Classic EastEnders
 

I've been watching classic EastEnders and Dennis Rickman has just come in.
One of my all time favourites. What a great character he was!

He was amazing. 2003 had its dud moments but when it struck gold (which it did 75% of the time) it struck gold. I used to be somewhat biased against it in favour of 2005 but looking back it’s probably one of the most solidly watchable years ever.

Ian winning at the poker game and winding up Phil :joker:

Been watching this for about 3 years now. I started just when Grant finds out about Phil and Sharon in 1994, watched it ever since.

I think my favourite character so far was Steve Owen and David Wicks.

Loved Steve.
It's 2003 now. What a great year that was!

Yeah i never miss an episode. :laugh:

Poor Dot. Paul is a good character too. I really don't like Laura though.

Love Dot and Jim. Yes, I liked Paul as well.

I wish they hadn't killed off Roy.

I don’t. He was boring and stifled Pat. That’s why Berridge called chops on him. Santer axing Honey and Yolande was much worse than any of Berridge’s axing (except maybe Paul Trueman, but even then I can’t remember if that was her or Hutchinson).

Glad Ian is coming back. I've missed the Ian/Phil rivalry.

I hope they nip that in the bud. They’re too old to still be going at it like a pair of teenage boys at war because one stole the other’s crush.

Berridge also said they regretted axing Roy.

Martin should be out of prison soon ish, and Mickey Miller has just turned up.

Yeah, well. It is what it is. Berridge gets too much flack for axing (amongst other things) and some people even believe the silly, nonsense rumour that she even tried to axe Pat. No. She axed Roy for Pat.’s benefit more than anything, even if she later regretted it. Personally I’ve never seen Roy and Barry’s exists as big losses for the show and a great storyline came out of the latter. That alone was worth it. Roy was boring and Barry was an utter joke.

Yeah im not a fan of Barry's character. I thought Roy was decent enough. You need stability, he brought that to the show.

I honestly think Ricky is a pretty useless character

I did like Janine at this time. She was a great chance.

Yeah her character is great, she's such an manipulative cow :laugh:

Always loved Patrick "yeah man" Truman

When Ricky came back last autumn/winter he was essentially playing a shadow of a character with effectively no personality and certainly no more chemistry with Medcalf’s Sam. (who’s obviously the superior version) than they had in 2002/2003. I think Berridge/the writers noticed that they had no chemistry and culled it, because it just wasn’t working. I don’t know why they felt the need to revisit it.
She was a joke in the last stint. I appreciate her essentially (albeit indirectly) getting rid of Mick (hated his character after 2014) but you can’t for all the money in the world convince me that Charlie Brooks wasn’t just in it for the money herself in 2021/’22. Her performances at the Christmas table were just pathetic and all that’s without even mentioning the way she essentially bullied Lola. It took Lexi (who’s horribly acted) screaming about her mum having cancer for Janine to drop it and shut her mouth.

But she was good in 2003. She was actually one of my favourites. So deliciously evil! :laugh:

Yup, I agree. Her 1999 to 2004 stints and 2010 (from the middle of that year anyway) to 2014 stints were brilliant (she wasn’t great in 2009).

This is starting to get really good now.

Is Dennis there yet? I need to catch up.

Yeah he's turned up. He's already womanising, punched Phil, he's certainly made an entrance. Also Jack Dalton made his first appearance in today's episode. Phil goes to see him, and the ending is very interesting!

The summer is pretty much just beginning too, and with the new characters i think Redway is right, 2003 really becomes a good year.

Dennis one of my all time favourite characters.
Gorgeous too and he still is.
So good to have Nigel in Casualty, he still makes me weak at the knees :laugh:

Yeah, 2003 was a decent year. The summer of that year (after Dennis killed Jack Dalton and the Ferreiras became more prominent) and the Shirley/Gavin stuff weren't great but the rest of the year was very okay. I know everyone used to complain about Little Mo's second rape and to be fair Freddie could've easily been the result of natural conception with Billy but what's done is done now. I don't think there's anything from 2003 that hangs over the show negatively in the long-term. Robbie was a non-entity, Mark's story was told and Barry was a joke so those three characters getting the chop doesn't bother me whatsoever. The line about the slip-on shoes and the resolution to the whole thing (December 2005) alone made it a worthwhile storyline. And that's before even getting into Paul Trueman's involvement in it.

I genuinely don't get why a certain minority of people are so dismissive of 2003 and lump it in with 2004 (the more challenging part of the Berridge era, because of all sorts of off-screen problems) as a "bad" year. 2003 was a lot of things but bad isn't one of them. Puffs (and when I say that I don't mean with regard to sexuality per-se but just people who live up to a certain sensitive stereotype in that regard) don't like gangster stories but people like me do and so do many others (especially people from urban communities) so it is what it is.

Lol, well he's already been with Kat, and in today's episode he was snogging Sam :laugh:

I remember he eventually gets with Sharon, but i think that's a lot later on. Or does he get with Zoe before Sharon? I literally think he gets with every women in square. He flirted with Pauline when she first met him lol :joker:

I actually forgot about the Ferreria's tbh. I know they're up with the Di Marco's as most useless families. I actually didn't mind the Di Marco's though and i had a huge crush on Teresa Di Marco :smug:

I agree with Mark, they made him into such a gormless sap. Glad Lisa's main role is no longer, for now anyway. She always got on my nerves. As does Laura. Barry is a bore as the bumbling idiot. And Robbie's time was done, agree with that.

B.I.B. I: yeah. The whole Sharon/Dennis/Zoe thing dragged on for most of 2004 and it's not one of my favourite love-triangles (but no worse than Ronnie/Roxy/Jack was in 2009; it's just that that kind of repetitive storytelling was comparatively new for the show in 2004 so it stood out a bit more contextually as being a blight on the show) but it was what it was. I know a lot of people preferred Shannis free of baggage (Den. and Zoe) in '05 but ultimately they were a couple I could get behind at any point, any time. The way Dennis went out was tragic.

B.I.B. II: you what? Are you sure that wasn't Joanne the bunny-boiler nanny?

The Ferreiras aren't a family I'd say I hate and some of their stuff was actually quite interesting but nah. They weren't for the long haul. The Masoods were an example of a much more successful Asian family (inasmuch as I don't like to compare, because the context is a bit different).

The Di Marcos were neither here nor there. Beppe was probably the most memorable family-member of that clan but he was still ... Beppe and besides being (I think) some sort of police-officer I don't remember him doing much of note besides getting in the way of Lynne and Gary. John Yorke was the one who got rid of him in the end anyway so luckily none of that family (not that they were so bad, but they still flopped) were a blight on the Berridge era.

It looks like you think Roy was pretty-much the only significant loss in that 2003 low-key exodus but I just can't bring myself to value what he actually brought to the show besides a bit of stability. It's not like he was always even that likeable as a character but because he had a quiet calm demeanour he got away with it and was assumed to just be a steady, sedate, boring kind of guy. He was actually distinctly unpleasant at times and I think people are quick to forget that. I don't think he stifled Pat. that much but he wasn't her finest partner and took up more space than he was entitled to after those first two years so he had to go.

Yeah, he was in a towel and said to Pauline with a cheeky grin "you don't look old enough to be a grandma" lol

I know Roy was a bore at times, but i dunno, i had soft spot for him. I do think stability is needed, which he gave. I know he was no great loss, but i was sad to see him go.

My memory of say 2001 onwards is hazy, so a lot of what is happening im like "oh yeah, i kinda remember that" and some things i just plain didn't see back in the day.

Kate, no i remember her, because i had such a crush on her. I know she's a pretty interesting character.

Wendy Richard(s) was a stunner back in the day, to be fair. I think she was known in certain circles on the telly for her glamour in the '70s.

Catching up on classic EastEnders. Dennis. Love him!

The Nanny he's seeing is gorgeous.

The Irish accent on a woman has me weak at the knees lol

Are you caught up yet Vanessa?

Ah, Joanne. I loved her.

Yes, only one episode left.

Yeah she's lovely, and very pretty. The blokes treat her like crap, especially Phil.

Dennis is starting to fancy Sharon, i was wondering when they would get started.

Catching up on classic EastEnders.
Really liking Dennis.
The Ferreira's have just moved in.

The Ferreiras were far from the best family but I didn’t hate them. But they weren’t one of the high points of the Louise Berridge era.