I never thought I'd say this, but I'm happy Barbara Windsor isn't ruling out a return to Eastenders. The sooner, the better, I say.
I actually miss Peggy. In fact, I think the Mitchells (or what's left of them) miss her profoundly.
But what I hate most is the fact that Bryan Kirkwood, who butchered the show to his own specifications and left it reeling, killed off Pat, the most formidable matriarch on the Square in recent years; not only that, but he sought to replace Pat and Peggy with a matriarch of his own making: Cora Cross, mother of that hypocritical, scrubbed-up slut, Tanya.
Until last year, we didn't even know Cora existed. Sure, we knew Tanya had a mother, who had lived on a sink estate, from whence the fragrant flower of Walford's motherhood came; but we didn't know she was alive. Neither Tanya nor Rainie, in her infrequent appearances, even thought to mention what dear, old mum was doing. But there she suddenly appeared, when Tanya thought to marry gormless Greg, drunk, blunt-spoken and in all her glory.
Now, we're watching, weekly, how the ASBO granny, an old lush, is supposed to be becoming the go-to woman on the Square, the new matriarch.
There's no denying that Ann Mitchell isn't a fine actress. She's a protogee of no less than Joan Littlewood, a former member of the RSC and an actress of diverse talent. It's just that Cora, in my opinion, is so ... unlikeable.
To begin with, a matriarch wouldn't threaten a hormonal woman in the early stages of pregnancy, the way Cora did Janine, who - really - had never done Cora any harm. Fast forward several months, and there's Cora again intimidating Janine, who was, unknowingly, in the early stages of labour, on her wedding day. A go-to woman, a matriarch, in both instances, would have honed in on exactly what was worrying Janine on those two separate occasions, and put any judgement aside. Besides, Cora doesn't know Janine, personally; she's just being judgemental on the basis of gossip from her other cronies.
A matriarch has to have some sort of history with the Square. Granted, Pauline and Dot certainly did and do, and Peggy fronted the Vic for fifteen years. But the big matriarchs of the show were Lou and Pat. It was established from the getgo that Lou was the veritable Queen of the Square. She treated every resident as part of a vast extended family. She'd lived on the Square all her life. Lou really was a go-to woman.
Pat, Lou's ex-daughter-in-law, was the least likely contender for a matriarchal position when she arrived on the Square in the 1980s. In her mid-forties, Pete's trouble-making ex-wife as well as an ex-prostitute and an abysmal mother to her two sons. She was a hard-drinker and, in general, not a very nice person. But through brilliant character development and a subsequent marriage to her old flame, Frank Butcher, Pat started developing into a strong woman, who offered no judgement on anyone, and helped when asked in certain situations. While she wasn't a brilliant mother to Simon and David, she was a great mother-figure to Frank's three children. After Pete's death, she and Kathy Beale forged a strong friendship, and when Kathy left, Pat was a surrogate mother-figure for Ian and served as a grandmotherly influence for his kids.
As the years progressed and Pat met hardship and adversity with pragmatism and phlegm, her character grew in stature, until she was the very essence of the type of matriarch that Lou had been as well. Think about it: Pat was connected by blood or marriage to every family on the Square - the Beales/Fowlers, the Mitchells, the Brannings, the Butchers, even the Foxes through Denise's marriage to Kevin Wicks.
Cora has none of that history. She's Tanya's mother, FFS - a character who's occupied a place on the Square for six full years. Her existence wasn't even confirmed until a year ago. She's a drunk. She's catty-mouthed and judgemental. And she's mean. In fact, she's just one mean old broad. And forcing her down our throats with her sudden interest in Lucy Beale's dilemma, her terrible judgement when it comes to Janine's situation and her cosying up to Derek doesn't endear her to me.
In fact, I call her "Pot." They're trying to present her as an amalgamation of Pat and Dot - the worldliness of Pat, combined with the chain smokery that was Dot. And now that Dot's gone, and Rose will be leaving shortly, they refer to Dot's house as "Cora's house," and they're shoehorning in a romance with Patrick, who always had a soft spot for Pat.
Cora's not Pat, not by a long shot; and I wish they would stop trying to make her into a Pat replacement.
I want Peggy back.
I actually miss Peggy. In fact, I think the Mitchells (or what's left of them) miss her profoundly.
But what I hate most is the fact that Bryan Kirkwood, who butchered the show to his own specifications and left it reeling, killed off Pat, the most formidable matriarch on the Square in recent years; not only that, but he sought to replace Pat and Peggy with a matriarch of his own making: Cora Cross, mother of that hypocritical, scrubbed-up slut, Tanya.
Until last year, we didn't even know Cora existed. Sure, we knew Tanya had a mother, who had lived on a sink estate, from whence the fragrant flower of Walford's motherhood came; but we didn't know she was alive. Neither Tanya nor Rainie, in her infrequent appearances, even thought to mention what dear, old mum was doing. But there she suddenly appeared, when Tanya thought to marry gormless Greg, drunk, blunt-spoken and in all her glory.
Now, we're watching, weekly, how the ASBO granny, an old lush, is supposed to be becoming the go-to woman on the Square, the new matriarch.
There's no denying that Ann Mitchell isn't a fine actress. She's a protogee of no less than Joan Littlewood, a former member of the RSC and an actress of diverse talent. It's just that Cora, in my opinion, is so ... unlikeable.
To begin with, a matriarch wouldn't threaten a hormonal woman in the early stages of pregnancy, the way Cora did Janine, who - really - had never done Cora any harm. Fast forward several months, and there's Cora again intimidating Janine, who was, unknowingly, in the early stages of labour, on her wedding day. A go-to woman, a matriarch, in both instances, would have honed in on exactly what was worrying Janine on those two separate occasions, and put any judgement aside. Besides, Cora doesn't know Janine, personally; she's just being judgemental on the basis of gossip from her other cronies.
A matriarch has to have some sort of history with the Square. Granted, Pauline and Dot certainly did and do, and Peggy fronted the Vic for fifteen years. But the big matriarchs of the show were Lou and Pat. It was established from the getgo that Lou was the veritable Queen of the Square. She treated every resident as part of a vast extended family. She'd lived on the Square all her life. Lou really was a go-to woman.
Pat, Lou's ex-daughter-in-law, was the least likely contender for a matriarchal position when she arrived on the Square in the 1980s. In her mid-forties, Pete's trouble-making ex-wife as well as an ex-prostitute and an abysmal mother to her two sons. She was a hard-drinker and, in general, not a very nice person. But through brilliant character development and a subsequent marriage to her old flame, Frank Butcher, Pat started developing into a strong woman, who offered no judgement on anyone, and helped when asked in certain situations. While she wasn't a brilliant mother to Simon and David, she was a great mother-figure to Frank's three children. After Pete's death, she and Kathy Beale forged a strong friendship, and when Kathy left, Pat was a surrogate mother-figure for Ian and served as a grandmotherly influence for his kids.
As the years progressed and Pat met hardship and adversity with pragmatism and phlegm, her character grew in stature, until she was the very essence of the type of matriarch that Lou had been as well. Think about it: Pat was connected by blood or marriage to every family on the Square - the Beales/Fowlers, the Mitchells, the Brannings, the Butchers, even the Foxes through Denise's marriage to Kevin Wicks.
Cora has none of that history. She's Tanya's mother, FFS - a character who's occupied a place on the Square for six full years. Her existence wasn't even confirmed until a year ago. She's a drunk. She's catty-mouthed and judgemental. And she's mean. In fact, she's just one mean old broad. And forcing her down our throats with her sudden interest in Lucy Beale's dilemma, her terrible judgement when it comes to Janine's situation and her cosying up to Derek doesn't endear her to me.
In fact, I call her "Pot." They're trying to present her as an amalgamation of Pat and Dot - the worldliness of Pat, combined with the chain smokery that was Dot. And now that Dot's gone, and Rose will be leaving shortly, they refer to Dot's house as "Cora's house," and they're shoehorning in a romance with Patrick, who always had a soft spot for Pat.
Cora's not Pat, not by a long shot; and I wish they would stop trying to make her into a Pat replacement.
I want Peggy back.
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