EastEnders

[Spartan]

Ermmmmm Cindy Beale Sr is returning apparently.

Not vibing with it to be honest - Stephen and Lucy are dead, and Peter has been recast so many times that no one really knows who he is any more. Also I don't particularly rate Michelle Collins as an actress.

[RayRay]

Didn't like how they re-introduced Linda's mum as she doesn't even look like the first actress who played her.
But now I am really starting to like her. I like how she doesn't let Nish scare her.

[Artoo]

Ermmmmm Cindy Beale Sr is returning apparently.

Not vibing with it to be honest - Stephen and Lucy are dead, and Peter has been recast so many times that no one really knows who he is any more. Also I don't particularly rate Michelle Collins as an actress.

I guess that’s who Ian was on the phone to then?

To be honest I’m all for the show righting it’s wrongs (and killing Cindy off was wrong as I don’t even think it served a purpose), but this is easily ten years too late.

If the plan is to build up the Beales though then so be it - Peter, Lauren and Louis, Cindy Jnr and Beth, and even Jane tbh.

However I do wonder if this is some sort of mental health episode Ian is having - I know it’s a soap, but Cindy was in prison because she hired someone to kill Ian. So is she real?

If she is, Kathy is going to be livid. I can’t wait for them to have an iconic argument and throw their fake deaths in each others face

[Spartan]

Unless they do an Andrea/Dee type storyline and Cindy herself isn't returning, just Michelle. It's all a bit far fetched.

[Artoo]

Unless they do an Andrea/Dee type storyline and Cindy herself isn't returning, just Michelle. It's all a bit far fetched.

Neighbours only got away with that because it’s Neighbours

The idea that both Cindy and Kathy were out there and didn’t come back when Lucy was murdered is just too much. They barely got away with it when they brought Kathy back, trying to convince us Phil had known for years etc. If Cindy really is back it’ll be interesting to see what happens when she meets Bobby. If Ian really is with her I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get to see his reaction to her being alive.

But they really need to fix Ian and Sharon’s friendship.

[BehindBreakaway]

I agree with Artoo. I think it would be more interesting for. Ian to have a breakdown and see her as a vision

[Thriller]

Ludicrous that Cindy’s returning - the show’s moved on, half her children are dead and they’ve already done this with Kathy!

[Spartan]

Also Lisa is retuning for a week with baby Peggy - I totally forgot Louise and Keanu had a kid together.

[Thriller]

Also Lisa is retuning for a week with baby Peggy - I totally forgot Louise and Keanu had a kid together.

Always here for Lisa and the chaos she brings.

[Artoo]

Seeing how Cindy was in prison when she ‘died’ presumably the only way around it is to put her into witness protection. Talk is Ian and Cindy are living in France, so we’ll see how that all works out. It is over the top, but if the payoff is that we get a great story that is well executed, then isn’t it worth it?

Kathy’s return actually had a strong premise behind it, but it was just so poorly executed it ruined her character there for a time - the strong woman that we knew was supposed to be a victim of domestic abuse and coercive behaviour, forced into faking her death. On paper it works, but Gavin wasn’t scary or threatening at all, and rather than act scared of him, Kathy literally just stood there with no reaction and did as she was told.

Hopefully Cindy’s return is better - if she’s been in witness protection I could buy into it, and presumably that then leads to a huge storyline where the people she was hiding from discover she’s alive, potentially dragging the Beales into a new big story for the 40th. I honestly wouldn’t be mad if she has new kids that can follow her back to the square either.

But she can’t return to just be a spare part in the background like Kathy was, and I don’t see it working without Peter or Cindy Jr coming back into the show. It just doesn’t work without them. If she really is coming back, I wonder how long it takes for them to lure Michael French back as David Wicks?

The best way to deal with Ian and Sharon is to have them say sorry, hug it out and never speak of it again

[Artoo]

Also Lisa is retuning for a week with baby Peggy - I totally forgot Louise and Keanu had a kid together.

Shame Louise isn’t returning, but always here for Lisa coming back.

[Thriller]

The 'Cindy's in witness protection' theory has been doing the rounds for 25 years but it really is the only feasible explanation, although how they're going to explain that Ian has happened upon her will be interesting. Yes, if they are bringing her back properly they need to put her front and centre even if it is just for a short stint - it'd be quite ironic, but very EastEnders, for her to return to Walford and die before the end of the year.

[Artoo]

They’ll lose all credibility if they bring her back to kill her off again, that’s what people thought when Den died the second time and he was around a couple of years! Thankfully Janine isn’t around to knock her down to her death