Actress Lucy Benjamin will once again be reprising her role as EastEnders lickle Lisa Shaw. Since first leaving the show in 2003, Lucy has made a few guest appearances and now that she's back again. Viewers can soon watch Lisa frequently lock horns with Sharon, Kathy, Phil and Ben. If only her former mother-in-law, the legendary Pauline Fowler, was still on the Square - there'd be fireworks for sure. Not to mention broken fruit bowls!
And of course Lisa's return means that she's reunited with her best friend, Melanie Owen (Tamzin Outhwaite) for the first time in seventeen years. But enjoy it while it lasts because Tamzin Outhwaite will be disappointing us all by leaving EastEnders this autumn.
Those of us who watched EastEnders back in the nineties will remember the special bond that Lisa and Mel had which encompassed two nineties phenomena - girl power and ladette culture. But what was really special about their friendship was how they supported each other through life's ups and downs, whether it was Mel's debacle of a marriage to Ian Beale, her almost equally disastrous marriage to Steve Owen, or Lisa's catastrophic relationship with Phil Mitchell, the girls always had each other's backs.
That's not to say that their friendship was without problems. There was Lisa's jealousy of Mel at one time, and Mel, forgetting the meaning of loyalty as well as her dislike of Phil, mistook him for a cuddly toy and took him to bed! But this is soapland so all was (eventually) forgiven and the girls' bond was stronger than ever. When Lisa fled Walford to get away from Phil, she escaped to Portugal... where Mel was living!
Throughout the show's thirty four year history, female friendships have been something of an underlying theme. Over the years, there's been Carly Wicks and Dawn Swann; Dot Branning and Yolande Truman; Lauren Branning and Lucy Beale, and Tanya Branning and Jane Beale. These female friendships have created some real heartwarming moments on the show. We take a look at some of the most memorable female double acts Walford has ever seen.
1. SHARON WATTS AND MICHELLE FOWLER
Michelle's mum Pauline (Wendy Richard) once told Sharon (Letitia Dean) that she was the closest thing that Michelle (Susan Tully) would ever have to a sister. Pauline certainly knew what she was talking about because just as the girls loved each other like sisters, fought like sisters, fell out like sisters, they always made up again - just like sisters!
A teenage Sharon and Michelle
But Sharon and Michelle usually fell out over things that most sisters didn't typically argue about. Instead of clothes and make-up, they fought over their growing attraction to their mutual friend Kelvin Carpenter; Michelle getting shot by deranged Dougie, the 'friend' of Sharon's husband Grant; Sharon revealing her true identity to Michelle's daughter Vicki ("She's not my aunty, she's my sister.") And years later there was Sharon's shock discovery that her ex-husband Grant was the father of Michelle's son, Mark. Not to mention her disgust at learning that Michelle had been having a fling with one of her underage students.
And of course the biggest fall-out occurred after Michelle revealed who Vicki's father was - Sharon's dad, Den! EastEnders fans will remember that fantastic two-hander when the truth came out in 1989 - the episode fans had eagerly been waiting three years for. Though understandably furious at first, Sharon's anger finally subsided, and she looked at the whole episode less about her best friend sleeping with her dad and more about Michelle giving her a sister.
An atomic bomb could never destroy the lifelong bond between Sharon and Michelle, and the two women have always been incredibly supportive of the other. Michelle was Sharon's rock during the whole 'Sharongate' saga, while Sharon was there for Michelle when she returned from America with her marriage and career in tatters. These days Sharon is known on the Square for being Linda Carter's best mate but their friendship pales in comparison to Sharon and Michelle's.
The rapport between Sharon and Michelle played out so effortlessly on-screen probably because Letitia Dean and Susan Tully are also very close friends in real life, with Susan on bridesmaid duty at Letitia's 2002 wedding.
2. ANGIE WATTS AND KATHY BEALE
These days we're more used to seeing Kaff in the er, cafe but fans of the show from day one will remember that in a past life, the now-resurrected Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) was a barmaid at The Queen Vic and best friends with the landlady Angie Watts (Anita Dobson.) Their husbands Pete and Den were best friends, as were their kids, Ian and Sharon. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'keeping it in the family'!
On the surface, the two women couldn't have been more different but they had a very strong friendship and were each other's closest confidant. Kathy worried a great deal about Angie and her alcoholism, and couldn't understand why Angie would put up with Den and his womanizing ways - the very thing that was driving Angie to drink and to have flings of her own. Angie in return was fiercely protective of her friend and provided a listening ear whenever Kathy was at loggerheads with her mother-in-law Lou, and during times of real crisis, for instance when Kathy was being blackmailed by Nick Cotton and the truth about her traumatic childhood was revealed.
But that's not to say that the two friends didn't fall out from time to time. Kathy was disapproving of Angie's flings even though she knew it was Angie's way of getting her own back on Den, and she was disgusted when she learned that Angie was seeing Andy O'Brien. Then there was the time Angie delivered a slap that almost took Kathy's head off because she found out that Pete and Kathy had been covering for Den and his mistress, Jan. Poor Kath thought she was doing the right thing for all involved. But thirty seconds later, the row was forgotten as Angie and Kathy left Den in the lurch behind the bar, announcing that they were heading 'up west.' There were more testing times ahead for their friendship even after Angie had left Walford, when Sharon tried to seduce Kathy's fiancé Phil. Sharon tried to use Kathy's friendship with her mother to get back into her good books - but Kath was having none of it!
With Angie departing, Kathy needed a new close friend who lived on the Square. That surprisingly turned out to be Pat Butcher, the first Mrs. Peter Beale and a woman Kathy once hated. But by the time Kathy left the Square to live in South Africa, Pat became 'the best friend I ever had.'
Wonder what Angie would say about that!
3. DOT COTTON AND ETHEL SKINNER
The friendship between Dot Cotton and Ethel Skinner was legendary and the stuff good laughs are made of. The pairing of straight-laced, easily-shocked Dot who was always quoting chapter and verse and mischievous, fun-loving Ethel with her cheeky glint and naughty cackle was comedy gold. Theirs was another friendship that went back to the early days of EastEnders, when along with Pauline's mother Lou, they were a trio of long-time friends who had remained close well into their old age. After Lou died in 1989, Ethel and Dot stayed firm friends, and their friendship created much of the shows more lighthearted moments. Who can forget the time Ethel was trying to comfort Dot after hearing that Dot's husband Charlie had died, and then very dramatically walked into The Vic, shocked and shaken, and made it all about her, announcing that Charlie had been "found decreased by the M25?"
They may have been chalk and cheese and forever winding each other up but they had an incredibly strong bond, reinforced by a mutual love of gossip and reminiscing about the past. But there's no denying that both ladies had genuine hearts of gold and were always willing to help anyone in trouble. The two-hander featuring Dot and Ethel revealed the underlying sadness that was in their lives and the tragedy and trauma that they had endured, showing another side to the comedic double-act.
In one of EastEnders most controversial storylines, Ethel, discovering that she was terminally ill, asked Dot to help her die - something committed Christian Dot was against. But when the time came, Dot gave her the pills, telling Ethel, "I only want you to be happy," with Ethel declaring that Dot was the best friend she ever had. And then in what had to be one of the most moving death scenes on the show, Ethel peacefully slipped away.
But even death couldn't eradicate the bond that the two women had, and Dot made sure she visited Ethel's grave before heading to the church to become Mrs. Jim Branning, placing a rose from her bouquet on her best friend's grave. Dot is one of the most popular and well-loved of residents on the Square and over the years she has forged friendships with Lilly Mattock, Pauline Fowler, and Yolande Trueman, but nothing compares to her friendship with Ethel.
4. Tiffany Raymond and Bianca Jackson
A mid-nineties version of Sharon and Michelle - although neither of them got off with each other's dads or ex-husbands (though Tiffany did find Bianca's dad David attractive but then... who didn't?) and in a decade that was all about girl power, Tiffany and Bianca personified this perfectly and breathed life into the Square. The girls were feisty, fun, always up for a laugh - and a party - and always attracted attention wherever they went - especially male attention! The girls definitely lived up to the 'girls just wanna have fun' tagline. Tiff and B were no pushovers and you didn't want to get on the wrong side of either of them - especially Bianca. Just ask Ricky! But they both had good hearts and looked out for those they cared about. That of course included each other. They may have disagreed and argued but they were never angry with each other for long.
Bianca had previously been best friends with Natalie Price - until she found out that Natalie had been having a fling with her boyfriend Ricky and was hellbent on splitting them up. Then Bianca brought her childhood friend Tiffany (who most of us recognized as one third of pop trio, Milan!) to a house party at the Jacksons' and viewers were introduced to a new, iconic character - not to mention the beginning of a new, iconic friendship....
Being headstrong and fiery, arguments were inevitable - Bianca obviously wasn't happy when Tiffany struck up a friendship with Ricky's ex-wife, Sam Mitchell (who incidentally would go on to become Tiffany's sister-in-law following Tiff's marriage to Grant Mitchell) but the girls were always there for each other and supported each other with whatever crisis the other was facing. This included Tiffany becoming pregnant and caught in a love triangle with Tony Hills and Grant; problems in her marriage to Grant, and Bianca's relationship issues with Ricky.
Bianca was devastated when Tiffany decided to leave Walford for Spain in order to get away from Grant. But what Bianca didn't know was that real heartbreak was around the corner as just moments after saying their goodbyes, Tiffany was run over and killed as she argued with Grant in the Square. One of the strongest examples of female friendship came to an end that day but Tiffany's legacy lives on in Albert Square through Bianca's daughter who was named after her - and is equally as strong-willed and feisty.
Unfortunately there is no chance of Tiffany ever gracing the Square with her presence but fans will be delighted that Patsy Palmer who played Bianca will be (briefly) reprising her role later this year.
5. GITA KAPOOR AND CINDY BEALE
Yep, Gita and Cindy's friendship really did make the list! When we said that this was a list of five memorable female friendships in Walford, we didn't say that they were all memorable for all the right reasons! In fact as memorable as this was, it was barely a friendship!
Everybody knew that when Cindy Williams-Beale-wanna-be-Wicks was around, you had to lock up your husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, Old Father Time; you name it... if it was the male of the species, there was a strong possibility that Cindy was eyeing it up! Needless to say this was hardly the type of person that the women of Walford were going to warm to, let alone knock back cocktails with.
So it was lucky for not-so-lovely Cindy when she met Gita Kapoor - who, at the time, was quite easily the most irritating woman in Walford! Gossiping, prying, interfering, always putting her foot in it, it's no wonder she didn't have many friends herself although she did get on very well with Ruth Fowler and Bianca Jackson. But Gita's heart, if not her mouth, was usually in the right place, and she clearly saw something good in Cindy that the rest of the Square didn't - something that remains an unsolved mystery to this day! Cindy did what she did best and found someone she could make use of and so began one of the most one-sided friendships in Walford.
It's not that Cindy didn't care about Gita, but Cindy being Cindy, she tended to put herself first and found Gita came in handy when it came to looking after the kids; having someone to hang out with when there was no one else, or covering up for her so husband Ian didn't find out what she was really getting up to - or with whom!
Gita, on the other hand, saw herself as a bit of a protector and was very loyal to Cindy and often stuck up for her. She tried to warn off her husband Sanjay's old friend, market inspector Richard 'Tricky Dicky' Cole, when he was making advances towards Cindy. Gita even publicly took on David Wicks in the Queen Vic after his affair with Cindy and it's consequences (i.e. - Cindy hiring a hit man to bump off Ian so she could run off with David) caused Cindy to flee the Square without even saying goodbye to her friend - something that hurt Gita very much. Cindy upon her return, however, and hearing that Gita had gone missing, showed concern for her bezzie mate for all of five seconds and then her 'friend' was never mentioned again.
Gita and Sanjay left the Square after the true paternity of Gita's son was revealed - how ironic for someone who was always prodding and poking about in other people's business - and Cindy died after giving birth to her daughter while in prison. But it's safe to say that had Cindy lived, it's highly unlikely that these two would even have been Facebook friends let alone besties!
Which EastEnders' female friendships stands out for you and why?
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Jane and Tanya! They were really good mates and let's not forget, it was Tanya who Jane reached out to when Max drove her out of the Square. I also liked Ruby and Stacey but let's face it - none of us can see them being mates again!
I do remember Tiffany and Bianca. I was only little when they were on EastEnders, and I used to think that that was what being a teenager was all about. All getting glammed up and going out and partying so naturally I couldn't wait to grow up! But it's Mel and Lisa's friendship I remember more. It's a shame that we won't see that again. It was lovely seeing them reunited for that brief period.
Viewers often talk about romantic couples on soaps having no chemistry but Cindy and Gita didn't seem to have much of a bond at all. A pair of mismatched friends if ever I saw some.
@LucieD: Really didn't care much for Dawn but she did have a great friendship with Carly - even though the two did not get on at first.
I liked Dawn Swan and Carlie Wicks. I thought they made great mates.