Do you think she’s more indispensable than Phil Mitchell?

Stacey doesn't really do much when she's there. Just gets a ludicrously stupid exit story when she's taking a break.

Like Phil. Doesn't do anything at all but decides to take 6 months off when he actually has a storyline.

Killing everyone off is its main problem.

When you look at the family groups and think of all the former members of it and 90% of them are deceased then it's a problem.

There's literally Janine and Grant in terms of possible major returns for the future. And Sam bloody Mitchell who is about as useful as Lola.

I've been on and off with Eastenders for years, but always watched out of habit (like Corrie). The new years episode where they killed off Roxie and Ronnie in one fell swoop was utterly ridiculous. What with that and stupid "duff duff's" like Denise boiling pasta, you just knew EE has reached it's lowest point.

I’d have no problem with Sam coming back if Kim Medcalf resumes Marsh. She made that character her own and she’s more relevant than Janine at the moment.

I agree Stacey should’ve stayed away after her first exit.

I liked the Denise storyline when she had no money, the writers just handled it very poorly and yeah we understood she was too proud to admit that she was struggling but it just became tedious.

Diane Parish in general needs more screen time and a meaty storyline because she is one of the best actresses on the show. They need to bring sassy Chelsea back.

Certainly!

That reverse image of Dennis Rickman dying in the last episode of 2005 and Deano Wicks popping up in the next episode’s probably the most jarring transition period there’s ever been. It took a while for EastEnders to properly get going again and even in the first half of Santer’s era those dodgy hangover characters (Gus, Naomi, Mickey Miller) kept it in 2006 zones tonally up until the last of them were weeded out and Lucas/Danielle started coming into their own. That’s when Santer’s era began in its quintessential form.

That 2006/2007-mid-2008 period I just see as a transition between Harwood and Santer and that era doesn’t have much in common tonally with the Archie/Chryed era that most people think of when they remember Santer.

Yes, I agree. I'm not sure what the writers are playing at with her at the moment. She hasn't had a decent storyline since Kate Oates came onboard, although, I did enjoy her recent scenes with Patrick and Sheree. It's a shame they've never brought Chelsea back. I'd much rather see her than the god awful Squiggle.

She hasn’t had a story of note since Owen/Lucas tbh. You can’t blame Oates and Sen for everything.

I'd like them to explore something between Jack and Denise, I like them together but we need something to go on to bring them together more - feels like a relationship out of nowhere.