EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I would think they might have to at least bring in Little Mo for a while, or Belinda, or some of Mo's relatives. Kat and Alfie have few ties to the Square and they're not as fresh as they were back at the start of this decade so they won't be able to pull off the cheeky stuff as well. I guess they can be sort of like Pat and Frank, but they'll need more ties.

I know Louise Berridge said she was the one who suggested they put Lacey in as a Slater, so I guess it was Louise and Tony Jordan.

They need to try to get Tony back for a while to help them work out where the Slaters should go. He said he'd return for an Alfie/Kat wedding, but he loved that family so much I think he would try to help with story plans if he could.

badboy, the Slaters did dominate a lot of airtime but at the time it was a relief for me because the rest was dominated by Phil, whom I loathed.

Edited May 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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/

[DRW50]

Phil, Peggy, Ian, Pauline, Pat, but she didn't interact a lot with Pat in her return, I don't think.

One of my favorite EE posters at Digital Spy, who is a big fan of the Watts family, said that a lot of more recent viewers don't realize just how scant a relationship Pauline and Sharon had in Sharon's 85-95 run on the show. That was something which Yorke built up with Sharon's return, and it was very important to do so. They did a brilliant job with Sharon's return. She felt like she'd never been away and she immediately brought back years of history.

I still wonder what might have been if Vicki had been cast with a better actress and given better writing and if Den's return had been better. I don't believe Den's return was the problem, it was what followed. I remember those scenes when he first returned where he had reunions with Pauline, Dot, Pat, Ian, and they talked about what he'd missed and what had become of Walford. A lot of that was down to the whole "let's get Phil" plot but I still loved those scenes; they represented what Den could have been, not the dirty old man he turned out to be.

Thanks.

This was from Louise:

http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2284

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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...

[DRW50]

I could relate to all the Slater sisters (aside from Zoe), but Kat was the one I liked the most because I think that whole tart with a heart, brash on the outside and vulnerable on the outside stuff worked so well with her. I remember the episode where she was at such a low point and she went to the fancy house with the pool and the glass panels and all that and the man she was with was so horrible that she just walked off, in her tiny dress, defiant.

Lynne is a lot like many people I know but that's not a good thing sometimes -- I thought she was depressing and kind of a killjoy.

You could also relate to Little Mo, this broken woman trying to find her strength. It's a shame they raped her again and made her a victim again. They just destroyed her character for good.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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.

[dannigold]

I have just been watching the Brighton episodes from 2001 featuring the Slaters. I love the different music on the end credits. I do not remember these episodes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFOG63VYqSg

Edited May 22, 2010 by dannigold

[DRW50]

Hopefully Yorke will do a good job. He didn't do that well with Sam, but then I think that was more about helping Daniella Westbrook than about the character, who was basically written as a stupid schizophrenic.

I agree that Kat was the most popular out of the sisters. I think something which is underrated about Kat, because of how polarizing she was, was that Kat was such a vivacious presence, she often had a real spirit about her. There were very few scenes where she was going around sulking and being catatonic. She added zest to a lot of scenes, and she wasn't always the typical soap control freak harridan -- like the scene where Zoe was scared to tell Kat that she was moving in with Kelly, but when Zoe told her, Kat just said, that's fine, and if she were Zoe's age she wouldn't want to live with her mother either.

Hopefully that's where the show will go with her, not some of the one-note screaming Bianca gets into, but a fun presence who can get angry if she has to. That's why I don't think Kat is necessarily too much of what Eastenders already has. At her best, or even her not so best, she was a lot better than a banshee like Roxy.

Edited May 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[Sylph]

Wait. How? I must've missed something. He's involved again day-to-day?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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.

[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.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Sylph]

Oh, I know that. Thanks.

[DRW50]

I think they overlap briefly, or I hope they do.

Do you think the show suffered while Peggy was gone for those 2 years? I guess that was the closest viewers got to a Mitchell-free Eastenders, although something tells me the next few years may be the end of them.

I'd love to see a Kat/Shirley friendship. Or Kat and Bianca. I can see her bonding with Ronnie, after some initial hostility, as I'm sure Ronnie might look down on her.

I don't miss Garry that much but I always liked his relationship with Kat. Garry was at his best in the pre-Minty years.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I know Peggy's two year absence coincided with what is considered the worst point in the show's history, creatively and ratings-wise, but her absence was probably a small part of that.

I'll miss Peggy and Barbara though, she just injects so much personality into all her scenes. The show won't be the same without her.

I do think Barbara will eventually return though, she's hinted at this in interviews. I don't think they'll kill Peggy off.

Patsy Palmer said she was excited to see Jessie Wallace returning and that Kat was her favourite character when she was watching and off the show. She said she can't wait for Bianca to "spar" with Kat.