always been a character I cared for. One of the few Mitchells (Ben, Grant, & Lola being the others) that I've cared for. 

 

Her scenes with Dot were hard. You just knew that Dot knew that this was the last time she might see Peggy alive. Dot was so in-tune with what was going on, and I just wanted Peggy to come clean with her. I did understand why she didn't because she most likely didn't want Dot to fret and hover over her like Phil already is. That goodbye exchange between them made my eyes well up. It truly was the closing of a chapter on this show as Dot is now the last matriarchal character standing of the old EastEnders. 

 

Again, I had to withhold my tears when Peggy and Phil sailed down the Thames. Even though it was mean to be depressing, it was lush and beautiful seeing all the sites of London again. Makes me wanna collect the funds and go back. 

 

I thought Sharon, Kathy, and Shirley's scenes were cute too. It did piss me off when Louise's foul ass had to come in and ruin a sentimental moment by being a bitch, which is what she referred to the other women ass. I truly wish that someone would come and whoop this little girl's ass. Ole' mannish skank...

 

I do wish that they'd go ahead and inform everyone else of Peggy's situation instead of drawing it out. I also wish that we would've seen Sharon and Peggy have one last standoff (which should've occurred her first night back) before they both extend olive branches and become good with each other.

 

I caught that too b/c Kathy was where when it occurred, but she acted like she didn't remember. That was one of my few gripes about tonight. It wouldn't kill them to have re-watched the scene again before referencing it.

[BetterForgotten]

I think Barbara's first stint as Peggy is my favorite. It was really from her return in 2005 (since Barbara has to take 2003-2004 off due to health reasons) where she became an absurd cartoon character and was never really the same again. 

 

I think Matthew Robinson and John Yorke did a good job of giving Peggy some maturity and balancing her over the top tendencies. 

Edited May 14, 2016 by BetterForgotten

[NothinButAttitude]

Well I am glad she is more subtle in her endgame even though (as I said before) I wished her and Sharon locked horns one final time before  mending fences. 

[TimWil]

In an episode which aired here in NY on Wednesday night (May 2006) Peggy laid into Little Mo, accusing her of harming her baby and blaming Ben, saying things like "I'm GLAD you're leaving, nobody wants you around here anymore." Jesus, she was often written as such a nasty, judgmental, vindictive old cow. At least when Peggy was so atrocious about Mark's HIV status years earlier it came from a place of fear and ignorance.

Edited May 14, 2016 by TimWil

[cassadine1991]

Another Ben Hardy interview 

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/news/a794029/ex-eastenders-star-ben-hardy-reveals-how-hed-react-to-a-peter-beale-recast/

 

[DaytimeFan]

These Peggy episodes are incredible. I do hope Dame Barbara puts herself in contention for the awards season, she's done some really beautiful work worthy of praise.

[DRW50]

The scenes with Phil and Peggy were good (and apparently partly improvised - no wonder they were good). I also liked Peggy on the milk float. The Kathy/Sharon/Shirley stuff was too contrived and got history wrong. Sharon also continues to look so weak in this story. And I wanted someone to slap vile, nasty, stupid Louise. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Not surprised if true. Bet they wish they would've brought back Kim Medcalf. 

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/danniella-westbrook-axed-eastenders-after-7979008

 

[DRW50]

Mediocre, clunky writing is letting a lot of Peggy's return down, once you get past the strength of some of the performances. 

 

The Stacey and Peggy scene was especially clumsy, with Stacey actually feeling bad for getting married after taking Peggy's husband. Never mind that Peggy had broken up with Archie and was disgusted by him to the point of emotionally guilting her son into trying to kill Archie. What in the world was this dialogue about?

 

The Ian and Phil scene about Peggy not wasting away was better, but the writing essentially shamed Pat for not committing suicide. That bothered me a lot. 

 

While I guess I get the idea of Peggy's grandchildren not bothering, they really missed an opportunity with Louise and Peggy talking about Lisa, given that she took Louise back to Lisa. And Paul wouldn't have told Ben to ditch seeing his grandmother. Paul loves his grandmother. He'd want to meet Peggy.

 

The best scene was Buster shaking Ian's hand after the market sale was off. A rare kind moment.

 

Belinda on the Square is not working for me. She's just a Kat knockoff. 

 

 

There were never any plans to have Sam around for more than a few episodes. The day before the article she tweeted that she was done and enjoyed the experience. The main paper that gets soap stuff right tends to be The Sun

Edited May 17, 2016 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

@DRW50: I thought the Stacey/Peggy scenes were clunky too. I really didn't need Peggy giving Stacey advice to marry Martin. It just made no sense. I feel like they just threw in a scene with Stacey/Peggy to latch Stacey on to the hot story. 

 

Again, I would've preferred seeing Peggy and Sharon clash then hash out their difference. I feel like this is a major beat that should've been played. 

 

I am with you on how they are just not bringing Louise and Ben into the fold. This would've been the perfect story to make the audience somewhat care for Louise and they have squandered it. Her crying when Peggy pass won't do it. Not for me at least. 

 

re: Danniella, I knew that but if the rumors of her being unprofessional are true, I think it'll cut off any chance of her returning in the future. 

[BetterForgotten]

That whole Peggy hating Sharon crap over the past few years was nonsense though. When Sharon left in early 2006, she was on very good terms with Peggy. I never understood how Peggy reverted to hating Sharon again when they hadn't seen each other since then (until recently).

 

Though, I suppose Peggy would always harbour some resentment for Sharon for coming in between her boys (which wasn't entirely Sharon's fault anyway) and leaving Phil and Grant's relationship damaged forever in many respects.