Never did I think I'd see the day Stacey would be dull - especially for a long standing period of time.

It all started for me with with DTC truely ruining Stacey... and I know SOC has only just started but I'm hoping he has something truly big for her up his sleave, because she has been boring for years now and continues to be. (I don't think her post-baby psychosis story was particularly great. It was meh/okay at best but still nothing like her impressive first stint.)

It's left me thinking, is this how she's going to be from now on? Boring stories of telling boring Martin to trust Bex?

I just wish she'd still have that lightning in her life that always seemed to follow and enthuse her life.

One thing Stacey is sorely missing is Jean. Yeah. Lacey and Gillian are immense together. Let's remember as well that Stacey became a very interesting character in her first stint when Jean appeared. That's when Stacey got layers as a person and went on to be queen of the show with her performances - with Gillian Wright's Jean supporting mostly (or arguably) all of it. Stacey needs Jean. She's 10 times better as a character when she's with her mother. Something feels missing otherwise.

Also I don't think she should be with Martin. I like the actor James' performance - but Stacey had her Bradley relationship and although this version of Martin is true to Martins character, it still feels like a Bradley substitute with Stacey.

I know it's not popular but I liked the development of Stacey and Ryan. By the time Stacey was leaving the show I became invested in them as a couple. It mostly all felt like a natural story progression. Stacey had interactions with Ryan before getting back with Bradley when she had bipolar and was also pregnant with Ryan's child. And when Bradley died, the bond of having a baby together eventually pulled Stacey and Ryan together. And it wasnt a repetitive relationship of Stacey and Bradley... It was a new kind of dynamic. Ryan was rough, sometimes unpredictable and had an energetic edge that in many ways matched Stacey. They seemed to fit and in a way that worked - but in a different way to Stacey and Bradley.

Those are the two things I really wish for... Jean and Ryan returning full time for Stacey. I mean, the actors are amazing so it's a no brainer on that alone to bring them back, and they keep making reappearances so it can't be too hard to convince and entice them.

Completely. Stacey has come back dull. A bit like when Bianca came back, she turned into Carole, but if Stacey turned into Jean that would be better. Stacey has turned into everything she once Hated. She used emotional blackmail in order to getRebecca to share with Lily instead of just asking her outright

I enjoyed Stacey in the Berridge/Harwood/Santer years but I like 2014- Stacey too.

Some characters go around in circles year after year so it's been refreshing to see some actual character growth with Stacey, excluding her brief regression in the Kush storyline.

The revival of the Fowlers works for me. There's lots that could be done with Martin and Stacey as a young couple making their way in life. At some point it was inevitable Stacey would settle down. She was doing that with Bradley in her last stint anyway. If he hadn't have died who knows how things might've turned out. The affair with Ryan wouldn't have happened for a start.

'Amazing' is the last word I'd use to describe Neil McDermott's performance as Ryan, more like meh. And Stacey and Ryan were an incredibly unpopular pairing off the back of Bradley's death. It didn't make sense to me that Stacey would move on so quickly and their affair was just sleazy eg. having sex on the bonnet of Dot's car whilst Lily was in the car.

Fully agree with you OP, Stacey needs a good shaking up! and I hate her relationship with Ian and Jane, who would have thought she would be helping Ian Beale out of the bath?! Where has the old feisty, sexy, gobby Stacey gone? Never mind Jean and Ryan, bring back Stacey SLATER!

No I much prefer this mature happily married Stacey to gobby mare Stacey.
No thanks to annoying Jean either

So do I, Stacey used to be a real nightmare but I like as a young wife and mum. It just feels natural that she's grown and changed as a person

It seems to me that Lacey Turner's acting is only good when she is playing very dramatic storylines, like when she was sectioned. Her acting just is not believable, or engaging, in everyday scenes. That's a real problem in a soap actor.

I cannot ever have Jean back on my screen, absolutely loathe her. The incessant screeching about things that do not matter is one of the worst noises I've ever heard.

Thanks.

The other alternative of course is to just get rid of Stacey.

I completely disagree, I find her eminently believable in everyday scenes. She comes across as someone you can really relate to these days. The kind of person you'd want to have as a friend. I actually prefer her like this to when she's leading big dramatic storylines. I found her a bit of a chore during the psychosis breakdown.

She was fabulous last night when Ian was stuck in the bath. Her facial expressions alone had me in stitches. Anyway let's wait for Maxie to come back and start stirring things up.

Im Enjoying this Version of Stacey

She may be acting a bit old before her time, but I find this version of Stacey much more bearable than the one that was sneaking around with Kush and berating Martin every five minutes last year.

Lacey Turner is excellent. Stacey has grown up throughout the years she could never have been a long standing character if she was in dramatic storyline after storyline. She still has an integral role in the show and I'm sure we will see her more wild side sometimes but not all the time.

I thought she was hilarious yesterday with Ian and it's really good to see her maturing. Her friendship with Jane feels a bit random though and seems more like a Max plot device. I love her relationship with Martin. It's a shame they got rid of Belinda though and her job in the salon. I do want her to get another hard hitting story soon though and that's where she excels.

Only a matter of time though before she goes on maternity leave now she's got engaged and has said she wants kids! Hopefully they don't split her and Martin up for it though!

I agree I'd like her to have a storyline that doesn't involve a mental illness or an affair. But I sort of like where Stacey's at at the moment. If you look at her first scene ever, or even Xmas Day 2006 when she was seducing Max, the character journey from then to now is extraordinary. She's always going to be a bit gobby, but she's maturing. She couldn't be the 2004-2010 Stacey Slater forever, life experiences change people, so I think actually what they've done with her is really realistic.

I'll be quite annoyed if they give her another affair storyline.

It became a bit of a joke that Stacey was given trauma after trauma during her time on the show, and I really love where she is at now. I know she is extremely polarizing on here but Lacey Turner has always been one of my favourite EastEnders performers.

While Lacey Turner is great, the character of Stacey is so boring. The only really boring thing about the SOC era I'm enjoying.

She needs something to bring her to life again; maybe Jean gets ill? Maybe her half-sisters rock up causing her grief? Maybe Ryan abducts Lily after he decides he wants custody of her?

Just give her some good material. You don't need to break up her and Martin by doing it.

It's worth bearing in mind that before she turned 21, Stacey Slater had got married, got divorced, had an abortion, lost her father, lost her brother had an affair with her Father-in-law, been diagnosed as bi-polar (Sorry, I mean BI-POLAAAH!!) been sectioned, been raped, got married again, given birth, become a widow, committed homicide and gone on the run.
It hardly seems unlikely she would crave a bit of normality. I wouldn't write her out because she always has the potential for big story lines, but she needs other Slaters to play off -
Jean, Kat or Belinda - Keep it in the family, I say. Perhaps the return of Max will stir up a bit of emotional intrigue.

She is really boring now, no wonder Kyle done a runner to the bright lights of France for some excitement !

She had potential when she was younger to be the next Kat Moon (even for awhile having Kat mentor her and the actress who plays Kat), but that potential is fast going.

I like the "new", mature Stacey; people on hear complain that Roxy hasn't grown up/changed due to her experiences but when Stacey does grow up that's cause for complaint too!

If we are bringing her family back though I'd prefer to see Sean to Ryan though. He'd stir things up on the Square and Stacey would get to be involved in the dramatics without losing the stability she's found with Martin. Bring Sean back with a new wife or partner and have her and Stacey as frenemies as their both jealous of the other's closeness with Sean.

I really like Stacey now. FR from being spent, I think she's matured into a believable, relatable character who works well with Martin, as a Mother, friend and interacting with all sorts of different characters.

Given how much I'd grown to dislike her in 2010 and didn't want her to return, that's quite an achievement.

I think that Stacey has positioned herself in a dynamic that she has always coveted however I do not believe that Stacey loves Martin. I thinks she loves the 'idea' of a devoted even besotted partner but at the end of the day Stacey needs to be challenged and Martin is not the man to do that. She will grow bored of him and sadly look for some excitement.
I have a feeling Max will soon call her out on this and once she realises that she 'settled' she will soon get itchy feet.

Good post. Just a tiny nit pick but Stacey actually turned 21 in hospital the first time she was sectioned. Can you tell I'm a crazed fan lol

Her so called better acting in dramatic scenes doesn't wash with me. It's just with those kinds of scenes she is a bit more able to get away with her extreme gurning which some seeing as acting.
Listen to any truly great actor or director talk about acting and you'll see Lacey Turner breaks every rule there is about acting.
Yet again tonight in even the most simple of scenes she could do nothing but face pull and wring her hands together. Every single scene is grossly over acted. I'm am sure she is a nice person and all that but she is without doubt one of the very worst actors I have ever seen on TV. She spoils the shoe for me even more than the rotten Carters do.