[broadshoulder]

One minute you love Derek, then you hate him which is the sign of a good character.

Just when you think you know him and he is all sweet and cuddly - he turns around and makes Lucy's life a misery just because he can. Never forget the man is a wolf which preys on anyone who is weak. And then another Derek comes out paying attention to his nieces and being the bountiful uncle.

He keeps you on your toes not knowing what to expect which is a good thing.

[rikstan87]

He gets on my nerves

[zebrastripes]

I agree but I still think they need to explore different sides to him so we don't just think he is nice and cuddly and then nasty and horrible. Hopefully Joey will bring out another side in him but I doubt it at the mo. However I am pleased that he cons Derek in 1 of his first eps. Go Joey!

[Outraged Viewer]

Originally Posted by rikstan87

He gets on my nerves

Shame on you!

[misulica]

Originally Posted by broadshoulder

One minute you love Derek, then you hate him which is the sign of a good character.

He keeps you on your toes not knowing what to expect which is a good thing.

I agree. Derek can be very warm and charming and at those times, you almost forget that he tormented Pat on her deathbed, punched Carol to the floor and tried to kill David Wicks just for showing his face in Walford at his mother's funeral

Zainab is another sometimes loveable but other times utterly vile character and it does make things more interesting. Shirley can be a bit like that too.

[vald]

Derek only uses the warmth to manipulate people to do what he wants. He hasn't got a decent bone in his body.

[broadshoulder]

Originally Posted by vald

Derek only uses the warmth to manipulate people to do what he wants. He hasn't got a decent bone in his body.

Oh he has, its towads Alice, his brothers and his niece (not so much his bitchy sisterfiin law)

But then there is this side that will teach a teenage girl a lesson just because she spiked his daughters drink. the man is a wolf. If there is weakness he will exploit it.

and then go back to making a fuss of his nieces.

He is three dimensional.

[pete137]

Derek is repulsive. I find the scenes with his daughter particularly hard to watch..............the way he talks to her in that oily sneery voice with his glazed eyes and constant licking of his lips.............. he comes across like a pedo.

[vald]

Originally Posted by pete137

Derek is repulsive. I find the scenes with his daughter particularly hard to watch..............the way he talks to her in that oily sneery voice with his glazed eyes and constant licking of his lips.............. he comes across like a pedo.

He'll be selling her to trafficers before long.

[maurice45]

Apart from bullying Pat, punching Carol, almost killing David, severely injuring Michael, bullying Roxy, Alfie and Billy as well as Lucy, his line tonight - "I don't hurt little girls...if they pay up" is the reason I can't warm to him. I hate to think what he'd to to Lucy if she doesn't give him the money.

[cooler]

Originally Posted by maurice45

Apart from bullying Pat, punching Carol, almost killing David, severely injuring Michael, bullying Roxy, Alfie and Billy as well as Lucy, his line tonight - "I don't hurt little girls...if they pay up" is the reason I can't warm to him. I hate to think what he'd to to Lucy if she doesn't give him the money.

I don't think he would have done anything because unless he killed Lucy, then Alice would find out what he'd done so he'd have no chance of knowing her again.

[broadshoulder]

Originally Posted by maurice45

Apart from bullying Pat, punching Carol, almost killing David, severely injuring Michael, bullying Roxy, Alfie and Billy as well as Lucy, his line tonight - "I don't hurt little girls...if they pay up" is the reason I can't warm to him. I hate to think what he'd to to Lucy if she doesn't give him the money.

Thats the point. You are not ,meant to like him and you know he does wicked things. Then he turns on the charm..

You need someone like him to give an edge to EE.

[Scrabbler]

I think Derek is getting more interesting, it's just a shame that Jamie isn't a good actor.

[Outraged Viewer]

Derek has his own moral standards, which he applies with more rigour than most of us do with our own.

In his mind, for example, Lucy is the bad guy, both for grassing him up to the police and for spiking his daughter's drink.

By acting in this way, Lucy stepped over an invisible line into Derek's world and therefore, in his eyes, is no longer an innocent civilian.

In fact, we all know Lucy to be a thoroughly selfish, conniving and altogether despicable character who does indeed deserve a comeuppance.

Derek sees himself as, if not a good guy, then at least as justified in all his actions.

Jamie Foreman has made this point himself in a recent interview.

Hence Derek's parting shot of 'Shame on you,' to Lucy.

[broadshoulder]

I think its about reputation. If he puts the frighteners on as many people as possible they won't oppose him in the future and he has a freer reign. Lucy, in his mind, will not be a problem in the future if he shows her who is boss now. And there is no one to defend her.

Its dispicable thinking but good for drama.

[ryanr554]

I usually like him but what he is doing to Lucy is horrible

[maurice45]

Originally Posted by broadshoulder

Thats the point. You are not ,meant to like him and you know he does wicked things. Then he turns on the charm..

You need someone like him to give an edge to EE.

Johnny Allen gave EE an edge. Andy Hunter gave EE an edge. Steve Owen - HE was edgy! Derek? IMO, no. But then again, it's purely subjective.

[Zack06]

Derek is just a cheap comically 'evil' version of Derek Trotter. And it doesn't work for me AT ALL.

[madetomeasure]

I would have once agreed with you OP but seeing those fat cheeks bullying Lucy over the chip shop counter nah, that confirmed for me now why he's not popular. He's fat, he's ugly (ok we could maybe forgive both of those) BUT he's a slobbering wimp who is so out of shape, he couldn't scare of Dot Cotton's nightgown. Nope, wrong casting I now have to finally admit.

[maurice45]

Originally Posted by madetomeasure

I would have once agreed with you OP but seeing those fat cheeks bullying Lucy over the chip shop counter nah, that confirmed for me now why he's not popular. He's fat, he's ugly (ok we could maybe forgive both of those) BUT he's a slobbering wimp who is so out of shape, he couldn't scare of Dot Cotton's nightgown. Nope, wrong casting I now have to finally admit.

IMO it's not the casting, it's the way he conducts himself (Derek, not Jamie). I can buy him pulling a knife out of David. I can buy him punching Tyler and beating the crap out of Michael, but, as with Johnny, I can't warm to Derek purely because of his treatment of Pat and Lucy, which is pretty much a repeat of Johnny threatening Peggy and Ruby.

What makes Derek different, though, is that he's not a gangster but he THINKS he is. He doesn't have underworld connections, keep guns in his desk drawer as casually as if they were staplers and, most importantly, can't be walking around the Square living off his "past glories" - he was never "king", he was just a small-time criminal (compared to Steve Owen and Johnny Allen, at least) who happened to get sent down for ten years. His reputation exists purely in his head. There's no edge there, just a trader of dodgy goods looking to create an empire, bullying people along the way.

[priscilla]

i was starting to like him with the alice scenes and those scenes with tiff and morgan
but him stealing money just annoys me
bullying a teenage girl.who in trouble just makes me angry

[NeutronstarNeko]

Originally Posted by priscilla

i was starting to like him with the alice scenes and those scenes with tiff and morgan
but him stealing money just annoys me
bullying a teenage girl.who in trouble just makes me angry

Pretty much somes it up.

I liked him at first but hated being constantly told what a bad man he was. Now we are being shown that but it just doesnt ring true...Lucy's having a hard time of it but I still dont see her just rolling over like she has been doing...even though she has exposed him to Lauren. She'd be better off exposing him to his parole officer...or Alice...^^

Anytime Derek threatens anyone I just want to scream...he has no power whatsoever - the guys that killed Jase were more frightening as it was a bunch of goons, Derek is just on his own....:/

[judy08]

He is the most repulsive character I've ever seen in a soap. No redeeming features what so ever. The things he said to Pat as she lay dying rule me out of ever liking him.

[mandead88]

Derek and Michael are two of the best EE characters for a long time. I honestly thing SJS is a one man tour-de-force of how to be a quality soap actor. He really is reptilian.

[Lady Voldemort]

I am finding his Napolean complex more tedious by the week.