So what do you think of the character so far?

Personally I can see a significant improvement in his acting skills and atm I quite like the character.

I really like him, I think Aaron Sidwell is great addition to the show.

Along with him and Carli Norris playing Belinda I think EE has finally cast some characters people will believe in.

I like what they've done with the character. He's more mature, more confident and quite the flirt. I think even Kathy is falling for his charm. The only thing I don't like is his hair style but luckily these fads come and go.

I like having him back .

I like him. think his character is good, you know he's done some terrible things in the past and you're waiting to see if he really is reformed or still a bad boy at heart. I think he is genuine in his motives, but I don't think he's going to be all nicey nicey! Hope he's around for a while.

Just waiting for him to go into complete raving nutjob pyscho mode to liven things up.

Seems to be well cast. I don't know a lot about his past or who it was before but he has a good presence about him.

Is he actually a full time regular now? Or just a guest?

Meh. I personally don't see a need for the character to be honest at all. I wasn't keen on his last stint which for me was one of the few grave errors of Santer's reign.

Yeah - not a bad return so far and oh my he is slightly gorgeous.

I hope he is staying for a while.

What I can't understand is why Ian is able to forgive the psychopathic little shit, Bobby for murdering his daughter and attempting to murder his wife but can't forgive Stephen for something that from memory was a mistake. Those of us old enough to remember will know that Ian raised him as his own child fighting and winning a custody battle with Cindy to keep him , Stephen even called him 'dad' growing up. Ian treated him just like his other kids.

Pretty poor writing IMO.

That's a good point. I was just reading Wikipedia as I had no idea the stuff Steven had done before. I was just thinking the same thing that while Steven admittedly did some bad things, he seems much more vulnerable and had way more reason to be screwed up. Yet Ian continually shuns him whilst Bobby can't surely do much worse and he's still all cut up about it and giving him extra chances.

He's exactly what the Beales have needed since Lucy left. It's great seeing him back. I forgot how much I missed the character.

When Ian visited Jane in hospital and basically told her he didn't know if he coud be there for bobby, she replied with "he's your son!" but obviously she wouldn't want that same logic applied to Steven! . I do agree and have said elsewhere, Steven has done terrible things and of Ian wants to disown him OK but to then be OK with bobby killing lucy and very nearly killing Jane is just bizarre.

You're spot on with the stuff about Ian forgiving Bobby but not Steven and I don't know if they mean to portray her this way but they are making Jane look a real bitch.

They made her look a bitch from the moment it was revealed she covered up for bobby. I know a lot of people say (and I agree with them) that she didn't try to help Lucy, stuffed her in the boot and then dumped her on the common but the bit I remember is that the next day - before Ian knew Lucy was dead - Jane was running across the road shouting "Ian, we've got our first booking for the restaurant!" given the guilt she said she felt, you would have thought she would have kept a low profile!

I missed a lot of that as I knew of the storyline at the time but wasn't watching back when Lucy died.

Going off how she is now I thought she was supposed to be a nice sympathetic character but it's not coming across that way anymore!

I agree.

Ian isn't okay with Bobby though. You can tell he is uncomfortable around him. I think he is only supporting him for Jane's sake but they haven't really had any close scenes since Ian found out the truth about Lucy last year.

I keep expecting that bit of hair he has on top to move

Yes, maybe taking Ian hostage again and shooting Jane again.

Maybe I've missed the answer to this, but does anyone know why Aaron Sidwell isn't being listed in the show credits? He hasn't been credited in any episode since he came back!

Maybe he acts under a different name

There could be another Aaron Sidwell who acts

Sorry, wasn't clear. I meant the character of Steven Beale isn't listed in the credits.