Peggy slings ‘er hook!

Peggy Mitchell, played by actress Barbara Windsor is to leave Albert Square next year.

Windsor who has played the role of feisty Peggy for 15 years announced her decision to quit to spend more time with friends and family. The 72 year-old actress thanked everyone at EastEnders for a wonderful 15 years and did not fail to mention how the show changed her life all those years ago.

“Enders executive producer, Diederick Santer praised Windsor’s work on the show and said she made the Mitchells one of British televisions most popular and loved families.

It is not known yet how Peggy will make her exit but producers will not be giving much away. As we know, Archie her estranged husband makes his exit over the Christmas period.

One thing is for sure, cast, crew and fans will never be able to imagine the Square without Peggy Mitchell. She was and had taken over the baton from Pauline Fowler. She also leaves behind some great colleagues whom she has shared some of her most memorable scenes with, including, Pam St. Clement, Steve McFadden and even Tracey the barmaid.

So with Peggy on her way out of the door, who will be the next Walford matriarch, my money is on Zainab Masood. More importantly, will the Mitchell name still remain over the door of The Queen Vic?

I want to live on Avenue Q

What do you normally do on a Monday night? Stay in watch the soaps with a hot chocolate, or go out have a few drinks and maybe go to the theatre. Well normally I do the boring soaps thing and go to my SU bar but last night I went to the theatre, a decision that was made very last minute.

My friend has been staying for a few days and she wanted to go and see a show. We tried to get tickets for The Lion King but there are no Monday performances. We tried Les Miserables, Dirty Dancing, Grease, Wicked, Oliver and about ten others but they were all sold out.

By this point we wanted to just go and see whatever we could and decided to see if there were tickets for the puppet based musical, Avenue Q. I used to watch Sesame Street and The Muppets and I loved them but I have to admit, Avenue Q did not really appeal to me at all. The man in the box office said we could get tickets for £10 each. A bargain but almost too cheap for the West End. We bought the tickets anyway and decided to go and I am so glad we did.

I was really surprised with the whole performance. I have never laughed as much as I did last night in a very long time. The puppeteers were so professional and the story was simple but very well executed. The whole theatre was laughing and clapping.

This is the third West End show I have seen this year along with Blood Brother and Dirty Dancing. I am going to see Mamma Mia in two weeks and I have to say that Avenue Q is up there with the likes of Dirty Dancing and Blood Brothers. It was completely different to the others and cannot really be placed in the same category but sometimes different can be good and in some cases very good, which is exactly the case with Avenue Q. And if you do not believe me, just read the reviews or go and see it and you too might want to live on Avenue Q.

In need of oxygen and a storm.

This weekend has been one of the best in a very long time. My friend, Lauren from Cornwall came up to stay and only went back today. The weather on Saturday was unsettled and there was nothing planned for us to do throughout the three days she would be here.

I think it is sometimes better not to plan things so we didn’t. On the Saturday night we went to Nandos in Harrow and were going to go onto Yates but with it being the weekend, the bouncers on the door were asking for I.D. I had mine but Lauren had left hers at mine, so we headed back to get it. On the way, during the ten minute walk we decided to go into Central London instead to a pub. Half an hour later we were at Piccadilly Circus looking for a pub, not a club a pub. And where did we end up? Oxygen in Leicester Square. I am not sure if it was a club or a bar so I am going to call it a ‘blub’. It was a nice place, on three levels and the drinks were flowing.

The next day we went back into Waterloo station and met some other friends. From there we walked along the Southbank and had pizza and yet more alcohol. Following this we went to Oxford Street and did the touristy thing of going to Big Ben, Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. The evening was a sober affair and not much alcohol was consumed. It was probably just as well because Sunday night would be the night of inebriation. Not that we knew it yet!

The plan for Sunday was to go to Camden, Canary Wharf and then back to Covent Garden and possibly to the theatre. Well for someone who did not have a plan, I didn’t think I was doing that bad. We managed to cram in a lot on Sunday including all of the above AND we ended up in a club, Storm in Leicester Square. We wanted to find a pub but the £1 entry persuaded us. The drinks were cheap as well and the rest as they say is history. All I know is that the photos emerged today and they were not pretty. I woke up this morning and really did think I was a little bit dead.

The Jacksons to return to EastEnders

The Jacksons were EastEnders in the 90's. Source: BBC

The original Jackson family, played by Lindsey Coulson, Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney are to return to EastEnders in the lead up to the shows 25th anniversary.

Carol, Sonia and Robbie will join Bianca (Patsy Palmer) and her four children on the Square and this could send shockwaves through Walford. The last time we saw Carol was in 1999 when she found out that her daughter Bianca had been sleeping with her partner (Dan).

Sonia left the show in 2007 with husband Martin (James Alexandrou) and daughter Rebecca. Cassidy is currently competing in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Robbie meanwhile left in 2003 and made a brief return a year later for Sonia and Martin’s wedding.

It has also been confirmed that Billy, Carol’s youngest son will return but the casting is unknown.

The Jacksons in my opinion define EastEnders in the 90′s. They were at the heart of some of the shows biggest storylines and when the Brannings were introduced to the show, I think they were used a replacement with family ties and links. (Carol is a Branning).

‘Enders executive producer, Diederick Santer said he was extremely excited about having Lindsey, Natalie and Dean back on the Square. It is not known how long they will stay but they start filming soon and will appear on screen in the New Year.

Strictly Come Dancing Elimination – Week Six

Jo Wood and Brendan Cole

Source: Mirror

And the daddy of George Michael Trott is…

Darren Miller

Source: Virgin Media

Question Time attracts record audience.

BBC One’s political debate show Question Time attracted its highest audience in the 30 years it has been running last night.

Question Time proves popular. Source: BBC

The hour long show, broadcast between 10:35 and 11:35 featured the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin. There has been much debate regarding his appearance and anti-fascist protestors gathered outside Television Centre last night ahead of his arrival.

It was always going to be a controversial show but with a record audience of just under eight million viewers and a 52 per cent audience share, it was the third most watched show of the evening. The top honours last night went to BBC One soap EastEnders which beat Coronation Street for the sixth consecutive Thursday. The London based show attracted 8.7 million viewers against 7.9 million for the ITV rival.

Question Time normally attracts around 2-3 million viewers on a normal Thursday night transmission so last nights ratings show a huge increase. I just cannot see the ratings being as high next week, but with Jacqui Smith of the panel I could be surprised.

At last, the BBC see sense

Source: UK Game Shows

In many households it is the same argument on a Saturday night. Do we watch Strictly or The X Factor? So I was refreshed to read that the BBC are to change the schedules at the end of the month in a hope of combating the Strictly Come Dancing/X Factor ratings battle.

At the present time, Strictly starts at around 7:00 and runs for two hours. ITV1 have scheduled The X Factor for the past few weeks at 8:00 in a two hour timeslot. This has meant that viewers have been torn between the two shows that top the ratings every week.

Simon Cowell blasted the BBC for it’s awful scheduling last month and called for ITV to move The X Factor to a later time. However it was not enough and an overlap of over an hour between the two shows has dented ratings and affected Strictly more than its ITV rival.

Source: Mirror

The X Factor has been winning the ratings battle for the past five weeks since Strictly began. Last Saturday the ITV1 show pulled in around 11 million viewers with Strictly averaging around 8 million.

Ratings for Strictly have not been as high this year as they have in previous years but nobody can deny that by todays standards, eight million is a significant figure. The only shows rated higher are Coronation Street, EastEnders and the odd episode of New Tricks and Doc Martin.

The move made by the BBC will reduce the overlap to 45 minutes, with Strictly starting at 6:50 pm. But will it be enough? Will Strictly’s rating increase or decline? And what will happen to Merlin? One thing is for sure, no matter how compulsive the two shows are on a Saturday night and with Strictly being my favourite, I still put my money on The X Factor as being the highest rated show on a Saturday (and Sunday) night!

More devastation for the Masoods.

*SPOILER ALERT*

OK, so I know I have gone EastEnders mad tonight but there is so much brilliant stuff coming up in the next few months, I could not just ignore it and not give it space on my blog.

Who’s the daddy Heather?

Here is my prediction of the father of Heather Trott’s baby in EastEnders.