The "foreign soaps" topic

[Sylph]

Does she have a connection with McLeod's?

[Sylph]

Susan Bower

[dannigold]

I think Vicki Delow is still there. Eastenders script in blocks, so her name will reappear again in a couple of weeks.

[Sylph]

Well, maybe it's my mistake, but I think she was always listed as script producer, from Brigie days up until very recently.

[dannigold]

Maybe she has left, but I have noticed Sharon Batten's name is there one month and gone the next.

[KSlater]

Slightly off topic, but I had to comment about the most recent episode of EastEnders that I just watched . . .

It rocked! I was completely glued to my television. It was the episode where the men chasing Jayse tore up the Vic (I truly was not expecting that at all), Honey had the baby (I thought the baby had died), Steven and Ian had a confrontation, and Phil's return with the old Phil personality back (what he said to Jayse at the end of the show-- chilling). Well done. I excited to see the Christmas epsiodes when all comes out about Stacey and Max.

I'm happy that EE is back on track and to see that the ratings in the UK for Christmas were good.

[Sylph]

Has anyone been watching Home & Away? Has Bevan's material started airing yet?

[Ben]

Yes and no. UK pace, Bevan's material has yet to air, but in Oz, he penned the 2007 season finale. He'll continue into 2008, up until Katie Ritchie (Sally) leaves. And her finale story is so far fetched, it's genius! Only Bevan could come up with something so good.

And I've gotta comment on Eastenders - it's totally awesome right now. So soapy, it's rockin'.

[Sylph]

Thanks, but since I haven't followed - what was the big finale? You can wrap it in spoiler code.

[Ben]

[dannigold]

Shocking Eastenders spoilers

EASTENDERS is to screen one of its most shocking storylines ever when teenager Jay Brown is brutally stabbed by a gang of hoodies.

The mouthy 13-year-old is left fighting for life after thugs start to terrorise Albert Square.

Over the coming weeks, the gang will begin to target Walford stalwart Dot Cotton.

According to a show insider, their behaviour becomes increasingly aggressive and Jay played by Jamie Borthwick, 14 joins up.

But the tearaway ends up a victim, with the audience worrying if he will pull through.

Although the BBC1 soap has featured stabbings before, the attack on Jay will be the first teenage gang-related attack.

News of the storyline comes just days after another teenager was stabbed to death in London as a result of gang violence.

The show insider said: This is easily one of the most shocking and controversial storylines EastEnders has ever done. It is not a decision bosses have taken lightly, but it is an issue that is top of the news agenda.

Were going to tread very carefully it wont be gratuitous. The plan is to screen the episodes in the usual slots before the watershed.

Hopefully by showing the suffering gang violence can cause, some people may think twice about getting involved.

[EricMontreal22]

I also read Eastenders is adding their first gay male character in some time in the form of Jane's gay brother. Found this one picture and he's actually pretty hot

[EricMontreal22]

Damn not showing up--http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/yumtumtugger/ is a good page devoted to him--he's an out dancer/actor in the West End who's most famous for roles in Cats (hence the website name) Rent, Miss Saigon, etc etc (I actually saw him in Rent back around 2000)

[dannigold]

Here is an article about Jane's gay brother

While the Beale clan may have been the main source of Jane's heartache in recent months, this week it's one of her own relatives who's bringing bother for the put-upon cafe worker. Skeletons are set to come spilling out of Jane's closet as her estranged brother, Christian Clarke, is invited to the Square by Ian -but it's a decision Jane's hubby may soon regret.....

"Christian is gay, he's sent Jane an invite to his civil partnership ceremony," explains John Partridge, who plays the newcomer. "Ian later finds the invitation in the bin, and when he asks his wife about it, she tells him that she and Christian don't get on - in fact, they haven't even seen one another for over four years now. Jane's adamant that she won't be going to his wedding, but Ian has other ideas!"

The Walford catering king wastes no time in meddling and, in a bid to help the siblings mend their relationship, decides to ask Christian if he'd like to go out for a meal with the Beale's. Jane's fuming when she finds out, but eventually agrees to have dinner at Fargo's. While Ian remains foolishly optimistic as Christian arrives with his husband to be, Ashley, it's not long before dirty laundry is being aired.

"Basically, Christian ruined Jane's wedding to her first husband, David. He turned the ceremony into an impromptu gay protest, deciding to come out to everyone on the day and bringing along an army of his gay mates," sighs John. "It was more a way of getting at his and Jane's mother, Linda, but obviously the bride got caught in the crossfire. Although Christian then moved to Manchester, he's now preparing to get married and has decided that he wants his sister there. He wants to build bridges, if possible.

"He has a few too many drinks with his dinner, though," continues the actor. "And that's when he reveals to Jane that there's only two people he's ever loved in his life - one is her, and the other was David! He says this right in front of Ashley, which, as you can imagine, deals a pretty fatal blow to their relationship......"

Unsurprisingly, it's soon all over for Christian and Ashley, which prompts Christian to return to Walford the following day, in need of a place to stay. "He has nothing at all to his name - he turns up on Jane's doorstep completely broke," shares John. "That's a pretty shabby state of affairs for a man in his mid-30's, but he has nowhere else to go."

Despite Ian's apparent open-mindedness at the previous nights dinner, the idea of having a gay man under his roof doesn't go down too well. And relishing her husband's horror, Jane invites her brother to stay simply to wind him up! But while Ian's mortified about Christian's extended visit, John couldn't be happier to be sticking around in Albert Square.

"Being here is fabulous, strange, exciting and nerve-racking!" grins the actor, who's a graduate of the Royal Ballet. "My family can't believe it, let alone me. EastEnders is my first television job, and it's not the kind of show I ever considered doing. I did musical theatre before this and was quite happy. I was in a West End production last year called The Drowsy Chaperone, and the producers had seen me in that," John adds. "The part of Christian was in their minds, and after watching my performances on stage, I entered their thoughts for this role. I'm very grateful, and I feel humbled."

So, John's clearly delighted - but it's obvious that Ian isn't quite so impressed by his controversial ego.........

"Christian and Ian don't really like each other," admits John. "And Christian is a bit surprised to find out that Jane's married to the owner of a backstreet chip shop and working in his backstreet cafe! He doesn't hate Ian, though. To be honest, the man is inconsequential to him - Christian could crush him with one word! "Having said that, he and Ian could end up forming an unusual bond," he continues. "Ian wants to make money, and in his mind, gay men have the most disposable income. We may see them going into partnership together......"

Brett's pleased

Jane might be put out to have Christian back in her life after all this time, but Laurie Brett - who plays her - is delighted with her screen sibling......

"It's funny because I've known John for years and years," chuckles the actress. "We've passed each other in the night through musical theatre, and have some very good mutual friends, so it was always inevitable that we were going to get on. Life has been quite difficult for Jane of late, and she needed something to lighten her up - her mad brother will be perfect for that!"

[Huntress]

The new Marienhof opening debuted last Monday and they totally butchered it.

The old opening (this style was used from April 2002 to January 2008):

The new opening as of January 7th, 2008: