I thought he was excellent in thurs ep,even better than the explosion itself. Watch out for Mo's reaction as another avenue for Alfie to pile on the guilt.

Also Stacey having lost her photographs of Bradley whilst he saved his one of Nana.

I suppose we are meant to think that Alekks deserved that look because if he hadn't refused to let Alfie back on the market he wouldn't have needed to do it. Except the fire doesn't change the fact that Alfie repeatedly broke market rules and went after Aleks personally to try and blackmail him so deserved to lose his job and Aleks doesn't know that Alfie set the fire as a way to make money. He just sees somebody who has had the incredible bad luck to have his house go up in flames, lose all his belongings and more importantly have his wife be in critical condition and he can feel compassion for that even though he personally doesn't like him or Kat.

It's Shane's turn to be hated on the forums, they'll move on to someone else in a few months.

Personally I like him, and don't get the hate.

I don't understand why people say that. Shane Richie has always been the kind of performer who some people love and some people can't stand and people have a right to express that opinion provided they don't get personal about it.

I can't speak for others but I am not a sheep and don't 'hate' or indeed 'love' on characters or actors just because other people are. In fact being something of a devil's advocate or 'defender of the bullied' I am more likely to go against the tide and find something positive to say if I think somebody is being given an unfairly hard time - even if I'm not keen on them.

I've said it before, I wasn't keen when I heard Richie had been cast but took it back when he turned out to be good in the role and very much enjoyed his first stint. I have not been so keen this time round but recognise a lot of that is due to circumstances beyond his control like the curtailing of the baby swap plot and them turning Kat into a slut and emasculating Alfie in the process. I haven't like the things Alfie has done in the last year and have said so but surely we are allowed to say when we don't like the actions a character takes without being accused of being on a 'hate' band wagon for the sake of it.

I do think the plot has turned a corner in recent weeks, I can see where a lot of the stuff I haven't liked has been leading - to him becoming utterly desperate and Richie has played it well. I just happen to think that he is much better at the serious stuff than the 'cheeky chappie' routine so much prefer him at times like this than that painful episode at Southend Airport last year or a lot of the stuff on the Market this.