OK so this escalated into a bashing thread rather quickly! Haha. I still like Shirley, despite her misgivings. I think she would leave if a huge gap if she wasn't there anymore. Hopefully she'll stay for a long time yet, she is popular outside of DS so...

imagine the outcry if phil did that to Shirley

BIB: ROLF! Love that!



Oh and Shirley didn't exactly rape Phil but at that time he wouldn't really touch her when he was sober so, in typical Shirley 'I'm all heart me!' style ensured he got pissed (knowing he was an alcoholic) so he would sleep with her/be close to her.

It fairness though it WAS a long time ago now though and it's got to be said that her and Phil moved on a lot from that time, becoming a proper couple etc.

**** it, let's rescue this story. Forgot the secret son malarkey. Why not have Shirley go all fatal attraction on Phil , follow him around singing 'I Wanna Sex You Up', kidnap Denny, and boil Ben's bunny rabbit!

I'm beginning to find her desperation kind of endearing. Shame it's over Phil.

Never said she should be axed, just finding it difficult to get past her vileness at times. And sick and tired of Phurl.

/\

Sharon's getting on my nerves as well. She's another mug. Simpering over Phil when she knows he sent those thugs to her bar.

Stupid Phil's fault really he drags everyone down to his level. He's nothing more than pondscum.

Oh, I never said that you did. I was just saying that I think she would leave a huge gap if she were to leave so I'm hoping Linda H sticks around.

I agree that Phil does seem to bring the characters around him down. Both Sharon and Shirley have been dragged down by Phil and turned into mugs. I would have loved them to have teamed up against him.

Please do not insult pondscum.

Its like the notion she was only mates with Hev because it benefitted her. How when it was often her cleaning up Heather's mess not the other way round.

She promised to be there for George (and to be fair was a lot in the early years), she gave her a place to stay more than once and a job, yet it was all Shirley using Heather when she could be bothered, according to other posters.

Also Shirley is a door mat and Sharon isn't even though she's forgiving Phil for his role in her beating without so much as confronting him first? I know he didn't mean for it to happen but she doesn't even know what the deal was yet. She also stayed with him after the Dennis reveal and after he put the blame on her for their affair all those years ago. Both of these women appear to lose all sense when it comes to Phil yet only Shirley gets criticised for it.

Don't worry DS isn't a measurement of whether they should keep a character.

Neither Shirley or Sharon are flavour of the month on DS I think the Shirley haters feel if they bash her loud enough it might hide the fact that Sharon also divides opinion on here.

Heather was an idiot who always stuck by Shirley. No matter how foul Shirley was, Heather was always there. Other friends would have got pissed off over her behaviour, but Heather was always someone to fall back on. Like a pair of comfy slippers. If Shirley had a better offer she would have gone off and left Heather. To be fair she was nice Heather at times, so she was rewarded for her loyalty. And yes she has been kind to George, certainly seen more of him than her own Grandson.

Or maybe it just means we come on a forum to discuss our opinions. Love Sharon, loathe Shirley (as characters) but I couldn't care less about how much Sharon divides opinion. She always has. I love her anyway.

And yes, Sharon's attitude towards Phil lately is also rather ridiculous. But as it's part of an ongoing story arc that climaxes next week I can put up with it, as opposed to Shirley where for years her character has almost been defined by being the doormat of the Mitchell residence.

Well Zoe knows deep down knew Sharon and Dennis loved each other and she couldn't accept it. I know Sharon was wrong but she did tell Zoe that Dennis loves her. Den knew and made Zoe lie to keep hold of Dennis so I don't think Sharon should apologise IMO!! If anyone should apologise to Zoe it was dennis but I think he did before he died!

On the other hand Sharon doesn't know about Shirley and phil affair and Sharon reckons she doesn't see Shirley has a threat and prob think she only wants him cos no one will ever have her! So Shirley should apologise to Sharon for being a wrecker !

Not true. Sharon is my favourite character in EE but I'm pissed off beyond belief over the way they did the Dennis reveal and I've posted many a time how frustrated I am that her 'revenge' story fizzled out into a shitty love triangle. I've noticed several other people on this thread do the same.

Is Shirley not allowed to have a relationship? Heather wasn't entitled to all of Shirley's time.

When Phil was on drugs for example and Shirley chose to help him over Heather who'd found herself homeless after ignoring several letters about overdue rent, was Shirley in the wrong there? Phil was obviously more in need of her help than Heather was.

Friendship works both ways. Heather expected her arse wiped at times.

Several times in the past Shirley has walked away from Phil and put him in his place. What we're seeing right now is also part of the arc that climaxes next week. All of a sudden* they had to make Shirley so in love with Phil that there is something at stake for her because they wanted a love triangle with what appears to be an epic ending.

Earlier this year she was more focused on her family/Mick after turning Phil down at Christmas. Even when she made that pass at Phil when he managed to retrieve the video of she, Kevin and the kids, she left him alone after that.

You say for Sharon this is over next week but how do you know? Despite her declaration in the trailer "I will never forgive you!" she could still forgive Phil yet rather than walk away which would be ridiculous. You also seem certain that its not over for Shirley but if she shoots either Phil or Sharon or gets shot herself by either of them, how do you see this progressing for her beyond next week? I doubt DTC wants her obsessing with Phil for much longer when we have the Mick/Shirley reveal coming up.

*I know she's always loved him but all of a sudden its become very consuming and until recently she was never that desperate to get him back. She may have given him and Sharon the occasional dirty look but she was then able to forget about them, something she can't seem to do now.

It's truly pathetic but then again TPTB are truly pathetic when it comes to keeping the Philth on top.

They are prepared to sacrifice any character no matter how iconic and rub their faces in the dirt just to keep him King S**t of Turd Mountain.

Disgusting.

I'm hating Shirley at the moment. More so than usual. She's always at her most annoying when she's slobbering over Phil.

Yes she can, I want her to stop being so pathetic and going after Phil all the time. Why can't she find someone else? Why is it always him. Why can't she choose someone who treats her properly?

I guess its hard when you love someone and I genuinely believe she loves him. I have a harder time believing that Sharon is in love with him which is what the writers keep feeding us.

I'd have preferred them not to actually do the reveal, then like this. Bah!!!!!!

Trouble is there is no choice. The only other man that's around her age is Billy. Phil and Ian get the pick of the women because there is no competition.


I'm with you. It's even more of a mess than I'd dreaded. DTC sure likes his convoluted plots.

No one gives Phil a free pass. In this thread alone he's been criticised as being utter scum. Why give Shirley a free pass when she's just as bad as him? Moreso in my opinion. At least Phil has a shred of human decency within him and manages to peform selfless acts evey now and then. Could you honestly see Phil dangling crack in front of a drug addict going through withdrawal? That's got to be one of the lowest acts of sub human behaviour ever seen on EastEnders. Then there was the time she got Phil, an alcoholic, drunk so he'd sleep with her. I couldn't see Phil stooping that low either. Shirley is in Nick Cotton territory. The only difference is Nick Cotton owns the fact he's scum and all the viewers know it.

As a fan of Sharon I would prefer she not be friends with someone so despicable. I wouldn't buy it. It's bad enough she's turned into a doormat for Phil.

Sharon and Linda are great. I love that pair together.

Exactly. It's p!ssed me right off that they had Sharon pulling out of fleecing Phil, they've turned her into a right mug for Phil too and I am not best pleased

I got right excited when they had her putting her hair up and going off the park to meet Marcus, it was old school Sharon, she was back for a bit. But then they had her doing stupid things like meeting Marcus at the Albert *roll eyes* As if Sharon would be that thick! Now she's softened towards the man who was responsible for frightening her so much that she wouldn't leave the house and felt the need to have a gun (where her son was) because, awwww, "he didn't mean for that to happen did he?" *roll eyes* Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

I'm a bit angry, does it show?


I don't know many people who would have left their best friend and her baby sitting on a bench homeless for a man. It IS possible to look after both and the vast majority of people would have managed it. She made me sick, she'd led Heather to believe that they'd bring George up together (basically because she didn't have anything else at that time), even to the point of trying to chase Darren away (the baby's father!) yet she dropped them like a stone because 'Phil needed her'. Well so did they! Surprised Heather ever forgave her for that. Yes Heather was pathetic and needy but Shirley fed on that when it suited her (which was most of the time) yet Heather was just supposed to grow up when it suited Shirley when she carried her around the rest of the time? Hardly fair was it?


You could be onto something there! I've never noticed that before. We need more men of that age!


Totally agree, love their friendship especially when they get p!ssed and try and outdo each other

Perhaps I should have said TPTB always give the Philth a free pass.

And comparing Shirley to a double murder is totally ridiculous and she has not committed manslaughter, armed robbery or arson either.

Oh and just before I go kind, good hearted old Philth had Ryan as his dealer after his crack addiction - and there is no lower form of scum than that.

Shirley is not perfect and she has made huge mistakes but neither is she a monster.

She deserves better than him and so does Sharon.