Me neither, she was a controlling rather than caring mother, and she looked down on most of the people in the square.

I did Umm and Ahh whether Kathy counted as a matriarch but I decided to include her to see what others thought. The fact she got no votes illustrates that people don't consider her to be one.

Dot is one of the heads of the Branning clan, they respect her.

No contest - Lou Beale. The original and the best.

http://youtu.be/bQtB6xi6HAg?t=6m38s

Thought I'd share this AMAZING argument between Lou and Pat. The scripts were so sharp back in the day.

Patrick would be the square's patriarch (incidentally, the name 'Patrick' comes from the word 'patriarch')

Pauline was my choice, after Lou went it was Pauline who was the glue of the family. Apart from the very end of her stint when the writing was botched up for her, Pauline was always firecely defensive of her family

Pauline in her heyday definately!

Couldn't be Peggy...she only cared about the Mitchells...and a Matriach would be there to help anyone in trouble.

got to be lou for me

For the reasons above I voted Pat but I'd also like to acknowledge Mo Harris she always had the Slater girls backs along with Charlie and even Gary infact I loved the whole dynamic in that family.

I think Kat is matriarch material. She always looked out for her sisters and Stacey, she is protective with Jean and she was lovely with nana and spencer. We've also seen her look out for Alice when her dad died and her being there for Whitney when she was in a state recently.

Pat or Pauline for me by far.

I don't think Peggy was a good matriarch. She was more of a battle axe and a snob. I think Pat and Dot have been good matriarchs. People went to Pat for advice and the same can be said of Dot. Pat had a colourful life and didn't look down her nose at anyone. Dot is there for the younger ones. The only thing with Dot is her tendency to quote the bible which can be annoying.

As much as I love her, Dot has never been a matriarchal character. She has never been the head of a family, and has always been a lone character, taking in various waifs and strays over the years. Even now in her role as Branning 'gran' she is not a central part of the family nor does she hold any power. She regularly calls Jim's children out for the hypocrites they are.

Peggy was undeniably a matriarch because of her total control over her family - she is the only person (except Sharon) who held power over Phil and Grant.

Who is Mo Butcher?

As soon as I saw the title of the thread LOU came straight to mind, she was bloomin' terrifying! Pauline could have definitely followed in her footsteps if they hadn't pretty much destroyed the character before she was killed off.


Peggy and Pat were also good matriarchs but I suppose the matriarch now is Dot.

Frank's mother. She was only the show for a year or so in the late 80s.

I'm so glad to see Pat back in the lead where she deserves

Same for me.

Peggy followed by pat, hated Pauline she was just a miserable cow!

[quote=Lewi26;68710559]Peggy followed by pat, hated Pauline she was just a miserable cow![/QUOTE] Just laughed at that

[quote=dan2008;68710588]
It's true! Never liked the po faced joyless whinge bag

[quote=Lewi26;68710657]
I thought you'd both get on like an house on fire

[quote=dan2008;68710722]


The cheek! I'm the happiest person in the world, I even praised eastenders every day last week

[quote=Lewi26;68710788]
Something must of happened to you last week for you to be in a rare good mood and to praise EastEnders.
Care to share?

[quote=dan2008;68710817]
I either got laid or the monkeys at the BBC decided finally pull there fingers out there arses and give us a few decent eps... You decide

[quote=Lewi26;68710863]
You praised it 5 times in one week so both I should think.....

[quote=dan2008;68710893]
Your right both is true well when your a hot piece of arse like me...

I didn't watch tonight's ep but heard it was back to the same old bollocks? Anyway Daniel stop going off topic - were talking about matriarchs here!