#dirtyden

Tuesday 23rd June 2020

Good evening everyone! I know it's been a hot minute since my last post. I've been debating on what to post about, considering there are so many EastEnders clips for us to dive into whilst it's off air. After a long think, I thought it would be good to perhaps write about the iconic episodes which have been airing on Tuesday evenings. So many epic memorable EastEnders moments, some which I never got round to seeing when they originally aired. What a perfect time to write about some of the soaps most memorable moments.

So last Tuesday was iconic two-hander episode between Den and Angie Watts. What I'd give to be a viewer during that time to see Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson in the highlight of their time on EastEnders. This particular episode was first aired on 16th October 1986. I'm not 100% sure what the story-line was but from the take on how the soap went, Den I believe had become fed up of Angie's drinking and had come to the decision that he wants to have a divorce and start a new life with Jan, I believe? Eager to keep hold of her husband, Angie was forced to come up with a way to keep him to herself. She was thrown into a corner and starting lines such as, "Booze is the least of my problems!" and "I'm really very ill!" .... Swirling and swirling a ball of lies to be able to keep hold of husband, I happened to notice that when Den asked her specifically what she had, I did think she was going to lie and say she had cancer, but she couldn't actually make an excuse and give an explanation, instead she blurted out that she only had 6 months to live!

Den was visibly taken aback by this, taking back everything he had ever done to her, and promised her he will make her last 6 months the best yet, also promising her he won't leave her. At the very end of the episode Den leaves the Vic to gather his thoughts and process the news he's just been given, which unbeknown to him, is fake! Angie is left in the Vic alone and we see her just giving a little smile to camera. She's happy she's not losing her husband, but now she has just told the biggest lie anyone could come up with! I wish I knew how she managed to pull it off for so long, well up until that episode on Christmas Day when Den gifted her divorce papers, after she drunkenly admitted to a member of a bar that she had lied about it. 

During the episode, I couldn't help but notice how awkward it was just to have those two main characters there for a two-hander episode, and yet the only other person they shared the screen with was the bloody window cleaner! I, personally, thought that was hilarious! That wouldn't happen nowadays in EastEnders ... if there was to be another two-hander episode, I doubt there would be anyone in the background such as a bin man or post man or whoever. They would leave the episode strictly on the two characters. I really enjoyed watching this episode and I'm happy I've been able to view it in full, I feel like being born in the 90s, I missed out on such iconic EastEnders moments involving Dirty Den and Angie. I'm sure I would've loved them! I was so happy when Den returned to the Square on 29th September 2003 with those iconic words to end an EastEnders episode, "Hello Princess!" - How bloody amazing was that? After 14 years of being away and assuming he had died, Dirty Den was back alive and kicking! During his return, he had some fantastic moments, sleeping with his son's girlfriend, in a way of convincing her that if she were to get pregnant, his son wouldn't leave her for Sharon! It only turned out terribly wrong when they were caught in the act, and then both his son and daughter admitted they were deeply in love with each other! 

And then his time on the Square came to an end, officially, when his wife Chrissie killed him by smashing his head with a door stop, after she got him to admit his wrong doing's whilst not realising his daughter, Sharon, had heard everything from behind the bar. I truly believe that that was another iconic moment for EastEnders - the end of another phenomenal, epic character. I feel a little saddened that Angie never made a return to the Square, from my knowledge that is, that she never did? I would've loved Sharon to have a reunion with her Mum, even if it was just for a second, a small little reunion. I feel Sharon's life would be complete then - she had a reunion with her father, who sadly passed away, and then to have had a reunion with her mother - completely separately, would've been amazing! I mean, could someone enlighten me if I have this wrong, but has Angie already passed away in the soap? Was it ever mentioned that she had passed away? I don't recall. But if she hasn't, I feel it would be another iconic moment to see. What do you guys think?

I'm really looking forward to seeing what other iconic episodes are going to be pulled out of the bag for us to view. I believe next week is going to be the Sharongate episode, when her secret is brought to light when Grant plays the iconic tape in the Queen Vic for everyone to hear! That's another episode I never got to see when it originally aired. I'm really excited to see it! 

Have any of you been watching the EastEnders episodes from 2008 which have been brought to BBC iPlayer? I watched the first few episodes and boy it was brilliant to see characters such as Pat, Peggy, Bianca and Janine once again. I couldn't get over how young Tiffany (Maisie Smith) and Whitney (Shona McGarty) looked! It's amazing how far both these wonderful actresses have come! I hope you all are enjoying all these EastEnders clips we've been given to feast our eyes on until the soap comes back on air in September! I think things are will slowly get back to some form of normality once everywhere begins to open from 4th July, of course, it's just a hope, but who knows what could happen, right?