Say what you like about Kat and Alfie, but they are an iconic couple. I know they're getting a spin off show in 2016 but this means that we won't see Kat and Alfie for at least 6 months. Kat and Alfie will be leaving Walford in June and I think it's a huge shame that Kat and Alfie won't be on the show for at least 6 months. Shane Richie is filming "Moving On" and he seems to be busy doing other things now.

I really hope it was Jessie and Shane's decision to have a long break. I'm a bit worried that the spin off show could be the last time we will see Kat and Alfie.

Having said this, I'm really looking forward for Kat's journey and she will face her demons.

A break could for good for them. Kat and Alfie's story reached a natural conclusion in 2005, and their 2010-15 stint has caused both of them considerable damage. Kat was brought back a total bitch, and Alfie became a walking doormat. By the time of the Shaggerman saga of 2012 Kat was my least favourite character in the show by some way, and while I didn't mind Alfie with Roxy it was clear that the Moons were suffocating the Vic and had to be replaced.

To give Newman some credit, she clearly went out of her way to redeem Kat from the utter mess she had become, and I was actually pleased when they got back together in 2013. But within months we were back to will they/won't they again. A long break from the show could hopefully give both characters a new lease of life.

not really, I think they are getting stale again and there are only so many times that you can break them up and bring them back together again (and they have done this about 6 times in the recent stint(!

I think the break will be good. It will give the actors time to do other projects and can come back in a few years time - hopefully the Carters will have moved on by then! - not that I want Alfie in the vic he was better than Mick and Linda.

Also, it means they can probably ditch Mo and save some cash to pay for another west end star.

Not at all. I can't wait. I love Eastenders but detest those two characters. I know everybody lies in soaps, but Kat and Alfie are the King and Queen of Talking Crap.

Yes and no.

Yes that it takes Kat out the main show and that its part or their reunion which they need to stop doing now. And that it means more screentime will go to mick screenhog.

No because atleast they get a spin off. That's what mick and Shirley need tbh but to continue long term and being kept minimum in the main show with their stories focusing on their relationship.

If by annoyed you mean overjoyed beyond belief, then I'm absolutely furious.

No. I am looking forward to having a break from them.

I definitely feel they need a break for a while. However, in recent months, Kat's plight has been the best storyline since Live Week, it will be a shame to see it end.

They need a break from the show but DTC mentioned they will be back. Not sure if he meant the main show or the spinoff. We will find out soon.

Mick, Shirley and Linda need a long break. Preferably for good

a bit annoyed that it's turned into the carter show. really puts me off watching it now

Yeah I am annoyed. Since live week Kat's storyline has been the ONLY thing keeping me watching even though it's been frustrating to see Kat constantly go off camera and her story never get properly developed. Now we know its NEVER going to be fully developed because she's leaving in a few weeks so there isn't any time. I feel a bit cheated. So much story potential has been wasted.



If it turns out they were axed I'll be furious. Kat is one of EE's most iconic characters and Jessie Wallace is a brilliant actress, I mean she's even Bafta nominated apparently. She should be unsackable.

I really just hope it was Jessie and Shane's decision. I don't get how somebody like Max Branning could be safe and a brilliant character like Kat pushed out. Max is completely stale, repetitive and boring, I mean seriously who cares about his tedious love life? Or Roxy another boring one dimensional character well past her sell by date. Kat still has way more to give than many characters DTC is keeping.

I'm going to really miss Kat, I just hope she returns next year although I admit that not looking likely

I'll only be annoyed if Alfie comes back. I love Kat and think Jessie Wallace has been fantastic in the brief bits of plot she has been given in recent weeks, but I'm prepared to sacrifice Kat to see the back of Alfie. The whole cheeky chappy thing, which I suppose was moderately appealing to some people when he was in his last stint, is just embarrassing from a man in his 50s.

Another thing that annoys me is, initially when the spin-off was announced it was said the actors were just taking a break so they could film it but now it turns out they finished working on EE a month ago, so that's at least 1/2 a year before work on the spin-off begins. It feels like they're not really being honest about what's happening with Kat and Alfie and they should be.

They have clearly been written out of the show and given the spin-off as a 'sweetener'.

I'm not impressed. But then I haven't been happy with the way they've been written since their return either.

That frustrates me. When it was announced that Kat and Alfie would take a break, I assumed they would leave for a few months and then they will come back. But they will be gone for at least 6 months. DTC seems really passionate about Kat and Alfie from his interviews but he doesn't really mean it onscreen. When DTC became EP, he kicked Kat and Alfie out of the Vic and gave them less screentime. Kat and Alfie are always offscreen for at least 2 weeks everytime they have a week's worth of storylines.

Kat is an iconic character and Jessie Wallace is a fabulous actress. I'm just hoping Jessie and Shane will come back to the show in 2016 but technically, they're no longer contracted with Eastenders anymore. Kat and Alfie are very popular outside Digital Spy as there is a lot of love/support for them in social media etc.

I am not bothered in the slightest that Alfie is leaving.

I think it will be good for them to take a long break. I do wonder if the spin-off was a sweetener for them to remain with the show, if they planned to actually quit for good.

I'm sort of looking forward to the break and don't plan to watch the spin-off. Those who might miss them can watch the spin-off.

However it is good when shows keep established characters who have lots of links to other characters. If I was a big Kat fan, I might worry about the spin-off.

It certainly wouldn't have been a sweetener offered to Jessie & Shane just so DTC could axe them, it takes a ridiculous sum of money to make a drama series and there's no way that would be agreed & commissioned by the BBC just so DTC could get rid of them.

I do wonder if Jessie & Shane were unhappy with EE (and rightly so considering the last few years of storylines they've been given) and a meeting was set up to discuss them renewing contracts or not etc & together they all probably came up with the spin off deal in an attempt to keep everyone happy.

I'll be sad to see them go for the length of time it turns out they'll be off screen but on the flip side of that they are the only reason I watch the show so without them I can simply switch off & await what I hope will be a successful spin off drama early next year where Shane & more so Jessie will no doubt shine. Pros & cons whatever way you look at if.

Not really. They will be back, so what is there to be annoyed about

Plus we have six episodes soley about them to look forward to.

It's never pleasant to see people lose their jobs - and I'm in the camp who believe they have been written out - especially those with young children to support so I won't rejoice but I do think it's probably for the best.

DTC just doesn't know how to write for either character, he has even admitted he finds it a struggle to come up with material for them which was already obvious anyway. Writing for both is horrible and it's sad to see some of the only good work Lorraine Newman achieved, rehabilitating Kat, completely undone by DTC and his team.

Alfie has been seriously damaged by his writing last Autumn, and Kat is also suffering greatly from having endless plot points thrown at her without any of them being developed. As well as the underwritten and terrible stories, the characterisation for both is very poor. When Kat isn't being written as a total misery, she's being written as a caricatured Kat Slater Tribute Act ticking off random scenes that Kat Slater Does such as looking in mirrors while full of self loathing or making drunken scenes in the Vic. Jessie Wallace is a fantastic actress and deserves so much better.

It's really for the best that Kat and Alfie leave now before any further damage is inflicted. I would be more than happy if one day in the future another EP who values and understands Kat brings her back into the fold, any of John Yorke, Tony Jordan, Sarah Phelps would bring her back in a heartbeat and give her some great material. I'm sure there are plenty of other potential EP's who would do the same but I never want to see either Kat or Alfie under DTC again.

I expect the spin-off will be dreadful, DTC just can't get to grips with these characters so I don't see what good can come from putting them in another show also helmed by him.

Not a bit and I hope they aren't coming back after the spinoff.

I'm a big Kat and Alfie fan, but wish they'd never actually returned in 2010. Since their return under Berkwood, all Kat's character progress in her initial stint was completely destroyed with affair after affair...she even came back pregnant by another man! Alfie under DTC has been hugely unlikeable with starting the fire and then trying to cover up the truth and making Kat and Stacey fall out. And there's still the whole "split up, get back together, split up, get back together" nonsense that's marred them too.

As good as Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie (given the right material, he's excellent) are, their characters have nowhere else to go so I'll be glad to see them go.

no, not at all, dislike both characters and the less I see of them, the better