I think that Danny, Kellie and Maddie will all have mixed feelings about a new Johnny being cast. They all loved Sam and I'm sure they would have wanted him back, but at the same time they appear to support his career and his reasons for leaving, and they can probably see that it's the right thing to do to recast the role as there's still so much Johnny can be doing on the show.

One thing I would say is that I think DTC is being a bit over the top with his tweets about this. It also annoys me a little that he never really acknowledged Sam leaving or what he brought to the role, but he's (rightly) been praising Rahkee even though she left after a relatively short amount of time as well. I appreciate that Johnny is very close to DTC's heart and it must have been a major blow for his plans for the Carters when Sam chose not to renew his contract but I think he could have been a little more respectful to what Sam brought to the role. I don't expect him to be bringing Sam up now as obviously he wants to be move forward, but all the tweets about it feels like he's trying to make a point that Sam won't be missed, when of course he will be.

Sorry, rant over!

I'd also like to see Johnny supporting Lee. I always thought it was such a shame that Johnny and Lee didn't get to spend more time together as I really liked their bond. I also feel like Nancy has been a bit lost without Johnny, and now that she's split up with Tamwar I think she'll need her little brother around more than ever. The sibling relationship between Lee and Nancy doesn't have quite the same sweetness to it, IMO. So I'm looking forward to seeing the three of them reunited.

I said this on the main forum but I also think we'll get a very emotional scene of Linda telling Johnny about her rape; this will be an ideal opportunity to showcase what the new actor is capable of and endear the audience to him in the way that Sam endeared the audience to Johnny during his coming out scene.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/e...arebar_twitter

Mirror reporting that someone has now been cast. Ted Reilly, pictured in the article.

I need time to collect my thoughts before I can say anything else.

I must admit things are moving quickly. We only just find our they were recasting Johnny and now we have someone cast!. Found another picture of Ted and he looks nice and has a feel of Johnny about himhttp://www.royalcourttheatre.com/fil...fitandcrop.jpg

I wonder if he will keep the curly hair or will they change it. It is difficult to know what to think at the moment it all seems a bit strange to think of Johnny and not think of Sam.

I need to see him in character and on screen before making any judgement but I wish Ted the best of luck.

Definitely moving quickly!

I posted this on the MF but this is a great picture of him:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CSlQZhcs_h...5TedReilly.jpg

Somebody said that he was in a recent episode of Call The Midwife: Series 5, episode 4. It's still on iplayer if people want to see how his acting is. Think I'm going to watch tonight.

It says in the Mirror article that Ted will be on screen next month. Can he really be starting so soon? Johnny returns for Easter?

What our we going to with this thread? Do we need a new Johnny Carter/Ted Reilly Appreciation thread and keep this as it stands if people want to post about Sam. If we keep this thread we would it need it renamed I guess.

Don't mind either way but maybe a fresh thread might be the way ahead to herald the return of Johnny with Ted

I know, I completely missed that detail first time round! Really weird that it's moving so fast!

Not sure on the new thread front? I would say that this thread should stay as it's a Johnny appreciation thread as well as a Sam one but like you I don't mind either way. If someone wants to create a new thread then I'll be happy to post in it but I probably won't create one myself.

I watched Ted Reilly's episode of Call The Midwife last night. Initial thoughts: they've really done a good job lookswise with this casting. From certain angles he actually looks like he could be related to Sam. He looks like a similar height and build, maybe a bit shorter and slighter but it's kind of hard to tell. He has lovely expressive eyes and a sweet smile and quite a vulnerable demeanor although that might have just been the character he was playing, who I thought was actually fairly similar to Johnny - just an early 1960s, straight version of Johnny. The curly hair will be a bit strange but maybe someone like Lee could a joke along the lines of "Oh, you've finally stopped straightening your hair." So, yeah, I'm happy with this casting from a physical point of view. I think they've nailed it.

In terms of his acting, I've yet to be convinced. I've never watched Call The Midwife before and pretty much all the actors seemed to be quite over the top and stage school with their line delivery, so maybe Ted adapted his acting style to fit in with that. But going simply from this episode, he doesn't have Sam's naturalistic style and I think that's something I might struggle to get used to. Nonetheless, I think it's a wait and see thing, as he may well be completely different once he's on the EE set and doing scenes with the Carter actors.

So for me, at the moment, I'm fairly happy with this decision at the moment but I'm reserving final judgement until I see him on screen, particularly with the other Carter actors. I think the true test will be how well he fits into their established dynamic.

Edit: Someone posted this on the MF and I had to post it here.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OydLgXOcid...AndTangles.jpg

How much does he look like Sam here?!

it's eerie how this new actor looks like sam in some angles... curls have to go?

I feel sorry for Ted if he needs to get his hair straightened every time he films! I think they should just let him keep the curls, they're cute.

Article here with a quote from DTC saying they've got lots in store for Johnny:

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/east...store-for-him/

It definitely sounds like they'll be dedicating scenes to Johnny catching up on everything that's happened since he left. Finding out about Linda's rape is going to be very sad.

It all looks promising in terms of Ted and the plans for Johnny. DTC seems very happy and the fact that Ted has done casting with Danny and Kellie should mean that the on screen chemistry is right. I am sure Danny Dyer would not be shy in coming forward if he did not feel that it was not working for the Carter family

It is interesting that DTC clearly felt that Johnny was missed within the Carter family and needed him back. It will interesting to see how Johnny reacts to the rape and everything that has gone out. I hope we get a nice scene of him holding his baby brother

Have to agree with others that this seems spot on casting. It is really quite eerie how much he looks like Sam Strike and he has that baby face and slight body build too if a little shorter than Sam. Like the curls but I expect he will have his hair straightened. Wish him well in the role though I hope he actually gets decent storylines written for him. Felt Sam had a point about Johnny being wasted in the last few months of him playing the part.

BIB: Yes, I do agree with DTC on that account. I know that some people are upset about him not keeping the role open for Sam to maybe one day return but I personally feel that I missed Johnny so much last year after his sudden exit, and the Carters have never felt the same since he left so I can see why they decided to recast so quickly. There's also the factor that at the end of this year, DTC will have done three years at EE which tends to be the average amount of time an executive producer works for. If he was to leave at some point in the relatively new future, we would have no guarantee that a new EP would feel so attached to Johnny and we might never have seen a return, even if Sam had one day decided he would like to come back.

So even though we're not getting Sam back, I am really excited to have Johnny as a character back with what looks like a decent casting choice in Ted, especially knowing that DTC has big things planned for him. It will just be so lovely to have Johnny back on screen, being involved in storylines and being part of the Carter family once again.

this is quite exciting... i was one of those waiting for Penter to happen aeons ago...

hope they find johnny a suitable love interest

Ha, never thought my observations on this would be proven so quickly. I'm really glad that DTC brought back Johnny before leaving.

It is hard to keep track on things at EE at the moment

Wonder how the departure the DTC will impact on new Johnny and the Carter family? Was the decision to recast Johnny done with the approval of the new producer given that it was just done recently and DTC knew he was leaving? I am sure that the Carter family will remain centre stage in EE but they were DTC's baby and maybe they won't get the same attention with the new producer

I have to say that while DTC did a great job with Johnny on the coming out story after that it was downhill and the storylines for Johnny were not well executed or that compelling. Obviously Sam leaving did impact on their plans but can't say DTC did a fantastic job with Johnny although maybe he got more focus than the other Carter kids.

Who knows maybe the new producer will actually use Johnny better than DTC as he is not too attached with the character (which DTC says was based on him) which can sometines impact on your judgement.

Whether this is good or bad news for Johnny Carter and Ted we will have to see but certainly interesting times ahead at EE

I agree that Johnny was misused after the coming out storyline which seems to have led to Sam leaving. I think DTC was extremely focused on Linda's rape storyline and as a result neglected the three Carter children. Johnny was certainly used the best out of the three of them in 2014 but a lot was still lacking, particularly after the summer.

My thoughts on the new producer is that he has no real reason to set about cutting the Carters in number, or drastically downsizing their storylines. I know people complain a lot about Carter domination but I would say that they've been used pretty fairly in the last six months or so. I think the Mitchells and the Beales have been just as prominent in their own way. Even the Fox-Hubbards have had a decent look in, as have the Slaters, or at least what's left of them. He's definitely neglected the Masoods (with the exception of Shabnam who has now left) and the Cokers, who have yet to establish themselves, but generally I think the amount of screen time the Carter have had is about right in comparison to most of the other major families.

In terms of Johnny, I hope that DTC gives Ted a decent chance to shine during his first few weeks, which it sounds like from the article yesterday is definitely going to happen. Just speculating, but I think Johnny's future could be made fairly secure if he gets together with Ben. Ben is currently the most important character in that age group, with tons of history on the show, and of course he's a Mitchell so will never go hungry for storylines. If Johnny was to get together with Ben, he would by default get a decent amount of screentime, particularly if they capture the imagination of fans to become a power gay couple. So I think that's the direction I'd most like to see it go in for now.

First picture of Ted as Johnny:

https://twitter.com/EastEndersPress/...26947939860480

Not a big fan of the outfit, looks way too old fashioned for Johnny! His hair is a bit shorter than it was in CTM but it looks like the curls are staying.

I guess this means he's on set, maybe filming?

Edit: a few more pictures at slightly different angles, just in case we needed them

https://twitter.com/Soap_loverxx/sta...32685735108609

OK he is no Sam Strike but not bad at all.

Just thinking about Johnny return if he has started filming then Easter at the end of March seems realistic. I must admit I can't wait to see new Johnny on screen and the reaction of the Carter family.

I was wondering what will happen to the lovely picture in the kitchen with the carter family and Lady Di. Need to watch out and see if it disappears or Johnny's face changes

I am never sure of Johnny's age but does he turn 21 in 2016? Just thinking that Johnny never had a birthday celebrated when Sam played him and a 21st birthday party would be a good backdrop for a storyline. I guess his birthday could be anytime but would be a nice way to re-introduce Johnny to viewers if they did it shortly after his return.

I'm going away on holiday for the long Easter weekend (to Italy, ironically enough!) so I can pretty much guarantee that will be the weekend Johnny returns. I have the worst luck like that.

They've been covering up that picture the last few months with an ironing board. I guess they may photoshop it or they may do a new one with Olly.

Johnny had a birthday in December; that's when Mick gave him money and he went and bought the moped. I assume he'd just turned 19 when we first came into it as he was in his first year of uni and a December birthday would have meant he was one of the older ones in the year. So he'd have just turned 20 when he left which means he's 21 now. However they may disregard continuity in order to give him a 21st birthday.

I had to double check this Mick gave Johnny the money because he passed his end of term exams and then he went and bought the moped

Oh, I'm sure that was for his birthday?! But yes you're probably right!

Did you see all of the pictures revealed of Ted as Johnny? I was totally against a recast, but I think Ted might be really good.
http://moviepilot.com/posts/3788899

He looks pretty good, doesn't he? I'm looking forward to having Johnny back on my TV screen!

I really think he looks great! I'm actually looking forward to Johnny's return!