I haven't slept since Tues waiting to see if Kim is ok and going to change her mind so looking forward to tonight.

With this new change of direction and the fact I'm sure researchers come on here to gage opinion thought we could give them some ideas for thrillers

1. Ronnie has been staring at an unopened envelope all episode with a look of stress, she pours a glass of wine, sits down and opens it ...

She can claim for ppi

2. Sharon has a meltdown in the launderette, dot asks what's up sharon says she's run out of change to do her whitewash, dot gives the change and sharon puts on the wash

She sits down with a look of content as the cycle starts

3. Kathy has gone for a breather at the allotment, she looks over with a face of shock, she walks over and crouches down...

Some radishes are shooting in the wrong season

Jack cooks a meal for Ronnie, later that week while cleaning out the bins he sees his homemade lasagne in the trash, he is distraught.

Panic at Chez Fowlers when Martin deletes Belinda recording of The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills.

Jane makes an apple strudel, will it be a success or will it have a soggy bottom

Carmel runs out of washing up liquid and sits in despair at the kitchen table

Sharon finds a pair of football boots as she fluffs the living room cushions

Kinda sucks people can't see the importance of this "downtime" for the show.

We need character-based, everyday drama for a while so we can start caring about the characters again, so that when the drama returns it's much more exciting.

Trouble is, they need to get the balance right. It should be one half of the square are engaged in drama, while the other half is engaged in slower, twee stuff, and it should swap every six months.

Its been years since we had a producer who could do that. The previous lot have done one of the following...

1. Had the whole square engaged in or involved in drama which badly affected characters

2. had half the square engaged in or involved in drama while ignoring the rest

3. had no drama at all and had everyone walking around in a love and warmth bubble which is nice but if it goes on too long it goes against what EE is about.

Yes, there should be a balance when the drama returns. I don't dispute that.

But I still think it's important to have this downtime for a while before that happens.

But that IS what has been happening. Some people on here like to selectively pick and choose what has happened in SOC's few weeks so far.

From a few, you'd get the impression that we've only been watching a saga on bin collection and Kim taking her driving test (they're what are known as subplots, my preciouses), actively ignoring that Pam, Les, Ben, Kathy, Jay, Linda, Whitney and Lee have been having a shit time of it lately, embroiled in a homophobic murder case and miscarriage respectively.

I honestly think this sudden backlash is because the other two soaps are doing stunts atm, and EastEnders isn't (or if it is, it's on the sly) and a certain few feel 'it's not fair'

The Carters are having a karaoke night in the Vic, someone pulls the plug out of the karaoke machine. Who is the mystery plug puller?

Dot can't decide what to watch. Bargain hunt or Loose Women?

Sharon sits anxiously with a mysterious envelope in her hand. She opens it, it's a Birthday invitation for Denny from one of his mates.

Dot makes a cup of tea then drops it. Then she looks at the mess and exclaims "ooh I say!"

Someone goes to wipe their arse and discovers there's no loo roll
DUFF DUFF

Abi is experimenting with a new pasta dish in the vic kitchens. She goes to season it with some salt but the top comes off and the whole lot falls in.

Denise turns the page of her book for her English class and her mouth is wide open at the sight of the next page.

Lauren picks up the Walford Gazette and her eyes gaze and smiles when she sees a web designer job.

Will eats an apple and a tooth falls out.


Honey then says "don't worry love, the tooth fairy will snatch that away and leave you 20p" DUFF DUFF

Donna misplaces the cushion she uses for her chair.

Denise can't decide what to read next, Wuthering Heights or Pride and Prejudice.

Tina has a breakdown because her licorice all-sorts bracelet breaks.

Sharon makes Dot a cup of tea but has put too many sugars in.

Kathy decides to cook Ben and Phil a meal she decides to buy Liver. As she serves dinner up Phil says "Haha looks like I found a donor" they all sit round the table laughing

Lee is going for a job interview he goes to the station and boards the tube but as the train moves he realises he was on the wrong platform

Claudette has horror at her stall as her plants leaves have been eaten. The question is who's the culprit?

Ronnie gets an alarming call as talktalk have announced there prices are going up. Will she have enough time to change broadband?

Life will never be the same for Linda as she notices a tear in her flamingo wallpaper. Who is the culprit?

Shaki gets a hole in his sock because his toenail has grown long and someone has misplaced the nail clipper

Denise is highlighting quotes from one of the books she needs to study, but her highlighter runs out.. what will she do!!!!!

Sharon buys milk, she accidently spills it... shocked and upset Sharon goes to minute mart to replace it but there's none left. She takes a cab ..julia theme plays

Denise is having a drink with Carmel in the Vic. She makes a comment about the joys of pregnancy and needing the loo...she gets to the loo but it's occupied..duffduff

Mick and Linda head to bed, Linda especially tired after a long day. They get to their room and Mick says "Oi, wheres me toenail clippers?" duffduff

One with a bit of levity. Belinda is on the phone "Oh you don't say...oh you don't say...oh you don't say..." then hangs up. Stacey asks "Who waz that?" and Belinda replies "Oh, he didn't say..." duffduff

Edited to add - I see someone else beat me to it with the toenail clipper based ending!

Just had a thought...over the course of a month we could have 5 separate toenail clipper related duffduffs...after the third such duff it should be clear we have a serial clipper nicker at large - who are they and what are they up to? It's the start of a 2 year storyline which will be allowed to unfold naturally.

Some of these are hilarious.

Thread of the year!

As Phil goes into Hospital Kathy and Ben decide to take the train to go and see him as they walk to the station they are running late as they pass the Queen Vic and head down the market they notice the train go past the viaduct Kathy's Theme starts playing as they look up in horror to see they have missed their train Sharon is on board she looks out the window then looks away she says "Beat you" with a smug smirk. As it begins to rain Kathy has a tear in her eye the closing credits come up.

I love this thread.

After collecting her laundry from the laundrette after a service wash, Shirley discovers her knickers are missing. Who has nicked her undies?

Jane gets her hair done at Elysium, it builds up throughout the episode with Belinda organising all the scissors in the right order until at the last moment she realises the curling tongs have gone missing. Where could they be?

Kathy makes a coffee for Carmel in the cafe but realises they've run out of milk. She sends Marie to go and get some from the MinuteMart but they've run out of the organic free-range corn-fed semi skimmed. What will they do?

Martin is excited for his fruit delivery but finds out that his bananas have gone mouldy. This leads him on to a dark path of revenge which touches the whole square as his rage and anger grow.