...Sylvie not well plus no appearances from Jim's children and grandchildren.

BBC saving on the budget?

I think Alfie said Kat was away

But considering Pam never met Jim, her absence is hardly shocking.

Babe likely made sure Sylvie never went to the funeral. Perhaps a form of revenge for stealing Stan off her as she claims she did.

I think the actor who plays Les was having surgery during the filming

I recall people saying that during live week as well

The BBC have been saving the budget for a very long time now. They are skint.

Yet again another lame excuse for Whitney not to appear. She's lees girlfriend so going to the funeral is a perfect chance but no she is given some excuse.
Atleast Liam appears.

You'd think Pam would be there as Les was in Spain. Two funerals and only Billy in charge. Must've been a bad dose of flu

Weren't Pam and Les in the live shows?

Is Whitney on another suspension ?

Someone who works on the show confirmed that Les' absence from the live episode was because the actor is off sick having undergone hip replacement surgery. The episodes we're seeing now were filmed in February so that's obviously why they have mentioned Les has gone to Spain.

bianca should be their.

I hope les leaves after the Paul thing. The less he's on screen the better

Pam's the bloody funeral director!

Is she? Her husband is and she has a small hand in the business, but i don't think she is. i doubt she actually see's the corpses. If Pam is a funeral director, why she does work at the flower stall and not wear smart clothing like her husband.

She still works alongside him. She sorted out all the funeral arrangements and would've had to attend the funeral to oversee that everything goes to plan, especially since Les is in the Canaries still.

I think Billy sorted out the funeral, not Pam.

Whitney back next week

Pam was there with Billy when they visited the Carters to sort out the arrangements. Billy is directing the funeral on his own because Pam's sick.

Ahh right ok. Totally gone over my head. Thanks for clearing it up.

It's baffling that they have a funeral director on the Square but neither of the owners are actually attending the funerals! Les is a unfortunate absence that can't be helped but to not have Pam there is crazy. Equally as Lee's girlfriend and technically Jim's family through proxy, it's unforgivable that they've omitted Whitney from proceedings.

It's bad enough that Jack, Suzy, April, Robbie, Bianca (and kids) and Lauren aren't attending Jim's but with them not on the cast it's just one of those things but to not have Whitney go, someone on the cast, is crazy!

Scott Maslen turned down the chance to return. Patsy Palmer now lives in the states. Suzy needs a new actress to play her.

As for the rest, I haven't a clue why the others never went to his funeral.

Robbie never seems to come back for anything which is bizzare as Dean Gaffney has hardly had tons of job offers since leaving the show and is always quoted by the press in wanting to come back. Sometimes it's actor availability but i think most of the time, it's purely lazyness on the behalf of the producers who don't bother to add any realism to having past characters come back for a funeral.

The brannings are such a big family that you can't help thinking if they really had to do a funeral for Jim and couldnt or didnt want to get the Branning kids and grandkid actors back they should have just done the whole thing off camera and refer to everyone who was coming before and after.

They then could have had Carol and Max and the remaining grandkids reminiscing about Jim on the way to the funeral/wake to properly pay tribute to the character and John Bardon's portrayal

This storyline where the character is suddenly remembered as only a racist and a bully giving characters an excuse not to attend is daft and a bit insulting to the viewers who watched the character develop through his tenure.

Even Billie Jackson got better treatment for his funeral! Having said that I'l reserve full judgement until I've seen the actual episode.

Makes me wonder are there any Eastenders characters that actually would deserve a funeral where their kids/other relatives couldn't be arsed to turn up? Shirley maybe?

I definitely took Babe stopping Sylvie going as an act of spite, one final way of getting back at Sylvie for "stealing" Stan from her almost 50 years ago. I do agree that Billy overseeing two funerals on one day without Pam's help is a huge suspension of reality, he's only been working at Cokers for what, just over half a year?

The excuse for Whitney not being there doesn't even make sense. She apparently has food poisoning. In that case, why is the rest of the family fit and well? And if it was something she ate elsewhere, then that would have to be the cafe or the pub since they don't eat anywhere else. If it was either of those places, lots of customers would be ill.

It would have been far more plausible to say she had caught D&V from one of the kids she works with.