Thanks for updating the blog again Strawberry - Sam/Johnny looked gorgeous last Friday's ep. Don't often see him wear that shirt either, one of his best!

Btw I'm not saying yesterday that I've gone off him by any means - I'm just not as into him with his hair slick back like it has been at times recently. He really just needs a storyline. Like now.

Also I missed the trailer for next weeks Give Out Girls which Sam features in - I saw a photo on Sam's twitter of his character looking should I say worse for wear - and I know he touches a girls breasts - but does anything else happen?

Favourite character on the show!

Hey guys (and girls!!) Hope it's ok if I join you

Long time lurker, never really watched Eastenders before but after hearing about Johnny and Sam's story online I figured I should give it a watch - never missed an episode since!

Welcome to the thread guys! Good to have more Johnny/Sam fans/admirers on the thread

Count me in as someone who is frustrated at the waste of such a great young actor and character who showed so much potential at the start of the year. DTC and other writers keep banging on about how proud they are of those coming out scenes and the critical praise they got but they have all but abandoned the character since then and concentrated on other members of the family. I know we had that brief first love storyline but even that was handled far too abruptly never to be mentioned again. Sam Strike must be incredibly patient to continue going along with things the way they are and having to watch the same actors get the bulk of the storylines. Cant see it getting much better either with more new male actors coming into the show and no real long-term story arc for Johnny on the horizon. Jonny is little more than a background character these days that the rest of the family can stroke or say sweet things to like a beloved pet or cherished toy. It is so patronising.
Give him something to do or he might as well leave.

Welcome to the thread newbies!
And glad to hear you had a good holiday, Elly!

My pleasure as always, Neu. I love doing them as much as you love seeing them on the blog. The blog is my baby
I watched the episode as it aired, it was very funny and as I hoped, there was a "sneak peek" at next weeks episode which had LOTS of Sam in, in order:
Sam and Marilyn walking down the catwalk as a Bride & Groom then Marilyn saying "I think he likes me". The scene which Neu mentioned where he gropes her boobs, he also moans! Him looking drunk and the character Andy saying Sam's character is too young and finally Sam's character has his arm around Marilyn and she says to the girls that he's 22 and the girls call her a cougar and a paedo as her character is 29. Fair to say I'm looking forward to seeing it all! Very funny and Sam looks so adorable in it!

You're a star Strawberry. A superstar.

I wonder if we see anything else from that scene. Maybe Sam shirtless - or even a sex scene possibly (though I doubt that, I only suggested as it perhaps looks/sounds implied, along with the 15 rating for the show). Sam does look very cute (well he always does in a suit), think he filmed it before he started filming EastEnders so the show took its time to get aired. Interesting also Sam's playing a character 3 years older than him in real life at the time of filming.

Also in regard to setting does Sam still have his cuter than hell Essex accent or is he speaking in a Northern accent?

Adorable, Neu
Wouldn't mind either of those yes the rating does say strong sex references, so who knows, could just be crude language like the first episode. Yes I believe it was filmed in May or June 2013! It was meant to be aired in January, April and July on Sky Living but got moved to Comedy Central. Glad it's finally here. I don't think he is really 22, I think he's lying!
Well all he said in the trailer was a moan and that sounded quite "Essex-sy" if a moan can have an Essex sound? Also Sam now has a Spotlight page and there's nothing about him doing Northern accents.

It probably is that then - well let's expect that then and then we may possibly be surprised by something to probably liven up Johnny/Sam fan fiction/fantasies in our minds and possibly on this forum too (well for the forum nothing too graphic haha).

He's 20 in real life (well 19 when he filmed Give Out Girls). Similar age to me.

Love his Spotlight thing, very expert in the London accent haha He's so cute . And he might be the same height as me in RL or roughly so, I always imagined him way taller

I do love his Essex accent, its so sweet and cute. I only wonder as (this is an each to their own thing) I prefer Southern British guys to Northern. That's just me though. It's like I need to hear his accent on GOG now.

It'll probably be no more than a saucy kiss and some naughty script.
I meant the character, Luke. I don't think he's 22. I know Sam is 20, 19 when he filmed this and joined EE. I've just turned 20 myself. It's strange! I miss being a teenager.
He's about average height for a male, I guess?
I love his Essex accent I'm at uni up north but not where I'm from but we have all sorts here, to me, if you sound sexy, you sound sexy.

Nahh probably not - Sam's very young looking so Luke's probably same age as Johnny's character. That said he does look slightly older with the slick back hair style. I wish he'd go back to the quiff, he hasn't really had that since Gianluca.

I turned 20 a few months back, feel old!

I always thought he was taller - but then I haven't met him in person so I wouldn't know. I'd love to meet him but would never seek out to meet him. I don't wanna be 'that guy' and freak him out.

I love his accent - maybe I need to hear his other accents to be sure! And true that. Sam sounds sexy. Extremely sweet but sexy.

Oooh, lots of new posts in here since yesterday! Welcome to the newbies.


I completely agree, I'm getting really frustrated at how little they're using Johnny as a character considering how much his family are featuring right now. I know that every character goes through quiet periods, but we haven't had anything decent since June, really, and I can't help but feel that DTC has kind of lost interest in developing him. It's a real shame, but hopefully it will change at some point and we see a bit more consistency from the writing and a bit more meaningful screen time that isn't just Johnny reacting to what's going on around him rather than being a vital part of scenes. The stuff with Ben is hopefully the start of that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's dropped for ages after Johnny rejects him; like I said before, I think the storyline will be more about Ben than Johnny.

Hopefully Sam has no plans to leave next year, but I think if things were to carry on like this then when his contract comes up for renewal January 2016 (I'm assuming he'll be on a year's contract) he might consider jumping ship if he isn't given anything decent to do. Sam seems to take acting very seriously and I get the impression he'll want to try other things and challenge himself as an actor, so if Johnny becomes the next Abi, just there to bulk up the family numbers, I can't see him sticking around for years on end.

Again I sound really negative but none of this is directed at Sam or Johnny, just the lack of decent stuff they're giving him right now. I think I'm most annoyed that we've been told from the start what a close bond Johnny and Linda have, yet we've received NO scenes of Johnny trying to talk to Linda or worrying about her. I just find it completely unrealistic.

On a happier note, is it just me or did Johnny look completely gorgeous (even more so than usual) on Tuesday? I swear he gets hotter by the episode.

Sam Strike needs a gritty storyline soon, no doubt about it. He's not been given anything for a while now, and the actor seems to not be as emotional or emotional attached with Johnny as he was from Gianluca and before. Even looking at Strawberry's blog if I'm looking at photos of Johnny/Sam they're usually from him first joining to Gianluca, with occasional photos since then (like much of last week for example). I'm also starting to worry that Johnny was a mere plot device to develop Linda's character ready for this Dean/Linda storyline, rather than develop Johnny as a rounded character necessarily. I also worry that when DTC says he has big stuff lined up for the Carters he means the older Carters (if I'm honest I feel like Mick is a little overused atm). I kinda wish they'd gone down the anxiety route for Johnny - it would keep the character rounded and give Sam Strike something to do - and show that vulnerable sensitive innocent side he had that has been completely forgotten about.

Also I noticed on Twitter that Sam is following loads of casting people atm, so think he is looking further afield. Hope that doesn't mean he's leaving the Johnny role though.

I was thinking that too. But if you think about it, being on EE is a very good job, they get paid a lot, so he would need quite a compelling reason to leave. The odd sitcom aint gonna give you the exposure or the money as something like EE.

Speaking of sitcoms, Give Out Girls is on youtube!

I don't think he's being used to his full potential at all but then neither is Maddy as Nancy! If other families were being the focus on the show I could understand, but it's mostly The Carters so I don't get why he's had zilch to do other than just exist. As they are mostly US casting Twitters, I feel he wants to branch out to there and do films. We know how much Sam loves his films. And I believe he can. He's doing a Guy Burnet, but maybe thinking of leaving soap earlier and younger but it's good to have ambition.

Yes guys, GOG is on YouTube, worth a watch or skip to the end and see a peek of Sam as Luke and if any of you's are wondering, I'll be making gifs/cap graphics etc for thisdamndesire blog once I've got my hands on a HD copy when it's aired.

True but at least Nancy is getting something relatively meaningful now - to the expense of her brothers though. Yeah literally - Johnny is just existing atm, we haven't really seen much personality from him since Gianluca - maybe the Slater fire to a degree. I miss sweet cute Johnny - even the hug gif you uploaded of Nancy and Johnny hugging looks very meh in comparison to his hug photos/gifs from say April sort of time.

Yeah I think Sam Strike is looking into the US side of things - apparently he auditioned for Divergent - plus he's cute and has a James Dean/River Phoenix heart throb-ness about him so he's got a shot - and he's a capable actor.

Sam in that wedding suit though at that sneak peek

Though I do hope he's drunk and not on drugs - if the latter that really would turn me off him a bit (even though its a one-off ep character). If he's had a few too many drinks then bless him.

Anyway Luke as a character has well like Sam in general, good dress sense.

So Sam looks like he's going away to Cornwall or something at the end of the month... He seems to have been on a LOT of breaks at the moment. Has there been any backstage pictures of him or any with fans outside Elstree? Wouldn't they be filming Christmas stuff round about now?!

This coupled with him following all those casting agents and the general lack of investment in his character at the moment is really making me worried. Hopefully I'm just reading too much into it.

Yeah it doesn't look good for Johnny Carter - Sam earnt himself a break but Johnny really needs a gritty storyline in the very near future. It's almost as if Sam is bored and looking elsewhere because Johnny is just existing atm - and not to discredit Sam's acting performance at all as he's a great actor but it seems to come across onscreen as well. Aside from Ben making a move on Johnny in a few weeks there isn't anything. Again like you elly hopefully I'm just jumping to fearful conclusions.

I think Johnny should either have an anxiety storyline or fall in love with someone - ideally someone who doesn't love him back at first - to get back that captivating sweet side of him that the writers have ditched for some reason. I know Johnny's a man now (well he always was) but he's lost most of his personality in the last few months. That conscientious and sweet side of him made him rounded.

Wont his contract be ending soon anyway if it was just a year one? I don't know it would be a shame to be cut short when there's so much more to be told on screen potential. But if he's not happy... I left my job because I wasn't happy. Even a Ben romance will keep him there and engaging?

I don't think there's too much to worry about this quiet stretch for Johnny (although obviously if I had it my way there wouldn't be one...). He's had a few big storylines this year already (coming out, Albert attack, Guianluca, resits) so maybe Sam wanted some time off from filming, and therefore can't really be involved in any major plot as it'd look odd that he's missing now and then. It would be nice to see him more involved with people outside his family, like Lauren/Whitney/Peter/etc or maybe new uni people?

I doubt Sam would think about leaving EE after just 1 year, the amount of exposure/safety/money it offers means he'd really have to have something else that was huge for him to give it up. Hopefully he is able to get other jobs though during these quite Johnny-lite times!

Anyway, better that people are crying out for more Johnny/Sam then moaning that he's there too much!

[Edit] - Also, what's this blog that everyone keeps referring to? #lurkerproblems

Tonight was just what I needed to feel happy again: a Daran Little episode with a couple of cute Johnny moments. See, I don't ask for much. . Also he suited that hat way more than Dean. And I loved grandma Elaine trying to set him up with a random guy in the pub.

SK's wonderful blog is here: http://johnnycartercaps.tumblr.com

Loved tonights episode! Love Elaine. And Johnny was the cutest he's been in months. Him in that hat. And what he wore. His scenes with Elaine and her trying to set him up - to be fair there were a few cute guy extras at the Vic tonight.

I feel well bad now. Stating my worries and somewhat criticising Sam/Johnny on here then tonight's episode happens. Feel really guilty

Was like I fell for him all over again.

I want more Johnny/Elaine scenes please! Elaine's brought Johnny back to life.

Can't agree more, he was like a breath of fresh air. Maria is a GREAT addiction and you could see that Sam enjoyed acting alongside her.
Positive vibes for now?

We're easily pleased in here.

Also when he walked in to the living room in that blazer... god, he looked delicious.