"i Am Derek Branning!"

OhWhenTheSaintsOhWhenTheSaints Posts: 12,531
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Just watching the Christmas day EE again...Wow...Jamie Foreman's delivery of this line was fantastic. He's actually a brilliant actor, shame EE never used him to his proper potential but this line alone could be nominated for a "Best Actor" award.
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  • Mr MoriartyMr Moriarty Posts: 593
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    It's weird isn't it - I found him genuinely intimidating when he first arrived, then they softened him too much with the alice arrival and then turned him into a petty little bitch - the writing for him was so weird like that over his tenure, and his performance was very hit and miss too.

    They could really have developed him and made him intimidating, instead they just made everyone talk about how intimidating he was and make him randomly petty and comical.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,488
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    No, I am Derek Branning!
  • whatever54whatever54 Posts: 6,456
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    Just watching the Christmas day EE again...Wow...Jamie Foreman's delivery of this line was fantastic. He's actually a brilliant actor, shame EE never used him to his proper potential but this line alone could be nominated for a "Best Actor" award.

    shame he's gone, was horrible but great actor & part IMO. RIP Captain Pugwash:D
  • JamieMacdonaldJamieMacdonald Posts: 1,230
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    I liked him because of his real first name :)
  • HankshawHankshaw Posts: 4,224
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    Just watching the Christmas day EE again...Wow...Jamie Foreman's delivery of this line was fantastic. He's actually a brilliant actor, shame EE never used him to his proper potential but this line alone could be nominated for a "Best Actor" award.

    Great final scene for him. So glad the writers gave him that scene to own.

    Imagine if that was the Derek that Pat remembered and feared. It would make alot of sense. He was intimidating but he was also very controlled. It was only when David turned up, after Pat had died, that we saw Derek more animated and aggressive.

    I especially liked his emphasis on "No man! No man treats me like that!" What a legend.
  • AncalagonAncalagon Posts: 2,867
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    He was awful, I am genuinely so happy he is gone, I stopped watching EE regularly this year for the first time in years and it was because of him.

    Nothing against the actor, but I have never liked EE's attempts at would be gangster types..... Derek, Johnny Alan, Andy Hunter... all of them are so yawn worthy, the way they strut about is pathetic :(
  • thejoyof_patthejoyof_pat Posts: 30,674
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    He was, for me, the worst 'gangsta' we have ever had. Even Andy seems more intimidating than him and that's saying something.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,885
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    doesnt seem like jamie foreman is versatile so i couldnt call him a good actor really, he is good at what he does but thats all he can do.

    Personally I thought that tirade was ridiculous on xmas day, i was just waiting for one of jack, max or kat to laugh in his face, it was complete bs.

    I agree that he was a wasted character though, there were so many more interesting things they could have done with derek instead of alice/joey...why doesnt alice go back to her mums now btw? she was crying and saying she has no-one left...except the mum she lived with up until a year ago...weird.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,133
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    It was a great line and a fine exit. Enjoyed his stint as Derek. It was a success as far as I'm concerned. Everyone hated him so its job done.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 229
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    I nearly pissed myself laughing at that line. I had to use it on my cat yesterday when she tried to walk away from me. Didn't work.
  • tenchgirltenchgirl Posts: 11,100
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    I am Derek Branning, yeah so what?, I mean really so what, he'd been on the square 12 months and was as about as frightening as balloon with a face painted on it. That line was just so stupid it was beyond the pale and we still never found out why this supposed family man turned on his own. I really wonder who is writing the crap that EE churns out and just what talent they have that justifys their continued wages.
  • NickJordanNickJordan Posts: 717
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    Jamie Foreman is fantastic, but I admit I did laugh a little bit at that line. Probably because I wasn't expecting it.
  • gboygboy Posts: 4,989
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    "I'm Derek Branning" - reminded me of "I'm Kelly Crabtree, with the legs."
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,867
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    I hated him. But after his final episode I realised how much they could have expanded his character. Ie: Showed him to have a mental illness, and got him taken off like Stacey, but could have shown that there are people like him out there. Would have been different.
  • Lizzie BrookesLizzie Brookes Posts: 15,073
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    I hated him. But after his final episode I realised how much they could have expanded his character. Ie: Showed him to have a mental illness, and got him taken off like Stacey, but could have shown that there are people like him out there. Would have been different.

    I think given his obsession with power and control and the fact that he was the one who locked Max in a coffin overnight in Max's childhood that he definitely has mental issues and it's not just a case of being evil. If he were evil he wouldn't have risked his life to save Lauren and Joey from the burning building and he would have abandoned Kat when Alfie threw her out of the pub. While I never hated Derek, he didn't become interesting until he found out Lauren and Joey were together.
  • AlrightmateAlrightmate Posts: 73,120
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    I thought it was a bit rubbish how he went out with a heart attack.

    When a big character comes in who's evil you expect them to go out with a bang.

    There was no payoff. No real comeuppance.
  • OhWhenTheSaintsOhWhenTheSaints Posts: 12,531
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    I thought it was a bit rubbish how he went out with a heart attack.

    When a big character comes in who's evil you expect them to go out with a bang.

    There was no payoff. No real comeuppance.[/QUOTE]

    He's died...
  • priscillapriscilla Posts: 34,370
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    now his dead :D
    I hate him, awful character right up to the very end. I'm glad his dead and I never have to see him again.
  • RhumbatuggerRhumbatugger Posts: 85,712
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    I thought it was a bit rubbish how he went out with a heart attack.

    When a big character comes in who's evil you expect them to go out with a bang.

    There was no payoff. No real comeuppance.

    No redemption, and no understanding.

    'I am Derek Branning' - nothing but sound and fury, signifying nothing.

    His story and life, ugly and an ultimate loser, killed by his own nothingness and fury at it.

    I did love it.

    He wasn't worth anybody killing him.
  • Dannielle_HowelDannielle_Howel Posts: 1,551
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    priscilla wrote: »
    now his dead :D


    Just wondering, but was this a nod to Reginald D Hunter? :P
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1oCPru664

    "He died... Then he died... Now he dead!"
  • MattehhhftwMattehhhftw Posts: 8,680
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    priscilla wrote: »
    now his dead :D
    I hate him, awful character right up to the very end. I'm glad his dead and I never have to see him again.

    Same!
  • los.kavlos.kav Posts: 8,053
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    Just wondering, but was this a nod to Reginald D Hunter? :P
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1oCPru664

    "He died... Then he died... Now he dead!"

    You gotta do what you do best. :D
  • bass55bass55 Posts: 18,319
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    The producers clearly had no idea what to do with Derek. I'm baffled as to why they introduced him as this menacing 'villain' who even Pat was scared of (as if!) but didn't follow it up. He was just a small time criminal, with delusions of grandeur. Within months, he was being outsmarted by Alfie, and the Mitchells made him look like a fool. The 'feud' with Phil lasted all but a week. They clearly realised that Derek had failed as a character, so they tried to soften him up by introducing his kids.

    I wish they would have made more of the fact that Derek was clearly delusional, and totally out of his depth. Even his own family despised him, yet he believed he had a right to demand respect from them. Derek had potential to be great, but it was wasted.
  • mandead88mandead88 Posts: 2,591
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    Great final episode for Derek. Definitely would have liked him to have had a two or three year run, though. There's loads more they could have done with him, and a long-running rivalry with Phil seems an obvious missed opportunity. In fact, given that Phil's character is on borrowed time by this point, it would have been amazing if Derek had been the man to finally take him down, then going back to prison (for life) or dying in the process.
  • KillerWatchKillerWatch Posts: 505
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    mandead88 wrote: »
    Great final episode for Derek. Definitely would have liked him to have had a two or three year run, though. There's loads more they could have done with him, and a long-running rivalry with Phil seems an obvious missed opportunity. In fact, given that Phil's character is on borrowed time by this point, it would have been amazing if Derek had been the man to finally take him down, then going back to prison (for life) or dying in the process.

    Agree with all this!:)
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