I, too, have been keeping my distance from posting on forums since hearing the news, but I've actively been following press articles and any EE scenes featuring R&R.

News of their departures really hit me hard, to be honest. Not so much that they were leaving, but the fact that the producer had essentially axed them. When you think back to 2007, Samantha and Rita really made a massive difference to the show, in terms of revitalising the dynamics of the Mitchells and securing thrilling storylines at the forefront of the show. Although material for them hasn't been great for a year or so now, I do feel that they both cemented themselves as characters above the 'axe' so to speak. Whether people like it or not, they are iconic. Ronnie/Jack, Roxy/Sean, the Secret Mitchell, Who Killed Archie?, the NYD car crash.

I'm just disappointed that it's likely that both characters will die. Fair enough, they don't fit into the vision of the new producer, but they are characters that would no doubt boost the show's profile again later down the line. It's all very difficult to stomach - leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.

I love both Ronnie and Roxy, but have always enjoyed Ronnie the most. However, the writing for Roxy is currently much stronger.

Under Diederick Santer, the sisters ruled this show. I'll never forget that magical era (2007 - 2010, not including the baby swap).

Well started watching again in November - FF most of it. Quite honestly Samantha Womack and Rita Simons are well out of it. EE loss is their gain. Yes I do think their characters need resting but no I don't think Ronnie or Roxy should be klled off. That said a part of me is glad Ronnie is being killed off as there can be no chance of tempting Sam Womack back. Death is fitting for her character. She should of never returned full time after the baby swap.

However what happens on Sunday really doesn't matter because while the actresses may of lost a stable, regular high income, they have left before their characters have become totally ruined. They are going before this show really becomes a sinking ship. Most of all both actresses have proved that they are versitile and have walked straight into other jobs. Both are extremely talented when they put their minds to it so it is best to go now while they are still in popular demand. Another 5 years and they may have been tarnished by the decaying rubbish they are forced to play out on EE. Furthermore, age is against them. As Rita Simons said "the time was right".

Totally disgusted in how this "explosive exit storyline" has played out. Their actual exit may well be explosive but the build up has been atrocious. Tonight was the final straw. Hardly any screentime paid to them - which would be fine if more screentime had been given them over the last couple of weeks - yet Ronnie isn't meant to be in tomorrow's and that just leaves Sunday.

Fatboy should of been revisited too!

For Tuesday's episode it said "Roxy drops a bombshell" and I was hoping it would be something big, instead they are plotting for her to move to Ongar with Ronnie and Jack. Like many of the spoilers released for them throughout December, the reality has just been crumbs in most episodes. This SOC fellow couldn't make it more obvious that he wanted rid of them and he had no interest in how their exit happened. It is lik the writers were told just throw in token scenes with them and the sooner we get rid the better.

Lee on the other hand is getting a massive build up to his exit and I couldn't be more bored if I tried.

Oh well As there is a clip in one of the trailers where Roxy asks someone to pick her up, I can only think she rings them. Otherwise them turning up out of the blue is going to be equally as stupid as the rest of it.

Welcome back everyone! - one last time!

That's good to know that Ronnie is not in tonight's episode because I am travelling and won't get to see it and won't bother to catch up on iPlayer later.

I am more and more convinced that they will both die. Sam and Rita's tweets and interviews suggest it is 'the end' rather than a break and return in a few years.

I think Ronnie may commit suicide after what Sal said about one sister out living the other. So if Roxy has fallen to her death and drowned, it would be in Ronnie's character to just end her own life at that point.

I have mixed feeling because on one hand I want Ronnie to die so I can stop watching EE (it has been a struggle for a long time now but keep checking back for Ronnie (usually on iPlayer)) but it would be nice for her to return one day. Particularly after a really poor exit storyline. It does seem very rushed. At least Rita has had some scenes. Sam is just playing herself now. Mumsy Sam. Where's Ronnie the character gone?!

Yeah I don't get that either. They were all axed at the same time yet Lee has had what I call a decent exit (for a secondary character) whereas Ronnie (who used to be the star of the show!) is given nothing at all. It's not even Ronnie anymore it's Sam playing herself.

I would rather she went mad and was gunned down or something dramatic after her past catches up with her or someone with a grudge on Jack from the past.

Just something would have been nice.

At least we always have 2007-10 to re-watch whenever we like!

I double checked annd she isn't listed. Rita Simons has top billing so the Duff Duff is either her or the two names that have been embargoed. So strange the way they are brushing Ronnie aside even in her own exit.

I will not be watching live as I will want to FF. So will post later (if no one else does) to say if Ronnie is in it or not.


I have always felt that they will either both die or they will both live. Unless it has been one big ruse, I will be surprised if The Sun's version is not fairly acurate bar a few of the details.

They have been forshadowing this storyline for a few weeks now if, like us, the viewere knew what was to come. Then there was Aunt Sal's speech about being always together. Then that particular episode ended with them laying together on the ground.

Last night Abi mentioned to Dot the hotel had a pool and Dot made a joke about packing her bikini. So the pool clearly is going to play a part.

I think a drunken and high Roxy will fall into the pool and Ronnie will attempt to save her. Now it will either play out like The Sun claimed and Roxy will be dead at the scene and Ronnie perhaps will not regain consciousness and die a few days later just to add a bit of drama to it. The alternative being The Sun is completely and totally wrong and they run off together.

If I had to bet on it I would bet that both die. A small part of me thinks it is possible that Roxy gets saved but Ronnie dies trying to save her, so Roxy leaves in disgrace. Alternativey, after Roxy's death, Ronnie moves away somehow blaming Jack in her grief. However I think both these scenarios are unlikely as both Rita and Samantha stopped filming at the same time; and Glynis Barber was filming after they both had left the set.


I totally get where you are coming from and feel the same.


Agreed. A total anti-climax. I think it should of come out on the Wedding Day that she played a hand in Fatboy's death. This proving one thing too much for Jack now that he seems to be more and more wearing his policeman's head.

Ronnie would not of been able to live with Fatboy's death and possibly killed herself as a consequence or been arrested or gone on the run if they wanted to leave the door open. If you went down the suicide route, to compound her shame over Fatboy, Roxy could of died as there hasn't really been a lot wrong with Roxy's exit. Her self-destructing is true to character.


We do and I haven't seen everything prior to 2010. So a lot to catch up on for me.

As thought, Ronnie wasn't in last night's episode. Unless you are a Max fan, the only thing you need to know is that Roxy got high on cocaine at the Market Trader's party and made a disgrace of herself. It was obvious to all she was high. Once people were noticing she made a call for someone to pick her up. Glenda and Danny turned up shortly afterwards to take her away. Glenda said something like "look at the state of you. Don't worry Danny and I will take care of you."

Bringing both these characters back right now and embargoing their return might suggest that Glenda and Danny play a significant role either in Sunday's episode, or in episodes coming up or both? I am guessing at the very least Glenda will bring the sisters together in order for Roxy to be at the wedding.

I get Glenda might need to be on hand as the maternal grandmother to both Amy and Matthew. However Danny's return is a puzzle? If Roxy lives my money is on him taking her away with him.

I wrote the following in a thread that talks about a twist involving Jack.

In the trailers Ronnie asks Jack not to make her choose. Perhaps he does though and that is the twist?

Not so convinced as I was that they are both going to die after last night and Sunday's preview clip. I was 90/10% that they were both going to die. I am now 60/40% that they are both going to die. I still am about 85% certain that Ronnie will die.

Over the last month they have been forshadowing happy endings spelling it out that they won't get one. Then there was Aunt Sal's Tarot card readings, the trailers, along with the tag line that Cinderella's fairytale will end at midnight. Even in the preview clip for Sunday they talk about 'Thelma & Louise' and its ending!

I always thought that The Sun's leak followed up with exclusive photographs was deliberate, as a lot of the first set of photographs look staged.

They so want us to think that they are both going to die - or at the very least Roxy will. Both Rita Simons and Samantha Womack have fed into this with their tweets. Even Glynis Barber dropped hints she was working on EE and even saying that she was filming with Michael Keating - a bit after Samantha Womack & Rita Simons stopped filming. Some fans started saying after this that she must be filmng a funeral.

I have long given up trying to work out what their exit actually will be. Abi said the hotel had a pool to Dot in Thursday's episode. So The Sun's original story could be 99% right or it is 100% wrong and they drive off in that car if Jack makes Ronnie choose?
Last edited by LaneKent : 31-12-2016 at 13:21

One final outing for us Ronnie fans tomorrow. For me, her departure is a massive end of an era. I think I'll be using her departure as a chance to take a step back from EE, and therefore from the Forums too.

I'll be following Sam's inevitable post-EE success via her Twitter - Even though Ronnie's stories have been weak of late, I've continually enjoyed her presence. In her latest stint, she still shone in the scenes following Carl's death, I really enjoyed her 2014 return where we saw her darker side, and it was a joy to watch her fall for Charlie (such a shame that ended how it did).

Gutted.

I hated that ending.

I cannot believe they are both dead, but I think it was beautifully tragic that they died together. A very Ronnie-esque exit.

Sam and Rita's chemistry was electric tonight

Absolutely gutted.

I didn't want them to leave like that. I was really hoping I would be proven wrong with a twist where they would exit alive.

I hated that ending. I'm really sad to see Ronnie and Roxy go like this. It just made me feel so sad. None of them should have died. I would have preferred a dramatic ending that would lead to them leaving alive. Such a shame this couldn't happen. I'm really not happy with that.

And from the looks of Twitter and the alternate ending thread, it seems like Ronnie would have survived in this ending.

EDIT: After looking on Twitter, it seems like more of a montage of the multiple alternate endings.

https://twitter.com/wtfbetsyblue/sta...78636737044485

BIB I agree.

The episode was pretty fantastic. It was clear the amount of thought and effort that went into it and the visuals were stunning. The references to their past, Cinderella and Titanic were clever.


BIB - I do sadly agree. It was obvious that they had to go together.

So that's it folks. Nothing else to say. The Sun was 95% right. Glad I knew before hand even if the last few days I began to wonder if it was too obvious that they would die. However it wasn't. No surprises at all. Onwards and upwards for the actresses.

I hadn't watched EE since Peggy's death. I knew Ronnie and Roxy were leaving but no idea how as I had not seen any spoilers. I suppose the death was fitting and they had to leave together. I prefer this to the likes of Karl white and Arthur storylines resurfacing. It has however left me cold especially knowing that Sam and Rita were axed.
Tonight's episode was extremely disappointing. It felt like filler not the aftermath of the death of two of the biggest characters of the decade.
No love lost with EE though. I was done with it since DTC, who made a mess of it and wrote Ronnie appallingly with the Carl White trite, Roxy sleeping with Ronnie's husband, not devoting anytime at all toRonnie being a mother etc, etc.

deleted

BIB 1

I completely agree with you. The aftermath was so underwhelming. There's a post on the main thread about this. We only saw the immediate reactions of Jack, Max and Phil. Glenda was told off screen? Total slap in the face! She should have been the next person told after Jack.
I can't believe either that the pool was unlocked/unmanned all night/no one saw them on CCTV/they weren't found until the morning.

BIB 2

They made an absolutely shocking mess of the character. Ever since she was used as a plot device for the baby swap, it's like the writers stopped caring, and decided to give her multiple personalities.
EE really have let both Sam and Ronnie down big time.

Well as far as I'm concerned Ronnie and Roxy are alive somewhere in a parallel EastEnders universe!

Lalalalala, can't hear you...not listening....not dead....lalalala



I am not actually so set on Roxy being alive, mostly just Ronnie - but when it comes down to it I do feel bad that Roxy had to die too, she is a part of Ronnie's character and I can't help but be a little nostalgic thinking how many years it has been since they came on screen.

End of an era. The episode was OK and it was a very Ronnie-esque exit saving (well trying to save) Roxy. I wish it was on better circumstances. I mean if you wanted to kill a Mitchell and have a sad family story then kill Sam Mitchell off. She'll have to be recast again anyway.

The whole exit storyline of Jack and Ronnie leaving Walford and Roxy hanging on was pants. It was not a big exit storyline at al. I bet Sam is still waiting for the twist in the story she signed up for. Also, if Rita was dumped early then they could have played out a longer arc until July instead when her contract ran out. It smacks of another EP that just does what he wants and not thinking about the show.

I have struggled for a long time with EE. In fact it was Sam that got me back into EE in 2007 so this is finally it. After the funeral episode I am done. It seems SOC wants to create a new EE bringing back Michelle but I cannot see the point in rehashing old characters. It was the balance of characters that I liked. There are no new characters for many R&R fans to cling onto and carry on watching.

I always feel that R&R's popularity has been underestimated. In Ronnie's first stint exit and since 2013. They are very popular on social media.

The aftermath has been so flat. It proves what a waste killing them off has been "theres been an accident..so sad...anyway, Ian beale has put the price of fish up" - it's all an after thought.

What future stories come out of this? Amy and Matthew are too young to carry a storyline with the effects of losing mothers. Pointless claptrap.

Goodluck Sam for the future. You'll best off this show. And it's goodnight from me.

It's been great discussing Ronnie with you guys for 10 years now (!) but everything has to come to an end. I'll join you in that parallel universe where Ronnie is living with Danielle, James and Matthew

I still can't get that final image out of my head of Ronnie in the water

Even worse that cringy Danny is alive

I might actually re-watch old EE now in place of new EE. I may even brave the babyswap which I have not seen since the original screening.

Wow its been such a long time since I posted on here. Pretty much stopped watching EE since mid baby swap and only popped back in for big Ronnie episodes. I will forever be bitter by the lack of direction the characters got, she's been all over the place and used as a plot device, especially compared to how tightly structured everything was at first. Ronnie has always been a one off character for me with so much potential and I'm very sad to lose her.

Haven't been able to bring myself to watch the aftermath episodes yet. I guess it will feel too final. I'm actually a little surprised at how much of an impact the character still has on me. Got no real reason to ever watch EE again.

I did enjoy the death episode. I liked all the references to the past and it was very pretty but the actual story behind it was more than pathetic and with such a rich character they could have done something so much more meaningful.

Just gonna stay happy in my bubble where Ronnie and Roxy just drove off happily together

Exactly, that's what I'm talking about, parallel universe - EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!!(she says with manic desperation apparent in her voice).

I have plenty to say, I wrote out a post but something happened and it disappeared.

So I will just say something different for now, until I am in the mood to re write something along the same lines as the post now lost to history.

I am surprised at how "upset" I feel about it. I didn't feel particularly...anything....about it when I first heard. I always kept my interest in the character, despite everything. Although when she first return in 2013. I hadn't even been aware of her return until it happened and I didn't even watch any of it until a few months afterwards. Maybe it was wondering if I could ever care for the character like I used to again? After awhile I took on a much cooler approach toward the character, I'd still occasionally delve into the details on what was happening, make a post - but you know, it wasn't such a big deal. I sort of just ..went...with whatever they did with Ronnie. The little vestiges, reminders of what she has been were still there and I think that kept me drawn in to an extent.

Seeing the aftermath - seeing Jack, and little Amy. It's is sad to think they will never be any scenes of older Amy with her mum and aunt. No more Glenda and her girls. It a bit of a shame too, because they were little scenes with Ronnie and Glenda in 2016 where they skirted over the complications of their relationship, but if they'd wanted they could brought Glenda back a bit sooner, I don't know. I know they had that wedding moment, but it's not much. In some ways it does add to the tragedy, I know. I'm sure there was still plenty that could have been done and said between Ronnie and Glenda - but now there never will.

The story itself...the episode itself had some wonderful moments and imagery. It's a shame I was actually laughing and pfftting half way through with the ridiculousness of Ronnie running out of her wedding because Roxy wasn't moving to bloody Essex. Is that the best....they could do? I understand it would be hard for Ronnie to truly move onto a new life with Roxy not an fully active part of it, but - honestly it didn't need to be shoved into the wedding itself. It should have been solved beforehand or something.

I am surprised at how I feel though. Like....an old friend you haven't spoken to in ages has moved somewhere...another planet..and you know you won't speak to them again. I know that will sounds very odd to some people - but I made friends online because of the character and I had some meaningful experiences through that. The character being dead in the show has brought these dormant feelings out in me.

Well I have gone back to FF. The followup is good with Jack & Glenda but all the filler stuff. I put up with it on Monday but last night it was too much. Couldn't they have cut some of the Carter scenes? They have dominated for weeks and will dominate next week, so couldn't they have just put them on the back burner for this week? 1 week! Surely that is not much to ask?

If Jack doesn't go by March I fear he will be gone by next year.

Looks like Glenda is staying around for a few episodes/weeks. At first I was sad that the door has been closed on Glenda. Now, I am quite contented as we got some kind of nice closure for Glenda on New Year's Day. Roxy turned to her mother when she was at her most desperate and low point, while Glenda shared a couple of tender moments with Ronnie.

Now Glenda is paying the ultimate price as she has to live with the guilt and regrets forever more. Seeing your two daughters on a mortuary slab must be totally horendous. People struggle losing a child, but to lose two - especially ones that you have failed along the way - must be even worse.

I am going to stick around until Glenda is gone but at this rate that will be it for me.

The writing for Michelle is horrendous too and while Jenna Russell might be an excellent actress, her Hollywood cockney is doing my head in and I think she is too busy keeping in voice it is affecting everything else. I realised that it was fake or exaggerated on Monday as she slipped out of it for a few seconds. It was already starting to grate.

This Michelle is no Ronnie or Roxy and as someone said above, the real problem here is that it is all very well killing them off, but there is no one in their generation who is strong enough, and there are no other characters who have so many layers, to replace them with. Sharon is the only one who comes close but she is a bit older than them anyway. I am so done with Jane (who isn't multi-layered anyway) and Denise (who again isn't multi-layered).

SOC probably thinks that having Michelle back signals that EE is back to the old days but I am an original viewer but I have not connected with this Michelle at all. She may as well be called Maxine and be an entirely new character from Sharon's past.

Despite being a bog standard soap plot, the Ronnie and Roxy angle always added something slightly different to the 'love triangle' scenario. It was the chemistry that shone and you always routed for Ronnie (and therefore Roxy). That strange Jack-Ronnie-Roxy-Amy situation was very strange but fasinating to watch. I guess you could say it was unique to soaps.

Ronnie was a strange character in a way that (most of) the audience were always on her side despite some really bad things.

I knew it was all over the minute Ronnie took Glenda's advice having previously said "the day I listen to you will be my last".

You'd think someone loyal like me that has stuck with EE (apart from 2006 when Sam got me back watching) and between 2011-13 were I struggled would find a new character to stick with but there is no other characters. LIke LaneKent said, Jane and Denise are just not mutli-layered enough for me either and I hate the Carter family.

One thing that came to me re-watching that final episode was how Sam towered over Liam and Glynnis. Made me laugh.

One storyline in her latest stint that went nowhere was all the stuff with Vincent. Him calling her 'blue eyes' all the time as if they had some past love affair in Ibiza. Of course it turned out to be a one week affair when she was looking for Roxy when she went off with Carl.

It all seemed to go nowhere and one of the reasons that under DTC, Ronnie's character was just never going in one solid direction like it did under Santer.