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LOTS OF aesthetic changes in the
Square lately. The residents of Albert Square are in a Changing
Rooms kind of a mood. First it was the Vic, and then ...
Cheap Ian, who is happily
ensconced in his ancesteral home at 45 Albert Square, has decided to
do a little DIY. He decides to break the wall from the old Fowler
sitting room, (that we’ve seen all these years), through to the
front room, (that we’ve never seen), to make one big living space
for his family. Problem is, it’s a load-bearing wall and the banging
through with a sledgehammer makes the 100-year-old ceiling start to
fall in, so he needs to call for professional help (shoulda happened
years ago). And while waiting the gaff is unlivable so his family is
shunted here and there – mostly there – to the Brannings.
Bradley and Stacey are moving
along with their wedding plans, even though Stacey looks more like
she’s planning her funeral, and while Max is still trying to get her
back in his bed, or backseat, or loo stall (or any of the other
romantic places he use to take her). She’s still a no-go...
And there’s more trouble for Sean,
who’s quickly heading round the twist with a rage caused from his
tour in Iraq. He has an argument with Yolande (who spied him
stealing a keg from the Vic) and Patrick. Stacy has to step in to
stop him from pummelling Patrick. But later on, Patrick is hit from
behind and ends up in hospital and Sean is arrested for the crime
because Chelsea and Deano reported that they’d seen him in the
Minute Mart. Sean says he’s innocent and that he arrived on the
scene after it happened, but no one believes him, so he sits in
jail.
Thirteen-year-old tearaway Lucy
Beale is quickly becoming the reincarnation of late Mum Cindy. She
now comes under the influence of 18-year-old Craig, who is working
in Ian’s chippy (where Ian is forcing her to work as a punishment)
and who is big trouble (and who, unbeknownst to Lucy, carries a gun
in his car’s glove box). Under his influence she is attempting to
shoplift booze from the Minute Mart and is out all hours drinking
and using a sleepover at Lauren’s as cover. But Craig has plans for
Lucy that she’s not so ready for, and as he plies her with alcohol
and tries to bully her into sex, bullied Lauren gets concerned and
tired of lying to provide cover and tells all. Ian and Max go
running to Craig’s gaff and break in the door just in the nick of
time.
When contacting the old Bill
doesn’t result in charges, Ian offers Craig cash to go away and he
does. Then Ian tells Lucy, thinking she’ll appreciate him saving
her, but, of course, she resents him even more.
She then, boldly, calls Craig,
asks to see him, then the money, then snatches it and tells him to
get lost or she’ll tell everything she knows. (What could that
be?)...
Elsewhere, annoying Heather (the
new Bert) has a desperate crush on Garry and she convinces Shirley
to help her get to Brighton, where Garry has taken Dawn on holiday,
to snatch him away from her (yeah, right). To get a ride they annoy
Pat, who has received a mysterious letter and is going on a day
trip. But when Shirley tells Pat that they need to pull over at a
rest stop so the corpulent Heather can get a snack, they take off
leaving Pat high and dry and miles from home.
Coming to her aid is a mysterious
stranger who takes her to where she is headed: An old asylum where
her never before spoken of older sister with Down’s Syndrome had
been dumped by their parents at the age of six. She died there 40
years ago without Pat or her family ever going to see her again. But
somehow, Pat just got a letter to pick up her things. However, when
she and her new manfriend (who she’s already told her life story to)
get there, the guard at the soon-to-be-developed-into-condos asylum
building won’t let them in.
So, of course, in old East End
style, when he walks away they break in and search the old
administrative offices and unbelievably find her paperwork and
effects. But curiously, even though Pat had been told she died in
1967, the paperwork said she had been transferred to a different
facility in 1981. Might she still be alive? To assuage Pat’s guilt,
the new twosome go searching for that place, only to find out she
died in the late 80’s, that she was a real character, had a happy
life in that new institution, and was married to another patient,
(also with Down’s).
It is a bit perplexing as to why
they threw this storyline about her sister when she wasn’t alive,
other than to introduce this new man into Pat’s life. After their
adventure, he returns her to Albert Square, and then goes on his
way. But from the way he looks around at the Square, we know he’ll
be back...
Phil, Peggy and Ben are on holiday
to visit Grant, and whom do they leave in charge of the Vic? Two new
long-lost Mitchells, Ronnie and Roxy, who first appeared for Phil’s
wedding reception wot wuzn’t. Even though they haven’t seen them in
years, and they know nothing about running a pub, Peggy leaves them
in charge while she goes off to Rio. It also leaves new Mitchells
for Ian to feud with.
Meanwhile in Brighton … Garry asks
Dawn to marry him, but she says no, she wants to remains friends
only. But Garry is in for a bigger shock: His Mum is there with
Minty. They’ve been having an affair ...
December is, of course, the Big
Holiday month, culminating in the Annual Albert Square Bloodbath.
Happy Holidays everyone!! And since I get my EastEnders via a
DVD train that is three months behind the UK, you’ll all know who
bites it by Easter. Such is life round the Square ... And if you’d
like to keep up with all thing EastEnders, sign up for our
FREE, weekly e-newsletter, The E20 Chronicles, by emailing us
at:
dgishcabibble20@aol.com.
Signed,
Your Faithful Reporter,
Deborah Gilbert AKA Ishcabibble |
