Excuse me for dragging something up from the past but I've just found this article now with Nina stating that she hoped the character of Zainab would be met with a dramatic end however former exec producer LN disagreed.

If this is true, and LN truly did want to leave the door open for Zainab to return, why have show bosses been slating the character on screen in an attempt to show a completely different personality to that previously shown on screen.

Do you think DTC failed to tempt Nina back to the show and therefore slated her on screen?

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ab-Masood.html

I think it would have been much more realistic to kill her off. I can't see her staying away for this long without visiting. I wouldn't be surprised if Nina was a victim of petty egos higher up the chain that wanted some petty revenge by butchering her character because she didn't do exactly what they wanted.

Her wish can still be granted.

I am glad the door got left open. However I am disgusted with how DTC has treated her and made her have a personality transplant off screen.

Top comment I feel the negative treatment/ personality transplant is due to Nina not wanting to return before Shabnam and Tamwar went off to live their lives away from the Square. We all know he liked DTC liked a good ol' return.


No Nina is a great asset to the show!!


Although I don't want to, I have to agree with this. It seems like LN did a great thing saving her before her era was over but tptb had other thoughts on the situation.

That's something I've thought for a while, I can't see any other reason for the godawful character assassination.

And mine too

Not really. Zainab was always a vile nasty person in my view.

Sorch nailed it. Zainab was always a nasty piece of work. All of this off-screen stuff is entirely in character.

SOC should make a rule that if any actor expresses an interest in returning their punishment is the death of their character. Imagine how many would be dead by now if DTC had come up with a rule like that lol.

I loved Zainab, but as soon as she left the Masoods were dead in the water. There's absolutely no reason for her to return now.

That would've been impossible for DTC to follow or he wouldn't have got his beloved Kathy, Grant, Peggy or Pat the Ghost returns

I agree that her exit threw the family into chaos, but I could picture her return a success should Tanya return when the Brannings come back to the forefront of the show later in the year could spark the return of "The book club" and if Jane still happens to be around then there would surely be some interesting scenes there too

Exactly.

Remember Zainab cutting Syed off - stating she would rather he were dead than gay following his suicide attempt? Remember her beating Tamwar on his back, where his still painful scars from the fire are after discovering the business was going wrong? Remember her not mentioning Shabnam for years?

Zainab was always capable of selfishly putting herself first and cutting her children off if they disappointed her so i can believe she would stay away from her daughter that conceived two babies out of wedlock, for example. She was also always more conscious of money and status than people's feelings a lot of the time.

Also, to be fair, they did have to explain her missing important family events somehow - i'm not entirely sure how they could have done it 'nicely'. She can't always have some illness which prevents her from flying.

Thought I read somewhere recently that she said she would like to return?

I think the issue is that, yes, Zainab could be absolutely vile but Nina Wadia was super talented and always played this really complex, layered character who could be really funny and loving too. When you're just getting words from other characters, you don't get to see any of that. That's why she seems so OOC and 1D, even though the stuff she's done hasn't been a million miles from things she's done before.

I'm annoyed by the ruination of her character too, but I do get their hands are tied to an extent. Think they could've handled a bit better anyway though.

Hi,

I want it on record that I also want Zainab killed. Don't let anyone tell you that I don't.

Thanks.

I don't agree that they ruined her character because it was very in keeping with her character

I agree with you about Nina though. Fab actress and she humanised Zainab but she was absolutely awful at times so in my view sge wasn't ruined at all.

Yes I agree.

Wadia is talented enough to often 'play against the lines' so she remained sympathetic (even the Syed thing, you could see it was due to her genuine belief that homosexuality is wrong and he would be damning his soul), funny and ultimately likeable.

Just having the actions, without the presentation, it comes across more harshly but ultimately I do think it is in character.

But this is always the problem when one pivotal actor of a family chooses to leave the show - the producers are left with 3 options - write them out on their own however unbelievable it is that they would leave their spouse/children and not return for big events, write the whole family out even meaning the other actors are effectively sacked or kill the character off, meaning they can never return.

None of them are satisfactory and will leave many viewers unhappy and saying there should be another way.

I can see her point. It would have been so much better to leave Masood and Zainab as a love story than that unbelievable mess of a break up they wrote for them.

I am sure that she not that long ago said that she hadn't been asked back

there we go http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/07/easten...-exit-5667049/

no explanation really for the Zainab character assasination

Thanks for clarifying Lea, and for the source. Baffling as to why the show has taken the character down the route that it has.

I wish they'd recast her already. Meera Syal would be cool. She's the only British Asian actress I can think of who can pass as Zainab's age (whatever that is).

Fingers crossed! Hopefully whilst visiting her daughter!

Zainab was indeed vile to a lot of people but MOSTLY caring towards her family. I genuinely don't believe she wouldn't come a see Shabs during Zaair's stillbirth.