There's a thread on Digital Spy (you can see it here) where people are discussing the possibility of Sharon as a Walford matriarch.
I've already blogged about that, but people are now discussing such improbabilities as Sharon and Pat not ever having been close or, more recently, how Derek Branning managed to "run" Pat out of Walford. These people obviously haven't been watching Eastenders for a long time, or they may have forgotten, or they may have been confused by all of Birkwood's retconning, so let me set the record straight. Right ... everyone sit up and pay attention.
Pat and Sharon
Sharon and Pat knew each other from the Eighties, when Pat was hired by Angie to work as a barmaid when Sharon was a teenager. Sharon sang at Pat's and Frank's wedding reception. They were both fond of Sharon and very protective of her after Angie left Walford and Den "died." Sharon used to live with Pat's son and almost married him; she babysat Janine. She continued to turn to Pat for advice and support, even after Wicksy had betrayed her and run off with Cindy.
When Frank abandoned Pat and his family, Sharon gave Pat work at the Vic. When Pat was so desperate, she was caught stealing from the Vic's till by Sharon, Sharon was sympathetic and helped her. When Sharon was revealed to have betrayed Grant in Sharongate, all of Walford, including Pauline Fowler, shunned her, except for Michelle Fowler and Pat, who never was judgemental.
When Sharon left Walford and Michelle found she couldn't cope with Grant, Sharon sanctioned her to ask Pat to manage the Vic.
For anyone to say that Pat and Sharon were not close in the least is a travesty. Yes, Sharon was close to Pauline, because of her friendship with Michelle; but there was the time when Pauline shunned Sharon because of Sharongate and only came around to support her after having received a rollicking letter from Angie, telling her some home truths. Pat never wavered in her support of or her friendship with Sharon.
Sharon and Pat were close friends, and Pat's relationship with Sharon was almost maternal. In fact, we didn't see any of the Pauline-Sharon closeness until Sharon's marriage to Dennis and after Dennis's death.
Pat and the Brannings
Pat was married to Pete Beale. David Beale (later Wicks) was their son. Pat had various affairs after David's birth - with Brian Wicks, Den Watts and Kenny Beale, Pete's older brother. In fact, when Lou Beale discovered Pat in bed with Kenny, she despatched Kenny forthwith to New Zealand and told Pete about Pat. Pat's trump card, however, was that she was, again, pregnant. However, she went to live with and marry Brian Wicks, taking David and the new baby with her.
They did not live that far away - near enough that David saw Pete regularly and helped out on the stall. When David was fourteen, he got Carol Branning up the duff. David approached Pete for money for an abortion for Carol, lying to say that he needed £200 for a French trip, which Pat didn't have. Pete gave him the money from the stall's takings that day and he gave it to Carol. Then, Carol's three older brothers beat David up.
This story was related by Carol and David to Pat and Pauline in the launderette back in the Nineties, after Carol arrived to live in Walford and discovered David was living nearby. That was when he was told Bianca was his daughter. Carol told the story about the abortion money, David revealed where he'd got it and that Carol's three older brothers beat him up.
Well, we know Carol's brothers are Derek, Max and Jack. In the present incarnation, Derek is older and the other two younger than Carol. But originally, they were all older; and guess what? Pat knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about any beating. The impression the viewer got was it was three teenaged boys beating up another. David lived to fight another day.
The fright Pat got at seeing Derek Branning was a retcon by Bryan Kirkwood, who - face it - was no fan of Pat's. Pat stood up to the likes of Grant and Phil Mitchell. She wasn't afraid of Archie Mitchell and she put Jonnie Allen in his place. She even faced off against Den Watts with some home truths ... and she's afraid of a two-bit, greasy version of DelBoy on steroids?
Pull the other one.
Derek didn't run Pat out of Walford. Derek didn't frighten Pat. The honest truth was that after Carol Branning's pregnancy scare, Brian Wicks moved away from the area, and Pat and the boys went with him. And nothing more was known until Simon showed up in Walford in the 1980s on the assumption that Pete Beale may have been his father. It wasn't until Lou Beale died that Pat told him his dad was Brian Wicks - but it may not have been. Julia Smith always envisioned Simon's dad being Den Watts.
In fact, when Jim Branning returned to Walford and later when Max and his family arrived, no mention was ever made about David and Carol, even after Carol returned and lived in Pat's house, with Pat. None of this "Pat-fear" ever came to light until Birkwood introduced his pet toad Derek.
Birkwood did the dirty on Pat. The very idea of Pat sitting at the bar of the Vic, scheming and encouraging Ryan Molloy to inform the police that Janine had killed Lydia - something of which she had no proof and something so out of character for Pat as to almost be from the twilight zone.
Really, some people need to realise that Bryan Kirkwood's tenure was one bad blip from which it will take a long time for the show to recover.
And finally ...
TimWil and Sharon
Mr Name-Dropper really wants to pay attention. When the poster remarked that a family was created around Sharon in 2004, comprising her father, half-sister and half-brother, he wasn't talking about Sharon's birth family, but the return of Den Watts and the introduction of the abysmal Vicky and the arrival of Dennis Rickman.
Sometimes it pays not to try to be so clever.
I've already blogged about that, but people are now discussing such improbabilities as Sharon and Pat not ever having been close or, more recently, how Derek Branning managed to "run" Pat out of Walford. These people obviously haven't been watching Eastenders for a long time, or they may have forgotten, or they may have been confused by all of Birkwood's retconning, so let me set the record straight. Right ... everyone sit up and pay attention.
Pat and Sharon
Sharon and Pat knew each other from the Eighties, when Pat was hired by Angie to work as a barmaid when Sharon was a teenager. Sharon sang at Pat's and Frank's wedding reception. They were both fond of Sharon and very protective of her after Angie left Walford and Den "died." Sharon used to live with Pat's son and almost married him; she babysat Janine. She continued to turn to Pat for advice and support, even after Wicksy had betrayed her and run off with Cindy.
When Frank abandoned Pat and his family, Sharon gave Pat work at the Vic. When Pat was so desperate, she was caught stealing from the Vic's till by Sharon, Sharon was sympathetic and helped her. When Sharon was revealed to have betrayed Grant in Sharongate, all of Walford, including Pauline Fowler, shunned her, except for Michelle Fowler and Pat, who never was judgemental.
When Sharon left Walford and Michelle found she couldn't cope with Grant, Sharon sanctioned her to ask Pat to manage the Vic.
For anyone to say that Pat and Sharon were not close in the least is a travesty. Yes, Sharon was close to Pauline, because of her friendship with Michelle; but there was the time when Pauline shunned Sharon because of Sharongate and only came around to support her after having received a rollicking letter from Angie, telling her some home truths. Pat never wavered in her support of or her friendship with Sharon.
Sharon and Pat were close friends, and Pat's relationship with Sharon was almost maternal. In fact, we didn't see any of the Pauline-Sharon closeness until Sharon's marriage to Dennis and after Dennis's death.
Pat and the Brannings
Pat was married to Pete Beale. David Beale (later Wicks) was their son. Pat had various affairs after David's birth - with Brian Wicks, Den Watts and Kenny Beale, Pete's older brother. In fact, when Lou Beale discovered Pat in bed with Kenny, she despatched Kenny forthwith to New Zealand and told Pete about Pat. Pat's trump card, however, was that she was, again, pregnant. However, she went to live with and marry Brian Wicks, taking David and the new baby with her.
They did not live that far away - near enough that David saw Pete regularly and helped out on the stall. When David was fourteen, he got Carol Branning up the duff. David approached Pete for money for an abortion for Carol, lying to say that he needed £200 for a French trip, which Pat didn't have. Pete gave him the money from the stall's takings that day and he gave it to Carol. Then, Carol's three older brothers beat David up.
This story was related by Carol and David to Pat and Pauline in the launderette back in the Nineties, after Carol arrived to live in Walford and discovered David was living nearby. That was when he was told Bianca was his daughter. Carol told the story about the abortion money, David revealed where he'd got it and that Carol's three older brothers beat him up.
Well, we know Carol's brothers are Derek, Max and Jack. In the present incarnation, Derek is older and the other two younger than Carol. But originally, they were all older; and guess what? Pat knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about any beating. The impression the viewer got was it was three teenaged boys beating up another. David lived to fight another day.
The fright Pat got at seeing Derek Branning was a retcon by Bryan Kirkwood, who - face it - was no fan of Pat's. Pat stood up to the likes of Grant and Phil Mitchell. She wasn't afraid of Archie Mitchell and she put Jonnie Allen in his place. She even faced off against Den Watts with some home truths ... and she's afraid of a two-bit, greasy version of DelBoy on steroids?
Pull the other one.
Derek didn't run Pat out of Walford. Derek didn't frighten Pat. The honest truth was that after Carol Branning's pregnancy scare, Brian Wicks moved away from the area, and Pat and the boys went with him. And nothing more was known until Simon showed up in Walford in the 1980s on the assumption that Pete Beale may have been his father. It wasn't until Lou Beale died that Pat told him his dad was Brian Wicks - but it may not have been. Julia Smith always envisioned Simon's dad being Den Watts.
In fact, when Jim Branning returned to Walford and later when Max and his family arrived, no mention was ever made about David and Carol, even after Carol returned and lived in Pat's house, with Pat. None of this "Pat-fear" ever came to light until Birkwood introduced his pet toad Derek.
Birkwood did the dirty on Pat. The very idea of Pat sitting at the bar of the Vic, scheming and encouraging Ryan Molloy to inform the police that Janine had killed Lydia - something of which she had no proof and something so out of character for Pat as to almost be from the twilight zone.
Really, some people need to realise that Bryan Kirkwood's tenure was one bad blip from which it will take a long time for the show to recover.
And finally ...
TimWil and Sharon
Mr Name-Dropper really wants to pay attention. When the poster remarked that a family was created around Sharon in 2004, comprising her father, half-sister and half-brother, he wasn't talking about Sharon's birth family, but the return of Den Watts and the introduction of the abysmal Vicky and the arrival of Dennis Rickman.
Sometimes it pays not to try to be so clever.
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