Every time i see Tariq all the i see is the "gary" guy from Only Fools :laugh:

Alfie trying to find a condom. Loved Kat and Alfie, they were brilliant together :joker:

Always loved Kat and Alfie. The chemistry was always there. They belong toggle, even now..

Watches classic EastEnders. Swooning over Dennis :blush:

I tell you who i really don't like as a character, Lisa. She's always been so annoying, and now she's back she's even more so.

To be fair, Lisa only pops up once every couple of years now. She’s not really “back” like that. She’s just a blast from the past who’s sorta remained recurring.

Kat and Alfie, one of my all time favourite couples on the show ♥️

And 2003 is one of my all-time favourite years. I know we’ll never forget Shirley/Gavin/the poor cat and the beginning of the Ferreira nonsense (not that I hated that family, but Tariq and the kidney palaver really was a confused nadir) but Louise Berridge had a knack for creating amazing characters and the good stories this year were exceptional. 2004 was very on-and-off but it started and finished very strong.

Yes, it was a great year.
With Ian and Cindy return it feels like more like classic EastEnders again.
I'm loving it!

Mhm-hm. Definitely the best it’s been since at least 2014 (2010 was the last properly decent year they had before that). 2019 was okay but there was a lot wrong with Oates’ EastEnders still. I think it’s the fact that it came just before the pandemic and was the last time the show was settled again before this time last year that makes it look better to some people than it actually was. Some people have a very rose-tinted perspective on what things were like in those three or four years before Covid. The summer of 2016 might’ve been a flex for some people but EastEnders was going through one of the worst phases in the show’s history back then. Brexit wasn’t great either. 2012, 2013 and and 2017 - 2021 (minus 2019, I guess) was probably the show’s lowest hour. Those years were absolutely terrible.

I like the new producer, the best since Kate Oates. And he's bringing a lot of favorites back.

Yeah, Clenshaw’s alright. I was a bit sceptical at first and there are still one or two stories not hitting the mark (Stacey/Theo and everyone around Theo acting like totally oblivious idiots to facilitate it being a prime example) but his passion for the show can’t be denied.

I think Drama skipped an episode today, i imagine it's to do with little Mo being raped. I understand that, but just cut it out, no need not to air the whole episode. They've done this with loads of episodes, it's annoying.

Think it’s airing on Drama at around 01.45 this morning (something like that). I think they felt like it was a bit too dark to go out at the normal pre-watershed time but it ain’t been dropped altogether.

You're right, thanks for that!

Catching up on classic EastEnders. It's so good!

Yeah i need to catch up on this, where are you at in the show Vanessa?

The police just questioned Janine over Barry's death. But she's way ahead of them.

Ah yeah, i watched that one the other day. i think im about 4 episodes behind atm.

Omg Dirty Den is back!

Dennis vs Den. That was brilliant.
Nigel was so good on EastEnders.
I loved Dennis Rickman :love:

Sonia really gets on my nerves.

Too much Sonia. Brink back Dennis :fist:

Big Mo and Mickey crack me up :laugh:

Omg Dirty Den just set Phil up. That was brilliant!
These two are fantastic!

15 year old Stacy Slater has just turned up in Classic Eastenders. Little Mo's rape trial just done too.

I’m kind of glad the over-criticism of 2004 hasn’t quite withstood the scrutiny of time. I always thought it was at least alright but it and Louise Berridge have been known to get a lot of unfair flack. There’s a lot of golden moments this year, excellent new arrivals (including a much grittier Jean) and it’s mostly decent when it’s not focused on the Ferreiras or Den/Kate (good characters but the affair was a bad story, minus the Chrissie/Kate catfight/hair-clipping). It’s mostly good in the first and last few months of the year.

Early Jean was a revelation. I won’t say she doesn’t have her own nicely niche personality now (or at any other point since she became a regular character) or that she isn’t on the whole an honest reflection of bipolar disorder there’s a certain gritty rawness about Jean in her earlier appearances that we haven’t seen as much of since (minus 2009 when she was nursing Stacey when she started showing symptoms). Obviously she was unwell but 2004-05 Jean is a billion miles away from the ditzy grandma or sausage-surprise nut we have now. That version of Jean lines up more with how Jean was in Stacey and Sean’s childhood. I feel like that grittier essence of Jean (bipolar or no bipolar) has been lost over the years. And the Stacey/Jean week in Dec. ’05 (also the week Frank returned for Janine’s trial and Chrissie decided to plead guilty) is beyond-doubt one of the best single weeks in the history of the show. A little underrated (especially next to the likes of Kat/Zoe you ain’t my mother) but pure gold.

By the way, anyone else love stalker Sarah?

Yeah i didn't actually mind that stalker Sarah. And Jane has pretty much established herself as a main character now, her and Ian are getting closer. She's soo much better than the awful Laura. A much better actress too.

Ugh. 2005. What a glorious year.

Go Sam. (Unearthing Dirty Den.)

Belting episode

Ooooh I need to catch up!

This is the point where 2005 really steps up, you know, 'ness. You might want to just jump in from here and carry on as it goes from Shannis' wedding-day.

That actress was a much better performer than Westbrook, it's a shame they ditched her. I haven't seen Medcalf in anything else since her EE days .

This version of Sam (Medcalf) had actually been in it off-and-on over the past 2 years, to be fair. But Westbrook and Medcalf’s versions of the characters were indefinitely abridged so Sam’s characterisation was never allowed to advance in the way that it was in her 2002-05 journey. That Sam left with Johnny Allen’s threats and basically hasn’t been back, not fully.

Yeah but remember in the Archie era when
Peggy tried to bail Sam out the prison...and Westbrook was crying with zero tears when the police caught her. It felt so amateurish.

I know Westbrook has had personal issues & health problems,but I never use to rate her much as an actress.

I always felt like Kim Metcalf was much better, and I was never a Sam fan ...but Kim acted it perfectly especially when she went crazy and dug Den's body up lmao ...that was the highlight.

Belting upon belting, innit, Kate. Everything just fell into place perfectly.
Medcalf is a much better actor than Westbrook (no shade to Westbrook personally); there is no doubt about that. 2009/early 2010 Sam (during this Archie stuff you speak of, and before that the Bianca/Ricky triangle) was utterly diabolical in particular. Ditto for circa Peggy’s funeral. She was okay when she returned later in 2010 and gave birth to Ricky.

Also. This was during the era that Corrie was falling further and further into silly comedy and pointless actual tangible stories that went nowhere when they did happen, so comparatively (not that comparisons always hold the most weight) EastEnders was the best soap of 2005 by all accounts. Emmerdale may have been good, but outside of clash/head-to-head episodes they never damaged EastEnders’ brand at any point in the noughties as much as they would’ve liked to. And at this point it was very-much just a farm soap with occasional plane crashes to get the masses tuning in in the absence of any actual grit. EastEnders has always been more cutting-edge in its portrayal of drama and issues, and it was on-point this year. Corrie went off the boil after May/June 2005 so you weren’t really looking at ITV to provide the comparative quality this year.

I think all soaps are guilty of the silly & ridiculous storylines,but I definitely prefer the classic episodes. I haven't watched a soap since 2010.

I didn't like the EE era 2007 upwards.

Yeah didn't a strange stalker character hold Norris hostage or something and then they became friends :joker:, and there was Rosie getting kidnapped aswell by
that teacher she had an affair with.

Ok yeah, my guilty pleasure is Classic Eastenders, and today's episodes were indeed brilliant....

Detective - "we've found a dead body"
Sharon - "but it's my wedding day"

Epic :joker:

Also Sharon fainting. Everyone was on form for this episode.