I enjoyed the second Back to Ours special much more than the first. Simons and Womack both bringing up things that have been mentioned here (Scott Maslen stuffing up on the LIVE episode; the car taking "20 months" to kill Danielle) gave me a chuckle.

Tonight's episode was, believe it or not, extremely good. It was unusually well directed, written and acted, even by weak links such as Matt DiAngelo. And the twist revelation at its conclusion definitely earned the duff-duff.

I read about it and it makes me wary that this story is again about a shocking "twist," for all of DTC's bleating about "justice." And the fans who keep insisting Dean must have raped Shabnam too and must have a long history of rape remind me of when DTC and Santer made sure Archie was also a serial rapist, even though this too was just for shock value and undercut the entire story they'd told with Archie and Ronnie.

They're probably just doing this so Shabnam's long-lost daughter can magically arrive in Walford for Carter Karaoke Night, with Mick mushmouthing "Most Beautiful Girl in the World" as Shirley cries in the background.

Edited January 31, 201510 yr by DRW50

LOL, Carl. I think it's been made obvious that Shabnam wasn't raped by Dean, though, it was a drunken encounter in a club bathroom. I like the use of history for Shabnam's secret. When she mentioned going out that night with Carly Wicks and Dawn Swann I wondered if we might see either of them back before the year is out. I'd prefer they recast Carly-Kellie Shirley worked my last nerve.

Edited January 31, 201510 yr by TimWil

Hopefully we'll never see those characters again. ::shutter::

I keep hearing people insist he must have raped her, or she was sober and he was drunk and he raped her without remembering, he tried to drug rape Stacey, etc. etc. People are really determined to put him in that role and I'd be surprised if DTC doesn't go along.

I'm just sorry the Masoods will be tied to those losers. I can already imagine Shirley kidnapping the little girl and naming her Heather.

Did anyone watch the cliffhanger special? Is it different from the one that aired for the 25th?

Pam St. Clement says that she was lied to by Kirkwood and John Yorke.

If that's true, it's just so wrong.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a625673/pam-st-clement-i-felt-let-down-by-eastenders.html

Apparently, the cliffhanger special re-purposed most of the clips from the 25th anniversary special, just with an updated rank. I think Michelle Fowler is still in the top 10, which is a strong testament to how strong and vital that character was to the first decade of the show.

Someone at Walford Web did their own list of the characters with the most cliffhangers about a month ago, and this was the result of their top 20:

1. Phil Mitchell-253 Duff Duffs

2. Ian Beale-185 Duff Duffs

3. Sharon Rickman-157 Duff Duffs

4. Grant Mitchell-119 Duff Duffs

5. Pat Evans-118 Duff Duffs

6. Pauline Fowler-116 Duff Duffs

7. Michelle Fowler-111 Duff Duffs

8. Kat Moon-109 Duff Duffs

9. Dot Branning-104 Duff Duffs

10. Kathy Beale-100 Duff Duffs

11. Alfie Moon-99 Duff Duffs

12. Mark Fowler-98 Duff Duffs

13. Peggy Mitchell-98 Duff Duffs

14. Max Branning-94 Duff Duffs

15. Den Watts-92 Duff Duffs

16. Bianca Butcher-89 Duff Duffs

17. Janine Butcher-83 Duff Duffs

18. Ronnie Mitchell-80 Duff Duffs

19. Stacey Branning-77 Duff Duffs

20. Arthur Fowler-75 Duff Duffs

As for Pam, I don't think I necessarily disagree with killing Pat if Pam didn't want to stay long-term anymore. I just can't imagine Pat as one of those characters that randomly visits from time to time. But the way it was handled with Pam seems shady.

Apparently, the show's writer's conference was today (where they plan out stories for the next year or so).

Letitia, Jessie, and Lacey attended. I wonder if they all asked for better stories.....

Sharon Batten posted this on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/SharonJBatten/status/562006824829063168/photo/1

An Instagram pic with a junior level writer/trainee:

http://instagram.com/p/ykwuE8Khvu/

It must have been a photo op for the kick-off. No way are the actors ever present for the actual conference, which goes for at least three days.

Sad to see that Stacey can't get away from those scarfs even in real life.

Thank you EastEnders for giving us one very lasting look at Ben Hardy. Immaculate perfection.

EastEnders Revealed: the original Angie and why she was fired 30 years ago

She just looks wrong....

Thank you EastEnders for giving us one very lasting look at Ben Hardy. Immaculate perfection.

You aren't the only one, apparently his body almost crashed Twitter

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/02/03/eastenders-peter-beale-abs-ben-hardy-shirtless_n_6601726.html

Good God, last night's episode was f*****g boring. Even a shirtless Ben Hardy couldn't keep me from nodding off several times.

Edited February 3, 201510 yr by TimWil

His body is about the only thing interesting or appealing about him.