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Eastenders: New Michelle


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Old 04-01-2017, 04:01
Broken_Arrow
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She's more like a happier version of Carol Jackson than Michelle Fowler. I just can't buy into any of this. It looks like the idea is to have Michelle be the new Pauline but that's not working either. I'm not sure why anyone would want to recreate the Martin/Sonia/Pauline saga from the mid 2000s but SOC must have liked it. Michelle Vs. Stacey will be like Pauline Vs. Sonia once Stacey drops her knickers for Max.
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Old 04-01-2017, 08:27
PorkchopExpress
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So far an utterly loathsome character.
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:09
AuntieSoap
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She's more like a happier version of Carol Jackson than Michelle Fowler. I just can't buy into any of this. It looks like the idea is to have Michelle be the new Pauline but that's not working either. I'm not sure why anyone would want to recreate the Martin/Sonia/Pauline saga from the mid 2000s but SOC must have liked it. Michelle Vs. Stacey will be like Pauline Vs. Sonia once Stacey drops her knickers for Max.
Why they have deemed her worthy of recasting is beyond me... no doubt the secret won't meet expectation and in a few months she will be top of the axe list
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:52
masterquan
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Susan tully Michelle was never as memorable a character or actress as people on here state she was.

It was a different world and no Internet forum hype on anything , in fact no internet at all.

So it's easy in this era to overpraising a character I who wasn't great and is certainly not iconic .

The new lady time will tell but most recastings have done ok Lauren, Martin sam first time round.

Just not sure what the point of her is
That's funny arent you the one who thought Lauren Branning was Eastenders's MVP and vital to the popularity of the show.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:55
masterquan
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I didn't even watch Eastenders with the original actress and this recast feels very off to me must be extra weird for those who did watch back then
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:19
Luner13
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I don't mind her.

Stacey is being an effing bitch to her no surprise there.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:32
Ten_Ben
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It's perhaps not helped because she's in the 'wrong' house, staying with Martin in Pat's old house, rather than Ian's which was the original Fowler home that she grew up in.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:32
Venetian
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I don't mind her.

Stacey is being an effing bitch to her no surprise there.
Stacey's got cause, Michelle is a guest in her house not the person running it.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:39
Julie_Smith
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Hmm. I don't think they're pushing her too hard or even at all. She's mostly been in the background apart from the Christmas Day ep when she accompanied Sharon to the hospital.

She gets inconsequential scenes like making a minced beef pie and using up all the hot water. It's probably wise that they're using her in this way.

Tbh she'll never be who I immediately think of when I think of Michelle but I don't mind her. The passing of 20 years gives them a bit of licence re the character not being exactly the same.

I normally hate it when they recast adult characters but am giving this a chance as at least I understand the reasons behind it; the original actor being impossible to obtain.

She has just returned to the place she grew up after 20 years so it's only natural she'd talk about the old days. However, last night was the first time NuMichelle had mentioned Pauline.
She goes on and on about Pauline,but didn't even go to her funeral
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:41
andallthatjazz
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The actress is unlikeable hence can't take into this Michelle "reincarnation". In any case no strong storyline could justify bringing her back considering Arthur, Pauline, Mark passed away without a sneeze from "Michelle". Best left the character in the cupboard and forget about it.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:42
AuntieSoap
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She goes on and on about Pauline,but didn't even go to her funeral
She never met Pauline.... it's a different bloody woman!
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:54
bass55
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I'm finding her quite irritating but I suspect that's the point. And I still haven't got my head around the recast.
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Old 04-01-2017, 14:46
Zarla
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The original Michelle wasn't a goody goody character at all...she had her one night stands with Den and Grant, betraying her best friend Sharon horribly both times. Now she's trying to take over the running of Stacey's household, all the while speaking in a mild northern accent. Accents don't go from Cockney to Cheshire when you move to the US in your 20s.
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Old 04-01-2017, 15:13
MR_Pitkin
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She never met Pauline.... it's a different bloody woman!
The character did
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Old 04-01-2017, 15:25
Harlowe
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The original Michelle wasn't a goody goody character at all...she had her one night stands with Den and Grant, betraying her best friend Sharon horribly both times. Now she's trying to take over the running of Stacey's household, all the while speaking in a mild northern accent. Accents don't go from Cockney to Cheshire when you move to the US in your 20s.
And let's not forgot she left poor Lofty at the alter, she a right wrongon!
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Old 04-01-2017, 16:58
Ten_Ben
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The original Michelle wasn't a goody goody character at all...she had her one night stands with Den and Grant, betraying her best friend Sharon horribly both times. Now she's trying to take over the running of Stacey's household, all the while speaking in a mild northern accent. Accents don't go from Cockney to Cheshire when you move to the US in your 20s.
And let's not forgot she left poor Lofty at the alter, she a right wrongon!
This is why people need to give the character time. I doubt that any of us who remember the original will regard her as a particularly pleasant person. She had her moments but generally she was a stroppy, moody, sulky, arsey bint - a mixture of Lou (gandmother) and Pauline (mother). She may have mellowed a lit in the intervening years. Not the most likeable of people but a complex and interesting character nonetheless.

Newer viewers won't know any of this, of course, which is perhaps why they're playing her as tentatively as they are at the moment. As Jenna R has had input from Susan T, Letitia D and Adam IW, I'd imagine that SOC wants as the original feisty Michelle back... hence the one to one with Sharon next week which presumably will cover not just the current secret but much of the history as well.

Somehow the EE team need to get viewers to accept the character as not especially likeable but interesting and watchable. Not easy in any situation. Harder after a 20 year gap. And harder still with a new head.

It will be fascinating to watch how it develops.
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Old 04-01-2017, 19:19
SepangBlue
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Susan tully Michelle was never as memorable a character or actress as people on here state she was.

It was a different world and no Internet forum hype on anything , in fact no internet at all.

So it's easy in this era to overpraising a character who wasn't great and is certainly not iconic .

The new lady time will tell but most recastings have done ok Lauren, Martin sam first time round.

Just not sure what the point of her is
.. and wasn't everything so much better back then. Social media and its ilk are the curse of interpersonal communication .. nobody ever just phones anyone or talks to them face to face anymore, it's all got to be on these dratted micro screens. I'm just so glad I never got sucked into the 'Smart' era!
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Old Yesterday, 11:19
SepangBlue
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This is why people need to give the character time. I doubt that any of us who remember the original will regard her as a particularly pleasant person. She had her moments but generally she was a stroppy, moody, sulky, arsey bint - a mixture of Lou (gandmother) and Pauline (mother). She may have mellowed a lit in the intervening years. Not the most likeable of people but a complex and interesting character nonetheless.

Newer viewers won't know any of this, of course, which is perhaps why they're playing her as tentatively as they are at the moment. As Jenna R has had input from Susan T, Letitia D and Adam IW, I'd imagine that SOC wants as the original feisty Michelle back... hence the one to one with Sharon next week which presumably will cover not just the current secret but much of the history as well.

Somehow the EE team need to get viewers to accept the character as not especially likeable but interesting and watchable. Not easy in any situation. Harder after a 20 year gap. And harder still with a new head.

It will be fascinating to watch how it develops.
You make some good points and I'm sure we'll see how the character develops during her time in Walford. I presume she's due to remain for a while, now that the writers have taken the trouble to bring her back.

I think the issue people are having - me included - is the total lack of any vestiges of physical resemblance to the original, younger Michelle. This Michelle might as well be a completely new character to the series, which is making things hard for many viewers. Because she's being given all the old Michelle background history, but bears not the slightest physical resemblance to the original character (albeit twenty years on), longer term viewers are left thinking: 'Imposter!'. It's little wonder we're finding it hard to buy into her at the moment.
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Old Yesterday, 12:13
Ten_Ben
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You make some good points and I'm sure we'll see how the character develops during her time in Walford. I presume she's due to remain for a while, now that the writers have taken the trouble to bring her back.

I think the issue people are having - me included - is the total lack of any vestiges of physical resemblance to the original, younger Michelle. This Michelle might as well be a completely new character to the series, which is making things hard for many viewers. Because she's being given all the old Michelle background history, but bears not the slightest physical resemblance to the original character (albeit twenty years on), longer term viewers are left thinking: 'Imposter!'. It's little wonder we're finding it hard to buy into her at the moment.
It's difficult to know what more they can do. They clearly want Michelle back, so we have to assume there's good reasons for it and strong storylines to come. Susan T wouldn't do it, so they had to recast. Period.

I don't think Jemma Russell's resemblance is that far away from what Michelle might be like twenty years on. But yes, I agree, you still have to think about who she is supposed to be each time she's on screen. That should fade in time, as it did with Martin.

Even if ST had returned, they'd still have a big task of selling the character (who isn't always nicey-nicey) to a huge swathe of the audience who don't know her at all.

I see little point in trying to judge success or otherwise too soon and certainly not before next week's episode with Sharon, assuming that's when the secret will come out. Even then it still takes a while to get to know someone, even in real life.
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