Eastenders catch-up needed

Sorry, Walford.

This is slightly off topic, and I'm not trying to hijack your thread, OP. I just wanted to mention an oddity from my past. I was a dedicated Corrie (Coronation Street) fan for several years. Vancouver, BC had a channel that would broadcast an episode Mon - Fri five months or so behind schedule. On Sunday they would broadcast the previous week's episodes in an omnibus edition.

The odd thing is that I was enamoured of the show. Then, after watching the episode where Lloyd chairs quiz night at The Rovers, & Norris brought his brother, of whom he was jealous, I couldn't watch any more episodes. It's like the asparagus stalk broke. That's all I had to say.

Wh. show is more popular in the UK, EE or Corrie?

EE, I’m pretty sure.

I also love Corrie. Am trying to catch up with it also.

I must really be behind. I don't know who any of those people are. In the episodes I'm watching, Pauline just returned from an extended visit with her brother Kenny in Australia, only to learn that Arthur was fucking Mrs. Hewitt while she was away. Pauline lashed out at Kathy for keeping it a secret from her. Those were the highlights of recent episodes.

Where are you watching from, R5?

What is the deal made between Martin and Zach?

Can anyone fill me in a bit?

Dot Cotton put a fag out in someone's eye.

Speaking of fags, Tony Hills used to take Simon Raymond from behind. Simon was 100% bottom.

R2 Corrie is more popular than EE in the UK; so is Emmerdale.

In fact, more recently, there have been weeks when one or even two episodes of EE don't make it into the Top 50 shows of the week.

For the last reported week of consolidated ratings (December 6-12) -- Six episodes of Corrie averaged 5.18 million viewers. Six episodes of Emmerdale averaged 4.65 million viewers. EE's average for two episodes came in at 3.54 million viewers, but the average for the week would be lower, since two of the episodes didn't make it into the Top 50 report, which means both of those episodes were something at or below 3.26 million, since that was the cut-off number for No. 50 that week.

Consolidated ratings include the sum of: Live Broadcast + Viewing on Same Day As Live + Time-Shifted.

I haven’t watched since last year when weird little Scarlett turned up at the playground. Janine hadn’t quite reappeared.

Now I hear Gray has another baby and Danny Dyer is leaving for ITV?

Someone watch me up.

*catch me up.

Sharon finally lost weight, out of black and changed her hair, she looks soo much better! I could see Keanu banging her bush the way she looks NOW!

OP darl I really wouldn’t bother.

Watch a different Brit soap, or better yet go outside and enjoy the sunshine.

What happened to Ian and Kathy? Are they still around?

Ian disappeared after Sharon tried to poison him. Kathy is still dropping her lank hair into people's bacon sarnies at the caff and sounding like a proper bloke with that raspy voice!

Where is Sharon?

Who is the mix-race girl living with Nancy’s fiancée?

Dot smoked her last fag.

[quote] What is the deal made between Martin and Zach?

It had something to do with when and how often Zach gets to top Martin, but I've forgotten the details.

Why did Sharee go back to Trinidad last fall? She just decided to divorce Patrick?

📢 📢 📢

Ben’s gay rage is the worst storyline the show has ever had imo. Acting like London is Khartoum or something. And now he’s going to get raped? Who cares?

Male rape is an important issue, especially for the gay community.

It turns out that Dirty Den is the father of Michelle's baby, Pauline and Arthur are on the rocks as he's a depressed loser, and Kathy is raped by James Willmott-Brown.

Damn, so many non-answers. You’d think I asked for the moon.

Go smoke a fag, r26.

Carters minus Lee.

Danny Dyer is soooo fucking miserable in his current pointless storylines, details of which I will not discuss here.

Well Ben has now been sexually assaulted.

Ben and Callum need to go away for a while to recharge. His story since he turned vigilante has been shit and this sexual assault, impressively, makes it even worse.

Kellie Bright (Linda) has confirmed that she'll be staying on the show even after Dyer exits.

Hopefully, that leads them to consider recasting Johnny and having him return at some point down the line.

Thank god Lola is finally being written out-actually killed off if media reports are to be believed. Apparently she’s just one of several being pushed out the door. I hope the others will be all the Taylors, Stuart, Rainie, Dotty and Rocky,

Don’t agree, R33. The Taylors are among my favorites.

I don’t see Karen and Mitch going anywhere. Karen is comic relief, Mitch is a talk-to for half the cast. The fat daughter is dispensable though.

Well, Mitch ain't goin' anywhere.

It was just announced that it's his family that's being extended, with an estranged brother and two nephews showing up.

News w/ photo at link.

I last watched EE in the late '80s, when I had a crush on Simon Wickes. What have I missed since then?

R37 The Classic Breakfast at the caf now goes for £6.90, but they have free wifi.

It's really difficult to give a catch-up on several months of a soap - it would be easier if you would ask specific questions.

Broadly, in terms of the major storylines over the past few months there has been Gray finally being rumbled as a serial killer, and being arrested. Bernie selling her baby to Stuart and Rainie but Stuart hates the baby and wants to give him back, Linda was still boozing but is now trying to get sober and win Mick back from Janine, Ben and Callum were victims of a homophobic attack so Ben went vigilante and starting beating up random straights including his own nephew Peter, and then he got flirty with Lewis the Irish barman at Kathy's gay bar and went back to his flat for sex but had second thoughts when Callum sent him a photo of him and his daughter but Lewis pinned him down and fucked him anyway - portrayed as rape basically but Callum found out and assumed Ben had just cheated on him so dumped his sorry ass.

Sam Mitchell came back into it and is doing Phil's dirty work for him while he's behind bars, she's blackmailed Denise into stumping up the money Phil gave her so they can buy the club. Jean went absolutely off the rails with her bi polar and tried to drown herself in the sea, she was sectioned but Stacey took her out of the mental hospital and was looking after her at home but Jean thought she was trying to kill her so would only let Lily look after her, who she told had bi polar too so Lily started taking Lithium and poisoned herself with it but was fine, Jean pushed Stacey and she cut herself on some broken bottles and then she passed out in the street. That's all I know so far as I'm not fully up to date myself (have a couple of weeks to catch up on) - apparently Charles and Camilla appear at some point.

Isaac went off to Trinidad to look after Sheree who'd allegedly had a heart attack and Lola found out he was dating someone else via social media.

Thanks, R39, but I was re-watching by then.

Question:Why did Sharee leave Patrick ?

Pauline Fowler had the hatchet face. How did Wendy Richard manage to age about 100 years between AYBS and EE?

You've been caught up pretty well. I have been home with the Covid the last nine days. (It was like a middling flu, double boosted here) and caught up on Eastenders (Britbox), watched the Jubilee with YouTube, legally and apparently illegal livestreams, and restarted Coronation Street today with the most current episode. Watching now. I'm not bothering to catch up. It's a soap.

I watch EastEnders on my local PBS station in the US. We're a little behind. On Sunday they showed the episode where everyone things Sanjay and Michelle are fucking, but in reality he's teaching her how to drive. Am I nearly caught up?

BTW Corrie dealt with male rape several years ago. David was raped.

Lou Beale was a dragon. Totally toxic character.

[quote] I watch EastEnders on my local PBS station in the US.

R43 There's still a PBS station in the U.S. that does that? Which one? .. A January 2022 article in the "Washington Post" had a statement from the BBC indicating that they were finally discontinuing that for the very few PBS affiliates in the U.S. that were still airing it.

[quote] In an email, a BBC spokeswoman wrote: “The ‘EastEnders’ episodes that have been carried by just a few public television stations in the U.S. are over 10 years behind current episodes playing out in the U.K., and it is no longer economically viable to provide episodes at this broadcast cadence. We are exploring new distribution models for the U.S. market. We are aware this is disappointing news for fans.”

Sheree left Patrick because she was a fucking awful character. Thank god Isaac is gone, too.

R43, where in the US do you still get old episodes on PBS? I think they’ve all been pulled by now.

The 10 years behind thing was insane. I go back and watch 80s episodes on Daily motion. God, it was so good back then. And Lo Beal was not horrible, she was a strong working class matriarch.

Rainie, Uncle Fester and their baybee Bernie (and Big Bernie) all need to exit stage left

Jean has really overstayed and overacted enough. A tragic end is fitting.

I like Sam Mitchell being back so far.

They need a sprinkling of elderly "lovable" characters. They got rid of all of them. Maybe says something about society today.

I totally agree about Rainie and Uncle Fester. Tanya Franks is a good actress but I fast forward through all her scenes because her character is exhausting to watch. And Uncle Fester is so fugly it’s painful. I do have a feeling they’re on the new executive producer’s hit list.

Yes, agree on Tanya Franks, I’ve seen her in other things and she’s good but this character is unrelentingly dreary.

I think Jay is the cutest. He should get with Collum as the new boyfriend. Why not, he could be pan. He's gone with much older women.

Oh, that Janine! I think Linda won’t remember what really happened for a few months, though.

Lol Janine is such a lizard not getting the baby out. That’s what we call “hardboiled.”

Great scenes with Janine and Sharon.

Sheree left Patrick because she was a complete bitch - Patrick said she should go to Trinidad alone to give Isaac some space because she was controlling him too much and she snapped and tricked him into signing over the salon and then just fucked off there alone after taking her wedding ring off. I was glad to see the back of her, she was a nasty piece of work and Patrick is way too nice for her.

Thank god fugly Uncle Fester has been finally axed. I’m also fine with Dana and Jada going, too. I hope Peter gets to be in a storyline where he presents his hole on an Only Fans site before his exit.

Stuart was irritating from the moment he showed up. He's gone through so many character changes, bad guy, good guy, bad guy again recently (I mean he hates his baby son and might injure him) that he's unbelievable and unrelatable. Good riddance. I guess his obnoxious grandmother goes too.

Peter had no real story line, he is only eye candy. I wouldn't mind him having a little bicurious action with Jay before he lives. Jay is my new fascination on Eastenders. He needs to become pan and polyandrous to truly bring EE into the 2020s. Come out for Pride month Jay!

Kim is the best character. I could watch her all day.

The actress who plays Kim is amazing. Such a hard role to get right but she does it. I hope she gets another real story soon.

Any word on when Phil is coming back full-time? It's definitely boring without him and I would like to see the inevitable triangle with him/Sharon/Kat sooner rather than later.

I won't miss Stuart but I'm glad Rainie is sticking around.

Stuart should have been written out after six months but the actor was apparently a huge favorite with the cast and crew so the writers twisted his stories into a pretzel to keep him there. I think killing him off would be an appropriate way to finally give him his comeuppance for being such a creepy bastard those first six months.

Awww, this is so great. Tish looks fucking amazing and so does Anita Dobson.

Why is Sharon so fat? She should've trimmed down when they trimmed the title from "The EastEnders" to "EastEnders."

R65, she’s lost an easy 3 stone in the past year. She used to be much, much bigger.

Yeah, during Sharon's affair with Keanu, they used to always dress Letitia in these black hefty bag outfits - black for a slimming effect and loose to not reveal her actual silhouette - and that was even before the character became pregnant, which then worked with her actual weight.

Letitia looks great now.

They still haven't figured out what they're actually going to do about writing Mick out.

R68’s link is a bummer. Even if they had chemistry (they DO NOT!), Janine is wasted on Mick because he’s going “soon.” That’s a crackerjack character caught in stasis romantically though Janine vs Sharon/Linda is good fun in the meantime. Still don’t see a storyline that has Linda not going with Mick in the black cab he uses to exit the Square (they’ve said they’re not killing him off).

R69 It's my understanding that the report that Kellie Bright (Linda) will still be around after Dyer exits comes from her recent interview with "Inside Soap" magazine (subscription-based), as that's what other media sources such as Digital Spy and Radio Times are quoting. See the DS article at link as an example.

Does Linda inherit the Vick? She's partial owner, right? That's probably a mistake. Linda's a weak and not very sympathetic character and the Vick traditionally has been one of centers or core of Eastenders. It has not been that way lately. They need to restore that. Perhaps younger owners would better, a real passing on Eastenders to the next generation.

Letitia looks like she been watching her old exercise DVDs

They could have Linda and Nancy running the Vic, then recast Johnny to join them. He could run the business side of the pub in between his lawyering. In fact, wasn't that the focus of the job he went to in Manchester? Accounting? Perhaps a hot boyfriend could tag along and takeover the kitchen.

Nancy is as interesting as as Robbie Fowler

Nancy is such a sour cunt. Boyfriend has a great body but wasn’t a sufficient replacement for Kush. I sort of hate that EE only allows two conventionally hot men on canvas at any given time. (Currently, Zack and Peter)

Peter looks okay, but I don't find him that hot.

Why did Kathy say to Lewis “Nobody likes you”? I thought he was well-liked.

R77, I think that they sort of set that up with Peter’s line a scene previous mentioning that Lewis sexually harassed him. I agree that even with that Kathy’s line came out of nowhere.

Does Peter have blond pubes?

Great to see Letitia Dean win the Outstanding Achievement award. She may not be the show's best actress but she is terrific with the right material and is a real backbone of the show.

Lovely that Anita Dobson presented it too. Pity Leslie Grantham couldn't be there with her.

Sorry to learn Letitia a dad passed so recently. She seemed super nervous on stage but her weight loss is terrific!

Where has the sexy Adam Woodyatt been hiding himself? Is he still with the show?

AW is on an extended break but as far as I know he’s planned to return.

Oh...seeing Letitia and Anita together just made me cry a bit.

Why did Wendy Richard always seem so bitter? Nobody liked her. She was tolerated, at best.

Wendy Richard got shit storyline in her last years. She hated her exit storyline where she became a vindictive old witch.

R81 In an interview published last week, Woodyatt sounded rather apathetic about returning, responding to the question with:

[quote] No. [I've] genuinely got no idea. They've not asked, I've not asked them.

Wendy Richard was fired because she was an unbearable cunt to the production staff as well as the writing team. I do think she had a right to feel that Pauline should remain unmarried and without a man after Arthur died. Instead they saddled her with Jeff (Melanie’s dad) and wasn’t there an episode or two where the Slater dad showed an interest? And then they married her off to Joe Macer, who was quite a wimp (until he grew some balls and thumped her with a frying pan). She would probably been OK with Pauline marrying her gay friend Derek as a sort of companion. Anyway Richard treated the higher ups like shit and they finally retaliated by making Pauline a bitter and vindictive old bitch before killing her off.

Sam is so hard-looking. I find her repulsive which is strange because she's clearly an attractive woman....must be something about the character and styling that really doesn't sit right. The scene with her and Zack was gross as hell and I'm not looking forward to hearing Nancy wail about it once she finds out. Sam will of course taunt Sharon with it ASAP.

Sam is a bimbo

Is Danielle Westbrook still busted looking?

Yes R90 although she was never a beauty. Kim is a lot classier and elegant

R9i0 This is from April.

Jessie Wallace apparently assaulted a police officer in the early hours of Sunday morning. This sort of thing seems to be a habit with her. She’s trash.

Wow, R93. She was suspended a few years back for being too drunk at a Christmas party or awards show party--either way, imagine what she must have pulled to get punished considering how lax those environments are??? Sounds like she needs to stop drinking for good. Very rare to slap a cop in the middle of the night without being drunk and/or on drugs.

It's going to require a major rewrite of story lines if they kick her off.

Good. Especially if it means breaking up Phil and Kat for good. That’s one of the worst pairings in soap history. Neither the actors or characters had any chemistry.

She gets a warning.

[quote] "Senior bosses have spoken to Jessie Wallace about the incident and issued a clear warning that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and Jessie has expressed her deep regret," a BBC spokesperson told Digital Spy.

Barbara Windsor apparently told her off years ago for her crappy behaviour.

She's a good actress but sounds like special treatment

Wallace’s character is very popular.

June Brown told her off, too. You can tell it happened some time before this clip. She looks absolutely stone faced while the other cast members look thrilled for her. And she won’t crack a smile even when the others are howling over Brown’s crack about the writers:

When Phil gets a look at the slimmed down, gorgeous Sharon, big Kat will be out on her ear. Letitia and McFadden actually have great chemistry together.

They do. But I want Sharon to finally grow a brain and realize that Phil is far more responsible for Denny’s death than Ian ever was.

True R102 maybe she was planning to set Phil up for Ian's murder but got distracted?!

Phil and Sharon were in on Ian's murder together. Off-camera they buried the hatchet and allied to take down Ian...it was an awesome twist, imo, because they were dismissive if not hostile with each other for months in the lead-up to the poison pasta. I don't think Sharon blames Phil at all.

Then she’s an idiot. Because the explosion on the boat was Phil’s fault.

Is there any Jay and Ben slash fiction out there?

The boat crashed, not exploded.

It was a great Christmas twist but I was joking maybe Sharon planned to expose Phil as Ian's killer after he bludgeoned him. It is dumb she doesn't blame him as much.

Bye bye, Nancy. The actress wanted to leave after just one year. Oh well. I liked her a lot although her storylines for her return were shitty.

Is she off to Hollywood?

I think the number of people leaving the show is not good for it. You need some stability to form an emotional interest.

Nancy’s storylines were getting sterilized, getting run over (“knocked down”), getting dicked down, getting robbed, and crying about her drunk mother. I don’t really blame the actress for leaving. Won’t miss her.

Bring fat Pat back from the dead.

Instead of fat Pat, they're apparently giving us a non-binary drag queen.

R113, I really hope you’re kidding.

They’re giving us Mitch’s brother and two nephews (Felix and Finlay) which is definitely something we didn’t need.

I assume at least one of the nephews will be hot with Peter leaving. One hot one out, one hot one in.

Anyhow, I'm finding EE almost unwatchable currently. Mick is still a huge part of the show even though he announced his departure in what feels like 2017. It's very odd. Linda has had the same story for what feels like a decade. Max and Ian are in the wind. Phil is in jail.

Sharon is still going strong, though, and keeps me tuning in.

R116 The nephews are shown in the photo link at R36.

Thanks r117. I'm guessing yellow jacket will have a slamming body like Isaac.

Thank god Tanya Franks is also going. She was utterly exhausting to watch. But she deserves kudos for having to act with fuggo Uncle Fester day after day.

R119 LOL!

Pauline was so mean to Kathy in the episode I just watched on my local PBS station. She laced into Kathy for knowing about Arthur's affair with Mrs. Hewitt and not telling her. She read Kathy to filth, and Kathy just stood there like a doormat at took it. Pauline can be such a monster. I do hope she forgives Arthur, since Arthur and Pauline are my favorite couple. How long does Mark's wife Ruth last? I can't understand a word the actress, Caroline Patterson, says, and she's such a pill.

She doesn’t last all that long, R121.

News of a location shoot where it looks like Philth is the one who goes after Lewis the Rapist.

How ridiculous yet predicable they set Kat up as the new boss of Phil's empire just to give the actress something to do. The writers really don't give Sharon enough to do, no way would she be spoken to like that "Why is it everyone around you ends up dead or vanishing into thin air?" Sharon should have ripped her head off.

The Phil/Kat storyline needs to end.

Completely agree, r124. Despite Sharon's legendary status, Kat is the show's leading lady and I'm struggling to understand why. Is the actress/character really that popular? I actually enjoy Kat but enough is enough.

I hate Kathy’s gruff voice and her predictable acting.

I want more Sharon. She’s a genuine soap matriarch.

Sam has grown a brain R125

Sharon is finally in colored garments! They just need to fix her makeup. Ridiculous Phil would turf her out on Kat's say so.

Kat is seen as the best actress but Sharon is the fan favourite, make more use of her!

Like how does the money/time with all of these businesses work? Sharon is running the gym but then had some sort of role with the club and the chicken shops....so she hired staff for the gym to give her time for the Phil shit but now it's oopsies and the new staff is out? I don't know, it's all so vague. It bothers me.

On a separate note, the amount of exits recently is shocking. It's approaching reboot territory.

It's a real bore

R114 Nope. It's now confirmed that the drag queen is happening. Ax expected, it's the Baker nephew, Felix.

June Brown died this past April, RIP Dot.

Are they doing a tribute episode to June?

I was watching Eastenders on PBS for a very long time. They were about 8-10 years behind!

For some unknown reason, the BBC, they apparently own the rights to US distribution, pulled the plug months ago.

Is there anywhere online I can watch the series for free? I pay enough for cable, I sure won't pay for Britbox.

R134, Daily Motion is your friend though I don't know if they have eps going back a decade. For new ones, yes.

[quote] For some unknown reason, the BBC, they apparently own the rights to US distribution, pulled the plug months ago.

The BBC produces the show, so of course, they own the rights for distribution ... anywhere. And only about three or four PBS affiliates still ran these old episodes. That's why they pulled the plug.

[quote] In an email, a BBC spokeswoman wrote: “The ‘EastEnders’ episodes that have been carried by just a few public television stations in the U.S. are over 10 years behind current episodes playing out in the U.K., and it is no longer economically viable to provide episodes at this broadcast cadence. We are exploring new distribution models for the U.S. market. We are aware this is disappointing news for fans.”

My feeling is they MIGHT be telling the truth and could be exploring putting the episodes from around the time they cut you off on Britbox or somewhere else for streaming. .. During the production lockdown due to the pandemic, the BBC tried to satisfy current UK viewers by putting what they called "Eastenders 2008" on their streaming service. They'd put up four episodes per week. This initial year was then followed with "Eastenders 2009," and they just began with "Eastenders 2010." So with this effort, they now have over two years of the old show already formatted and ready-to-go for streaming. Why they haven't put these years on Britbox would be the question, since it pretty much matches up with the era where they cut U.S. viewers off who were still watching on PBS.

Tara Misu is a really lame drag name.

Someone at EE must have liked the Anita Tinkle story on Hollyoaks.

The question might be, who will be the "straight" guy in Walford who falls in love Tara Misu and wants to fuck her?

Martin might be believable.

I an watching Eastenders from the start, am now up to Jan 1988. Much better than today. This has got to be one of the low points. There are no "iconic" actors. The relationships are shallow and unbelievable. It occured to me that people had more depth and better deeper relationships in the past. So today's EE simply represents the present because that's all the writers know.

^ I am watching it on Daily Motion.

In the 5 years I’ve watched Hollyoaks has had many bad stories but Anita Tinkle and Simone’s doctor son’s love story (can’t remember his name; hated the character) was perhaps the worst.

IIRC, when Eastenders was first shown on PBS, in order to catch up with the UK showings, PBS aired it either every night or a few nights a week for months. It was so long ago, I can barely remember.

I don't think broadcasting EE was ever a national thing for PBS. As I recall, only about 25 (out of 300+) affiliates carried EE at some point, and each of them put it on when and how they wanted. It never seemed uniform. When in the L.A. area, I don't remember KCET ever airing it. Meanwhile, the KOCE affiliate tired various schedules with the show. They even cancelled it once, then brought it back, They finally ran four episodes like an omnibus on Sunday afternoon. I remember some ex-pats in the area used to go to a British pub-type restaurant and watch it there on a big screen TV in a banquet room. That PBS affiliate gave it up many years ago.

I think EE was also on BBC America for awhile, but was cancelled due to low viewership. DISH satellite TV also tried to air EE in the U.S. as a special PPV selection. Again, it was given up due to low subscriber interest.

Kat Slater would be a fine actress if not for the squawking.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

He was on tonight’s episodes. Good looking guy but I hate long hair tied up in a bun. So 2007.

New guy is really hot.

[quote] Despite Ravi's seemingly charming and charismatic personality, not all is as it seems as viewers will soon discover that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.

Every time I read that old chestnut about a new character, I can't help but laugh and think, "Oh really? .. How 'bout G4P?"

^ It's 2024 doll, so maybe.

Well OF COURSE Phil is still alive. Jesus.

RIP Mona Hammond, who played Blossom Jackson. A stalwart of Black British theatre.

Alfie’s coming back. Hopefully this is the final nail in the coffin for the hideously awful Phil/Kat pairing.

R152, that’s majuh news! With Sharon telling Phil she loves him (those scenes were incredible—felt like a return to form) AND Alfie back in the mix, Kat and Phil won’t last.

Alfie is returning. ugh.

Alfie is returning, yay!

Phil's return has been mixed for me. I loved the scene with him and Sharon almost reuniting but didn't understand him flipping out about Grant calling. She. Thought. Phil. Was. Dead. Of course she would call his brother! Then Kat takes Phil back even though she rejected him when he said the same things maybe 12 hours previously. I guess they may go for a quad with Alfie/Sharon working together to break up P/K and then catching feelings but honestly the characters are easily 20 years too old for a wacky scheme like that. Maybe 30 years too old.

^ I'm watching from Britbox and am about three weeks behind in my viewing so all I can say is "WTF"!

R20 As I recall the deal was Martin will bottom for Zach 80/20 (much like his percentage agreement with Kush), as long as when Martin gets to take control, Zach isn't a totally drunk and sloppy bottom.

Peter exits, after which he finally does something interesting! .. Poor Kathy's discovery made me laugh.

Will we ever find out if Suki swallowed Peter’s joy juice?

I'm going to start ffwing through Ben scenes. I'm so bored of him getting hot dick thrown at him constantly despite his soft, untoned body and nasty face. His new crystal meth arc holds dim promise but only if the actor commits to losing weight for it, but you know that won't happen. I'm struggling to find anything to enjoy on the show right now other than Sharon and Martin. Tish is always watchable and I just like Martin even though he hasn't had a story in over a year.

When it comes to Ben, I've had sufficient.

Tamara Empson remains the only reason to keep watching.

That new ginger in Walford is HAWT.

New twink arriving to play Freddie Slater.

I used to have the hots for his dad Jeff Brazier but he’s lost his looks in recent years.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

^^^ Flip-flops .. lol

His dad Jeff wears flip flops a lot. I’ve pleasured myself often seeing him in them in Hello! magazine.

They're doing a made-up 1979 flashback episode.

The casting looks good for that. Young Grant is a looker.

Ben Mitchell may be killed off.

God, I hope so. Kill him off like his half sister Donna, choked to death on his own puke.

At this point that would not be a bad thing.

But we still see Ben in the upcoming location shoot.

Well alll I can say is Sharon is looking the best she has for years! Glad for the lovely Tish

Well, at least she’s not looking like a beached whale anymore unlike that Aussie cow who played Therese on Neighbours.

I watched the penultimate episode of Neighbours for the hell of it. I nearly fainted upon realising that was Rebekah Elmaloglou.

And she’s looked like that for YEARS. I don’t get why the producers never threatened her to lose weight or they’d fire her.

Who R178?

Rebekah Elmersglu.

She played a sort of equivalent of Sharon on Neighbors and looked like Miss Piggy.

She was a hot teenager in Home And Away.

I had the same reaction to seeing her in Neighbours for the first time in decade that I had to realising the sweaty, rotund ham in Gladiator was the formerly young and beautiful David Hemmings.

That dress they had her in didn't do her any favors. The material looked "thick" on camera, and the way it wrapped and came together made her stomach look even bigger. And the long sleeves paired with the above the knee length only highlighted how short she is (5 ft).

No way was that Sophie! Wasn't she a pinup of the early 90s?!

She was. She was adorable. And now she’s a fat pig. But they never seemed to care on Neighbours.

Current version of Peter Beale is worse than his father. He has all of Ian Beale’s sliminess, plus extra entitlement, extra arrogance and no of his redemptive qualities. He’s not even hot enough or a good enough actor to make it work.

Too Tall Peter has left the square.

I don't blame the actor, sounds like they have him nothing good to get his teeth into. Plus Peter was always the kind one of that family, Lucy and Steven were the menaces.

I wonder if the current Peter actor will try for a career like former Peter (Ben Hardy). He will have to get his cock and arse out too

He’ll certainly try for a career like Hardy but I doubt he’ll have as much success.

New kid playing Amy as of next week. Thank god, that kid who played her was awful.

Sid Owen is returning as Ricky. Yawn.

If Ben really is ending things with Callum once and for all, then since Stuart is exiting, I could see Callum following suit.

Thank god I’ll never have to suffer through looking at Stuart’s godawful fugly face ever again on this show.

I was looking at the ratings last week and noticed the huge drop in viewers. The media picked up on this as well. About a month ago, the consolidated ratings were generally hovering around the 3 million mark, but during the last reported period the average was closer to 2.6 million. .. From the BBC positive spin response, it sounds like the main purpose of the soap is to serve as a gateway show to other material on iPlayer.

Also haven't heard anything about the "new Northern soap" they said was being developed over a year ago. What's up with that?

The news says Dot Cotton's death will be covered toward the end of year.

It will probably happen the week after the World Cup concludes. It’s also the week before Christmas.

Bobby Brazier, a model and the son of the late UK reality star Jade Goody, will make his debut on the show next week.

Today's episode.

I guess tonight’s episode will be cancelled-and maybe all of next week’s?

Bobby Brazier is hot as hell but obviously mixed race. Are they going to retcon Little Mo’s rape, having it turn out to be a Black man? Are they doing a Secrets & Lies type storyline for Christmas? I hope Kacey Ainsworth will deign to come back for a few months.

Speculation if the Queen Vic gets changed to the Queen Elizabeth.

Wonder if Keeble, Kat, Freddie, Bert and Ernie will all make it through the wedding.

I hope Sam’s ex in Spain is hot.

The QE2 tribute scene.

The QE2 tribute scene reminded me of Lucy and Ricky chatting about their Phillip Morris cigarettes.

That stuff in the church was bad. Those extras were awful-and who the fuck were they supposed to be, anyway? Friends of Kat and Phil? I hate when soaps do this.

But, how Sam: "I have no idea what you're saying." Jean: "As soon as possible."

That was funny.

Janine is knocked up? Oy.

Janine is exiting.

[quote] Bosses have pulled out all the stops to make sure Janine’s exit is a corker.

So did big Kat get 'itched?

No, Alfie’s shenanigans kept her from getting to the church on time.

Can't stand that turd Alfie.

Anyone seen the beautiful new boy Bobby Brazier playing Freddie Slater. 🤤🤤🤤

He is beautiful but when he opens his mouth to speak he sounds mentally challenged.

Sharon looks amazing now she's slimmed and into colours. She just needs a storyline that's interesting.

I do think she needs to pay for poisoning Ian, though. A Sharon behind bars storyline could be fun.

Off-topic: Is the new "Northern soap" still in development? Or did the BBC decide to shelve that?

Is Pat Butcher still on the game?

Pat Butcher is sucking Jimmy Carville’s cock in hell. Harlot.

Jimmy Corkhill?!

Him, too.

And Jimmy Savile. That’s who I meant originally.

James Carville is a hideous looking but well meaning Democrat strategist.

Good news that Barry, Colin and Disa are returning for Dot’s funeral but no Nigel and Claire? I think Adam Woodyatt will film something in secret, though.

They could do something with Ian like they did with Simon showing up at Pat's grave in an epilogue to the episode (post-credits).

I think they might go that route, R223.

Wow, Sid Owen looks like shit. And what’s with his eyes, he looks almost like Billy and Honey’s kid Janet.

In other news good night, Dot.

Dotty was a little cunt and I’m glad she’s gone. Horrible send-off by homo script writer Daran Little.

Did I miss the bit where it turned out she was really Nick’s daughter and not Rocky’s?

R226 I remember Rocky telling Dotty that she couldn't be his daughter happened in the same episode that Mick said goodbye to his daughter, Frankie (September).

Sharon looked terrific in last night's episode, a total change from last year

I want to suck Keanu right in the middle of the Square

Good for Sharon losing all that weight. There are times when think she almost looks too thin! .. But I think she needs a different hairstyle, because that straight, long (fake) hair works to drag her face down. .. And the dark spray-on tan opposite that shade of blonde is a bit much, like she's always back from holiday. .. lol!

R230 I agree, the hair is too long. I liked the shorter style she had a few years ago below. It's a curse when heavier people lose weight and appear a bit gaunt but all in all she looks terrific for 55!

I'd like to see what she'd look like now with this kind of cut.

Good choice R232 I remember she returned with dramatic extensions in 2001 but cut it short like your pic as the press said she looked like Miss Piggy!

Keanu’s thick lips would look nice sliding up and down on my cock, just sayin’.

They should think about a story where Keanu started an Only Fans page while he was gone. Given that he once tried being a (straight) escort, that would make sense and be something different.

On Pobol y Cwm, gay Tyler recently started a (non-porn) fans page to earn extra money where he does sexy, 'suggestive' things as a hot builder (demonstrating the use of tools, shirtless and flexing). His employer was going to fire him, but now new customers are calling the business and specifically requesting "Mr. Screwdriver" come do the work at their house ..lol.

EastEnders should think about taking something like that one step further.

R235 did you also suggest that for Peter? It's a lot better than some of the junk they throw at these poor actors

R236 Yeah, I think I floated that idea when Too Tall Peter was underemployed and trying to find clients for his "personal training" business. I thought that having him go from that to starting an Only Fans site would have been a natural segue.

R237 perhaps life will imitate art and the actual actor will start flashing the goods to a paying audience!

So will Mick be killed off?

I think that shot in the trailer of him on top of the roof if the Vic is a bluff. But maybe he crashes his car?

They won't kill him off

What was the Christmas surprise this year?

R232 Keanu is now a rentboy

Janine leaves tomorrow. I wish she’d get stabbed in the neck by Stacey.

Stacey looks as rough as old dogs.

Jesus Christ, even in his final episode Danny Dyer proves one more time that he can’t act for shit.

Well that was dramatic!

SPOILER

SPOILER

I take back my comment at R241

You wuz wrong, R241.

Mick done drowned.

Spoiler

Surprised they choose to kill Dyer off, he was a big coup for them when cast and has had some good moments. Maybe they won't recover the body and leave the door open?

The whole scenario leading up to the crash was preposterous

R250 Totally agree with how every step leading up to crash was like WTF? .. Just stop chasing the bitch and call the police.

Yea and how long were they driving to get to the cliffs at Dover?!

Maybe they'll pull a "Dirty Den" and have the corpse disappear

If they don't find a body, then Frankie (in Glasgow), Lee (in Dover), Nancy and Johnny (both in Manchester) don't have to appear for a funeral.

I used to fancy the original Johnny

Mick Carter was a propa geezer

Who never used a tweezer

On his bush to please her

He ended up in hell

While trying to save his "L"

From the choppy English swell

Albert Square will be all a-twitter

When his soaking shitter

Washes up among the litter

So is he dead-dead or was a door left open for a return?

They haven't confirmed R256 but it would make sense to leave it open. I haven't watched it in years but he was once very popular with viewers and a return storyline in the future might be a ratings grabber when their ratings fall in the shitter yet again.

A few years ago they drowned Ronnie and Roxy and this was widely seen as a big mistake, as they too were very popular and the deaths felt gratuitous.

In that case I predict he will be washed up in a French fishing net, lost his memory, mistaken for a refugee fallen overboard a dingy and sent to an asylum centre in Calais.

Lol R258 they can do it as a social-issue storyline, Mick recounting his cruel treatment in a Uganda camp after being shipped off by Pritti Patel

"It did my nutttt in!"

[quote] So is he dead-dead or was a door left open for a return?

We probably won't know that until they either find or don't find a bloated corpse.

Maybe his waistcoat will wash up next month

The only highlight was Phil punching that annoying twat Alfie

I believe Mick will be mistaken for a Syrian refugee whose mastery of Estuary English and lack of Arabic will be explained away by the emergency lung transplant he required after downing. He will be repatriated to the Dordogne where he will take a job in an auberge and marry the owner, a leathery yet vital widow called Aurélie. They will live happily together until Christmas 2037 when Keanu, on a cycling holiday with Albie, recognises him and informs him that his daughter Annie has been kidnapped by white slavers.

Putting incidental music under the final credits and him not actually being dead would be an enormous cheat and a big FUCK YOU to viewers.

R265 they only have 2 options, either he's dead or presumed dead. He isn't going to reappear so the music marked the actor's exit. If he isn't dead and the character comes back, viewers will have forgotten by then.

Has Sharon shagged Keanu again yet? Must be months since her box got stuffed.

I don't know why I find this so funny

Great shirt for pride, that

Funny you say that R268!

There was a pub guv'nor named Mick

Who had a big ol' hairy dick

He stuck it up his "L"

Making dirty prozzie Janine well jel'

And drowned him in the sea

Now Mick was a Carter

And with God he did barter

"If I'm saved and make it ashore

I'll do the dirty on that whore"

But when he floated to French sand

He found himself on remand

Cause his cockney blether no one could understand

So Mick found himself detained

From his darling "L" he was restrained

For being an "illegal" from Albania!

Shirley sure does travel light. Just a shoulder purse and Lady Di on a leash.

Isn't Carly Wicks in Australia? How long will it take her to walk there?

I’m guessing there will be a twist that Freddie raped Lily, resulting in her pregnancy.

I thought Freddie was meant to be a "good" character?

Wiki says Freddie is 18. If that's the case, I don't think there'd be any coming back from an 18-year old having sex with a 12-year old.

Regardless of the circumstances, given her age, whomever had sex with her committed statutory rape. If the boy is also underage, then they probably wouldn't prosecute, since Lily would be guilty of same. As I recall, that's how they handled the recent Charlie (14) and Ella (13) underage sex-pregnancy story on Hollyoaks.

That's how they handled the then-shocking Sarah Platt pregnant at 13 storyline over 20 years ago, it was a boy in her class.

Watching clips from older episodes, from the late 90s to mid 00s, it's shocking the difference in quality of writing, acting and directing between then and now. The show used to be a weekly drama with watercooler moments, even the advertising used to be based on this reputation "everyone's talking about it", now it's just a soap with ghosts of its past glory floating about like zombified versions of their old characters. It's a shame to see as the BBC used to be very proud of the show but it feels like they're embarrassed by it these days. Cut back on the episodes, up the budget and put some effort into the advertising and I'm sure the ratings would reflect this.

I agree with all, R276.

R273, I think the twist might be that Freddie isn’t necessarily all “good.” I’d like him to actually have known about his biological father. The show absolutely needs to bring in Kacey Ainsworth as Mo for at least a week to do the reveal, though. I gather the actor playing Freddie is going on a break soon, don’t know for how long.

Speculation is that Linda Henry (Shirley) is now off contract and might not return until the end of the year at the earliest.

There was an old slapper Shirley Carter

Who had a drunken, clapped,-out old farter

At Christmas she lost her beloved son Mick

Drowned, like her bad son Deano Wick

Poor Shirl' reached the end of her wick

Screwed her face then trashed the Vic

She decided she was done in the square

For life was as wrecked as her hair

She dried her racoon eyes

Zipped her boots right up to her thighs

Then wandered off all on her todd

With a dog, her G-strings and some vod

[quote] Yea and how long were they driving to get to the cliffs at Dover?!

So they drove all the way to Dover, and Linda didn't get on the phone to call Lee?

The young actress playing Lily needs to cut back on the chips. She’s getting spotty.

R280 that's just the pregnancy weight!

Haha, R281, I’m referring to the zits on her face. Poor kids gonna have acne like ME-chelle.

It might be the makeup they use, I remember the guy who played Tamwar had terrible acne and I think it was down to the makeup.

Really, R283? I guess that’s possible. But the actress playing Lily does seem to have the type of skin prone to acne breakouts.

Yeah, I remember watching it back in the day before the show was HD and even then his acne was pretty obvious. I think camera makeup can be pretty harsh on people's skin in general.

Ricky Junior .. You ARE the father!

Zack has HIV.

Patsy Kensit debuted on tonight's episode. Here she is doing joy, surprise, concern, anger, sadness, devastation and confusion all with the same facial expression because she can't move her face!

Worst Botox job since her namesake on AbFab!

She looked oddly like Julianne Moore in her debut episode.

I just think Lola is a not very compelling character and Danielle Harold is a mediocre actress so I don’t give a shit about this brain tumor storyline.

Keanu never commented on how much weight Sharon has lost!

Keanu preferred her extra thicc, that's why.

I wish Lola would just die, already. Diagnosis to death should only have been a two month storyline at most.

They should have just had Lola step off a curb and get hit by a bus.

Why the fuck do Stacey and Martin think it’s OK for a 12 year old to have a baby? Talk about shitty parenting. The least Ryan could do is take her off somewhere to first get an abortion and then to see a first rate dermatologist.

Denise and Ravi ... LMAO.

First Kush, then Jack, now Ravi?

I think if Ross Kemp would ever deign to return then Grant and Denise could work as a couple.

Denise had zero chemistry with Ian and Kush and just a bit with Jack.

And it’s back to zero chemistry with Ravi.

Flash forward with a dead body?

Someone must have been watching Hollyoaks.

I know, right, R299? They’re trying to get away with the idea this has never been done before? Really?

The hot looking kid who plays Freddie just got caught on Tik Tok saying the N word. He’s mixed race so maybe the show will be lenient about it.

I hope Sharon can keep all that weight off til the concluding part airs, she looks fantastic! I feel like someone on the writing team has been watching Desperate Housewives (time jump, women covering up a murder)

Also Big Little Lies.

So this thing is hardly groundbreaking in any sense of the word but it is nice that the show is finally rallying after a truly abysmal couple of years. Having Phil and Kat finally uncoupled would be a significant step towards EE being truly watchable again,

Yeah R302, has that turd Alfie gone yet?

R300 Bobby's parents were both white as far as I know?

I've thought EE has had a return to form. As opposed to the hour of misery that's Corrie.

It's good to see Sharon get rewarded for losing all that weight by getting a hot young cock up her cooch

R304, I think his grandfather on his mother Jade Goody’s side is/was Black.

R307 When Jade Goody was on BB, her father reported that he was half-black, making Jade 1/4, so her kids would be 1/8 (I presume).

I wonder why big Kat wasn't one of the 6 women?

Did they ever kill off Dot Cotton? (Sorry, I haven't seen it in years)

R309, because she can’t be depended on to still be on the show in October (when Christmas stuff would be filmed). Way too many instances of drunken, bad behavior in her history. She’s been suspended from the show at least twice.

Yes, R310, they finally killed off Cotton and gave her (and June Brown) a great send-off.

thanks r311

[quote] I wonder why big Kat wasn't one of the 6 women?

Because she would take up two spaces and reduce it to 5?

Sharon is looking great for 55, hope Letitia doesn't find it a big struggle to keep losing weight, or lose more. Her hair and clothes look better too.

At least she has a big incentive to stay in shape for the rest of the year.

Haha R315 they might have to truss her up in spandex

Why on earth would Ravi wax his beautiful chest?

Does he wax his crack and shave his balls too?

His chest isn’t shaved, at least the top part isn’t. And I wish it was. Also man buns are so 2002.

R318 I'm talking about the scene last week where he went in to presumably have his chest waxed. Made zero sense that he would do that.

So that's another murder committed in the Vic near the spot where Sharon's father was killed by Chrissie and Stacey killed Archie. Doesn't matter how they spin it with the flashforward, it's hardly original.

I agree R320 but I guess it's a novel twist on a whodunit, for EastEnders. The who-killed-lucy storyline was great apart from it dragging on too long, let's hope this doesn't have the same problem.

And that being said, are the stakes really that high? Whoever is dead may have been killed in self-defence and no consequences for the women. It would be rather tacky of them to bury him in the cellar again.

I'm guessing the victim isn't Suki's husband but he's become such a bastard by next Christmas that they decide to frame him, the writers feel the audience will be fine with those characters murdering, covering up and framing someone else so long as it's the villain who is the scapegoat. Nish rots in prison for bit before breaking out next February, during the 39th anniversary, where he tries to get his revenge before getting killed off himself in some accident in full view of everyone so that they know it wasn't under any suspicious circumstances. None of the characters ever have to worry again and they can all move onto the next whodunit.

I'm guessing the victim isn't Suki's husband but he's become such a bastard by next Christmas that they decide to frame him, the writers feel the audience will be fine with those characters murdering, covering up and framing someone else so long as it's the villain who is the scapegoat. Nish rots in prison for bit before breaking out next February, during the 39th anniversary, where he tries to get his revenge before getting killed off himself in some accident in full view of everyone so that they know it wasn't under any suspicious circumstances. None of the characters ever have to worry again and they can all move onto the next whodunit.

Ravi and Nish are way too obvious for the dead guy. I think it’s somebody who’s yet to go on the show. I wouldn’t hate it if it was Kathy’s rapist James Willmott-Brown who we never saw actually dying in his hospital room. And we never heard of his death. I think it was left open for a reason. He still needs to get revenge on Phil for ordering the abduction and murder of his faygele son. The one who had his choppers removed from the thugs, remember?

Maybe it'll be that little shite Deano

That’s a possibility, R325.

Maybe it's Mick's bloated corpse.

Thinking outside the box maybe Shirley comes back as a man, and Sharon was correctly gendering her? Him.

I think I missed an episode. What did Denise tell Jack to explain the hotel room key?

Denise really traded up from Ian Beale. Kush, Jack, Ravi

Rumor that Ray Winstone will play Linda’s uncle and he’ll run the Vic with her.

Why can't Stacey ask big horny flush Kat for money instead of going to a loan shark who threatens to flatten her if she doesn't pay up?

It doesn’t make any sense why Stacey is pissed with her.

I wonder if Freddie’s foot photos will lead to an OnlyFans gay for pay storyline. It would be about frigging time.

Stacey on Only Fans.

I don't even want to think about THAT.

EastEnders isn't very good with issue-driven stories. Wasn't she in the pub for a lock-in the other week? Where's big Martin's banana money?

And when they did the same story with Denise eating out of a bin instead of getting help from Patrick or any of the 20 men she's dated.

The issue is real but ham-fistedly portrayed.

Who can even remember the awful Sean in Coronation Street living in a tent storyline where he couldn't ask a friend for a floor to sleep on, or better yet swallow his pride and ask for either of his jobs back. Beats shitting in the Rosamund St ginnel