AMIRA :wub:

I did not like Amira. For me there was never a transformation from brat into nice wifey - she was ALWAYS a brat. I'd like her to return though, the whole baby thing would be woahwoah.

OMG Jark on steroids!

 

I agree that EE (in fact ALL soaps) does female better than male.

 

Having said that, those absurdly low placings for Phil, Max and Ian are QUITE RIDICULOUS. Phil and Max certainly should be top 10 right now, and Ian not far behind.

I agree with Jark on everything he said about Ian; Adam Woodyatt's never one to win awards, but he does what he does well, and is perfectly at ease switching between petty and unpleasant small businessman, loving and doting father, and vulnerable and insecure WIMP.

 

Max is a character I REALLY wasn't on board with even throughout the Stacey reveal. I found Max quite expressionless, and it was simply unbelievable that he could so successfully and effortlessly pull every single woman in the entire city of London. But the last couple of years, he has against all odds actually managed to become a sympathetic character; wanting nothing more than to build a family back up again and enjoy the quiet life.

 

And Phil has been THE powerhouse performer of EE the past few months. I'd go so far as to say he's THE best character they have at the moment.

 

 

Jim? Total wtf moment. I can only guess sympathy points there; but yes, it is very sad seeing John Bardon wheeled out as he is now.

Patrick is decent enough, and throughout his scenes with Alfie yesterday I was thinking that character seems to have gained some life back; I can only presume it's down to his new setup with Kim and Denise.

Syed is pleasant enough, and his storyline has been fantastic. The character itself is probably just a tad overrated, as all soap gays are by the internet gays. Do DigitalSpy STILL loon over Todd Grimshaw and John Paul McQueen. He IS better than Christian, and also MUCH prettier.

 

Aunt Sal is an utter joy, but sadly Peggy's departure must have been the end for her. Her only viable link to the show now would be Phil, but they've never established a relationship there where Sal would conceivably make the effort to visit him, or where he would even tolerate her presence. Still, WHAT a final scene she had, puncturing a much needed hole in Peggy's big FAHMILY bubble.

Mo and Chelsea too high; Mo is by far the most laughable of the OAPs, and her relationship with Charlie remains utterly confused (as IF she could be his mother-in-law!)

Chelsea was never a bad character, just totally inconsequential, and Tiana Benjamin was NEVER the most skilled actress on the show.

Amira had plenty of potential, and I still wish silly Preeya had seen sense and stayed. Amira trying to rebuild a life up without Syed could have been hugely interesting, as she was well set on the path to becoming a likable character in her own right.

But how will Amira ever return when Preeya's busy being QUEEN OF LIFE and BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF 2010 as voted for by viewers of BBC Asian Network? http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/icons/disco.gif

Jark, you have until 19th October to finish this lest you become the most shameful creature ever.

GOD Tyron's posts just get WORSE and WORSE. Moving SWIFTLY on...

 

 

 

20 Peggy Mitchell 7.13 +++ 10 from Aaron & Callum --- 03 from Aled & Jamesp

 

(Last year: 19th, 6.12)

 

Sometimes it takes somebody saying goodbye for you to appreciate them and for me this was the case with Peggy. She was absurd - the sort of woman who chastises her own son for failing to commit murder, lets her murderer estranged husband talk her back into his bed, and throws her niece's money away on her murderess daughter's bail money, knowing it was bound to be lost when said disappointment of a daughter did the inevitable runner. But then when murder is in the blood in such a massive way as with the Mitchells, perhaps one struggles to think straight. But even despite all of this absurdity, and the fact that with each passing day Peggy was becoming more of a parody of herself, yelling 'geroutta my pab!' at anybody from the milkman to resident mice, the knowledge that she was soon to be gone from the show, possibly for good, after sixteen years of being propped up behind the bar in the Vic, saw to it that I began to view Peggy in a new light. Yes, she was ridiculous - nobody has hair like that in real life - and did some terribly misguided things, but the important thing was that she did them out of love. Say what you will about her, but the woman had a big heart and only ever wanted what was best for her faaahmily. That, and her regular mid-afternoon drinking sessions with Pat in which the two characters built up one of the most believable friendships in soapland. Peggy Mitchell might not have been perfect, but she stood up for what she believed in and I LOVE HER FOR IT.

 

 

19 Bradley Branning 7.25 +++ 10 from Delta --- 05 from Aled & Callum

 

(Last year: 22nd, 5.94)

 

Good God, it feels strange to be writing up a bio for poor dead Bradley when it's been seven months already since he popped it! Sign of the slow pace of this countdown I guess. Whoops! Anyhow, the only Branning who is not unhinged spent four years bringing some much needed normality to Walford, winning the approval of old people with his lurid collection of jumpers, silently asking God why his dad had to be a selfish, womanising, wife-stealing lethario, and generally acting as a mascot for gingers across the nation. Despite climbing here I have to say that his character was sullied somewhat by his assocation with the appalling Syd Chambers, a creature so unreasonable and so painfully free of personality that bipolar murderess Stacey Branning seemed a superior choice in comparison. Eventually Bradley came to his senses of course, leading to his unfortunate death, but it was probably preferable to a lifetime with Syd. Is Bradley deserving of a top 20 finish? I'm not sure. To me he only really made sense as a character opposite Stacey and Max, whereas both of those characters can easily hold their own alongside a variety of others, but he was at least refreshingly nice, a rare thing in a town where murder is routinely served for supper.

 

 

18 Roxy Mitchell 7.44 +++ 10 from Theo --- 01 from Shoat

 

(Last year: 11th, 6.76)

 

The way I see it the writers have tried with Roxy to create a contemporary 'tart with a heart' character not unlike Kat at the beginning of her time in Walford, but I don't know whether they've been particularly successful. Often it seems like Roxy does things for apparently no reason whatsoever - anyone remember those dreadful few weeks she spent trying to chat up Jack again, having already birthed a baby by him? Refusing to loan Ronnie cash despite the fact that she is currently shitting gold, as good as telling Peggy she was irrelevant and the reason the Vic was losing punters - the list goes on. What Roxy is reliable for is comedy value, whether it's getting gobby with any poor, unsuspecting randomer on the market who might happen to throw a glance her way or yelling home truths at family members at random intervals throughout the day. In particular her interraction with Glenda of late has been amusing and of course she has ample chemistry with Ronnie. I also think Rita Simons has come on a long way as an actress since first joining - some of the stuff in the wake of Archie's death on her behalf has been quite fantastic. But as a character she still requires a fair bit of rounding off and as it currently stands I can't help but feel she's a little directionless. Hopefully this will be remedied under Kirkwood as Roxy seems like the sort of character he could have created himself at Hollyoaks (I promise that wasn't meant as an insult!).

Did I really give Roxy a 1? To be fair, she WAS utterly $h!t this time last year. She seems a little more tolerable now she's no longer switching personality and changing her mind on Archie every 10 secs - her relationships with Ronnie, Jack, and the other Mitchells all seem a little more settled and consistent now. Having said that, I'm glad she's below Ronnie this time around.

Having said that, I do wonder what they're going to do with her now - the comparison Jark makes with Kat is QUITE accurate. Roxy was to be the next "tart with a heart", but is another one needed now the superior Slater is back, especially now she's lost her position behind the Vic? I have a lot of faith now in what Kirkwood will do with the show, but I do think Roxy is potentially a character who could suffer under the new direction.

 

Bradley was a decent enough character - #19 seenms fair enough. He DID shine best with Stacey and Max, which is why I guess pairing him up with Syd never truly worked. Syd wasn't as bad you say - I don't think she was TOTALLY unreasonable, but she was painfully dull.

 

Poor Peggy :( She was a dreadful parody for most of the past year, and like Roxy, seemed to undergo personality transformations every week. One minute she was the doting mum, the next she was trying to pin murder on Sam and berating Phil for NOT commiting one! One minute she was the doting aunt who adored Ronnie and Roxy and who knew Archie was the Devil Incarnate, the next she was screeching that Ronnie was a vicious bitch trying to desecrate Saint Archie's memory. One minute she hated Glenda, the next she was imploring Ronnie and Roxy to give her another chance...And so on, and so on.

It was as if each writer had their own very different idea of who Peggy should be, and they each refused to compromise and integrate them, so that we could have one consisent and defined character.

She DID get better near the end, as everyone does. They made the most of her double act with Pat, which was very much her key strength in the last few months.

Did I really give Peggy a 3? Somewhat unjust there perhaps, but I do have to say she never quite worked for me personally. As really pointed out by Jark and Shoat, the character had major flaws in her and leaving was probably for the best for the time being at least. I struggled quite heavily often to find her likeable for me to pitty as was required, but yet again I've spent the past weeks episodes champoning Janine so I should probably sort my morals out.

 

Roxy is a similar case really. I cant warm to her at all, and find her utterly unbearable and unlikeable most of the time. I suppose to some extent this is my opinion of the majority of the Mitchells, they're at their best for me when involved together in a storyline instead of as individuals - I suppose there wont be much of this now the main connector in Peggy has left.

 

I liked Bradley but he was always at his best with Stacey. The dreadful points where they tried placing him with Syd and her with Callum just didnt work because both characters needed the other to function properly. Stacey was at least an interesting character in her own right, and had the rest of the Slaters to fall back on whilst Bradley just became dull really.

17 Masood Ahmed 7.56 +++ 09 from Gary, Gooddelta, James, Jark, Mikeyjosh, Ryan & Shoat --- 01 from Theo

 

(Last year: 30th, 4.94)

 

It's the number one rule of soapland: women must dominate. They must shout louder, fight more, and rule over their men with an iron fist, and for a long time the Zainab/Masood partnership looked set to abide by this rule. Thankfully the powers that be took a distinctly slow-burn approach to the Masoods, developing each character one by one. Once Zainab had been established as a firm Walford favourite, they turned their attention to Masood. The arrival of Syed onto the Square finally allowed him to pack in some important characterisation and we saw him transform from affable postman to fiercely proud and protective father. Literally an entire new side to his personality emerged - one that was a match for Zainab. Not only has the character been rounded but Nitin Ganatra has been given a chance to show off some impressive acting chops that had previously stayed hidden and I assume that is what accounts for his impressive climb of thirteen places in this rate. Of course, being a good-hearted man and a lover rather than a fighter Masood was never going to stay fierce n' angry for long and for the most part he still sticks by his daily routine - give out the post, sooth Zainab's ego, and once in a while play a little tonsil tennis with Jane - but the knowledge that a darker man lives inside the bright and sunny Masood has truly lifted the character. What's most surprising is that Buzzjack has realised this - after all, he is male!

 

 

16 Christian Clarke 7.75 +++ 10 from Aaron --- 05 from Dandy & Theo

 

(Last year: 09th, 6.88)

 

Now just WHAT THE FRACK is going on here, people? I am genuinely confused and upset to see Christian finishing within the top 20 of this rate and I want to know how this could've been allowed to happen. I'm going to pick on Aaron, who inexplicably gave out a 10 - what is likeable about the character? He stole somebody else's husband and took it upon himself to out him! As if he even has a right to be sleeping with Syed who is about ten leagues out of his. His only storylines outside of Syed have consisted of one night stands with nasty queeny gays. Oh, and one of them beat him up one time and we were expected to care. There might once have been a time when Christian as a character was relevant in Walford, but if I was exec producer the first thing I would do would be to boot him off to Spain (or worse, MANCHESTER) and let Syed being the square's reigning queen and bring in a nice new twink to pair him off with. John Partridge should've been arrested already for crimes against humanity after RAVING to various performances during the BBC's recent search for a new Dorothy. RAVING. There aren't the words.

 

 

15 Whitney Dean 7.81 +++ 09 from Aaron, Dandy, Jark & Theo --- 07 from Gooddelta, Luke, Mikeyjosh, Ryan & Shoat

 

(Last year: 15th, 6.41)

 

And here we have probably the single biggest indicator of just how long it's taken me to compile these results. 2009 kicked off in spectacular fashion with the Whitney/Tony abuse storyline, which was excellently handled and painted Whitney in an extremely sympathetic light, which probably explains the goodwill for here within this rate, but it strikes me that, as of October 2010, Whitney is well on her way towards being an irrelevant character. She isn't being given any character development - most of her scenes still culminate with her storming off down the road/up the stairs in an almighty huff - and it's hard to know where to take her next without going down the 'damaged goods' route a la Ronnie. Shona McGarty is very competent at the everyday stuff but I'm starting to wonder if she was actually particularly strong during Tonygate or whether the storyline was just so good that it covered for her acting. One thing is obvious, and that's that if producers thought she was going to be the new Stacey, they were quite off. Suddenly my 09 seems very generous indeed.

 

 

14 Dot Branning 7.88 +++ 10 from C.R., Feelthefever, Mikey & Mikeyjosh --- 05 from Gooddelta, James & Ryan

 

(Last year: 06th, 7.41)

 

From somebody who in the space of eighteen months no longer seems all that relevant to somebody who after twenty one years remains an institution, we have the one and only Dot. For my money, the casual viewer who is asked to name one EastEnders character will probably name Dot - she's totally iconic in every respect. Thankfully the powers that be learned their lesson with Pauline and avoided turning Dot into some miserable old banshee - in fact she's been surprisingly joyous of late, dancing drunkenly around the Vic with a fag in each hand by night, having heart to hearts with Fatboy by day - her whispered version of Fatboy's church rap remains a Dot highlight of recent times. With June Brown now 83 it's hard to imagine that Dot will be bounding around the Square offering tea and sympathy to anybody who needs it for much longer, and there's no doubt that the show will suffer when she eventually does go, but whilst she's still around she remains a cornerstone of the show, and she's pretty damn fabulous with it. Jark, chapter 8, verse 12.

 

Whitney really has turned into quite the annoyance these past few months, she was well on her there but the romance with Billie really did ruin her. She spent weeks on end moping around and not doing much else, frankly killing him off once and for all could perhaps finally let her become bearable again. Shona does seem an extremly strong actress, as shown during Tony-gate but they really do need to decide what to do with her.

 

Whenever the strongest links in the male cast are mentioned, I always seem to forget Masood. But Jark does speak the truth when saying that he has become a brilliant character this past year or so, and despite the absence of Amira/Shabnam the Masodds are an exceptionally strong unit within the show at the moment.

 

Christian is decent, but is most definatly not one of the shows top 20 characters. I never particularly cared for his relationship with Syed to work out as much as some of the shows other fans did and as a character he occasionally is somwhat awful. 9th last year aswell? What were we on.

 

Dot is brilliant, there are times when she slips into Peggy territory of becoming something of a parody for the sake of things with her next line being seen coming from a mile off. But she's still very much so an extremly strong part of the cast, the character is still quite marvellous in her scenes, her interaction with various other cast members is really well done aswell and the show will definatly be missing a strong link when June leaves. 14th if anything seems a tad too low.

Woah - that 01 for Masood from me is incredibly stingy! :o He's definitely one of the best now, and in my top ten. :D

 

I agree with what you said about Christian - he better not've been the highest male. :wacko: :mellow: Whitney, aswell, she became pretty awful with the Lucy/Zsa Zsa lot. :\

 

I'm not that keen on Dot, but she does have her moments (such as last night), whilst her and Mercy's grandma tried to out-quote each other. :lol:

Amira is one of EE's greatest characters of all time :wub:

And Peggy should be top ten! :o suprised she isn't actually!

Ooh Jark on a roll :o

 

Masood is great, and if anything deserves a little higher than #17. Like Jark said, up until this last year, it did seem we were heading down the inevitable strong woman/weak hubby combo, but the whole Syed reveal REALLY kicked things up a notch, and Masood suddenly became a lot more complicated. Nitin Ganatra and Nina Wadia really bounce off fantastically well off each other, and they have definitely been the ON FORM family this year.

 

 

Christian, Christian, Christian...I had a look at what I wrote last year for the countdown...

 

I like Christian actually. I like that he doesn't pander to your usual soap stereotype of a gay man. He's not running about, wrists limping and flailing, squealing like Minnie Mouse on Prozac (a la Sean Tully of Corrie fame). But neither is he an emotional minefield, full of self pity, neediness and angst, constantly self-centered and absorbed (as with the muchly overhyped John-Paul McQueen of Hollyoaks fame). Let us hope the Syed affair does not change this.

I'm sorry guys, I totally jinxed it :( He is now EXACTLY like John Paul McQueen of Hollyoaks fame. Running around like a bratty angsty teenager, giving no thought to anything bar his own need to jolly roger Syed, claiming to be a "friend" to Amira whilst scheming to destroy her marriage, and then acting like he's the victim in it all! And after all that he still gets the happy ending to please the internet gay loon brigade (see Digital Spy). Simply AWFUL.

 

 

Whitney HAS paled into comparison this year, but I'm not going to question Shona's acting ability. I'm firmly putting the blame at the writer's door, lumbering her with that utterly useless charisma void Billy Jackson. She went within a year from being the shining star in one of the best soap storylines of the past decade, to becoming yet another teen girl squad clone angsting over the usual charmless teenage 'bad boy'. She went from being a unique teen to being an utterly generic one in one fell swoop. If Shona McGarty HAS begun ringing in the performances, I'd say it's because she hasn't been given ANY material to challenge her for a good six months.

Hopefully next week will change that.

 

 

 

Dot Cotton really is THE EE icon, despite not having put in as many years as Ian or Pat, and really she should be a comfortable top 10 on that basis alone. She's marvellous at the subtle comedy, and she's marvellous when she's playing the vulnerable old lady (although I much prefer her as the former). She WILL be missed hugely when she inevitable goes in the next few years, and I think it will be a long time before the show will be able to build another character up to quite the same level.

Dot should be Top 5. Dont want to see the horrors that actually are.

Dot should be Top 5. Dont want to see the horrors that actually are.

 

SPOILER (don't highlight if you don't want to know)

 

Billie Jackson, Leon, Dotty Cotton, Bobby Davro and Marie from the Caff.

 

I would do would be to boot him off to Spain (or worse, MANCHESTER)

 

As a proud Mancunian, I must say HOW DARE YOU, if Peggy were here, she'd have something to say to you about it, something very original probably.

Edited October 5, 201014 yr by Leonardo2505

SPOILER (don't highlight if you don't want to know)

 

Billie Jackson, Leon, Dotty Cotton, Bobby Davro and Marie from the Caff.

RUBBISHGAIS OF THE WORLD UNITE

13 Shirley Carter 7.94 +++ 11 from Callum & Shoat +++ 10 from Aaron, C.R., Gary & Luke --- 04 from James

 

(Last year: 01st, 8.41)

 

We're pretty much inching into legend territory as we near the top 10, but poor Shirley takes an almighty topple - having topped last year's rate she finishes in thirteenth here! Like a few of this rate's slipees (new word alert folks) 2009 was a fairly quiet year for Shirl, bed-hopping with Phil aside - it's really only in the past six months that she's cemented her place as a firm Walford favourite. Let's face it, a lot of us like our soap characters to have an air of glamour or sex appeal. Shirley does not have either of those things, but like a mother who has been disgraced by an imperfect child, we love her all the same (apart from James it seems). Her strength of course is the fact that she's so strong (on the surface) - outspoken, determined, defender of the downtrodden (or the pathetic in the case of Heather) and champion of the many tarts with hearts in the world (take note Roxy) - whilst being terribly flawed and quite broken thanks to an unfortunate past. I personally think that the secret to her increased recent success as a character is the breaking up of her partnership with Fat Ev and her insertion into a more traditional family unit with the Mitchells. Almost every great soap character has a family whilst the deadwood typically don't. I wouldn't be totally shocked if Heather got the chop before 2011 is out...

 

 

12 Pat Evans 8.13 +++ 10 from Aaron, Aled, Callum, Dandy & Gary --- 02 from James

 

(Last year: 11th, 6.76)

 

Who'd have thought that of the holy trinity of over-60s - Peggy, Pat and Dot - it would be Pat who finished the highest? Not me, certainly. It's hard to believe nowadays that Pat - often dubbed 'The Clementine Saint' - arrived in Walford as a marriage-wrecker with bad intentions and a size fourteen figure, but times they a-change, and with the two decades that have passed Pat has softened. She's given up trying to hold down a marriage - it's so much of a chore when the men involved keep on dying - and resigned herself to acting as an agony aunt for those who've lost their way (only on Dot's day off though) and attempting to show Janine the light (although she will almost certainly die before this occurs). It's probably fair to say that Pat's mantra is tough love - she tells people what they might not want to hear, but usually she's proven right - and I do think that she's been well-utilised of late, considering she hasn't had much in the way of her own storylines. I think I read that Pat and Dot are two of Kirkwood's favourites so hopefully there'll be plenty of requirement for Pat's unique advice services for a few more years yet, although it is a little saddening that the character she bounced off best is now gone.

 

 

11 Denise Johnson 8.25 +++ 11 from Aaron +++ 10 from Callum & Jark --- 06 from C.R., James & Mikey

 

(Last year: 14th, 6.65)

 

Do you know, I think Denise did very well to manage a climb in this rate given that oh nine was such a dreadfully quiet year for her. For a long time I feared that she might actually be axed (or that Diane Parish might be tempted to up and leave) - it really seemed possible given the extent to which Denise had faded into the background. Mercifully, when one of the first storylines Kirkwood took on was Psycho Lucas, he decided to switch the perspective to Denise for the first time, and she moved back to the centre of the action. Her daughters might be gone now (although don't think I don't perform an honourary pout n' strut for Chelsea on a daily basis) but Denise's place in the square seems safe thanks to the arrival of Kim (and potentially Daphne and their mother in future?) and Patrick's continued presence. It's pretty much a given that she'll be fairly quiet again in the run up to Christmas as storylines like Stacey's exit dominate festivites, but I really hope that Denise won't become so forgotten again - for my money she's one of the characters with the biggest potential and I can easily imagine her as a Walford favourite in another five years' time.

Wasn't expecting that huge drop for Shirley; but I guess if the poll was done fairly recently then she properly would have been higher.

 

Denise, I love her now and I'm loving the dynamics with Kim (who is a legend already!)

 

Pat is just a Walford legend. Everyone called Peggy the matriarch(sp?) of Albert Square but it's obviously Dame Pam St. Clements who joined the show within a year of it starting.

 

It's tough predicting who will be number one- I think it will be Ronnie or Stacey though.

 

 

PAT SAINT CLEMENTINE IS THE GREATEST

 

SILK BULLETS FLY FOREVER

 

PAT = NU HONORARY SAINT SILK BULLET