Yes I do and she wasn't good as Sandy I agree but that doesn't alter her having done goodl, dramatic work as Kathy during her first stint.

I do think that a really good actor/actress should be able to make even bad scripts interesting in some way and I'm certainly not saying she is, or ever was, at the top of the acting stakes in EE but she was more than adequate.

Her scripts, and the quality of actors she had to work with (basically everybody she interacted with except Joe and sometimes Robbie) were pretty dire on HO so that might have had some bearing on her being crap.

I was meaning the never ending threads 'Lets bring back Kathy' etc time after time!

Most people moaned when the carters are on too much, when a returnee takes over the show... They are easing Kathy in nicely. Otherwise everyone again will make threads saying too much Kathy she has to go!!! They've learned from Den so now they are going down a different route. I want Ian to find out Phil, Peggy and Billy knew before him and Phil knowing for 3 years she was alive

Ian does know about Phil keeping it from him for 3 years doesn't he? I thought there was a scene where he talked about how Phil held Ian as he cried over Lucy when all the time he knew that Kathy was alive.

I cant remember...

I cant remember that. I recall Sharon asking Kathy how long Phil had known she was alive when they came face to face in the Arches. Kathy lied and said Phil had only known for a few weeks. I don't remember it ever being brought up again after that. Not long after that Ian and Ben found out Kathy was alive and I cant remember either of them querying Phil's involvement. I could be wrong though.

they both know Phil knew for 3years. someone posted the scene above, it was then swept under the carpet cos the beales got shelved

Last Autumn was just dire and the worst period of DTC tenure. The whole Max going to prison and Kathy return. It's as though they knew it when it hit the screens. The recon/back history stuff and half the Square letting an innocent man rot in prison. They've pulled back on both storylines this year. Both need wrapping up prompt. Kathy is back just forget the awful stuff attached to it. Get Max out / Jane and Bobby gone and just forget the rest having been involved in cover up.

I really hope Kathy and Buster's kiss is left as a one-off and they don't continue with an affair. Buster is really not Kathy's type, in the past she always dated very successful men. Back when the show started Kathy and Pete were reasonably well off - to the envy of their relatives Arthur and Pauline - through their own hard work and lived comfortably. Other men she has dated over the years have always had money (pub landlord Eddie Royle and market inspector Richard Cole for example). And when Kathy first met Phil he was nothing like he is now. Phil was the nice one of the Mitchell brothers and generally a decent bloke, he owned a successful business and not to mention was 11 years Kathy's junior. So he would have been considered quite a catch then. So I find it hard to believe she would set her sights so low now and find herself attracted to Buster - a penniless ex-con with very little going for him.

I have noticed a significant improvement in Kathy's characterisation in recent months, she's starting to behave like the old Kathy again and has bedded into the local community nicely. There's still been very little development in her relationships with Ian and Ben. Kathy and Ian rarely share any scenes which is odd considering they live in the same house. And Kathy and Ben's relationship is still a bit hit and miss, she hasn't really made much of an effort to make it up to her sons considering her years of abandonment. Its almost as if nothing ever happened and they didn't think their mother was dead for 10 years.