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Which returns have been the biggest flops in EastEnders history?
EastEnders2009Fan
Posts: 4,621 Forum Member
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Peter Beale (2020 - 2022) - Honestly what was the point? I’m not even Lauren’s biggest fan but without her, it was pointless.
Liam Butcher (2021) - It might be an unpopular opinion but I rate it worse than Peter’s.
Lola Pearce (2019 - Present) - Clearly just there so Ben can communicate with his daughter.
Janine Butcher (2021 - Present) - While there have been some highlights during her feud with Linda, her return could’ve been so much better away from the Carters. I don’t see why they needed to pair her with Mick when his marriage problems with Linda were already there.
Alfie Moon (2018 - 2019) - Never liked the character but he let his narcissistic mask slip in this stint, can’t understand why he’s back. Him & Kat aren’t meant to be.
Stacey Slater (2020 - early 2021) - This short return ruined such a good long term friendship between her & Ruby.
Grant Mitchell (2016) - No cousinly scenes with Ronnie & Roxy. Why?
Lauren Branning (2016 - 2018) - Never liked the character that much but she became so self centred expecting Steven to take care of her son while she was flirting with her boss, I was rooting for the villain during this storyline. They shouldn’t have brought her back after her Julia’s theme exit with Peter in 2015.
Liam Butcher (2021) - It might be an unpopular opinion but I rate it worse than Peter’s.
Lola Pearce (2019 - Present) - Clearly just there so Ben can communicate with his daughter.
Janine Butcher (2021 - Present) - While there have been some highlights during her feud with Linda, her return could’ve been so much better away from the Carters. I don’t see why they needed to pair her with Mick when his marriage problems with Linda were already there.
Alfie Moon (2018 - 2019) - Never liked the character but he let his narcissistic mask slip in this stint, can’t understand why he’s back. Him & Kat aren’t meant to be.
Stacey Slater (2020 - early 2021) - This short return ruined such a good long term friendship between her & Ruby.
Grant Mitchell (2016) - No cousinly scenes with Ronnie & Roxy. Why?
Lauren Branning (2016 - 2018) - Never liked the character that much but she became so self centred expecting Steven to take care of her son while she was flirting with her boss, I was rooting for the villain during this storyline. They shouldn’t have brought her back after her Julia’s theme exit with Peter in 2015.
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Comments
Liam Butcher- With he and his sister having the most relatives in Eastenders history you would thi k he would be capitalused on. He is as pointless as his dad. The recast was even worse.
Lola Pearce- Never understood the fuss in either stint. Apart from dating and having her baby she is nothing more than a baby machine sadly.
Janine Butcher- She is part of Albert Square and will always be welcomed back for stints. It works but she needs some serious character progression. Same old rubbish. Luckily the actress nails it.
Alfie Moon - Amazing first stint. I loved the character. Then he returned fir the same old rubbish and was basically racist to Alek which I won't forget anytime soon.
Stacey Slater- Great the first time round but saddling her with two extra kids and Martin (who she was horrendous too) has made me want her go. It us a shame as the acrress is really good!
Grant Mitchell- in my top 10 characters. His first return to save his sister was brilliant. Everything after that was horrendous. The aftermath if his last stint was also a huge letdown too.. the acting had really gone down hill too.
Lauren Branning - The wrong sister died. Apart from revealing Stax and then her recast which went onto give us her amazing alcoholism story, I just lost interest. The character needs family around her if she returns.
Liam butcher , worst recast just beating Peter Beale
Liam Butcher
Michelle Fowler
Peter Beale ki
The acting was there but I agree that the storyline(s) that they gave her were bad. I still don’t think she’s the worst though, at least Jenna had chemistry with Letitia I suppose.
Like most soap characters Mel became at her most interesting while we knew she was on her way out.
Such a bad exit scene for her as well. She should’ve just died in the car crash.
Sam (2010-16 stints) - no problem with Danniella's original version of the character but under Kim Medcalf, Sam had gone on so much of a character journey that it was ridiculous reverting her to a persona she'd lost since abandoned. I think some of the writing for Sam is still suffering now because of them having to work around this series of return stints.
Masood - bringing him back for what essentially amounted to a series of "comedy" skits with Ian about samosas and him dating Kathy was a complete waste of a once brilliant character in my opinion.
Kat & Alfie (2010 return) - I was genuinely looking forward to them coming back to take over the Vic from Peggy, but instead of bringing some of their trademark spark and humour behind the bar, it was sour from the off, with them thrown straight into Kat having a baby by Alfie's cousin then the cot death/baby swap, followed by a series of miserable stories about Kat constantly cheating on Alfie, eventually topping the lot with a "whodunnit" to which the answer was Derek Branning of all people. A horrible waste of an iconic couple.
Clare Bates - I don't watch Hollyoaks but apparently Gemma Bissix was very popular on that so it seemed like a good idea for EE to cash in on that. Unfortunately she might as well have been a different character altogether to the one we saw in the 90s and the "stories" gifted to her were godawful from day one.
Wasn't she dropped as soon as they knew Charlie Brooks agreed to return?
No idea to be honest, but it would make sense as that version of Clare was very "Janine-Lite".
Who, Clare?
Yeah.
She pretty much played a watered down version of Clare Devine, her Hollyoaks character.
I’d say Michelle Fowler definitely, but the actress was good, she could have played a different character and would have been better I think.
Peter Beale’s most recent head was boring and turned him into a drip.
Lola Pearce was brilliant in her original stint, but criminally underused since her return.
Ash Kaur’s character has turned quite nasty since returning, which is a shame because she has lots of potential.
Ben Mitchell (the one who killed Heather) was dreadful.
2. Janine Butcher (2021-2022/23?) - I'm really disappointed in the way they handled her return this time 4ound shes way too pantomime I'd actually wouldn't care if they killed her off as this return has damaged her legacy abit for me personally and that's the writers fault.
3. Grant Mitchell (2016) - I felt Ross wasn't taken the role as serious as he use too he felt he had to return for Barber Windsor plus I'm so hacked off to this day they avoided Grant interacting with Ronnie and Roxy the two characters I was looking forward to him interacting with.
4. Alfie Moon (2018-2019) - Just wasn't Alfie for me I know the character gets alot of hate on these forums but I'v always liked the character but in this return I definitely didn't his latest return is way more Alfie like.
5. Lucas Johnson (2020-2021) - Pointless and rather unrealistic but I do like Lucas though.
6. Ruby Allen (2018-2021) - Her rape storyline was good but they made her character unsympathetic in the aftermath alot like what they are doing with Ben's.
They really should've brought back Mark and Vicky and give her a family unit.
The latest Peter
Michelle (storyline only, not the actor)
The last Lucy
Mel
Sam (when Daniella Westbrook)
The latest Liam
Max should of been killed off that night there was no reason for either sister to die
Agreed.
I quite like Ash’s nasty side, didn’t like her before but she’s growing on me a bit.
I wonder who Nish’s favourite child is apart from Ravi because it’s clearly not Kheerat.
I said this would be the likely outcome when it was first announced Janine was returning.
As usual my comment was jumped upon by some as talking rubbish.
However, it has ultimately been proved correct.
The fact is those who clamour for their favourite returnee will likely live to regret that call if they do come back.
The writers of today simply do have the calibre to write for legacy characters.
You were very much correct.
Honestly between Janine’s 2014 exit and her 2021 return, the only time that would’ve been good enough for her to return was 2019 when Kate Oates was solo.