Why can't DTC see the potential in Lola? Danielle Harold is very good and there is a Storyline arc for her with her Mum if DTC wanted to do it.

I Wonder how Danielle herself feels about being ignored?

I love how you didn't highlight linda. Lorna, james And jamie havtbe been there for 6-8 years now which is long time for younger cast members. Ian and Shirley I have always liked and had phases of Sharon but don't like her ATM. Other characters including those he brought I. Have been neglected though and won survive for long if they don't pick up soon.

You certainly picked out an odd batch of names there. Roxy, Cora, Billy, Lee, Whitney and the Masood's, with the exception of Tamwar I suppose, have had loads of screen time this year and while we might not be seeing Lola much at the moment she lot her fair share of the limelight during the first half of the year. Only the one's in bold could be described as lacking screen time but two of them got suspended and the actress playing Donna was contracted to film Vera before she joined EE so had to go off and film that.

As for Les, well I'm betting he is axed when his contract ends. Fact is that he is rubbish. Too panto, too monotone and frankly he is nothing more than an irritant. This is probably why we have barely seen Les since he ruined that beautiful Ian and Peter scene with his awful acting. I think DTC knows his character doesn't suit EastEnders. It was a nice idea but it hasn't worked. Pam has fitted in seamlessly by comparison.

Roxy is in a storyline with Aleks and will be supporting Ronnie with her pregnancy.
Cora is more of a supporting character, but her friendship with Stans been shown and Rainie brought back for her.Dexter is starting a relationship with Nancy. DTC has already said Shabnam will have a big storyline which will use the rest of the Masoods. Lee will be involved in the ongoing Carter sagas and Les will be involved when Nick returns

The only examples you've given which I agree with are Fatboy, Billy,Lola, Donna and Whitney . Fatboys never been a main player though, Whitneys only used for love stories and I'm sure with Ben returning we'll see Billy and Lola used more.

With a cast the size of EE, not everyone can be used at the same time. I think DTC balances it out quite well. We've got the Brannings involved with the Beales in the Lucy SL, the Carters and the rape storyline, Ronnie, Charlie and the return of Nasty Nick, plus Stacey, Kat and Alfie fall out and the arson reveal.

I disagree, DTC has only been in charge for less than a year, and EE has a big cast , and it is a show which is an ensemble and it's impossible for all characters to take centre stage all the time, I'm sure the likes of the Masoods, Lola and even Cora will have the opportunity to be more central in the future.

Patience people!

Roxy's short-lived wedding / marriage to Alfie - a while back now, though.

Although suppose it could be argued that this was more Alfie & Kat's SL - also dominated by Phil & Ronnie - with not so much Roxy. Other than that can't think - Roxy's involvement with Ronnie & Carl - again though, this is supporting Ronnie. Roxy was involved with Carl before that.

Maybe Roxy and Aleks is only the beginning of a truly independent SL for Roxy alone - without supporting Ronnie all the time, it's true.

Lola's back next week

I wouldn't really miss Lola tbf, she's the type of character you'd have killed off in a car crash or by a serial killer tbf:/

Where is Lola supposed to be?

There is a reason some of the characters the OP mentions don't get storylines its because they can't carry one!!

Billy and Lola had the whole Lexi storyline last year so are rested. Masood is probably the only one on the list that needs a storyline but I think its proof that Zainab was the core character in that unit and without her they are headless chicken. Roxy without Ronnie is headless, fatboyand dexter are just clueless. Cora was a support for Tanya and Dexter's mum makes her pointless. Shabnam gets a storyline this week. Lee is the worst Carter and is no more than a semi regular. Les and Donna are new so haven't blended in yet. I think Les will be involved with Nick's return.

Ann Mitchell is more than capable of carrying a storyline, she was Dolly Rawlins in Widows remember.

I think there are several ways of looking at this: those who have disappeared soon after the start of their big storyline, those whose big storyline was damaging to their character or those that don't seem to appear unless it is part of their own storyline.

Quick disappearances:

Carol promptly shipped off after her operation

Kat not seen much - Should we not have seen Tommy visiting again and coming to terms with her injuries, and potentially Alfie persuading someone to allow the twins in for say five minutes? Also disappearing again after this week when she comes out of hospital. Favouritism for say Shirley is obvious, who only disappears for such a length of time when the actress has a break.

Patrick

It seems that rather than depict a recovery from a serious medical issue, we're getting Linda's recovery from her rape rammed down our throats instead.

Damaging big storylines:

Alfie - The sheer amount of posts on here about how unbelievable it was that he would set his own place of residence on fire (especially with only small hints of his financial struggle - not seeing him mention look outside of the Square for work, get rejected from a number of jobs, etc) has to put him firmly in this category. Instead we just get the storyline plonked in with a few blink and you'll miss them mentions of the job centre and two rejected loan applications.

Dean - More of a grey area since he has been complexly written and given interactions with many other members of the cast, but it's obvious his character has been sacrificed to give Mick and Linda a storyline that temporarily affects their relationship, but is not damaging to either of their characters.

Part of me wants to put Ian in this category because of how unlikeably he came across after Lucy's death, but a lot of it was a necessary plot device. Jane, Cindy and Bobby all had to be written out; Jane because Laurie Brett was contracted to film the final series of Waterloo Road, Cindy because of Mimi Keene's GCSE's and Bobby because Rory Stroud was leaving the role. Also the Rainie business, but I guess that could be looked at two ways. It did give Ian a real OMG secret that didn't implicate him in his own daughter's murder, but on the other hand, it also looked like a plot device to get Tanya Franks back, who I'd guess that DTC saw had previously played second fiddle to Jo Joyner, despite being (I'd say) the more talented of the two.

Appearing only in their major storylines:

Again, Kat and Alfie, Alfie particularly. He was largely absent during Jessie Wallace's break, and the pair popped up again for the birth of the twins and disappeared within a week, so much so that a baby can need to be resuscitated at birth and then be home in the next episode. Alfie is also being made more unlikeable as a plot device to give Stacey more to do without shoving her straight into a big storyline of her own, it seems.

Lola - Plot device in Peter/Lauren it seemed, plus babysitter so they didn't have to pay for Janet to appear in the wedding episodes as well as Denny and Amy. She would not have been so much of a doormat to disappear when Ben turned up, or rather to be convinced by Billy to do so. Ben said he didn't want to be involved with Lexi and added to the fact that Lola is more than capable of handling herself, protecting Lexi and sussing when something's going on, that should have been more than enough.

I'd also put Les and Pam in this category, as Les particularly hasn't done much other than his job and involvement in the Nick's fake death storyline.

Denise, potentially - Shabnam, although probably underutilised since her return, has appeared much more. Denise hasn't done much not connected to The Beales or Patrick.

Oh and Masood but he really doesn't fit into any category.

Roxy by nature isn't that type of character. She can shout and cry with the best of them but playing out a rape, abuse, big powerful storyline that requires a dramatic speech just isn't in the character. Her background was paper thin compared to Ronnie apart from the fact she used to take drugs.

The only independant storyline for her was the Amy custody case but that was to give her and Scott Maslen something to do and wasn't very good.

Thats a good point but I wonder if that is to do with the actors contract. As a viewer I would much rather see Patricks recovery and process to recovery than Linda crying every episode with the guess that nothing more will happen until Christmas just so they can have a big reveal over the turkey dinner in the Vic.

Ann Mitchell was given time off from EE to make a film and then probably had a short break after that before resuming her role at EE.

Has Ann been working on a film this year?

Not in disagreement with you, at all - they're good points you make, about Roxy's character. Understand that her character is there to play out more of a supporting role up to now - this certainly seems to have been the case throughout the SL's, so far that we've seen.

Thanks for pointing out & highlighting the Amy custody case SL - yes, that is probably the only one of note. Can't even really remember it tbh (doesn't mean it wasn't very good) - just that it may not have been particularly memorable. True, the only one of note - still was Roxy with someone else though sadly; it was with Jack.

A shame really that Roxy is always in Ronnie's shadow, but not surprising given the strength & dominance of Ronnie's character. Maybe all the Roxy fans can live in hope of her getting her own SL one day, under DTC. Who knows - it's possible??!

Black Actors!!