Quite obviously I was speaking for myself

People are entitled to reiterate and repeat their point as a discussion continues - just as you have the choice to stop reading and stop responding... shessh!!

I can't agree with this. Kathy doesn't deserve attention. She should be axed.

Thing is Kathy was a popular and original cast member - never a legend. She was killed off and the show moved on. Then the ludicrous decision was made to bring her back and we were assured it would be explained in a meaningful and believable way. It wasn't. Instead they pulled a story from the headlines a few years back that technically got them out of a bind and all too quickly all was forgiven and forgotten and Kathy was back.

They have never shown Kathy take responsibility for her actions. They have never explored the implications this had on her family in any great detail. Her legal problems just evaporated. It was glossed over, but because there was a story in the headlines we are supposed to accept it as authentic.

That SOC saw fit to axe R&R and Les and Pam over Kathy is very worrying to me. Kathy needs to have a low key exit and a lesson learned that no character is worth sacrificing credibility for. Dead means dead.

Kathy is an iconic EE Character.

Disagree. She was from an iconic period originally but the character and the performance is not iconic at this point. Her resurrection has been pointless and catastrophic for the credibility of several characters.

She was so built up on this forum that her return could never live up to expectation, but no one could have foreseen it being this pointless.

Axe time

Used to be years ago, dont even know why they brought her back. So unlikeable.
The shows a sgadow of its formerself. Such a shame

Kathy was a very prominent character during her first 15 years on the show, that can't be denied. She may not have been up there with legends like Den/Pat/Pauline but she is an important character in her own right, as well as being the link between the show's two dynastic families: the Beales and the Mitchells.

I was furious that she was killed off to begin with but I also accepted that bringing her back would be straying into very dodgy territory. However, the show had got away with some pretty far-fetched stories by that point so I was willing to give it a go. Bringing Kathy back from the dead wasn't necessarily the problem; they actually got away with that pretty easily. The problem is that DTC dropped the ball with her return and had no idea where to go with it. The 'glossing over' of her death and the portrayal of Gavin as a creepy villain was a real miss-step. Explaining away Kathy's death as an insurance scam was also a major mistake and, most importantly, was not true to the original character.

Sean O'Connor has taken steps to address this sloppiness, though. There was a very memorable scene between Kathy and Ben recently where they finally addressed her abandonment of him as a small child. We waited a whole year for it to happen but it did. Kathy is now being integrated into the community again, which is long-overdue. I don't agree that she should be axed, there is evidently still a place for her.

Suffice it to say I am glad they did bring Kathy back and imo she's been pretty well redeveloped under SOC.

Totally agree it was a mistake to kill her off.

However nothing justifies bringing her back. That we were given some rubbish as an explanation and they are "integrating her into the community" is complete tosh. Everytime she appears I leave the story and say to myself... she's dead! They jumped the shark

That's as may be, but you also do exactly the same thing. The only difference is your point of view. You constantly defend EE, whereas some of us like a good old moan.

Have to agree, I think Den's return from the dead at a push just about made sense. Kathy's doesn't really and imo doesn't offer that much, other than being a familiar face from the past. I think her character worked better in the 80s/90s.

No, that isn't the 'only difference'. The main difference is that LHolmes isn't creating multiple threads defending EE. She's complaining about the sheer volume of threads which have flooded this forum in the past few weeks, all of which have a very similar premises and which could adequately be covered in one catch-all thread rather than multiple shorter ones.

We shall have to agree to disagree then.

It didn't need saving DTC left it in good hands

Based on evidence to date I would disagree...

Spot on Ell.

It's the same users creating anti-SOC threads. We get it. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but you don't need to shove it down people's throats.

For every person 'hating' the new period, there's people really liking it. Only difference is that the people liking the new period aren't creating several pro-SOC threads!

delete. Read something wrong.

EE is utter garbage under this producer, it's a laughing stock at the moment.

The Kathy return was abit of a mess and you are right the insurance scam thing was bizarre!
I would have believed a witness protection storyline, if Gavin was a dodgy character, he could have been an informant for the police which would have guarenteed his freedom and sent down other dodgy characters.
Also the fact that Phil had been sending her money for years was also absolutely ridiculous.

However the ONE thing, and it is literally the ONE thing about SOC's work i am liking, is the fact he has given Kathy something to do and she is back within the community again.

Its just a crying bloody shame theres no Pat Butcher alongside her.

Just tried to watch the recent episode on iPlayer (haven't seen EE in a while) and gave up after 5 minutes because the camerawork was making me feel seasick.

My ideal story for Kathy's return would have been one which involved her having *no choice* but to leave Ben for his own safety. Kathy and Gavin being threatened by local gangsters, and having to fake their deaths to escape and protect Ben, would have been believable and true to Kathy's character. The insurance scam was a rubbish idea.


Tell me about it

bbc have step in and nip this in the bud, it has never been this bad there are people on here that are lying to themselves saying they are enjoying this, SOC forget giving him time get him out the guy is clueless, building up too christmas and we've got bloody shaqil and becks in one of the most uninteresting and pointless storylines, we all know SOC likes to axe anything that moves so how the hell has shaqil need been axed, its that bad i think he's delibaretly out to ruin it.

I don't think she will be axed but I agree that Gillian Taylforth is not a strong Actress, remember Kat and Sharon's returns, they were both awful in their first year back. I think Kathy is safe primarily because she is Ian's Mum and she is amongst a batch of characters like Sharon, Ian, Phil & Dot who appear to be safe from any kind of axe from TPTB.

There’s different degrees of even ‘iconic status’, but Kathy definitely is within that mix somewhere. The fact the name ‘Kathy Beale’ stuck (as evidenced by Gillian's stints on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother where it was repeatedly used) long after she was a Beale on-screen and Gillian was even in the programme denotes some degree of 'pop culture' status. There’s also the fact the café in EE – one of its most used locations - has been named after her for much of its existence, her character synonymous with the place. As well as Kathy’s relatives in the show, the caff ensured that Kathy was never really ‘forgotten’.

Then there was her role as Good Samaritan and her knitwear being sported by quite a few characters back in the 80s, generally noted for how awful it was in the press (I think it may even have inspired an EE knitwear pattern book) and the infamous duff duff where the knitting machine broke that is often referenced. I’m not saying she’s up there with the elite eg. Dirty Den and Dot Cotton but she is iconic.

She might be less regarded by millenials but she has always been a notable character. Kathy’s death wouldn’t have bemoaned to the extent it was and reversed if she wasn’t one of the series big characters. – They don’t resurrect minor ones.

Like bass I wouldn't deny they botched her comeback but there's more to a return than the initial story and these things can be turned around. EE needs an older female character from that era. The play storyline is rubbish (although people acting like EE hasn't had this sort of filler before in its nigh on 32 year existence is a bit odd) but she isn't involved in just that. She's taken over the café, is interacting with more characters, and is more actively involved in Ben's life. She's far from a problem area anymore IMO.

That's not true at all. I've been quite critical of EE at times on this forum like the writing for Phil and Sharon.

I disliked most of the second half of DTC's tenure as EP.