The word legend often gets thrown around a lot. But when the legend we're talking about is Dame Barbara Windsor, how could she be considered anything else? A little lady with a big presence, the world of showbiz was in mourning recently when Dame Barbara lost her brave battle against Alzheimer's, with her funeral being held last week.
When the news of her passing broke, tributes came flooding in from stars who had been fortunate to have worked with the talented actress during her seventy year career. Reading them was lovely because it showed just how much Dame Barbara was loved. And for those of us who didn't know Barbara Windsor personally... well we certainly wished we had! Our screens are going to be a little less brighter now that she's gone.
For many of us, Barbara Windsor was a very familiar face on TV. We watched her in everything from those 'Naughty but Nice' ads for fresh cream; shows like Blankety Blank; as Saucy Nancy in Worzel Gummidge; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Supergran; You Rang M'Lord? and a whole host of other films and TV shows. But of course it was through the Carry On films that Dame Barbara first made her name and was familiar to audiences as the petite blonde who appeared in much of the British film series.
But after the Carry On series ended, there were what were described as 'lean years' before a role came along that completely and utterly changed her life. Barbara Windsor played a pub landlady and mum to two hard men in some soap or other... what was it called again???
When it was announced back in 1994 that Barbara Windsor was being cast in EastEnders as the Mitchell brothers' mum Peggy Mitchell, nobody but nobody could have predicted what this role would do for the character, the soap, or for the actress herself. And Dame Barbara did have some input in shaping the character of Peggy Mitchell, turning her into the Walford icon we know and love. The chemistry that Barbara had with her screen family was epic, and it was a bond that spilled over into real-life with Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp, who play the Mitchell brothers, having great affection for their screen mum. And nobody could ever deliver the line 'Get outta my pub!" quite like she could!
It sometimes takes a while for a soap character to make an impact. But when Barbara Windsor took over the role of Peggy Mitchell from original actress Jo Warne - who had played the Mitchell matriarch for around ten episodes - she arrived in Albert Square with an almighty bang that made viewers sit up and take notice. And during the twenty two years - on and off until her death from cancer - that Peggy had been in Albert Square, she was in the midst of a lot of drama: so many memorable storylines with great dialogue and many of those scenes being hailed by EastEnders fans as iconic. So it goes without saying that for this post, it was almost impossible to limit ourselves to just five epic storylines. But somehow we managed to choose the five that seemed the most poignant to us.
1. PEGGY HITS WALFORD... AND SHARON!
"If I catch you anywhere near my two sons... I'll do time for you. I'll kill you with my bare hands..."
When Peggy returned from Spain to be at son Phil's bedside after hearing he'd been badly injured, she didn't know the full story of how he had come to be hospitalized. She didn't know that it was her younger son Grant who had put him in there. Or that Grant had discovered that his wife Sharon had been having an affair with Phil. But when Peggy discovered the truth, all hell broke loose!
Her very public confrontation with Sharon in the Square set the scene for Peggy's reign over Walford for the next twenty two years or so, and let the locals know just what they were in for. For Peggy, family always came first no matter what. She was also never afraid of a confrontation (the more public the better!) with many a spat taking place in the Vic, and neither was she shy about dishing out one of her legendary slaps if she felt someone deserved it. And as it turned out, she was always going to lock horns with Sharon - a woman she more often than not loathed with a passion. If they weren't arguing over Sharon's involvement with one of the Mitchell brothers, then it was over their beloved Queen Victoria pub. But the two women did manage to make their peace just before Peggy passed away.
2. MARK AND PEGGY'S ILL HEALTH
"If you swim in the sewer, you catch something!"
Nobody could accuse Peggy of being sweetness and light all the time - she was a Mitchell after all. But when she declared war against the Fowlers because she'd discovered that Mark was HIV positive, even Peggy's family were stunned at just how vicious she could be - and it was a storyline that made the character very unpopular with viewers. But Peggy remained unrepentant, especially when she feared that her grandson Ben's illness was due to the little one having come into contact with Mark and his wife Ruth. That was until she faced her own battle with a life threatening illness and realized what poor Mark must have been going through.
When Peggy discovered a lump in her breast, she didn't tell anyone. But her daughter-in-law Tiffany found out and agreed to keep Peggy's secret, while providing support and accompanying Peggy to her hospital visits. Sadly it was confirmed that Peggy did indeed have breast cancer, enabling the character to display a vulnerability that had never been seen before. Peggy needed to have a lumpectomy, although she went on to have a mastectomy when the cancer returned a couple of years later. But Peggy's illness was the push she needed to head over to the Fowlers' to make a very heart-felt apology to a very gracious and supportive Mark.
Barbara Windsor had revealed how much she hated the storyline involving Peggy's bigoted feud with Mark, but the two subplots intertwined in this storyline - the revelation of Mark's HIV and Peggy discovering she had cancer - showed many facets to Peggy's character. And furthermore both plots were effective in raising awareness of breast cancer; highlighting people's ignorance about HIV and AIDS, as well as demonstrating the prejudice faced by HIV sufferers.
3. EXPOSING PAT AND FRANK'S AFFAIR
"...So why they're still here is a bit of a mystery. But one thing I've learned while I've been married to Mr. Butcher is never underestimate his capacity to make a cock-up of things!"
Peggy was devastated when she realised that not only was her husband Frank having an affair with his ex-wife Pat, but the pair were also planning on leaving their spouses and running off together. Just as Peggy and Frank were planning to renew their wedding vows! Frank had explained everything in a letter that Peggy was meant to have read after Pat and Frank had sailed off into the sunset together. But Peggy had found the letter and after talking to her son Phil, she decided that she would teach the cheating pair a lesson...
In the Vic, in what is now a classic and very well-acted scene, Peggy gathered everyone around as she read Frank's letter out to a stunned pub including an embarrassed Pat and Frank, as well as Pat's horrified husband, Roy. Peggy then went on to do what she was famous for - dishing out two almighty slaps to her unfaithful husband and his mistress, proving that unlike with Pauline Fowler, frying pans really weren't necessary! Although Roy eventually forgave Pat and the two remained married until Roy's death, it spelled the end of Frank and Peggy's marriage. But ironically, even though she did often clash with Pat, the two women went on to form quite a strong friendship.
4. CHRISSIE WATTS! MURDERER!!!
"Tell Den you're sorry. Tell Den!"
After finding out that the person who killed Den Watts was his wife, Chrissie, and that she was intent on letting Peggy's daughter Sam take the blame for it, Peggy wasted no time in heading over to the cemetery and confronting the weeping widow. Den's coffin had just been lowered into the ground, and Chrissie was about to read a Bible passage when an irate Peggy charged up to the group furiously yelling that she knew what Chrissie had done. Terrified that her secret might come out, Chrissie had tried to get Peggy to stop, helped by her new lovesick boyfriend Jake Moon. But Peggy was having none of it, and when Chrissie tried to walk off, Peggy pushed Chrissie into Den's grave demanding that she tell her dead husband she was sorry for putting him in there.
It was definitely one of the most memorable funeral scenes from a soap. But what we want to know is, that why was it when a horrified Chrissie was wriggling around on her husband's coffin desperately wanting to get out, none of the mourners moved a muscle, and just stood around the edge of the grave - more motionless than the graveyard statues and stared in complete silence?
5. MARRIAGE TO ARCHIE MITCHELL
"I don't think you know who you're dealing with here. I'm not some cuddly, little old lady. I'm Peggy Mitchell. I'm old East End. Real East End, proper! You don't mess with me."
Well said, Peggy! For years viewers had been hearing all about "Daad's bruvver, Archie." And while we all knew that Peggy's husband, Eric Mitchell, was no choir boy, Archie proved that anything his brother could do, he could go one better - or worse! But Peggy, proving that some girls always fall for the bad boy, couldn't resist Archie's charms, much to the concern of Archie's daughter Ronnie who knew exactly what her dad was like. But Peggy refused to listen to Ronnie's warnings, and when Archie proposed, Peggy accepted.
But the marriage was extremely short-lived as the reception descended into chaos when the extent of Archie's deception and devious ways were revealed, culminating in the death of Ronnie's long-lost daughter, Danielle. Peggy knew she could never stay with a man like that and had to endure the humiliation of her marriage ending before she'd even tossed the bouquet. She probably even beat Ian and Melanie Beale's record for the shortest Walford marriage ever!
That didn't stop Archie from trying to win his bride back but Peggy made it clear that he didn't stand a chance. And when his attempts to reconcile didn't work, Archie grew nasty, eventually ousting Peggy out of her beloved pub. But he made one last-ditch effort to win back his bride in a very moving scene - their last one together before Archie was killed. And it looked as though Peggy might just be swayed... But we'll never know what Peggy would have done because just moments later, Archie was murdered after being hit over the head with the famous Queen Victoria bust. And upon hearing that Archie had been murdered at The Vic, Peggy was distraught. But seven years later when talking to Archie's killer - Stacey Branning - Peggy said in typical Mitchell style that Stacey had saved Peggy the job of killing Archie herself!
What are your favourite memories of the formidable Peggy Mitchell and the amazing Dame Barbara Windsor?
Barbara Windsor, you'll be missed. Rest in peace x
Photos: YouTube
Word cloud: Angel Noire