EastEnders: the SPOILERS thread!

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the EastEnders spoilers thread, where we post and talk about any EE spoilers we've read about, including those in early release episodes on iPlayer.

Link below to watch episodes on BBC iPlayer - these are usually dropped at 6am on broadcast days - and you can read brief synopses of upcoming episodes:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m86d

I think it was used as a way to get the twins on the same side. Badly, mind.

Did anyone else spot Josh's backward glance towards Oscar when he was walking past with Jasmine? He looked like a lost puppy dog pining for his owner - pathetic!

One of my friends had a different type of cancer to Denise but the treatment and prognosis was very similar. She spent four weeks alone in a basement room in a London hospital (no visitors and no internet signal so v boring.) The treatment didn’t work and she died a year later.

I thought it was a mainly good episode, good scenes with Kim and Denise. And Jack was good in a restrained kind of way. It was sad, but also annoying. Libby is back five minutes and being ridiculous. I thought Chelsea (who is usually really good) absolutely hammed it up in their scenes, which were badly written.

In the flashforward Jack says Denise stormed out ‘and nearly took the door off its hinges’. So we know she is well enough to do that. Denise left her phone behind, it rings and Libby picks it up and says 'look who it is".

The chlamydia non-storyline was just irritating.

Yes, I think he said that after Lauren walked in and said that the door was unlocked or open?

That’s very sad about your friend, I’m so sorry.

Yes that's right the door had been left open.

I did like Max arriving and awkwardly hugging Denise, and then Jack.

The Foxes do feel really overloaded with drama though. Denise and Jordan both in hospital, and now we've got more Chelsea drama with Gray coming back to annoy us.

I thought the hospital scene was well done, with no one kicking off for once and Denise and Jack just totally silent taking it all in. I think that's pretty realistic as it's a lot to take in. I loved Denise's natural hair as well, looked so lovely, but that detail of changing your appearance is small but very significant to people I think. I know everyone thinks it's the least of your worries, but Kim knew what it meant.

I liked that Kim spoke about the possibility of Denise dying. Soaps usually shy away from this in similar stories.

Denise probably won’t die. I struggle to believe that Diane Parish would walk away from a well paying job and go back to being a jobbing actress. They get paid more money the longer they’ve been in it. As @Shellingbynight said on the previous thread, the EE bosses won’t want to lose her.

Yes I would be surprised if Denise dies. It is an odd choice to give her this particular cancer though, which has a fairly poor prognosis.

We never saw a scene with a doctor discussing the prognosis with Denise, she just asked Alexa when she got home! It is a brutal treatment and I would certainly want to know likely outcomes.

It must be so hard if you know someone going through any kind of treatment at the moment or knew someone who sadly passed away from cancer and then it’s being shown on a soap. I can imagine that a lot of people won’t watch for a while , it must be too painful.
I do wonder if Diane Parish wants to leave. She’s done 20 years. With Sam her diagnosis and remission news was quick and all of it was done off screen. This will be different I suppose. I have always liked Denise and Kim too. Poor Partick will be devastated.

What I find strange that if the producer whats to keep her on then they wouldn’t have researched this particular type of cancer and led with this story.
They have had a few characters with breast cancer ( including a man) and HiV and Alfie had a brain tumour and was cured ( and prostate , but that hasn’t been mentioned much lately ) but they could have gone with a less aggressive sort of illness if she wanted to stay on. Not sure how much input the actors have though. Apparently the Lola actress wanted to leave , but not sure about Denise ( unless she does only want another year or something?)
Anyway, I hope it’s handled well and as realistic as they can be. Obviously a lot will be condensed as it’s not real and they need to move it along too. Same with Jordan , who I’m sure will be fine by Christmas!

Danielle Harold didn't want to leave, she was axed, a shame as I liked the character. She did a great job with the storyline though.

This producer likes his big showpieces doesn't he - just look at the entire Zoe return storyline with a dead twin turning up and killing her own father. It makes me think Denise's cancer was chosen to generate jeopardy and interest because there is a high risk of her dying and she is a well loved character (but we suspect that in the end she will survive). I'm not entirely sure he's thought through how it will be received by people who have gone through it with relatives and friends.

I agree. Producers do these big storylines, condense the telling of what is a real tale to some people, and many viewers see it as the truth.
I think this is what makes it a difficult watch for people who gave been through it.

I mean, Denise wasn't even appearing ill before her diagnosis - no one noticed!

The only person who noticed was Sam, and probably only because Dee talked to her about it. But of course Sam then had a comedy caper type exit to Spain, giving no further thought to Denise!

I thought that the Lola actress wanted to leave the soap.
I’m not up on celeb gossip, so no idea where I got this from tbh.

No , the writers and producers don’t really care about real people going through any of this.
I guess they would argue it’s just a tv drama and not real life, so it’s a bit of a grey area isn’t it and must be upsetting for a lot of people seeing it on screen.
Hopefully they will add in some humour or lightheaded things with other characters, but it’s not looking that way at the moment.

With these kind of stories they always consult with the relevant organisations, but there just isn’t the time to do these stories justice in terms of detail when other characters need to be featured. I did read her story carry’s over to 2027, so it’s unlikely she’ll be in full remission by NYD. But as one or two people have said, it’s odd this story was chosen for a lifer like Denise / Diane when the cancer is so aggressive and Denise is the age she is.

Aaah Chelsea and Eve having a moment today, that was nice to see. I love when Eve gets decent screen time.

The one who plays Eve had cancer herself and her wife as well. so must be very close to home for her to be involved with this storyline.

I'm sorry Libby, but I'm with Chelsea on this one - keep Gray's family away!

In our household "Eastenders" is shorthand for making a really bad decision. You know, there's the sensible way, and the Eastenders way...sigh.

I can see why Chelsea feels stressed over money. In fact, the writers must look at our thread sometimes because money is being mentioned a lot lately. I liked how Nicola asked her to get cover! It felt real that someone wouldn’t understand the stress she is under atm. Normally they let it go about work don’t they.
It is a lot for the Foxes just now.

Can’t work out if Sheila is Grays Nan or Grays mum ( Jordan’s Nan ) ?

It's Gray's nan, so Jordan's great nan 80s

www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/a71522670/eastenders-spoilers-new-character-libby-return-sheila/

Oh ok! Thanks
She must be quite old, unless they all had children in their young teens !

I was surprised that Denise had Chelsea aged 17!

I'm assuming Gray to be in his late 30s/early 40s, so his nan would probably be in her mid to late 70s/early 80s.
She is Sheila Atkins so am assuming she is Gray's dad's mum, as opposed to his mum's mum.