Top 20 moments of the Decade : Part 1

Betty looks back over the decade and lists his favourite moments, with a little help from Charlotte.

Added: 12 January 2010, and viewed 1073 times

So a new decade is upon us…What will this bring for us? Who knows eh? However one thing is definite EastEnders future looks bright with the 25th Anniversary just around the corner. But did you really think I’d let a whole decade just slip buy? With the help of the fabulous Charlotte we’ve both came up with a list of the 10 top moments of the decade, so lets count down the top 20 moments of this decade which has seen EE at its strongest but sadly also at its lowest, but leaves the decade in strong form…so on with the countdown.

20. Pauline Fowler’s Departure
When Pauline Fowler remarried to new husband Joe Macer it began a chain of events, which led to a new start in Walford. Only a few months later Wendy Richards announced her decision to quit the Soap, only days later both James Alexandrou and Natalie Cassidy (Martin and Sonia Fowler respectively) also announced their decision to quit. The build up to her death led to split views from viewers. Personally I disagreed with the views that the writers changed Pauline’s character, she had always been a proud woman and over the years she has become more and more depressed as the years had passed. One of my favourite lines in Eastenders ever has to be Pauline’s duff duff moment after Ian betrayed their plan to seek revenge on Jane who had cheated with Grant: “Go to Hell!” Fabulous. Pauline’s actual death was awful. Wendy clearly didn’t want to lie down in the Square so held her head of the ground, which looked ridiculous, and turning such an important moment into the show into a murder hunt was also pretty lame. However this led to a dramatic change in Eastenders as we saw the last of the Fowlers and Ian and his family took centre stage in the home of the shows main family. It was a fresh start and the changes led to a dramatic improvement for the show.

19. The Slaters arrive
September 2000 marked a new era for the soap. Ethel Skinner’s funeral was in full swing when the noisy Slater clan turned up. It was apparent from the off that Mo had lived in Walford for a period before moving away. It was also revealed that Mo and Pat were best friends in their youth but were now involved in a bitter feud over the death of Pat’s brother Jimmy. The family itself held five ’daughters’. Lynne the older sister who had taken on the role of mum, loud Kat - the tart with the heart who was hiding many secrets. Belinda the sister who was talked about but hardly seen, Little Mo the quiet but rather simple younger sister. Then there was Zoe. Zoe was a lot younger than her other sister’s but clever foreshadowing indicated right from the off that things between Kat and Zoe were not what they seemed. This family were going to be one of the highlights of the early 00’s.

18. 2004’s Festive Period
In the build up to Christmas 2004 Eastenders flung one of it’s biggest shocks at Soap fans, after a very big lull the show suddenly picked up. Sam Mitchell was only to happy to help when lawyer Marcus Christie told her that Phil needed cash as he was on the run, she went about selling off the Mitchell assets to raise enough for her brother. However the twist was that Den had forced Marcus to lie so that he could get his hands on his beloved Vic, which he ran when the show originally started with ex wife Angie. Sam was shocked when she realised she had been conned and Marcus fled with the Mitchell’s cash. She returned home to husband Andy who chucked her out as he was only interested in the Mitchell’s assets himself! This was also the time of Paul Trueman’s exit. Paul had got messed up in Sam’s husbands Andy’s drug dealing habits, he had grassed Andy up and he wanted revenge. Andy arranged for Paul to be killed. On Christmas Eve 2004, a taxi pulled up outside the Trueman household and Paul realised his time was up. Paul and Patrick had an emotional heart-to-heart as Paul realised he was about to die, and told his father that he was leaving and never coming back. This storyline led to Rudolph Walker’s (Patrick Trueman, Paul’s father) best performance when he discovered Paul was dead and accused Andy of being a murderer. Fantastic scenes. One last comment about Christmas 2004, as the Watts Christmas falls to pieces because of Sharon and Dennis’ affair being revealed, Chrissie’s fantastic comments “For once could you not wait until after dinner” after smashing the bowl of sprouts. Fabulous character!

17. The Mitchell sister’s join
In summer 2007 two blonde bombshells landed in Albert Square and things were never going to be the same again. Cousins of Phil and Grant, Ronnie and Roxy - names loosely based on Ronny and Reggie Kray, have never been away from the drama since. Ronnie was the ice queen older sister who like all good EastEnders characters was hiding secrets while Roxy was the younger party girl. Both sisters fitted in straight away and give the Mitchell family a much needed boost. Their opening episodes during the non wedding of Stella and Phil remain some of me personal favourites.

16. Martin’s Stalker
During the Summer of 2004 Martin Fowler had finally started to settle down. Him & Sonia started up a romance and things in general seemed to be on the up. Until the night he met Sarah Cairns. Sarah soon became obsessed with Martin & worked her way into Sonia’s life in a bid to get closer to him. Martin cracked after Sarah attacked Pauline & warned Sarah to stay away. She told the police he had assaulted her. While Martin was held at the police station Sarah was confessing all to Sonia. Upon Martin’s return, in typical EastEnders fashion, Sarah stabbed him & was later sent to a mental institution.

15. Sharon Watts returns
The decade saw many returns from Sharon but the best had to be her original 2001 stint. Peggy having just one of her many money problem storylines was forced to sell the Vic. EastEnders worked it by making it look like Steve Owen had bought it but out came Shazza with the comeback line of the year ’Hello Peggy, bet you never thought you’d see me again’ cue insults galore from Peggy. Sharon slotted back into the Vic like she had never been away.

14. Death of Danielle Jones
She may not have been the most interesting character, or the most outrageous. However Danielle’s death caused an Internet scandal. Fans had watched as Ronnie Mitchell’s daughter had turned up in the Square in the hope of reconnecting with her mother however never had the guts to open up, when manipulative grandfather Archie discovered the truth he was determined to keep the pair apart as he had told his daughter Ronnie that Danielle, or Amy as she was known to Ronnie was dead. On Archie’s wedding day to childhood sweetheart and sister in law Peggy, the truth was revealed to Ronnie who initially refused to believe Danielle however when she realised Danielle was telling the truth she ran to see her daughter opening her arms to embrace her, at that moment Janine drove through the Square in her new sports car killing Danielle. Fans were outraged, as the pair never got a happy ending.

13. Ricky & Bianca return
Following on from Mike Reid’s death Diederick Santer had agreed to make several special episode’s in his and Frank’s honour. The episode’s saw the return of Frank’s kids. But it was the full time return of Bianca that most people were looking forward to. Down on her luck and now with four kids in tow, Bianca had turned into her biggest fear, her mother. Still with the shouting and no nonsense attitude Bianca hadn’t changed and after a few months it was like she was never away. The children all represented 90’s Jackson’s. Liam was Robbie, Tiffany was Sonia, Morgan was Billy while stepdaughter Whitney took on the role of older sister like Bianca. Drama was surely never going to be that far away from this lot and as we know it wasn’t long before the fireworks started in true EastEndes style.

12. Dot’s Solo Episode
After John Bardon’s stroke (Jim Branning), Dot was a bit lost however Diederick Santer and his team came up with one of Soap’s most original concepts for the fabulous but underused June Brown. We saw this EastEnders stalwart in an episode of her own. In the original concept Dot was talking to a tape recording for Jim who was in a care home of also suffering from a stroke (as John was off). We saw her discuss her fears and worries of the present and future as well as living old memories from the past. June excelled herself and out hearts went out to Dot as she struggled along on her own.

11. Stacey Slater’s Bipolar
Stacey is another Slater who has well and truly been welcomed into the Walford halls of fame. When we first saw Stacey she was a young girl with a gob, over time we learned she was a young lost girl who put on a brave front and had battled with her mother’s bipolar for years. In a shocking twist this year Stacey also developed her mother’s mental illness. Two stand out episodes spring to mind when this storyline is discussed. The real time episode in which it became clear that Stacey was suffering from bipolar, we saw her struggle through Stacey’s eyes and every little detail was perfect and it was those that stand out most. Her desperation not to stand on the cracks in the pavement reminded me of a child’s silly games showing her vulnerability. The episode in which Stacey is finally sectioned was outstanding, we saw her loose all control and Lacey Turner shockingly excelled herself.

The rest will continue tomorrow. So who do we think will get the top spot then?

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