@DRW50 will be happy. 

16 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

@DRW50 will be happy. 

 

I was thrilled, and shocked! I have had no real use for the show the last few years but I'm glad they are reconnecting to their history, their real history, after bastardizing it so badly with things like the Gavin fiasco. Mary and Lofty were two of my favorite characters of their era and it will be great to see them back. It also mean that the Michelle recast can be even more consigned to the bin.

Holy crap.

 

I caught the Kat/Alfie showdown tonight. I doubt he's dead, but that scripted material was brutal, especially re: Alfie; not sure how they can come back from some of that narratively, but I was never one of their bigger fans even back in the old days. Maybe a more invested or regular viewer could offer their opinion on tonight's scenes vs. the Kat/Alfie romantic heyday, which I have some familiarity with but not a ton.

I think it's best if this is the end for Kat/Alfie. Alfie needs Kat more as a character than she needs him. Hopefully they can move her on intelligently from him.

 

Jessie Wallace was at her best in this episode, she's definitely deserving of being one of the show's leading ladies and press icon. When she's on form, it's impossible to take your eyes off her. i don't think most actresses on the show currently have that quality about them. 

Edited December 26, 20186 yr by BetterForgotten

I'm just glad that they didn't go the cliche route and simply kill Alfie off. I am so over the UK soaps and their murder and disaster Xmas episodes. They were endearing when the story was there and well plotted; however, it isn't nowadays. I'd just prefer they focus on being more festive and cease the doom and gloom for awhile on December 25th. 

 

Has Shane Richie exited from the show for the foreseeable future? I'd honestly like to see Alfie take the baby and flee for a few years. We need a break from Alfie Moon...

Somehow Mel has managed to be more unlikeable this time around than in her original stint. Her return has been an epic fail and I don’t know why they are centering their New Year’s around such a poorly told story with characters just about nobody cares about.

I still have no idea why Mel came back.

This is a touching surprise. Barbara Windsor speaks up for Shane Richie at his Christmas panto:

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 20186 yr by Vee

On 12/25/2018 at 9:31 PM, Vee said:

I caught the Kat/Alfie showdown tonight. I doubt he's dead, but that scripted material was brutal, especially re: Alfie; not sure how they can come back from some of that narratively, but I was never one of their bigger fans even back in the old days. Maybe a more invested or regular viewer could offer their opinion on tonight's scenes vs. the Kat/Alfie romantic heyday, which I have some familiarity with but not a ton.

 

I get the feeling John Yorke didn't care for the relationship so he decided to take the hammer to it. The material has been so depressing and heavy and while Alfie has been a bastard at times, he was never this openly manipulative and ugly. 

 

The Christmas episode I thought was surprisingly strong, one of the best in years, but the rest, especially anything involving Hayley, was garbage. 

 

On 12/26/2018 at 2:45 AM, BetterForgotten said:

I think it's best if this is the end for Kat/Alfie. Alfie needs Kat more as a character than she needs him. Hopefully they can move her on intelligently from him.

 

Jessie Wallace was at her best in this episode, she's definitely deserving of being one of the show's leading ladies and press icon. When she's on form, it's impossible to take your eyes off her. i don't think most actresses on the show currently have that quality about them. 

 

I agree. Jessie's been good for most of this return but she has been phenomenal recently. I just hope she gets the showcase she deserves next year. 

 

The video of Shane and Barbara is touching. 

Kate Oates speaks about some of her plans in 2019 for EastEnders:

 

 

Seems the UK soaps are just as bad with shuffling the same producers back and forth on all the soaps, lol.

 

In the times I've watched EE, I never enjoyed the Kat/Alfie relationship ...

Edited January 1, 20196 yr by KMan101

48 minutes ago, KMan101 said:

Seems the UK soaps are just as bad with shuffling the same producers back and forth on all the soaps, lol.

 

In the times I've watched EE, I never enjoyed the Kat/Alfie relationship ...

 

Kate Oates is the first to go from ITV to BBC as producer, but Corrie and Emmerdale do trade producers (usually they go from Emmerdale, the lesser soap, to Corrie, the big soap)...often this is not the best idea.

35 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

Kate Oates is the first to go from ITV to BBC as producer, but Corrie and Emmerdale do trade producers (usually they go from Emmerdale, the lesser soap, to Corrie, the big soap)...often this is not the best idea.

 

Thanks. I don't pay as close attention to the UK soaps comings and goings but I do try and keep up. It does seem they swap a lot, at least in the last decade or so I feel like I kept hearing the same names go from soap to soap and it usually doesn't work out. Much like how we recycle the same HWs and Producers and it usually doesn't work out.