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This year Friends celebrated thirty years since it was first broadcast - and the world was never the same again. But the sad passing of one of the show's main stars, Matthew Perry, who played the loveable Chandler Bing, cast a shadow over the thirtieth anniversary celebrations. There were moving tributes to Matthew and it's comforting to know that he will never be forgotten. But the fact that someone who had such presence and and lit up our screens for the last thirty years is no longer with us. It’s hard to believe it’s been just over a year since Matthew Perry sadly passed away. Many of us can still remember that strong sense of shock and loss we felt as the news broke. His portrayal of Chandler Bing left an indelible mark on Friends and the hearts of fans worldwide. For fans of the iconic sitcom, it didn't matter that many of us had never met him - we felt as though we'd known him all our lives having seen him on our screens for almost three decades. As we reflect on Perry’s legacy, we'd like to honor him by revisiting the most memorable aspects of his iconic character. Some people are just born to play certain roles and we can't imagine anyone playing Chandler the way Perry did. From his sarcastic yet witty one-liners to his vulnerable, heartfelt moments, Chandler was a character who grew from the funny guy with an unidentifiable job to a beloved husband, uncle, father and... friend. Not to mention a source of never-ending laughter. Let’s celebrate what made Chandler Bing unforgettable, one classic moment at a time. 1. Monica: The One With Whom Chandler Finds True Love OK, hands up everyone who thought that writers 'could be any more dumb 'when it was revealed that Chandler and Monica were going to hook-up in London? We'd already had Ross and Rachel get together - and look how that turned out! Did we really need another arguing about being 'on a break?' And the future didn't look at all rosy for Chandler and Monica. How on earth could things work out for a bossy, neat-obsessed-verging-on-control-freak Monica for whom marriage was everything (we didn't know about the Monica Wedding Fund back then!) with an ultra-laid back, sometimes immature, commitment-phobe whose relationship issues stemmed back to childhood? It was a recipe for disaster - a bit like Monica's mocklate concoctions! But for those of us who had doubts, well turns out we couldn't have been more wrong. We're glad that this was one of those times when writers went ahead with a dubious-sounding storyline because Monica and Chandler's relationship - or Mondler - wasn't one of the biggest surprises and successes of Friends but whent on to become one of the show's most heartwarming storylines, full of hilarious misunderstandings; emotional growth, and tender moments. Pretty soon we couldn't remember a time when Monica and Chandler weren't  together. Some of the key and memorable Mondler moments include the secrecy and sneaking around in the early days of their relationship although one by one, all of the Friends' gang discovered their secret with hilarious results ("I might know something. "I might know something too..." "My eyes! My eyes!" "Get off my sister!") Viewers at home cheered as loudly as the studio audience when Chandler decided he was going to ask Monica to marry him, and surely nobody could have watched Monica's proposal without dabbing at their eyes! And fans shed a tear again when Monica and Chandler finally got their wishes to become parents by adopting twins. This couple just went from strength to strength This relationship showed a deeper side to both characters, revealing new layers and gave fans a glimpse of their vulnerability and growth. Chandler’s vulnerability with Monica allowed him to grow emotionally; proving that he could be a loving and supportive spouse, and showing us a more open and profound side to his character - one that even sarcasm couldn't mask. And in turn Monica was portrayed in a more softer light, becoming less highly-strung and controlling (only by a bit but progress is progress!) In fact the Chandler-Monica union was 'pivotal' in the culmination of the show as it was the couple leaving the neighbourhood for a new home in the suburbs where they could raise their twins that was a turning point for the friendship group and closed the door on an old chapter - as well as on Monica's iconic apartment! 2. Janice: Oh. My. God. It's impossible to talk about Chandler without mentioning his on-again-off-again-oh-my-gawd-they're-on-again girlfriend from the pre-Monica days, the harmless but annoying, nasally-voiced Janice Hosenstein (later Litman-Goralnik.) They started out as a casual hook-up but Janice and Chandler dated sporadically for the first four seasons of the show, and Janice, played by actress Maggie Wheeler, made several appearances even after Chandler and Monica became a couple. As subtle as a chainsaw, with her hyena-like laugh and constant exclamations of "Oh...My... Gawd," it was no wonder the Friends gang would try to avoid her whenever possible which made for some humorous moments on the show. From the moment Janice entered Chandler Bing’s life (for some reason she often referred to him as 'Chandler Bing!') she was both a constant source of comedy, chaos and irritation for Chandler and his friends - for Joey in particular who seemed to especially dislike Janice! Their relationship, marked by Chandler’s constant hilarious attempts to break up with her and Janice always finding her way back to him, quite often during the most unexpected of times - much to the amusement of the audience - became one of the most entertaining dynamics on the show and added a extra hilarious dimension to the arc of Chandler's character. On the surface it appeared that Chandler’s reunions with Janice were often because he was too nice, too weak, or just didn’t know how to get rid of her. But their constant reconciliations were often fuelled by convenience and his fear of loneliness, despite his fear of commitment and deep insecurity made him avoid more potentially serious relationships. For instance when Mr. Heckles died and it hit home to Chandler how he too might end up alone, this urged him to seek out the one person who he felt would always be there for him - Janice. The irony was that when he found her again, he discovered that she was now married, which further deepened Chandler's fears and anxiety - however they soon ended up back together after Janice's marriage ended and they both matched on a dating site, albeit unknowingly. Janice wasn't a horrible person at all. She was just too loud and too-over-the top for Chandler - and his friends - to deal with. But she had an undeniable affection for Mr. Chandler Bing and provided comfort and companionship when he needed it. Along with the humorous aspect of their relationship, if writers hadn't come up with 'Mondler,' 'Jandler' might also have worked. The pairing definitely was comedy gold! Janice’s numerous dramatic entrances; larger than life personality; and over-the-top-bordering-on-cringey affection for Chandler made her one of the most memorable recurring characters on the show - and a huge part of the Chandler Bing story. 3. Kathy: Love, Growth... and Heartbreak In the days before Mondler, it was Janice who was the most noteworthy of all of Chandler's love interest. However all that was to change when Chandler saw an attractive, sassy young lady sipping on her cappucino in Central Perk... Unfortunately for Chandler, the sassy, young lady - Kathy - was waiting for her date. Even more unfortunate was that the date was none other than Joey - Chandler's best friend and roommate. But what was even more unfortunate than all of the above is that out of all the women that Chandler could have been instantly smitten with, it just had to be his best friend's new girlfriend! And as if things couldn't get any worse - or better depending on how you choose to view things - Kathy felt the same way... Joey’s girlfriend-turned-love-interest for Chandler, was one of Chandler’s more serious relationships before Monica. With her love of books and sense of humor, Kathy brought out a caring and romantic side of Chandler. However, their relationship was tinged with conflict and jealousy, and his suspicions ultimately drove a wedge between them. The heartbreak he felt when things ended with Kathy was a critical moment for Chandler, teaching him about trust, his own insecurities, and the importance of honesty in relationships. 3. Joey: The Ultimate Bromance (Just Don't Tell Ross!) Chandler may have known Ross first and been friends with him since high school - before the two became brothers-in-law - but there's no denying that Chandler also had a very special bond with his roommate Joey. Their friendship was one of the most cherished parts of Friends . They were more than just roommates—they were best friends who shared countless inside jokes, personal milestones, and, of course, a love for foosball. Whether it was Chandler lending Joey financial support or Joey giving Chandler advice on relationships, the two had an unbreakable bond that provided both comic relief and emotional depth. Their friendship was heartwarming and hilarious, reminding us that family can be chosen and that true friends are there through every bad haircut and questionable dating choice. 4. Thanksgiving: The Gift That Keeps on Giving Chandler’s dislike of Thanksgiving was legendary, stemming from childhood trauma involving his parents’ divorce. This annual tension created some of the best Thanksgiving episodes, as Chandler tried (and hilariously failed) to enjoy the holiday. His experiences—like getting his head stuck in a turkey or making up with Monica after a fight—were filled with humor but also carried a sense of healing. By the time he and Monica were married, Thanksgiving had become a celebration of their new family, showing Chandler’s growth from a reluctant participant to a joyful host. 5. Chandler’s Job: Unsolved Mystery - Call Robert Stack! One of Friends ' longest-running jokes was the mystery surrounding Chandler’s job in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration—a title that confused everyone, including his friends. Despite his financial stability, Chandler was deeply dissatisfied with his career, often using humor to cope with his lack of fulfillment. Eventually, he found the courage to switch to a career in advertising, a leap that represented his growth and desire for a more meaningful life. His career change was a reminder that it’s never too late to follow your passions, even if that means starting over from scratch. 6. Chandler’s One-Liners: Could He Be Any More Sarcastic? Chandler’s sarcasm was his most defining trait, and Matthew Perry’s comedic timing made every line unforgettable. His quick wit was a defense mechanism, often hiding his insecurities and fears, but it also made him one of the funniest characters on Friends . Whether he was delivering a perfect one-liner or making a playful jab at one of his friends, Chandler’s humor added a distinct flavor to the show. His catchphrases like “Could I be  any more…” became iconic, and his unique style of humor kept audiences laughing season after season. Matthew Perry’s Legacy Chandler Bing was more than just a character; he was a beloved friend to millions of viewers who grew up laughing at his jokes and empathizing with his insecurities. Matthew Perry breathed life into a complex, unforgettable character who showed us that humor and heart can often go together hand in hand. Perry’s portrayal reminded us that it’s okay to have flaws; to laugh at ourselves, and to strive for something better - even when the journey is messy. As we celebrate Chandler’s best moments, we also celebrate Matthew Perry’s extraordinary legacy - a gift of laughter, vulnerability, and warmth that will continue to bring us joy for years to come. Photos: YouTube GIFS: Wix Blog graphics: Angel Noire

As every EastEnders fan knows, the Christmas Day episode is always the one to watch and is much a part of festive tradition as mince pies and crackers. Even if you've neglected to watch much of the soap throughout the year, everything stops for the Christmas Day episode. All the family gathers in the living room with a tub of Roses or Quality Street (or both!) and glasses of Baileys as they excitedly wait to see illicit affairs get exposed; paternity results get revealed; secrets come to light... and sadly there has been the odd tragic death. While many complain that the Christmas episodes of EastEnders are as dreary and grim as is the soap's acquired reputation, there's still plenty more who tune in because let's face it, no one does drama quite like EastEnders does. And you're guaranteed drama by the truckload on EastEnders come Christmas Day. Though it hasn't been all doom and gloom - there has been the odd wedding or yuletide baby! Over the course of the soap's thirty eight year history, EastEnders has never failed to deliver emotional, surprising, dramatic, and sometimes heartwarming storylines. Everyone will have their favourites. We take a look at what we think are ten of the most memorable Christmas Day EastEnders episodes. 1. DEN SERVES ANGIE DIVORCE PAPERS (1986) Whoever would have thought that someone handing over an envelope wouldn't just be a ratings winner but go down in history as one of the most iconic soap moments EVER! It's impossible to write a post about memorable EastEnders' Christmas episodes without mentioning that episode where philandering Queen Vic landlord, Den Watts, served divorce papers to his wife Angie so that he could sail off into the sunset with his mistress Jan. Walford residents - and the viewers at home - could see that the Watts' marriage was a very one-sided one: Angie loved Den a lot more than he loved her - if he ever loved her at all. Den treated Angie appallingly. It wasn't just his constant cheating with anyone who was a woman and breathing but also his emotional abuse and neglect of his wife. But unlike the viewers, the residents of Albert Square along with Angie, were yet to learn that Den had fathered a child with his daughter's best friend. And nobody at all knew, not even Den himself, that he'd also fathered a son with another woman, though it would be another seventeen years before Dennis Junior showed up in Walford. But the more Den neglected Angie, the more she tried to dig her claws in as she refused to let go of her man - even if he didn't want her. And her desire to hang on to Den went too far when she lied about having terminal cancer and claimed she only had six months to live. Den reluctantly agreed to stay with her although he declared that if he ever found out she was lying, he'd kill her. However when he did discover the truth, after Angie had drunkenly poured out her heart to a waiter on the Orient Express, Den did far worse than end her life - he took steps to end their marriage, serving the divorce papers to a stunned Angie on Christmas Day. This episodes proved that you didn't need over the top car chases and shoot-outs to have people on the edge of their seats - just a good storyline; great writing; strong characters and superb acting. 'Appy Christmas Ange! 2. GRANT MARRIES SHARON... AND MARK'S REVELATION (1991) We've cheated a little bit here because this episode took place on Boxing Day rather than Christmas (there was actually no EastEnders episode on Christmas Day in 1991) so this is the closest we can get to a Christmas episode for this year. But nonetheless it is still a classic episode. There was joy in the Walford air - for once - during the festive season as Sharon made it down the aisle to become Mrs. Grant Mitchell. Though the wedding of the year very nearly didn't happen as Grant sprung the Boxing Day wedding as a complete surprise to a furious Sharon who hadn't been expecting to tie the knot for another month. However after a nudge in the right direction (or the wrong direction depending on how you look at it!) from best friend Michelle Fowler, Sharon agreed to go ahead with the wedding that Grant had planned in secret and by the end of the episode the two were man and wife. The groom sported a waistcoat that future Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter would have been proud of, and Grant rather cringingly serenaded Sharon with You’ll Never Walk Alone where all the guests joined in. A rather ironic song choice considering Sharon would soon discover that marriage to Grant would be a rather lonely experience - so lonely that she would have to find comfort in the arms of her brother-in-law Phil! . But we couldn't have too much festive cheer in this episode - oh no! Sharon and Grant's wedding storyline contrasted greatly with an anxious Mark Fowler having to break the news to his devastated parents that he had been diagnosed as HIV positive. Pauline's support of her son despite her agony was highlighted against Arthur's disgust. These scenes demonstrated that there was still a lack of knowledge and understanding surrounding HIV and AIDS during the nineties as there had been a decade earlier. 3. THE RETURN OF FRANK BUTCHER (1995) "Ooh, look who it is!" exclaimed an excited Pat Butcher to the children gathered around her front room as everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of Santa. But it wasn't Santa who walked in through the door with his Santa's sack and his cheers of 'Ho, ho ho.' Instead it was Pat's estranged husband, a grinning Frank, who walked in with a 'Hello babe.' It may have been disappointing for the kids - but at least Frank arrived bearing gifts! Frank had broken Pat's heart nearly two years earlier when he walked out on her and his children as he'd been suffering from severe depression. A desperately worried Pat did everything she could to find him but after accepting that she needed to let go for the sake of the kids and herself, she moved on with her life, even finding love with new partner, Roy Evans. While the residents of Walford were stunned by Frank's return, his children, Ricky and Janine were overjoyed. Pat on the other hand was horrified, especially as Roy had now moved into the home she once shared with Frank. Awkward indeed! And so began the merry-go-round that was the Pat and Frank show in which they both tried to let go and move on with new lives and new loves but they could never quite forget each other. They were each other's one true love no matter how much heartache their union caused. As Pat lay dying, she confessed to her stepdaughter Janine how much she regretted her four marriages. The only man she should have married and stayed married to, she said, was her beloved Frank. 4. GRANT CHEATS ON TIFFANY WITH LORRAINE WICKS (1998) Most of those on the Square were skeptical of Grant and Tiffany Mitchell's marriage. There was a big age gap; they had nothing in common; they were super argumentative, and anyone could see that Grant wasn't over his first wife, Sharon. Had Tiffany not been pregnant, chances are that she never would have become the second Mrs. Mitchell. But what Grant didn't know was that Tiffany wasn't totally sure if he was the father of her unborn child or if it was her ex-boyfriend Tony Hills. Only Lorraine Wicks, David Wicks's ex-wife and the Queen Vic's live-in barmaid, was privy to that information after Tiffany had rather foolishly confided in her. Lorraine, although sympathetic at first, was adamant that Tiffany ought to tell Grant the truth. Whether it's because she thought it was the right thing to do or because she had her eye on Grant herself, who knows! But it caused a falling out between the two women. Then on Christmas Day came the Mitchell family's festive lunch in which an argument between a very drunk Phil Mitchell and an upset Lorraine, triggered by Phil laughing at Lorraine's son Joe who suffered with his mental health, spilled over with everyone around the table having a go at each other. Tensions rose even more when Joe revealed that he'd witnessed his mum and Grant have a sly snog. A fed-up Tiffany decided she'd had enough and left to spend Christmas with her brother Simon and their friends. For those of us watching at home, the whole scene was hilarious - especially as Phil's stepson Ian walked in with his daughter Lucy and innocently asked if they'd missed anything while you could still cut the atmosphere with the carving knife! But it might have been a good idea for Tiffany to have stuck around however, because with her safely out of the way and over at Simon's, the simmering tension between Grant and Lorraine bubbled over with the two giving into their passion later that evening, marking the start of their affair... 5. ALFIE AND KAT GET MARRIED (2003) One of those very rare Christmas EastEnders episodes where there's less doom and gloom and more festive cheer - and this time combined with the sound of wedding bells. But when the groom is Alfie Moon, you can't expect everything to run smoothly, can you? Due to issues concerning documents for his divorce from his first wife, Alfie wasn't able to finalize everything in time for his Christmas wedding to Kat, meaning that they couldn't get legally wed. But rather than confess all to Kat, in true typical Alfie style, he decided to go ahead with the wedding in order not to upset his bride-to-be, and pay one of his friends, Ray, to pose as the registrar. Alfie's logic - being as it was - he actually believed he could have a legal ceremony with Kat once the decree absolute came through... while duping Kat into believing they were just having a wedding blessing. Oh, Alfie! However Alfie's grandmother, Nanna Moon, discovered what was happening and tried to persuade Alfie to call off the sham wedding as it wasn't right to start a marriage when it was based on lies. And it looked as though Alfie's conscience had got the better off him because when the 'registrar' - hilariously played by David Walliams - asked if anyone had any objections, a horrified Kat looked on as the groom raised his hand! Alfie eventually confessed all to a tearful Kat, which was very brave of him considering he could have had Kat and all the Slaters after him! But a Christmas miracle occurred when in the midst of all the mayhem with the guests and Kat's family awaiting an explanation, Alfie's solicitor arrived to announce that his decree absolute had come through. Once Alfie had managed to persuade the registrar, the real one this time, to abandon the carving of the Christmas turkey in order to hurry over for the wedding, it was back on and Kat finally became Mrs. Moon. An interesting thing to note was fugitive Phil Mitchell lying in wait for the Watts family when he spotted a radiant Kat skipping across the Square to see her fiancé Alfie on the morning of their wedding. Little did Phil know - or any of us for that matter - that twenty years later it would be Phil and Kat heading down the aisle. Although instead of the glamourous red and gold ensemble that Kat wore to marry Alfie, she would just stitch a pair of curtains together in order to become Mrs. Mitchell! Like it all so far? Then check out the second part of this post! Photos: YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire

The second part of our post as we look at what we consider to be the most memorable Christmas Day EastEnders episodes and storylines. 6. SHARON AND DENNIS REVEAL THEY'RE IN LOVE (2004) Ah, Shannis! One of the best Walford couples there ever was and still so deeply missed after all these years. After the Den and Angie divorce saga, the episode where Dennis and Sharon reveal their relationship to their stunned family is our favourite - and seriously underrated we think! Den Watts - hardly one who could take the moral high ground - couldn't bear his son being in a relationship with his adopted daughter and succeeded in breaking them up. Dennis then forged ahead in a relationship with a besotted Zoe Slater as Sharon hid her heartbreak. But by the autumn of 2004, Sharon and Dennis were having an affair behind Zoe's back. Knowing they had to leave Walford in order to give their relationship another go, the couple decided on a fresh start in America, making plans to leave on Boxing Day. But Den - who knew that Dennis was cheating on Zoe with Sharon - bought his son and his girlfriend two tickets for a holiday in the Caribbean in a bid to get Dennis away from Sharon. But all this did was force Sharon and Dennis to come clean sooner than they had wanted to... And all hell broke loose! Cue much shouting, screaming, smashed plates and fisticuffs. But nobody was prepared for Zoe's announcement that she was pregnant with Dennis's baby. Knowing it was game over, a heartbroken Sharon left for her new life in America that evening. But she left with her younger sister Vicki instead of Dennis. However as Sharon departed for the airport what she didn't know was that there was no baby. Zoe, forced by Den, had lied about being pregnant in order to stop Dennis from running off with Sharon. It was a few weeks before Dennis found out about Zoe's lie, and then nothing could stop him rushing off to the States to be with Sharon. 7. SHARON'S MIRACLE BABY (2005) After the Shannis reveal, this is our next fave Christmas episode! It was only the secondary storyline but for us, it was the stand-out one! It was Sharon and Dennis Rickman's first Christmas as newlyweds, and instead of celebrating, Dennis was having to take Sharon to hospital as she was suffering from a severe bout of food poisoning - due, they thought, to the dodgy smoked salmon Dennis had served her. As it turned out, Sharon's health issues had less to do with the smoked salmon and more to do with the baby she was expecting! Sharon, who had previously been told she could never have kids, broke the news to a stunned but delighted Dennis, who had desperately wanted to be a dad but like Sharon, didn't think that children would feature in their future. It really was a Christmas miracle, and one that Shannis fans had hoped to see. Unfortunately for Sharon and Dennis - and Shannis fans as well for that matter - their happiness was short-lived as Dennis was tragically murdered on the orders of local gangster Johnny Allen a week later. A distraught Sharon left for America where she gave birth to a baby boy who she named after his late father... and late grandfather as well! Sadly young Dennis Rickman went the same way as the two previous Dennises after he was sadly killed in a boating accident just months before his fourteenth birthday. Come on, EastEnders - what have you got against Dennises? 8. GOODBYE PAULINE (2006) Pauline Fowler, played by the formidable Wendy Richard, had been on the Square for a whopping twenty one years and was one of the original EastEnders characters. But when Wendy made the decision, sadly due to ill health, to hang up Pauline's cardigan for good, we knew that Pauline's departure was going to be sad. But we didn't know just how heart-wrenching it was going to be... Pauline was one of those tough matriarchs that the East End is famous for. But during her final months on the Square, Pauline had become a very angry and bitter woman, with much of her anger directed at her son Martin's wife, Sonia Jackson, a woman Pauline never thought was good enough for Martin. Unfortunately a massive row between the two women, which resulted in an almighty slap and a smashed fruit bowl, was the last bit of drama Pauline experienced before she went for a wander in the Square where she collapsed by the Christmas tree and sadly breathed her last. She was discovered by a horrified Dot Branning as the residents were engaging in a snowball fight, and a heartbroken Martin realised his Mum was dead. Because Pauline became so awful towards the end, especially to poor Martin and Sonia, many viewers felt it was difficult to feel any sympathy for her as her friends and family began to desert her. But it really was a sad ending for a truly iconic character, and watching it again, it's all the more heartbreaking as the legendary Wendy Richard passed away a few years later. Both Pauline and Wendy are both so sorely missed. 9 . MAX AND STACEY'S AFFAIR EXPOSED (2007) After Den's presentation of the divorce papers, the Christmas episode from 2007 is the one many find to be the most explosive. It's typical of EastEnders to reveal illicit liaisons on Christmas day. If such revelations don't take place in The Vic, then it will be a gathering at someone's house while the party is in full swing. This time it took place at the home of Max and Tanya Branning. The marriage of Max's son Bradley and Stacey Slater united the Branning and Slater clans so it made sense for the two families to spend Christmas together at Max and Tanya's, especially as it was newlyweds Bradly and Stacey's first Christmas as a married couple. And not wanting to let the grass grow under their feet, they were even making plans to have a baby before next Christmas. And they weren't the only ones who were loved up. Max and Tanya's marriage had always been fraught with difficulties of one kind or another - mainly Max's dishonesty or infidelities but now the marriage of the older-and-should-be-wiser Brannings was on top form. There was a lot of festive joy and good tidings as the two families happily celebrated Christmas together. Max was dressed as Father Christmas, handing out presents... and that's where it all started to unravel. He should have hired an elf! The only person who probably wasn't feeling so jubilant was Max and Tanya's daughter, Lauren, who had uncovered her dad's affair with her new sister-in-law. Lauren, who had been taking video footage of Bradly and Stacey's wedding, had accidently captured a private moment between her dad and Stacey just before Stacey was due to head off on honeymoon. Lauren then burned the footage onto DVD and wrapped it up and placed it under the Christmas tree as a gift for Bradley. But when Max handed it over to Bradley, Lauren had unsuccessfully tried to retrieve the DVD but too late - before she knew it, Max had slipped it into the DVD player, and everyone was eagerly anticipating reliving the magic of Bradley and Stacey's wedding day. What they actually saw in stunned silence was Max and Stacey in a very intimate moment... and chaos ensued. Tanya was in shock; Bradley tried to knock his dad into the middle of next year; Uncle Jack was having to keep them apart, Big Mo was trying to distract Dot with the Queen's speech, and everyone was demanding answers. It was the big reveal the nation was waiting for and it didn't disappoint! And as if that wasn't enough drama while you were still waiting for your Christmas dinner to digest, poor Tanya Branning took a massive tumble down the stairs while fighting with Max as she tried to leave with their children. 10. SEAN SLATER FINDS OUT HE'S NOT AMY"S DAD (2008) It's hard to believe that Sean Slater was once part of the Mitchell clan. Well for all of five minutes anyway. Because when the truth came out that he wasn't the father of baby Amy, his and Roxy's marriage went down faster than the glitter ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Marriage and fatherhood had a positive, more calming effect on Sean who was known to be rather volatile. Think a younger version of Grant Mitchell (too bad the two never met. Now that would have been interesting!) Amy and Roxy were the two best things to happen to Sean in a long time, and the two were looking forward to their first Christmas as a family celebrating with the rest of the Mitchell's in The Vic. Unfortunately spiteful Suzy Branning, miffed because she'd been chucked by Phil Mitchell, was out to take her bitterness out on anyone she could. And in the firing line was a terrified Roxy Mitchell was was being blackmailed by Suzy after the latter discovered that Sean was not Amy's father. Wondered what Suzy would have made of the discovery that her brother Jack was the father, making baby Amy Suzy's niece! And in a scene that was reminiscent of the Mitchell Christmas Day row in 1996, Peggy had to sit at the head of the table and watch as yet another Christmas dinner was being disrupted. Suzy, showing nobody any mercy at all, not even little Ben Mitchell, proceeded to work her way around the table insulting anyone and everyone - something Sean found highly amusing. And who could blame him with such highly original though terribly underrated insults that flew out of Suzy's mouth such as 'poisonous button mushroom' and 'vinegar lips.' However Sean soon stopped laughing when he pulled open a cracker and a document flew out. Vindictive Suzy had hidden a copy of the paternity test results inside the cracker and it stated that he was not Amy's father. Total bedlam ensued with Roxy becoming hysterical; Sean beginning to spiral out of control, and Jack growing very worried as the realization that he was Amy's dad began to dawn on him... just as he had rekindled his relationship with Roxy's sister Ronnie. Which is your most memorable Christmas EastEnders episode? Photos: YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire

Genre: Sitcom Started: 22nd September 1994 Ended: 6th May 2004 Created by: David Crane and Marta Kauffman Series: 10 Episodes: 236 Main Cast: David Schwimmer - Ross Geller Courtney Cox - Monica Geller Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay Guest Stars: Elliot Gould - Jack Geller Christina Pickles - Judy Geller James Michael Tyler - Gunther Maggie Wheeler - Janice Litman Helen Baxendale - Emily Waltham Tom Selleck - Richard Burke Paul Rudd - Mike Hannigan Jane Sibbett - Carol Jessica Hecht - Susan One of the funniest comedies to come out of America has turned twenty five. Can it really be that long since the Gellers, Ms. Buffay and their um, friends, first graced our screens? It seems like only yesterday. But one thing's for sure - back then nobody could have predicted just how successful Friends was going to become. Viewers couldn't get enough of the of the sitcom about six New Yorkers and their hilarious escapades. Long after Friends ended, fans are still regularly tuning in to watch repeats or indulge in their DVD box sets. There's no denying that during it's ten year run, Friends became a global phenomenon and we couldn't help but see them as our friends. And furthermore the the sitcom has definitely made its mark in popular culture. We take a look at what Friends gave us and reminisce on some of our favourite memories. Plot The sitcom focuses on a group of six New Yorkers who are very different in terms of personality but are firm friends nonetheless - Chandler, Joey, Rachel, Phoebe and siblings Ross and his younger sister Monica. They live in the same neighbourhood and are known for always hanging out at the same coffee shop, Central Perk. When they are not there they can usually be found at Monica's apartment. The show focuses on the group's strong friendship, as well as their romantic and career escapades with hilarious results. 1. COFFEE SHOP CULTURE Today in many countries around the world, people choose to hang out with um, friends; meet up with dates, or even work or study in coffee shops. And in England for instance, they have plenty to choose from: Starbucks, Café Nero, Costa, as well as millions of independent coffee shops. Yep, word has gotten out that coffee is big business! For most of us who grew up in Britain, as teenagers, we'd hang out at either McDonalds or the local chippy. If we really wanted to push the boat out, then we had Pizza Hut's eat-all-you-want buffet! As we got older it was the pub or the local greasy spoon. But Friends changed all that once we saw how much fun the Friends gang were having at Central Perk: We decided that coffee shops were the only place to lounge around in too! And it seems that we're not the only ones who thought it was a great idea, as coffee shop culture has now taken off all over the world. 2. SOFAS IN COFFEE SHOPS The sofa at Central Perk was very much the gang's domain. Remember the friends' dismay when another group took over the sofa? Most of us had probably never seen a sofa in a coffee shop until we started watching Friends. We certainly didn't have them in UK coffee shops (as far as we can remember anyway.) But it was a super cool idea. There's nothing like getting comfy on the sofa with a steaming cup of coffee whilst having a natter (or a moan!) to make yourself feel really at home. Now you can find comfy, cosy sofas or armchairs in just about every coffee shop - and Friends probably had a lot to do with it. Any coffee shops out there with a bed in it??? 3. JENNIFER ANISTON: HAIR ICON When Jennifer Aniston accepted the role of Rachel Green, she probably didn't expect her hair to become a bigger star than her! The 'Rachel' cut was the Farrah Flick of it's day, and the most requested hairstyle in salons worldwide. Her hairdo was a layered, longer length bob but it was the savvy way she wore it that made it such a hit. This particular style paved the way for Ms. Aniston to enter into hair icon territory. And even though the numerous hairstyles she sported throughout the show - some more popular than others - never quite eclipsed the success of the 'Rachel,' Jennifer still became known as 'the one with the great hair.' 4. SMELLY CAT Phoebe may have known how to rock a guitar but when it came to songwriting, she was known for some rather dubious lyrics. But despite this fact, Smelly Cat became something of a classic - and proof to aspiring musicians everywhere that inspiration for a hit can come from the most unlikeliest of topics! 5. MONICA'S APARTMENT Monica's apartment was AWESOME!!! Who wouldn't want a spacious yet cosy apartment as inviting as Monica's! She definitely had the best apartment out of the six of them. No wonder Monica and Rachel were miffed when they lost a bet that saw them having to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler. We'd be miffed too! There was criticism that a waitress (Rachel) and a just-starting- caterer (Monica) could never have afforded an apartment in NYC as cool as that in real-life but who cares? It was nice just to dream about it! And even though Monica and hubby Chandler eventually bought a house in the suburbs to raise their family, Monica's apartment is definitely the place to be. And incidentally, it would appear that Rachel was the only one of the Friends gang who never had her own apartment. Coming from a wealthy family and having a prestigious job in fashion, you'd think she would be able to afford her own apartment! Instead over the ten year period, Rachel had lived in each of the apartments for a certain length of time in a flat-share situation but Chandler was the only friend she'd never lived with. 6. RACHEL'S AMBITION Rachel Green may have started out as something of a rich, spoilt brat but she eventually learned to stand on her own two feet when Gunther hired her as a waitress at Central Perk. However Rachel's real dream was to work in fashion - a career she'd pursued once she'd found the confidence to do so. This resonates well with many of us because we've been there too (no, not the rich, spoilt brat bit!). We've all had to abandon our dreams at some point in our lives because real life got in the way. But Rachel showed us that with a little perseverance and dedication, it's possible to get there in the end. 7. WE WERE ON A BREAK! Rachel wanted a break from her relationship with Ross. Ross thought that meant he could date other people - so he did! This didn't go down too well with Rachel when she found out, so she decided that their temporary break should become a more permanent one. And the whole we-were-on-break argument became an ongoing joke for much of the series. This Ross and Rachel saga struck fear into the hearts of most people who were going through a rough patch in their relationships, causing them to spell out exactly what 'being on a break' meant! 8. NEW YORK BECAME THE PLACE TO BE OK, so even before Friends , New York was hardly on the bottom of everyone's 'must visit' list. In fact for many people it was at the top of their 'must live there' list! But Friends - along with Sex And The City - was a great advert for New York City and made those who didn't live there want to take an even bigger bite out of the Big Apple (even though the show was actually filmed in California!) 9. ROSS: THE PATRON SAINT OF GEEKS Straight-laced, socially-awkward brainiac Ross Gellar who revelled in his status as 'Dr.Geller,' was overly-enthusiastic about science and loved his career as a paleontologist. He was the saviour of academics, and dare we say it, geeks everywhere! He proved that you didn't have to be the coolest kid on the block to land the hottest girl. 10. THOSE CATCHPHRASES Oh...My...God! How you doin'? Could you be any more stupid? My eyes, my eyes!!! PIVOT! He's her lobster! WE WERE ON A BREAK!!! If you're a  Friends fan, those catchphrases and iconic one-liners will need no explanation! 11. THE ONE WITH THE... Friends writers knew that even if they gave episodes an actual name, viewers would refer to these episodes as  'The one with the eggplant,' or ' The one where Rachel finds out. ' So that's exactly what they called these episodes with the title beginning with the phrase 'The One...'. It's really quite clever and no other TV show has done this before or after Friends. Well - they certainly couldn't do it now! 12. EVERYONE HAD A FRIEND WITH 'FUN' IN THEIR NAME Remember Monica's ex-boyfriend, Fun Bobby? He was the life and soul of the party... until everyone discovered that without alcohol, he really wasn't that much fun! Nonetheless some of us took to prefixing the name of our loudest and wildest friend with the word 'Fun' so that it became a part of their name. Hanging out with Fun Lucy, Fun Stevie, and Fun Ruthie was always a barrel of laughs! 13. IT'S OK TO GET WITH YOUR FRIENDS So serial divorcé Ross got with Rachel, while his sister Monica cured his commitment phobic friend Chandler. Both couples highlighted the pitfalls of dating a good friend - but in the end, it all worked out for the best. It didn't work out with Joey and Rachel but at least they remained friends. Friends ' fans cheered when these couples got together (well not so much Joey and Rachel because as everyone knew, Ross and Rachel belonged together) and probably plucked up the courage to ask out their best friend of ten years who they'd secretly admired from afar. We all waited for Phoebe and Joey to hook up but the scriptwriters had other ideas. Perhaps they didn't want to be too predictable. Perhaps they thought Mike Hannigan was better for Phoebe. Perhaps they wanted to give Joey his own show... 14. SIMILAR SHOWS To say Friends was huge is like saying that water is a little bit wet. It was a phenomenon - and still is! It wasn't long before other program makers the world over got in on the act and tried to recreate the show's winning formula: a group of close friends who are almost like family in an apartment/coffee shop/bar setting, who support each other through trials and tribulations especially romantic disasters. Unlike soap operas where friends could stab each other in the back, in these types of shows, friends had each other's backs. Some of these shows popped up even before Friends had finished its run, and not all of them were sitcoms but were based on the kind of concept, wit and humour that made Friends so popular. So before we knew it, we were settling down to watch Cold Feet, Coupling, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Sex And The City, and That 70s Show. But of course, as awesome as these shows are, there can only ever be one Friends. 15. THE CAST BECAME MEGA STARS The cast of Friends were all established actors before they played our favourite group of New Yorkers. But they hadn't reached the dizzying heights of stardom with any of their previous work (although Matt LeBlanc came close with his Heinz ketchup commercial and Courtney Cox did appear in a music video for Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen!) But Friends changed all that for the six actors who went on to become household names and multi-millionaires. And fifteen years after the show ended, they're still very much in the spotlight. It's fantastic that all six actors wanted to remain on the show through the course of its ten year run. Nobody chose to quit the series to concentrate on other projects which meant that all six of our favourite characters appeared in every series and were played by the same actors during the course of ten years which is amazing and quite unusual. 16. IT BROUGHT THE WORLD CLOSER TOGETHER Is there a country in the world which hasn't broadcast an episode of Friends ... no, probably not! Maggie Wheeler who played Chandler's ex-girlfriend, Janice, expressed her surprise when a fan from India approached her to say how much she loved Friends , proving just how much of a world-wide phenomenon the show had become. Despite the hit comedy being dubbed in multiple languages, everyone understands the language of friendship, and it's great to know that you can go anywhere in the world and you're bound to bump into someone who knows who the Friends gang are. I wonder how you translate, "How you doin'?" in Cantonese... 17. TACKLING SOCIAL ISSUES WITH HUMOUR Looking back, it's astounding that young children were allowed to watch Friends at such a young age because as funny as it is, it did deal with some pretty adult themes: divorce; infertility; surrogacy; infidelity; adoption; homelessness; single motherhood; casual sex; alcoholism... not exactly a barrel of laughs. But despite the heavy content, each issue was handled with humour and sensitivity so you didn't feel as though you were watching the most depressing show on earth. EastEnders, take note! 18. WE WANTED OUR OWN FRIENDS GANG From time to time, we'd come across someone who'd claim that their posse were "just like Friends from off the telly." "There's six of us as well. And we all hang out at a coffee shop too. And each one of us are just like one of the characters." The truth is we all wanted our own little Friends gang, and we could relate to at least one of the characters. 19. THEME TUNE There can't be a single person on the planet who doesn't know the words to that famous theme tune or who wouldn't be able to recognize the melody. Performed by The Rembrandts , it is without a doubt their biggest hit and the one they'll always be remembered for. The lyrics fit the concept of the show perfectly and furthermore illustrates the meaning of friendship. 20. FRAMILY Most of us were brought up on the mantra that family comes first - and for the most part that's how it should be. But the show taught us that it was possible to love your friends like family. It's not always about blood - it's about the strong bond of genuine love, respect and friendship. Even the friends cast have said that they've become like family which is most inspiring. So there you have it - all the things that makes Friends so fantastically unique and one of a kind. It's awesome that Friends is as relevant today as it was when it began twenty five years ago. Whereas a lot of once popular comedies now appear dated, it's safe to say that Friends will remain a classic. Here's to the next twenty five years... What are your favourite Friends' memories? Related link: Angel's Slice of The Pie #12: The One With Six Friends and a Coffee Shop! Photos from YouTube WordCloud by Angel Noire

So no one told you life was gonna be this way... Oh... My... God... I really, really cannot believe that this year marks twenty five years since the first episode of Friends was aired. That's right, the hit American sit-com ab out the lives of a close-knit group of six New Yorkers first aired on American screens on 22 September 1994. My goodness where has the time gone? Since then, we've been glued to the antics of Joey, Rachel, Phoebe and co. And incidentally it's been over fifteen years since the last episode aired in May 1994. I can't put into words how special Friends is to me. Some might even think that's weird. I mean it's a television sit-com. Who gets sentimental over a TV sit-com? Well, I do! Friends brings back great memories of school days, teenage years, and family moments. Plus it's as funny as hell! What's there not to like? I first started watching Friends when I was in my mid-teens. Thursday night was treat night, so after a hard night hitting the books (or pretending to!) as I studied for my A levels, I'd grab a ready meal and settle down in front of the telly to watch my fave TV show... Channel 4's Whose Line Is It Anyway?  But before Whose Line began, I'd manage to catch the last few minutes of a new American comedy. At first I didn't pay much attention to it - I was just waiting to watch Whose Line ! But I soon realized how funny this sitcom was and started to pay more attention to it... It wasn't long before I started taking my study breaks a little earlier on a Thursday night so I could catch this new American comedy right from the beginning of each episode. It was really funny and thoroughly enjoyable... but even as I sat there chuckling away, I didn't realize that this new comedy series would one day be the hottest thing on television and a global phenomenon. It was going to be HUGE!!! The cast consisted of a group of virtually unknown actors but little did they know that life as they knew it was about to come to an end... It wasn't long before the rest of my family got in on the act. By then Friends had moved from the near-enough graveyard slot to prime time viewing on a Friday evening, so that was when our family would be gathered around the telly after dinner, laughing our heads off. While we all loved Friends, I'd say that my little brother and I were probably the two biggest Friends fans in our house. We never missed an episode, and it in fact became known as 'our tradition.' And every Christmas, my brother would get a new Friends video (yes, it was videos back then) which he would practically watch on repeat. It wasn't long before we knew every bit of dialogue from the show - and used to quote the characters to the point where it both amused and annoyed our sisters. Over the last twenty years, we've all lost count of how many times Friends has been repeated on the telly. But the thing is that it never gets old. Every time you tune in to each episode, you laugh like you've never heard the gags before - and I guess that's the beauty of the show. In all these years, I've only met three people who have said that they can't stand Friends. This admission has left me wondering... what on earth is wrong with them? Could they be any more sad??? So in honour of Friends' twenty fifth year, check out our post for a look at things closely associated with the show that made Friends so unique; this includes our favourite memories and things about the show that - without wanting to be dramatic - actually changed our lives and the way we live... Forever! Friends ... Whatever would we do without them??? Photos from YouTube Word Cloud by Angel Noire

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom GENRE: Drama CHANNEL: ITV FIRST SHOWN: 1982 (UK) 1985 (USA) NUMBER OF SERIES OF 'ALL FOR LOVE': 2 EPISODE NUMBER: 1 (Series one) WRITTEN BY: Elizabeth Taylor DRAMATISED BY: Hugh Whitemore DIRECTED BY: Robert Knights STARRING: Joan Plowright - Edith Alec McCowen - Mr. Silcox Merged Esli - Carrie Maris Mescki - Doreen Peter Martin - Reg Brenda Elder - Betty Patti Nicholls - Rita Max Smith - Harry Bryan Coleman - Colonel Phllada Sewell - Elderly Lady David Clarkson - William Aimee Delamain - Miss Bird Doreen Sloane - Miss Skinner Christopher Irvine - Julian Graham Rigby - Hotel manager A Dedicated Man, based on the short story by Elizabeth Taylor, starring Joan Plowright and Alec McCowen, was the f irst episode of a TV anthology called All For Love . It was first shown in the UK in 1982 before being shown on PBS in America as part of their Masterpiece Theatre series. PLOT A workaholic, dedicated to his job and separated from his wife, persuades a colleague to pose as his wife in order to secure a post at an upmarket hotel. The new 'wife' gets too involved in the charade which ultimately leads to trouble... HOW THE STORY GOES... Set in the post-war years, pompous waiter, Maurice Silcox, a man who has his head stuck up his rear end (sorry, derrière!) is sick of the 'trash' he has to serve at the run-of-the-mill hotel he works at in Brighton. Dedicated to his job and dreaming of a better position at a more prestigious hotel with better clientele, he applies for a post at a more upmarket hotel near Henley called The Royal George. But there's one catch... the hotel is seeking a married couple to fulfil the wait staff roles. Where is he going to find a 'wife' at such short notice? Enter Edith, a lonely, never-been-married waitress at the hotel. Timid, reserved, and obedient, Silcox considers her to be the perfect candidate to pose as his wife, even though they haven't been acquainted for very long. Knowing that there's nothing to keep her in Brighton, and feeling equally as appalled as Silcox at the calibre of guests at the hotel, Edith agrees to Silcox's proposition. Even Silcox's admission that he is 'married but separated,' does not deter Edith from agreeing to go along with the charade. On arrival at the new hotel, Silcox suggests that they come up with a backstory and 'married-couple' habits so that they can successfully convince everyone that they are indeed husband and wife. Part of the backstory is the creation of a seventeen year old son named Julian who is away at boarding school but goes to stay with relatives at weekends. Placing a photograph of a young man who is supposed to be Julian on the mantlepiece, Silcox tells Edith that the smiling teen in the photograph is a relative of his. To ensure that both she and Silcox get their story right about their 'son,' Edith asks Silcox a lot of questions about 'Julian'. To Silcox, the creation of Julian is borne out of a matter of necessity - a ploy to convince their new colleagues that he and Edith are man and wife. But Edith gets drawn more and more into the make-believe world that Silcox has created and in her mind, 'Julian' is very real. She begins to discuss Julian's childhood with guests; asks her boss for time off so that she can visit Julian on his birthday; knits a sweater for him, and is delighted when a colleague, noticing 'Julian's' photograph, tells Edith that he has her eyes! None of this goes unnoticed by Silcox who is seething at Edith's lack of indiscretion. But Edith refuses to stop discussing her 'son' with others when Silcox orders her to do so, and relations between the pair become frostier than a freezer in urgent need of defrosting! Then just before Edith leaves for the afternoon, she bumps into a man at the hotel who comes looking for Silcox. Edith recognises him... It's Julian! A confrontation with Silcox leads to Edith discovering Julian's true identity... A heated exchange between Silcox and Edith follows, and realizing that whatever semblance of a relationship she had with Silcox is now irreparable, Edith decides to leave him and The Royal George. But before she does that, she exacts a terrible revenge on Silcox proving that meek, docile Edith is not a woman to be messed with... What we think... Anything written by 'the other' Elizabeth Taylor is always worth a read, so any TV drama based on her work is worth watching, and A Dedicated Man - with Joan Plowright and Alec McGowan leading a very talented cast - is no exception, and was indeed an impressive debut for the All for Love series. Directed by British TV and film director Robert Knights, whose work includes The Dawning; A Touch of Frost; and Inspector Morse among an impressive list of credits, A Dedicated Man will be a hit with those who are fans of the 'television play' genre, and because it is so quintessentially English with that characteristic quaint charm; a series of stiff upper lips, and silent hauteur, you'll feel as though you need to watch this production with a pot of tea and a couple of freshly baked scones! Had this been a Hollywood rom-com, Edith and Silcox would have become a couple by the end of the episode, and would be running The Royal George. But Taylor's work isn't as predictable as that. A Dedicated Man has an underlying sense of darkness as there is with much of Taylor's work, complete with the notion that nothing is quite what is seems. The viewer is led to believe that Silcox is a domineering control freak, who used and manipulated a seemingly vulnerable woman for his own selfish gain. But then the audience sees that Edith is more than capable of standing up for herself. In a case of who manipulated who, we're left wondering if Edith had had enough of Silcox's controlling ways... or if she had been playing a game all along. During her final scene, Edith tells the manager of the new establishment a story that is reminiscent of the one she told Silcox when she was describing her life before arriving at the hotel in Brighton. It makes you question: Who is Edith? And how much of her story is true? And who should the audience's sympathies lie with? Workaholic Silcox whose dedication to his job probably serves to mask the pain of estrangement from his family, or Edith who after having supposedly spent the best years of her life caring for her mother, thus missing out on marrying and having children of her own, now faces an uncertain future on her own. Viewers do indeed get a sense of Edith's regret of never having become a wife and mother and the loss of her privileged life. The eager and enthusiastic expression on her face when she thinks Silcox is proposing to her suggests that she feels as though her ship has finally come in. But the realization that this is not a genuine marriage does not deter Edith, who goes along with the plan. There's very little closeness between Silcox and Edith - even as friends. Eye contact is limited and conversation is stilted, awkward and to the point but Edith does not seem too bothered by this. Her fixation with the make-believe 'Julian' implies that what she really wanted was to be a mother - not necessarily a wife. Class struggles play a large role in Taylor's work and this is evident in A Dedicated Man where themes regarding social status and class differences occur. Both Edith and Silcox appear to be from middle class backgrounds, and have a very obvious disdain for the working class guests at the Brighton hotel who are portrayed as vulgar and uncouth. This is a far cry from the guests at The Royal George who amidst the sparkle of the silverware and crystal; the exquisite china and pristine table linen, are of a more desirable calibre: worldly, cultured, with impeccable manners. Edith's act of revenge against Silcox as she leaves the hotel, is a very simple one, but no doubt it would have had terrible consequences for Silcox, for whom his dedication to his work and professional reputation mean everything. If Edith's scheme were to go according to plan, Silcox would undoubtedly lose his job at The Royal George, and having no other home or family, this could mean destitution and homelessness or a life of hard labour in the workhouses. Such an act tells us that Edith is no shrinking violet and is not afraid to hit back at anyone who crosses her. But what exactly was Silcox's crime against Edith? Was she angry that he had lied to her? Did she realise that he had manipulated her? Or was she devastated that Silcox had snatched from her the only experience of motherhood she'd ever really had? The last thing viewers see before the credits roll, is a smirking Silcox. But what exactly is he so smug about? Was it all part of his plan to use Edith in order to get the position at The Royal George and then for her to leave quietly once he no longer had any use for her? Or had he discovered and thus thwarted her dastardly plan? You decide! One thing for sure is that A Dedicated Man is indeed a quality, well produced piece of drama based on a quality, well written piece of work that is definitely worthy of viewing. And how many viewers will recognise the actress playing Miss Skinner? It's a case of blink and you'll miss her but Miss Skinner is played by The late Doreen Sloane who became better known to soap fans as Brookside's Annabelle Collins! Photos from YouTube Word Cloud by Angel Noire

Neighbours fans have just watched the culmination of one of the most intriguing plots that t he show has had in a while - the return of Paul Robinson's ex-wives and their scheme to stop his impending marriage to Therese Willis. What was great for long-time fans of the show were all the familiar faces that had been hitting our screens over the last few days. You sure can't beat a good bit of nostalgia! Paul wondering for how long Therese will remain Mrs. Robinson... There's no denying that Paul has had his fair share of wives. In fact we're willing to bet that Paul has had everyone else's share of wives too! This is a man who clearly has issues with commitment but at the same time, he really loves donning a tux. Paul, if you love wearing tuxedos so much you could just model for a bridalwear company; aim to get invited to awards ceremonies, or audition to be the next Bond. But marriage - nah! Clearly not your thing! Three is the marriage number for the Toadfish. So far at least! And Paul's not the only male soap character who has been keeping wedding planners in business. Soaps have many characters who have been married more times than they've had pub lunches. Although three does seem to be the magic number, with characters such as EastEnders' Mark Fowler; Grant Mitchell; Frank Butcher, and Patrick Trueman; Brookside's Max Farnham ; Dallas 's Bobby Ewing, and Neighbours' Toadfish Rebecchi; Joe Mangel, and Max Hoyland all having had three wives (just not all at the same time of course!). But there are some men who like to be 'above average' and for them three weddings are like Wall's Viennetta - it's just never enough! As Paul Robinson has just wed his sixth wife, we take a look at the men who have been battling it out to be the male Liz Taylor. 1. STEVE MCDONALD (Coronation Street) When the McDonald twins, Steve and Andy, first arrived on the Street in 1989, there was no denying that they were handsome young lads who were destined to break hearts. But in Steve's case, each broken heart came with a free diamond ring! No one could have guessed that thirty years later, Steve McDonald would have married half the female population of Weatherfield! There was wife number one, Vicky Arden, Alec Gilroy's granddaughter who Steve married for her money. Wife number two was Karen Phillips who Steve actually married twice. The first time was for a bet, while the second time was most memorable - that was when Tracey Barlow gatecrashed the wedding and it was revealed that Steve was the father of her baby daughter, leaving Karen distraught although she still went through with the wedding. The disastrous start which proved to be a bad omen as the marriage did not last, and Becky Granger went on to become the third Mrs. McDonald. And it was because of the third (by now former) Mrs. McDonald (Becky) that Steve's marriage to the fourth Mrs. M (Tracy Barlow) was annulled after Becky gatecrashed the reception and exposed the bride's lies. Moving on from Tracy, Steve married his on-off-more-times-than-a-light-switch girlfriend Michelle O'Connor. This marriage ended in divorce after Michelle discovered that Steve had fathered a child with Leanne Battersby. So Steve did the only thing he could do - and got married again! And this time to wife number four, Tracy. Does this man ever pause for breath in between vows? Probably not! But marriage to Tracy can only mean one thing... ...There's got to be a wife number six out there somewhere... 2. KEN BARLOW (Coronation Street) Ken Barlow, as unlikely as it may seem, has always had a reputation for being the Street's lothario. He may have only had three wives, which by soap standards is the norm, but he did marry one of his wives twice. And that's before we get on to the countless affairs, liaisons and relationships that have occurred since the start of the show back in 1960. Ken's first wife was hairdresser Valerie Tatlock, who was famously electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer. She was the mother of his twins, Peter and Susan. After her death, Ken met and married maneater, Janet Reid, who despite her outrageous behaviour was just desperate to be loved. They clashed over Ken's children among other things and separated, although they never divorced. After a last-ditch attempt to win Ken back failed, Janet took an overdose and a distraught Ken found her body the next morning. Then along came bespectacled, gravelly-voiced Deirdre Langston, Ray Langston's widow and mother of Tracey, who Ken later adopted. When writers put Ken and Deirdre together, did they know that they were creating one of the most iconic couples in soap history? But life as the third Mrs. Barlow wasn't easy for Deirdre, and bored of her life with Ken, Deirdre turned her attentions to former flame Mike Baldwin, and the Ken-Deirdre-Mike triangle was an eighties' Corrie ratings winner and a storyline that has gone down in soap history for being so iconic. Deirdre eventually chose Ken over Mike and the two men remained bitter enemies for years. But the Barlow marriage ended in divorce when Ken began an affair with Wendy Crozier. In the years that followed, Ken and Deirdre both moved on with their lives and entered into other relationships. They eventually got back together again in 1999 - much to the delight of Corrie fans, before remarrying in one of the most talked-about soap weddings ever in 2005. Though as much as they loved each other, The Barlows still couldn't keep their eyes or hands off other people, but they remained together until Deirdre's death in 2015. Incidentally, the first time Ken and Deirdre married, it was shown within two days of Charles and Di's wedding. The second time, they were doing battle with Charles and Camilla. But as Ken and Deirdre are soap royalty, who can blame them? 3. MIKE BALDWIN (Coronation Street) What is it with Corrie men and weddings? Now we have Mike Baldwin wanting to prove that anything his arch nemesis Ken Barlow can do, he can do better. And seeing as he's had one more wife than Ken, he's probably right! Mike waited a long time to tie the knot - and when he finally did, his choice of bride raised more than a few eyebrows. For not only was the bride much younger than him but she also happened to be Ken Barlow's daughter, Susan. If Mike couldn't have Ken's wife, Deirdre, than Mike made sure he got up Ken's nose by marrying his daughter instead! The marriage didn't last (shock, gasp!) and Susan left Mike and Weatherfield - while pregnant with Mike's baby. Mike then went on to marry wealthy widow Jackie Ingram for her money. But it was the third Mrs. Baldwin, Alma Sedgewick, who he'd been having an on-off relationship for years, that Mike truly loved the most. But even that didn't turn him into the perfect husband and the pair ended up divorcing when Mike had been unfaithful. Then Mike wed his fourth wife, the very young, very petite, but extremely conniving Linda Sykes. But marriage to Linda couldn't stop Mike from being there by a dying Alma's bedside - and as he watched her slip away, Mike was heartbroken to have lost the only woman he ever really loved. 4. IAN BEALE (EastEnders) Adam Woodyatt who plays Ian, once said that he wanted his character to be Walford's answer to Ken Barlow. Walford's answer to Steve McDonald would have been more like it! And Mr. Beale hasn't done too badly on the wives front - even if one did try to kill him, and another walked out on him just hours after the ceremony. Ian's marriage to Cindy was doomed: she was in love with Simon Wicks, Ian's stepbrother, and pregnant with Simon's baby (although Ian naturally thought he was the father.) When the truth came out, Cindy fled the Square to start a new life with Simon - but a couple of years later, she went back to Ian... and back to her cheating ways. It was her affair with Ian and Simon's half-brother, David (clearly a girl who likes to keep it in the family!) that put the final nail in the coffin of their marriage. That and Cindy hiring a hitman to kill Ian! Cindy died in prison after giving birth to her latest boyfriend, Nick Holland's baby (yes, this is a girl who worked fast, and no, Nick was not another one of Ian's brothers!) Ian's marriage to Cindy is very significant because it changed Ian from a lovable, happy-go-lucky young man into er, what we know today - a lot like Paul Robinson after his disastrous first marriage to Terry. Glamourpuss Melanie Healy was wife number two. She got cold feet in the run up to the wedding realizing that after marrying Ian, she'd be wearing white forever stuck behind the counter of his chip shop! Mel only went through with the marriage when Ian - knowing Mel wanted to call off the wedding - lied about his daughter, Lucy, having cancer. Mel only found out the truth just hours after marrying Ian, and the horrified new Mrs. Beale wasted no time in walking out on her husband, declaring that she'd never loved him. Then there was the children's nanny, Laura Dunn. Loyal, with a good heart, Laura genuinely loved Ian and his kids. Sadly out of all his wives, Laura was the one Ian loved the least. She had the chance to go and work for another family after Ian went bankrupt but chose to stay with him and the kids - probably the worst decision she ever made. Well that and running down the stairs too fast! Ian ditched Laura when she became pregnant with Gary Hobbs baby after a one-night stand, although Ian being Ian, he was probably relieved to have found an excuse to dump her. But the real twist in the tale came after Laura's death from a fall down the stairs. Her son Bobby wasn't Gary's after all... ...He was Ian's. The most recent Mrs. Beale was the long-suffering Jane Clarke - and probably the only one who was willing to put up with Ian for as long as she did! Jane was a tough, no-nonsense type of woman and probably one of the few people who could put Ian in his place. Their first attempt to make it to the alter ended in a mud-fight after Ian discovered her affair with Grant Mitchell - although they did get married at a later date. But it's their vow renewal that viewers remember well - when the killer of Ian's daughter Lucy was revealed... it was his son Bobby! There's no denying that Ian and Jane loved each other deeply, and out of all of Ian's wives, Jane was the one who was best suited to him. The fourth Mrs. Beale fled the Square in a taxi after being threatened by Max Branning. Max isn't a threat anymore but Jane still hasn't returned and is said to have 'moved on.' Smart move! 5. PHIL MITCHELL (EastEnders) Is Phil competing with his former stepson Ian to see who can have the most wives in Walford? Since arriving on the Square, Phil has had four wives, not to mention an engagement to Shirley Carter, and he was very nearly wed to evil lawyer Stella Crawford. Phil's first wife, the now-forgotten, never-mentioned-again Nadia Borovac, was a young, pretty, Romanian woman who Phil agreed to marry so that she could stay in the UK, and he hoped he wouldn't have to see her again until it was time to sign the divorce papers once her visa came through. But a jealous and possesive Nadia turned out to be more trouble than she was worth, and turned up to cause more problems for Phil and his new girlfriend, Kathy Beale. Nadia succeeded in seducing Phil who was worried about Kathy finding out. What started out as a marriage of convenience became a marriage of great inconvenience to Phil, who came to regret his bright idea (but probably not the night of passion!) But that was until little brother, Grant, stepped in and 'sorted aaht' Nadia by threatening her unless she left Phil alone. And she did - but when Phil went looking for her to get a divorce so that he could marry Kathy, Nadia used his request to her advantage by asking for a pay-off. Phil begrudgingly paid up and Nadia left, never to be seen, heard of, or mentioned again. Enter wife number two! A lot of people didn't get what kind, caring Kathy saw in thuggish Phil whose idea of kindness was calling an ambulance for someone he'd just roughed up! Before she'd even said I do, Kathy had to deal with the whole Nadia saga, and the infamous 'Sharongate.' Being eleven years older than Phil and already in her forties, it was considered unlikely that kids would ever be part of the plan. But Kathy was the one to give Phil his first child; a lovely surprise for the Mitchell clan. What wasn't so lovely was that the child was Ben Mitchell! But marriage to a Mitchell was hard and eventually Kathy, who always did have the patience of a saint, realized that she was never going to get the family life she wanted with Phil, and even though she still loved him, she called time on the marriage and went off to start a new life in South Africa with baby Ben. The third Mrs. Mitchell was Kate Morton, who posed as a beautician called Kate Tyler. Kate helped Phil through his grief when Jamie Mitchell died and the two ended up falling in love. The problem was that Kate was actually an undercover policewoman who was investigating the disappearance of Phil's former girlfriend Lisa Fowler. Falling in love with the suspect was never part of the plan, and neither was marrying him. But that's exactly what Kate did, after quitting the force. The marriage got off to a bad start with Lisa Fowler reappearing at Phil and Kate's wedding and catching the bouquet! And sure enough, Kate didn't get her happy ever after with Mr. Mitchell, as Phil was caught red-handed after he was lured by Den Watts into taking part in a robbery. That was the last straw for Kate, who handed Louise back to her mum, and then ended her marriage to Phil. Kate eventually left Walford after being offered her old job back with the police - but not before having flings with Dennis Rickman and his dad Den. The saucy mare! And that brings us up to the current Mrs. Mitchell - Sharon Watts-Mitchell-Watts-Rickman-Mitchell. Phil eventually did get the woman he had loved for so many years. Sharon once said that she felt she'd married the wrong brother. Well after having finally married Phil after being on-off for years, she still feels that way! Too bad Phil and Grant don't have any more brothers - but there's always cousin Billy! Once the truth comes out that Sharon's baby isn't Phil's, what's the betting we'll be seeing a fifth Mrs. Mitchell? Shirley, we suggest you start picking out gowns! Photos from YouTube Word cloud by Angel Noire

Hi Nostalgiacs! Goodness it's been a busy week! We've done five states in a week. I don't think even NKOTB do that (OK, they probably do more!) So my state count has gone up by two as I've now added Maryland and Virginia to my list of states that I've visited, not to mention my first ever visit to the nation's capital. D.C. baby! DC far, far, FAR exceeded my expectations. The White House, Lincoln Memorial, The Capitol... symbols of America that I'd grown up seeing on TV and in newspapers and now here they were right in front of me. Mr. D had only ever been to DC once on a school trip, so our visit brought back memories for him of that trip. My sore and aching feet told me that we'd done a lot of gallivanting but in reality, I know that there was so much more to explore. I'm also disappointed to have missed my friend and former colleague who was visiting my home city while I was in hers. Typical! I am definitely hoping that there will be a next time. And I have to mention the delicious seafood platter I scoffed while in Maryland. It's true - you can't go to Maryland and not try the seafood, especially their world famous crab cakes. I got the platter from Bill's Seafood in Maryland, which wasn't the take away shop or restaurant that I thought it might be. But rather it was a fish market where you can buy fresh seafood or freshly cooked fish dishes to take away. My seafood platter consisted of that crab cake, broiled shrimp, broiled fish, breaded oysters, macaroni salad and my fave crinkle cut chips. Everything was very enjoyable... but not one hundred per cent sold on the breaded oysters although they weren't terrible. Would definitely go back again. And thanks to my mate MJ for giving me the idea to visit Bill's Seafood - the best fish n' chips I've ever had! Photos by Angel Noire Our most recent date night was completely, totally, and utterly right up my street (quite literally as well!) as our local drive-in was hosting a Retro Movie Weekend, screening movies from the eighties and nineties. The choices available were Back To The Future, The Goonies, Jurassic Park, and Jaws. Talk about spoilt for choice! There was even an opportunity to take pics with retro movie props! Wow! Had I just died and gone to retro heaven??? It goes without saying that I was totally in my element, and decided to go all out on an eighties vibe, with the dress - that reminded me of what my style-conscious aunts used to wear in the decade that style supposedly forgot - accessories, and even scrunched hair, which I haven't done since I was fifteen. And it was while I was scrunching my hair that the thought occurred to me that I needed to invest in a set of hair crimpers if I wanted to do that full-on eighties' thing! Unfortunately it was because I spent so long doing my hair, that by the time we got to the drive-in, the queue to take pics with the movie props was way too long and we'd have risked missing the start of the movie. Hopefully there'll be another time but Mr. D and I had a great time watching The Goonies and Back To The Future again. And coming from a country where we don't really have drive-in movie theatres, I can say nothing beats watching a movie on the big screen in the open air - even if the sound is a tad bit fuzzy! And special shout-out to my little nephew as I borrowed his playmat to take a snap of my outfit. Hasn't it got just the right amount of eighties fluorescent! Photos by Angel Noire In 1999, I made my first ever visit to America, fulfilling my childhood dream of visiting the mythical, magical place that only existed in movies and TV shows and finally seeing what all the fuss was about! One of the things that my family and I did during that visit was make a very brief stop in New York to have dinner before getting back on the road and heading back to Chicago. Twenty years later, I made another brief visit to New York when I made my first ever visit to Yankee Stadium last weekend to watch the New England Revolutions take on New York FC. As most people know, I don't have a sporting bone in my body. This is the girl who lived five minutes down the road from Wembley Stadium for nearly twenty years and never went to a sporting event! But it was a very interesting experience and I'm glad I did it - even if the long coach journey did make me feel ill, and the Revs lost! I hope that one day I will be able to have the full 'tourist in New York' experience. Maybe in 2039! And incidentally, I first went to Portland, Oregon in 2009 when I started dating the fella. perhaps all good things for me happen in America during years that end with a '9'... Photos by Angel Noire After almost three decades, it is so good to see Gayle and Gillian Blakeney back in the spotlight. The ladies made their long-awaited return to Neighbours on Friday, reprising their famous roles as Caroline and Christina Alessi. Fans are marvelling at how the Blakeney twins have barely changed let alone aged since they were last on Ramsay Street, but after years of living in Los Angeles where they're currently based, I can definitely detect an American twang! And the few promo appearances by the twins I've seen are a reminder of the times when Gayle and Gillian were the hottest thing since um, something really hot, and were absolutely EVERYWHERE!!! Unfortunately they're only in Neighbours for a couple more episodes but I have really been enjoying this blast from the past. Hopefully it won't be long before they make another visit - and not another twenty seven years! Photos from YouTube Word Cloud by Angel Noire

Neighbours' fans who have watched the show from the early days are beside themselves with excitement after it was announced that Caroline Alessi and her twin sister Christina would be returning to Ramsay Street. This is the most recent in a line of blasts from the pasts as lately Jane Harris, Dr. Beverly Marshall, Gemma Willis and even the deceased Jim Robinson have all made brief returns to the show. Clearly the powers that be have picked up on how much viewers love getting all nostalgic and seeing the old faces return so hopefully there'll be more past characters to grace Melbourne's most famous cul-de-sac with their presence. If anyone's listening, could you please bring back Gaby Willis, Bronwyn Davies, her sister Sharon, Nick Page and Melissa Jarrett? Cool! What's even more surprising about this return is that it was believed that the actresses who played the Alessis, real-life twins, Gayle and Gillian Blakeney, had given up acting so no one expected them to reprise the roles that made them mega famous in the UK. And mega famous they were! During their time on Neighbours , Gayle and Gillian graced pretty much every magazine cover; appeared on countless TV shows, and even performed in the mandatory pantomime that every Neighbours and Home and Away actor and actress was obligated to do during the nineties (oh no they didn't!) Even after leaving the show, they were still very much in the public eye especially in the UK. And yes - there was a pop career! But then from being everywhere, the Blakeney twins were nowhere. No, they had not declined in popularity but rather they quit showbiz while still at the top of their game; left their native Australia for a new life in America where they opted to live out of the spotlight; getting married and families. It's no surprise then, according to a lot of social media comments, that Neighbours viewers today - especially those who were born after Gayle and Gillian quit Neighbours - aren't too sure who the Alessi twins are or why their return is such a big deal. Hopefully this post will clear that up! CAROLINE AND CHRISTINA ALESSI Who is Linda Giles? And no it's not Cockney rhyming slang for uncomfortable ailments! When the mysterious Linda Giles moved to Ramsay Street as a tenant in Paul Robinson's old house and took a job working for him at Lassiter's, many of the residents - especially Joe Mangel - felt there was more to Ms. Giles than met the eye. And they were right - there was a lot more. Twice as much in fact! Because Linda Giles didn't really exist. 'She' was actually two people - twin sisters Caroline and Christina Alessi. The sisters had witnessed a murder a while back and had to go into witness protection. They were advised by police to pose as one person so they assumed the identity of Linda Giles. They were rumbled by Paul who agreed to keep their secret, but once the killer had been caught, the sisters were no longer forced to hide behind an assumed identity and were given a warm welcome by the rest of the Street. However there was no protection program that could protect them from the charms of Paul Robinson (as most of the women in Erinsborough have discovered, usually to their cost!) Christina fell in love with Paul and went on to become the third Mrs. Robinson and mum to Paul's fifth child Andrew (viewers didn't know about Paul's twin sons, David and Leo, back then!) but was left devastated when she discovered that Paul had become romantically entangled with her sister which led Caroline to flee Erinsborough and start a new life in Italy. Christina eventually forgave Paul and the two left Ramsay Street to start a new life in Hawaii. Sadly it wasn't to be and the two divorced with Paul heading back to Erinsbrough, and Christina and Andrew going to live in Scotland before returning to Australia. Alessi Twintastic Facts The Alessi twins were in Neighbours for a period of two years starting in 1990. The sisters were of Italian descent with Caroline being the elder of the two. Both twins replaced Paul's ex-wife Gail in every way possible! Both lived in her former marital home after Gail left Paul. Caroline took over Gail's old job of assistant manager at Lassiter's, while Christina ran the gift shop which had also previously been run by Gail. Christina also went on to marry Paul, and not long afterwards baby Andrew came along. Even though Christina ended up marrying Paul, viewers often forget that in the beginning both girls had a crush on Paul but decided that neither should go there. And they stuck to that until Caroline starting dating Adam Willis, leaving Christina free to pursue Paul. Viewers remember the scandal when Caroline became romantically involved with her brother-in-law Paul. But she also had a relationship with his dad, Jim! Caroline and Jim began a relationship when his marriage to Beverly hit the rocks, although husband and wife soon reunited when they discovered that Beverly was pregnant. Caroline and Christina had a telepathic connection and used it to try to locate the other's whereabouts, or could sense when the other was in pain. The Alessis are the only twins on the show where Neighbours has highlighted the twins telepathic bond. Everyone remembers Paul and Christina's bickering over what they were going to call their new baby. Christina insisted on him being Benito after her uncle in order to keep her dad happy. Benito ended up being one of baby Andrew's middle names... ...While Uncle Benito and his family moved into Paul and Christina's former home after the couple left Ramsay Street to move to Hawaii. Both the Alessi twins moved abroad after they left Erinsbrough, with Caroline going to Italy, and Christina moving to Hawaii and then Brazil with Paul; before heading over to Scotland after their divorce, and finally moving to Sydney where she's still believed to be living. Gayle and Gillian Blakeney The Blakeney twins joined Neighbours  when the show was at the height of its fame but Gayle and Gillian were not showbiz newbies as they had been in the business since they were ten years old and were already well known in their native Australia. They made appearances in music videos for pop band The Monitors , before becoming presenters on shows such as Wombat. But it was Neighbours that turned Gayle and Gillian into household names in countries where Neighbours was shown. After their two year stint on the soap, the Blakeneys decided to focus on their music career, so they moved to the UK and became a pop duo called er, The Twins and signed up with the legendary Stock Aitken Waterman. They released three singles, All Mixed Up; I Wanna Be Your Lover, and Mad If You Don't. As fab as The Twins were, they didn't reach the dizzying heights of musical fame as fellow Neighbours' alumni Kylie and Jason. But they stayed on in the UK and even became co-hosts along with Des O'Connor on Take Your Pick. But then life-changing roles beckoned when they filmed an episode of American detective show Silk Stalkings. After years of being in the public eye, Gayle and Gillian loved the anonymity that came with being in America. And they liked it so much, they decided to stay. They're still based in California where they've lived for more than twenty years, raising their families, and building businesses and brands. In a podcast interview with Georoid Farrelly, Gillian revealed that by the time the Blakeneys arrived in America, she had already decided on a different career path for herself and quit showbiz before going on to run a vitamin company and then a toy company with Gayle. Today Gillian is the co-founder of scarf emporium, Leigh and Luca. But none of that has stopped Gayle and Gillian from returning to the set of Neighbours after twenty seven years to film three episodes that will air in September. It's been a long time and we can't wait! Blakeney Twintastic Facts Gillian's name is pronounced with a hard 'g' sound (as in grace) rather than the usual 'j' sound. Christina Alessi became Paul's wife, and in real-life Gayle Blakeney was in a relationship that lasted two and a half years with Stefan Dennis who played Paul. In an interview with News of the World 's Sunday magazine after they had left Neighbours, Gillian Blakeney revealed that she was glad to have hung up Caroline's business attire for good as it really wasn't her. Gillian said that she was more of a new-age hippy and loved wearing silver jewellery and silk shirts with jeans. In the same interview, the Blakeney twins talked about their belief in astrology and how it was guiding their career. Gayle and Gillian moved to England to kickstart their pop career, but eventually left to start a new life in California. Gayle is married with two children - a boy and a girl. Gillian married for the second time a couple of years back and adopted her new husband's two kids - a girl and a boy. She also has a daughter from her first marriage. Gillian is the co-founder of a scarf company called Leigh and Luca The Blakeney Twins interest in twin psychology might explain why Caroline and Christina's telepathic connection was written into storylines as the girls worked very closely with writers to get that portrayed convincingly. When they were filming their Head and Shoulders commercials, Gayle and Gillian had to dye their espresso coloured locks black as it appeared too red under the studio's lights. Gayle and Gillian, we can't wait to see you back on Ramsay Street! Photos from YouTube Word Cloud by Angel Noire

Hi Nostalgiacs! I flew back home to America last week and I'm already missing London loads. Hardly a surprise as I am a die-hard Londoner! I really enjoyed catching up with family and friends, and just having a good old wonder around town - which included visits to soho; Freddie Mercury's former Kensington home and a night out at Bill Wyman's restaurant, Sticky Fingers. Mr. D and I also celebrated us having been a couple for ten years with a wander around Hyde Park and a peddle-boat ride... something we used to do in the old days! I didn't get to see everyone or do all the things I had planned to do - funnily enough a month isn't long enough for all that even though it deceivingly seems so! Never mind - it's a good excuse to head back to London at some point soon. But just in case you're wondering, I am happy to be back in America, in my own home, getting back to my projects and my work, as well as enjoying a quieter, gentler pace of life that exists out here in rural New England. As most people who have moved to another country will say, you're never happy - when you're in one country, you suddenly find yourself wanting to be in the other. In an ideal world, I'd do six months in the UK and six months in the US. Mr. D. says that the only way that can happen is if we have a very big lottery win, and seeing as neither of us ever buys a ticket, even a small win isn't on the cards! Oh well - it's a nice thought! Other than seeing family, friends and tucking into decent fish n' chips, one highlight of the trip was the amazingly huge stack of magazines I received courtesy of a lovely young man, MJ, who like me collects vintage magazines and is a complete nostalgia nut! I meet a lot of interesting, kind-hearted people in the most random and bizarre ways and MJ is no exception. Around three years ago, I bought a bunch of magazines from, you guessed it, MJ. I thought that would be the last I heard from him when a few months later, he left a comment on my then blog for a post about vintage magazines. I think we both realised then what a small world it really was! Since then we've kept in touch, swapping notes on our magazine collection among other things. When MJ heard I was going to be in London, he very kindly offered to give me the copies of the magazines that he had doubles of. I was only expecting a handful of mags but I got much, much more than that. What was astounding is that MJ refused to accept a penny for them which is surprising considering he could have sold the lot. He really is a sweetheart and I'm very lucky to have gotten to know him - and not because of the freebie magazines! It's always lovely to meet someone who restores your faith in humanity. MJ - thank you for your very big-hearted gesture. You rock! x I had been back in America for only a few hours when I got the shock of my life! Well, a shock anyway. I cannot believe that the Alessi Twins are making their way back to Ramsay Street! WHAT??? NO WAY!!! It has been almost thirty years since Caroline Alessi and Christina Robinson left Erinsborough for new lives in Italy and Hawaii respectively. Fans felt that it was unlikely that the twins would ever set foot in Ramsay Street again, especially as the actresses who played Caroline and Christina, Gayle Blakeney and Gillian Blakeney, appeared to have given up acting and have since relocated to California where they've been living for more than twenty years. It goes without saying that Neighbours fans who remember the soap in its heyday will be delighted by this completely unexpected surprise (OK, true - all surprises are unexpected!) It's not known what their storyline will be or when their return will air but we cannot wait! No doubt they will be locking horns with Paul (who doesn't?) and be making a real impact on Ramsay street just as they did all those years ago. And as nostalgic as it is for Neighbours fans to have the Alessi Twins return, it must no doubt be equally nostalgic for the Blakeneys to be back on set, reunited with Stefan Dennis who plays Paul Robinson - Christina's ex-husband - and the crew of Neighbours, some of whom would have worked on the show when they were on it. I'm sure it'll be a short stint which is disappointing but it'll be great to see Caroline and Christina back again. As I said, we can't wait!

Hi Nostalgiacs! As some of you will have noticed, I have been a little naughty this month by not posting regularly. The reason is... I'm back in England! Yep I'm back in the motherland catching up with family, friends and just loving being home. It's funny because since moving to the States, I hadn't returned to London for more than two years. And now I'm back for the second time in six months. I hope it won't be so long until my next visit. I'll be back in the States in a few days time so get ready for some non-stop posting! For most of my life, like most people, I thought there was only one Elizabeth Taylor (and no, I'm not talking about my old dinner lady!) OK, there must be loads of Elizabeth Taylors out there - I mean I thought there was only one well-known Elizabeth Taylor, known for making her name in the arts. But then I discovered another Elizabeth Taylor who was a writer and famous for her short stories. One of her shorts, The Flypaper was adapted for the small screen in what has to be the most chilling, blood-curdling episode I've ever seen on Tales Of The Unexpected . I grew up on a diet of horror flicks, and The Flypaper did what The Shining , The Omen , and The Exorcist didn't do to my childhood self by forcing me to sleep with the light on - and I was a thirty-something year old, married woman! I figured that someone who created a piece of work that gave me nightmares of such epic proportions had to be super talented so I've been trying to catch up on as much of the late Ms. Taylor's work as I can (funnily enough she's known as 'the other' Elizabeth Taylor!) So when I stumbled across another screen adaptation based on her work A Dedicated Man , I just had to check it out. Featuring a cast of fine British actors, with a melancholic storyline with themes of loneliness and regret, I wasn't disappointed. Check out the upcoming post for A Dedicated Man . Long Time fans of Neighbours were in for a treat this month when Gemma Willis (was Ramsay) returned to Erinsborough to ask former sister-in-law, Therese, for help with her wayward daughter, Roxy. What was really awesome was that Gemma was played by Beth Buchanan, who originally played the role of Madge Bishop's niece back in the early nineties - a time where you risked being ostracized at school if you missed the previous night's episode of Neighbours ! What I'd like to know is, how does Beth still look like she did when she left the soap almost thirty years ago? But then seeing as her sister, Simone played a character who was supposed to be in her late twenties (Samantha Fitzgerald) when the actress was almost forty, it's clear that amazing genes run in that family! The purpose of Gemma's return was to introduce the character of Roxy Willis to the show. I have no idea what lies ahead for Roxy but I do wish Gemma's visit was a lot longer. Maybe next time she can bring Adam back with her! Photos: Angel Noire and YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire

Before I begin the second part of this post, can anyone guess which soap legend, who hailed from my neck of the woods, once lived in this house? And no, it wasn't anyone who starred in EastEnders! The answer will soon be revealed! OK, so what did happen when I took a stroll down memory lane and paid a visit to my old street where I'd lived as a young child? As soon as I saw the very unfamiliar-looking lady, I was almost a hundred per cent certain that my former neighbours had indeed moved on which to be honest wasn't really a surpirse. There are very few people, like my mum's family, who stay in the same house for such a long time. Or perhaps I've just got used to modern day life where people seem to move around every few years. So I was sorry that I'd wasted the lady's time and interrupted what was no doubt a very busy morning. I figured that at best she'd be annoyed with me. But at worst, if she was anything like me and had watched too many Crimewatch episodes, the sight of an unknown caller at her front-door was bound to alarm her! Thankfully she didn't appear at all phased by my unexpected appearance. But then in a twist that I was soooooo not expecting, I got the shock of my life when the lady announced that the people I was looking for - my old neighbours still lived at that very house! I got an even bigger shock when I realized that the lady I didn't recognize was actually one of my old playmates! The little boy with her was her eight year old nephew - her brother's son - who was now a fair bit older than his dad was when I last saw him as a toddler! It wasn't long before her mum joined us at the door... And honestly, it really was like time had stood still. She hadn't changed a bit and she was just as I had remembered her. I have nothing but good memories of this family. The parents were two of the nicest and most patient people you could ever wish to meet; always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. Us kids always loved hanging out at their house. The mum - Aunty to us kids - would sometimes take me and my sister to school when ever Mum wasn't able to. But for the most part I remember her and Mum walking to and from school with their gaggle of kids, talking about... well whatever mums talk about! Us kids would either be rushing off ahead shrieking about one thing or another... or lagging behind and dragging our feet because we were dead tired. It's hard being six and having to be at school all day! We chattered away for a while exchanging news of our lives now; swapping stories, and reliving the good old days. I had to decline their lovely offer to come in and grab a cuppa as my aunt was expecting me, but I did leave with a promise to keep in touch and to pop by the next time I was in London... and this time bring Mum along too. I was very touched when both mum and daughter said that they had all thought about my family over the years and wondered how we were all doing. And it was lovely to meet my neighbours' grandchild... the new generation! 'We'll leave you to continue your stroll down memory lane," said my childhood friend as I was leaving. Haha - this is the first time we've met in adulthood and it looks as though she already knows me too well! It was a very surreal experience as I walked away. I felt as though my present day-self had taken a trip back into time. I felt a whole plethora of emotions: delight at seeing my childhood home; joy at being reunited with friendly faces; contentment as the happy memories came flooding back... but there was also a pang of regret. What would my life have been like if we'd never moved away? True, there were a lot of things I'd missed out on by moving away - living closer to our extended family for a start. But then again, there were also experiences I'd never have had and people I would never have met if we hadn't had left. As we amble along on the journey that is life, it is always the good people that we meet; the ones who bring some magic into our lives; the ones we go on to form lasting friendships with, and the ones who go on to leave lasting memories long after they leave our lives that make every twist and turn worthwhile. And the nostalgia-fest didn't end there... When I got home I excitedly shared my news with the rest of the family. They were amazed that I went to go and have a look at the old place; stunned but delighted when I told them that I'd caught up with our old friends; sorry to hear that some of the neighbours had since passed or were in bad health, and they viewed pics of the street and our old house that I took with great curiosity. My family are often bogged down with the stresses and demands of a very busy work life. But hearing about my visit to our old street, their eyes lit up; they had ear-to-ear grins and they were brimming with the same level of excitement that I had been on earlier that day... and I knew that they too were taking their own little nostalgic stroll... Modern day life can be very hectic. We're very busy; constantly striving for success, moving on to the next big thing. Many of us no longer live in the town we were born in, meaning that we don't get to see our families as often as we'd like to; friendships can sometimes fade away, and good neighbours become a memory. We unintentionally drift away from many of the people we once knew but still continue to hold dear. But as I walked down the street of the first place I'd ever called home, it represented everything that was important in life: family, close friends, happy memories... and good neighbours. It was good to be back... And my East London escapades didn't just end with a visit to my old street. You can't visit the East End without going to a chippy! Well some will say you can't go to the East End without visiting a pie and mash shop but that's never been my thing. In fact this recent visit to London, I was quite disheartened by the lack of fish and chip shops. What's happened to them all??? Thankfully The Seahorse in East Ham, a chippy I've been going to for years is still around and does amazing fish and chips. I love that it was served on the kind of crockery that you'd have found at my nanna's house in the seventies, and those framed cigarette cards reminded me a lot of those collector's cards I used to get with a box of PG Tips (though I guess they were in cigarette packets first, hence the name!) A very retro experience indeed. And best of all (aside from the fish and chips of course) - were all those Cockney voices I could hear around me. Unfortunately I couldn't finish the massive fish portion while I was there but the lady who worked there noticed I managed to put all the chips away! Proper chip-shop chips... there are just some things you can't get in America... A trip around East Ham and then later Ilford! My mum was an avid Crossroads viewer. In fact It's because of her that I also grew up watching Crossroads - the proper Crossroads I mean not that awful reboot! So I grew up watching the escapades of Benny and Miss Diane, Jill and her husband Adam, the Hunters and of course listening to that familiar theme tune that signaled the start of one of our fave soaps. You're humming that tune to yourself right now, aren't you? But I have to admit, one of the faces that wasn't familiar to me was that Meg Richardson, one of the the soap's original characters, played by the legendary Noele Gordon. By the time I started watching Crossroads, Meg had already been written out and I didn't know anything about her until I was much older. But for those who knew, Meg Richardson - and of course the actress who played her - had soap icon status, and I only become aware of this years later. It's a bit like how it is for the new generation of Neighbours and EastEnders viewers who were born long after Scott and Charlene got hitched, or never got to see Den serve Angie with divorce papers. They may not have got to see these historic soap moments when it was broadcast the first time, or known how legendary these characters were. But over the years, they would definitely have heard all about them. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Noele Gordon actually lived in East Ham, just a skip, hop and not even a jump from the house I grew up in (though she'd long since moved by the time I came along!) I shared the news of my discovery with my totally amazed family who still live in the area, and we figured we should all go and have a look. They all watched Crossroads during the days when Meg Richardson reigned supreme and were surprised that they'd never heard that she once lived in the area. Although to be fair, by the time they'd moved into the area, wreaking havoc, Noele Gordon had long left East Ham! So I set off with my aunt and uncle in search of Noele Gordon's former home - not realizing that they were going to have their own little stroll down memory lane as they bumped into a man they once knew who they hadn't seen in more than forty years. How they all recognized each other, I don't know! So after reminiscing and sharing stories, we once again set off in pursuit of Noele's house. We found it and I was disappointed to see that there was no blue plaque outside her home! For some reason I was led to believe that there was and I don't see why there wasn't- after all Noele was soap royalty! After marveling at this little piece of local history, we set off before the current owners came outside to demand why there was a strange-looking people gawping at their house. But how lovely it is to find a little piece of local history right on your (old) doorstep. Right now if anyone can tell me where I can find Jimmy Greaves old house in Manor Park, that'll be next on the list! A very nostalgic day indeed that made this nostalgia-loving lady - and lots of other people - very happy! Photos: Angel Noire, Wix and YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire

Our house... In the middle of the street... Well towards the end really! Nostalgia... it's such a powerful force. And you'll find out just how powerful it is when you find yourself returning to the first house you ever called home. If you've lived to my grand old age (where we don't actually need to discuss just how grand!) chances are you've called more than one place home in your lifetime. But how many of you still think about your very first childhood home? Maybe at the time, you thought it would be your forever home. I know I did. Do you ever wonder what it looks like now? Who might be living in it? What changes might have occurred on the street you once lived on? Do any of the old neighbours you once knew still live there? Over the years, the first house I ever called home sometimes flits in and out of my mind. But it was all so long ago. In fact it often feels like a whole other lifetime ago. Although I spent most of my formative years growing up in a north-west London town, I was actually born in East London and lived there just long enough to acquire a Cockney twang that I've never been able to do away with completely. It doesn't bother me at all that I have an accent which means I could successfully audition for a part in EastEnders. Unfortunately it bothers my mum - a lot! MY PAST LIFE I grew up in Manor Park (once Essex now London since 1965) a place that was home for a period of time to Jimmy Greaves, Greer Garson, Clive Burr, and Steve Marriott. So I was in good company! A lot of my extended family lived just a stone's throw away in East Ham, and just round the corner in Forest Gate was where I got my first taste of school. This brief chapter of my life, living in Manor Park, was a happy one, and I have lovely memories of my time there. I may be guilty of looking at my past life through rose-tinted glasses but if I could go back - I would! I suppose that's not so surprising as many of the memories that I have of that particular time are connected to family; great friends, infant and junior school, and good neighbours. I also remember get-togethers, dinner parties, and Saturday night suppers my parents used to throw and I reckon this is where I get my love of entertaining from. In those days we didn't have to work all the hours God sent unlike now, so we had more time to relax and actually have a life, socializing with family, friends and neighbours. Yep, those were the days when people didn't move around as much as they do now and people actually knew their neighbours. And those big family Christmases back in the eighties were nothing short of magical. Christmas has never been the same since. Not bad... Just different... TIME TO MOVE ON Then came the time when my parents decided it made more sense to make the move to north-west London so they could be closer to their business rather than make the long and tiring commute to work every day. So we sadly waved goodbye to our family, friends, neighbours, our schoolfriends and the only place we had known as home in order to start the next episode. Even though we didn't live there anymore, my parents still owned our old house, renting it out for almost two decades before deciding enough was enough and putting the house on the market. It wasn't a decision my dad made lightly. As the first property he had ever owned, he wasn't keen to get rid of it. I guess I'm not the only one bitten by the nostalgia bug! It had been a happy house with happy memories so we were sad to say goodbye to it. I don't know who ended up buying it - or even if they still live there now - but I hope that the house has been equally good to them too and is filled with happy memories of their own. GOING HOME Over the years I've always made trips back to nearby East Ham where my mum's family have lived for years. But for some reason, I hardly ever turned right outside of East Ham Station and made my way towards my old neighbourhood. But it's because I did have such good memories of my time there, that it was always my plan to someday give my husband a tour of my old neighbourhood, showing him my old house; the schools I used to go; the places we used to frequent, even the places where my mum used to shop for groceries! To be honest, I have no idea why it never occurred to me to go and take a look at the old place whenever I was nearby visiting family. I suppose it's because my mum's old family home has always been just as much home to me as the first house I grew up in, and was filled with just as many happy memories for me. So I didn't feel the overwhelming desire to go and seek out my old house. But on a recent trip home, as I made the usual plans to go see the East London contingent of my family, nostalgia took over and I decided that I just had to see my old childhood home. The Fella was tempted away by a canoeing trip with our nephews so I couldn't give him the grand tour of my past life, but I realized that there was absolutely nothing to stop me from having a wonder around the old home town - probably for the first time in more than twenty years. So as I made my way out of the station, I headed in the direction of Manor Park... AND HERE COMES MEMORY LANE! Walking up the high street towards my old house, I saw the street as it is now... but in my mind's eye, I also how it was all those years ago. Where The Burnell Arms once stood - a pub that spent more time shut down and boarded up (in my lifetime anyway!) than heaving with punters - was now a place of worship (yes really!) The newsagents, owned by the nice lady who lived near my school who would let me use her phone if ever anyone was late to pick me up, was unfortunately no longer there (and I only ever had to use her phone once!) The grocery store where my mum was a regular shopper was still there but with a different name and probably under new management. The Kentucky Fried Chicken (as it was then and not KFC!) had crossed state lines and was now Tennessee Chicken. My old nursery school used to be just around the corner from it - maybe it still was. And the old Victor Value was now a 99p store . There was no sign though of the steakhouse that was easily the poshest establishment in my neck of the woods back then - and no, we never got to go! And then there was the bridge that stretched across the road to connect the two buildings that made up Plashet School which would probably have been my secondary school had we still lived there. I've spent way more years living away from East London than I spent living there; I was still a young child when we moved away so how I remember it all so vividly, I don't know how or why... especially as these days, I can't even remember what I've opened the fridge door for! As I reached the top of my old road, I saw that it was as familiar as it was different. There were many things that had changed but there were also just as many things that remained the same. The flats that were adjacent to my old street were still there. But the youth club - which had some of the rowdiest kids we ever did see - was gone and in its place stood a new apartment building. There was also a bus stop for the 300 route bus which wasn't there before. And there is now a medical centre that takes up most of the area that was once for ball games, and may have been part of the youth club. THIS OLD HOUSE As I made my way over to my old house, my thoughts turned to the people who used to live on my road: our elderly next-door neighbours; the quiet man who lived on the other side of our house; the owner of the first Invacar I ever saw (I always remember that car in its familiar shade pf blue always parked at the top of our street) the family where all the members had flaming red hair that would make Cilla Black jealous (all except the blonde mum!) the family of builders who lived in the end-house on our side of the street; the end-house on the other side of the street that always looked a bit squashed-in to me for some reason - as though the property developers decided there was just enough space to squeeze in another house... so they did! Then there were the goths who lived in the totally black house - interior and exterior! As a child I was always frightened of that house and its inhabitants. I always felt there was something eery and sinister about them. But then this was years before I dabbled in being a goth myself! There were tons of kids who lived on our road and the surrounding streets who went to the same schools as my sister and me. So we literally saw them everywhere! It's a good job that we all got on ( most of the time!) and used to play together. I think there were only two kids on my road who went to a different school. They weren't always the most pleasant of kids but then I suppose they couldn't handle not being down with the cool kids! There was also a family of I think fifteen kids - one of whom was in my class - who lived around the corner from my house and they were right opposite Plashet Park. I remember one November when they were dotted all around our area with their various 'Guys' asking everyone if they had a penny for the Guy. Being part of a massive family definitely has it's advantages! And then there it was - the first home I'd ever known. As I stood outside my old house, a ton of memories came flooding back: Birthdays... Christmases... My First Communion.... My little sister's christening... Of course I didn't know what it looked like now on the inside but on the outside very little had changed. The new owners had put in new windows and a porch door but otherwise it was like looking at the exact same house all those years ago. All that was missing was my dad's beloved Ford Capris parked outside the house! I wondered if the garden had changed much. If the greengage tree was still there... or the gooseberry bush... the strawberry plants... and the rose bushes that formed a border in various colours and were my dad's pride and joy. Hopefully the grape vine was still there. Yep we may not have been in the South of France but we had a thriving grapevine. It produced the tiniest, sourest grapes, you'd ever tasted but my little sis and I weren't complaining! EVERYBODY NEEDS GOOD NEIGHBOURS I can't pretend we lived on Ramsay Street. But for the most part, a lot of us who lived on that road knew each other and were on first name terms. At the very least we recognized who lived on that street and which was their house. And of course every Christmas, cards would be popped through letter boxes. But when it came to friends, that was undoubtedly the neighbours who lived the the two houses right across the road from us. One was a very friendly family with five (or was it six?) adult boys; one of whom was a very good friend to my dad, and my sister and I got to be flower girls at his wedding. The other family had children who were of a similar age to me and my siblings and we were always in and out of each other's houses. Both families were regular visitors to ours, and were always welcome guests whenever we were celebrating an important family event. The family with the five or six lads moved away long before we did and we all ended up losing contact. Back then people didn't keep in contact the way we do today. We didn't have Facebook or WhatsApp - we didn't even have email! So if you wanted to keep in touch it would be letters, phone calls, plus the odd visit. But because these methods of communication weren't as 'instant' as it is today, and could sometimes be a bit time-consuming, people eventually stopped putting in the effort and just drifted away - especially when real-life gets in the way. However, as I stood outside of the home of the neighbours whose children we used to play with, I wondered if it could be at all possible that they still lived there. What after all this time? Nah - they couldn't be! But then I found myself doing a very un-Angel-like thing. I suddenly found myself pushing open the gate to their home and ringing the bell. Not something I would normally do as I totally hate bothering people and coming across as a nuisance. When I relayed the story to my sister later that evening, she was totally shocked that I would be so bold, as that is definitely more her department! I wanted to turn and run after ringing the bell but aside from being too old to be playing Knock Down Ginger, I saw a lady I didn't recognize walking towards the door with a young child, so it was too late for me to make a hasty get-away. "I'm sorry to bother you," I began suddenly feeling quite foolish, "but I was looking for the people who used to live here..." Read the second part of our post to find out what happened next... and to see which soap legend's former home I got to see (well only from the outside but that's good enough for me!) Photos: Angel Noire, YouTube and Wix Blog graphics: Angel Noire

Neighbours ' fans are still reeling from the tragic death of Ramsay Street sweetheart, Sonya Rebecchi. The character had been a firm favourite with viewers for nearly ten years and fans were led to believe that the actress who played Sonya, Eve Morey, wanted to leave the show in order to devote more time to her young family. But since that heart-wrenching episode aired, in which Sonya lost her fight against cancer and died in the arms of her distraught husband, Jarrod Rebecchi, Morey revealed that although she had suggested that Sonya be killed off, it wasn't actually her decision to leave in the first place. The Rebecchi family Neighbours - you take away Sonya Rebecchi and give us Finn Kelly instead!!! How could you???? And incidentally did anyone else think that Sonya's final scene where she died on the beach in Toadie's arms was reminiscent of Meg Bowman sadly passing away in Blake Dean's arms in Home and Away back in the nineties? In more recent years, Ramsay Street has had to say a final farewell to many of its residents including Josh Willis and his grandfather Doug, Kate Ramsay, and Matt Turner. So let's take a look at some of the other Neighbours characters we've loved... and lost way too soon. 1. Daphne Clarke (1988) The very first death of a Ramsay Street regular occurred back in 1988 when we lost Daphne Clarke who was the Sonya Rebecchi of the 1980s: strong and smart with a heart of pure gold, and a much-loved member of the community. So it comes as no surprise that Daphne's death was every bit as heart-wrenching as Sonya's. Wife of Des Clarke, mother of Jamie, and owner of the coffee shop when it was called er, Daphne's and not Harold's , Daphne was on her way to the funeral of her father - who she had reconciled with just a few months earlier after a rift that lasted years - when she was involved in a car accident along with her son Jamie and friend, Gail Robinson. While Jamie escaped unscathed and Gail sustained minor injuries, poor Daphne bore the brunt of the accident and ended up in a coma. She regained consciousness just long enough to tell her beloved Des that she loved him ("I love you, Clarkey") before taking her last breath and leaving Des devastated. When Elaine Smith - the actress who played Daphne and had appeared in Neighbours since the first episode - wanted to leave the soap, Daphne was sent to care for her dying father as the writers didn't want to kill off such a popular and much-loved character (didn't stop them with Sonya!) However viewers felt that this storyline was left hanging and hated the idea that Des and Daphne would inevitably break up so Elaine Smith returned to finish off Daphne's storyline, with Daphne being killed off at Smith's request. 2. Kerry Bishop (1990) Kerry Bishop could be another contender for the Street Stalwarts club along with Daphne and Sonya. Free-spirited, unconventional and a bit of a wanderer, Kerry and her daughter Skye eventually put down roots in Ramsay Street. During the short time Kerry spent in Erinsborough, she reconciled with her father Harold; got to know her stepmother Madge; made friends, and met the love of her life, Joe Mangel. Kind-hearted with a strong sense of fun, Kerry proved to be a great friend to everyone on Ramsay Street and an amazing stepmother to Joe's young son, Toby, who Joe himself had reconnected with not so long ago. Passionate about vegetarianism and animal welfare, Kerry was also a good mentor to Melissa Jarret, who showed great signs of following in Kerry's footsteps. Kerry settled into a happy family life with Joe, Skye and Toby. The icing on the cake was when Joe and Kerry discovered that they had a little one on the way... But in true soap style, tragedy was just around the corner, when Kerry was shot and killed while out on a protest against duck hunters. Joe was distraught and didn't know how he was going to go on without his beloved Kerry. But just as Des Clarke had done, he pulled himself together for the sake of the kids as he tried to come to terms with a future without Kerry. Joe eventually left Ramsay Street about a year later after marrying whacky Melanie Pearson. But it was on Skye's return to Erinsborough years later when she was a teenager that viewers learned that Joe and Melanie had split up just a few years into their marriage. Kerry Bishop was clearly a tough act to follow. Linda Hartley-Clarke (though she was then known as Linda Hartley) had played the role of Kerry Bishop for less than two years, and even though she enjoyed playing the character and working on Neighbours , she grew tired of the long hours. So when her contract came up for renewal, Hartley-Clarke decided to leave. The decision to kill Kerry off wasn't hers, but she did agree that it was the only logical way that the character could leave, as Kerry wouldn't just walk out on Joe and their kids - just as Morey had said that Sonya would never leave Toadie and their kids through choice. 3. Todd Landers (1992) Todd Landers became part of the Robinson clan after his aunt, Dr. Beverly Marshall, married Jim Robinson. And even after Jim and Beverly's marriage ended, Todd stayed on in Erinsborough and continued living in the Robinson house. After failed romances with Emma, Melissa, and Cody, Todd eventually found love with Phoebe Bright - his first serious relationship. So serious in fact that Phoebe soon became pregnant which left the young couple stunned. After much indecision, Todd and Phoebe finally made the decision to terminate the pregnancy - even though deep down, neither of them really wanted that. Realising that he couldn't let her go through with the abortion, Todd made a dash to the clinic to stop Phoebe from going ahead with it but was hit by a van and rushed to hospital. Todd came round after a seemingly successful operation and was talking about the future with Phoebe when he suddenly went into cardiac arrest and died in front of a devastated Phoebe. Todd later appeared to Phoebe after his death to tell her that he would always be there for her... and their daughter. Phoebe eventually gave birth to a baby girl who she named Hope. Kristian Schmidt who played Todd suggested that the character ought to be killed off when he decided he wanted to leave the show. He wanted a big, dramatic exit - and that was exactly what he got, ensuring that the character of Todd Landers would never be forgotten. In fact Todd was the first Neighbours character to have a montage of scenes, accompanied by a piano arrangement of the Neighbours theme tune, play out during the closing credits as a moving tribute. 4. Jim Robinson (1993) An original character from day one, Jim Robinson was the stalwart of Ramsay Street and a devoted family man. Those of us who have watched Neighbours since the beginning could never have imagined a time when Jim's presence would no longer be on the street. And it was the first time in soap history that a fruit bowl had such a prominent role in a character's death! And it would be another thirteen years before 'fruit bowl' would play such a starring role in another soap death on the other side of the world - look out, Pauline Fowler! Jim was generally a very sensible and wise man but sadly he didn't exercise much common sense or caution when it came to ruthless Fiona Hartman, Annalise's mother, and he embarked on a relationship with her despite warnings from family and friends. Jim had had problems with his heart and all the feuding with his family, in particular with his daughter Julie, proved to be bad for his health when Jim suffered another heart attack and died in front of a horrified Fiona... who soon turned the situation to her advantage by transferring Jim's money into her account before setting the scene for Jim's body to be discovered by his sister-in-law, Rosemary. Vile woman! Fiona, not Rosemary! It was recently announced that Jim Robinson had been axed from Neighbours due to actor Alan Dale's row with producers over pay which led to the decision to kill off Jim Robinson which probably seems a bit petty now to those involved. However it now seems to be water under the bridge as Alan Dale has made a return to Neighbours twice in the last two months... as a ghost! Alan's departure from the show was a real blow to Neighbours fans who would have loved for Jim to have stuck around in Ramsay Street a good while longer. Although number 26 Ramsay Street has changed hands many times over the years, many of us can't help but think of it as the Robinson residence. But Jim being written out of Neighbours turned out to be a real blessing for Alan Dale as his career has gone from strength to strength, particularly Stateside where he's had roles in popular shows such as The OC; Ugly Betty; ER, and The West Wing just to name a few. 5. Julie Martin (1994) How on earth could Julie Martin be related to wise, gentle Helen Daniels, kind-hearted Jim Robinson, and married to the loveable Phillip Martin? Julie was positively awful! Overbearing, rude, interfering, always jumping to conclusions... at any given time you could be sure that Julie was feuding with at least one of the neighbours. But Julie, sister to Paul, Scott and Lucy, wasn't all bad. Family was everything to her, and despite frequently rowing with her husband Phillip, she adored him and their kids, including her stepchildren Debbie and Michael, despite the fact that Michael absolutely loathed Julie and blamed her for his mother's death. It would appear - sometimes at least - that Julie's heart was in the right place. Too bad her mouth wasn't! Julie and Phillip's marriage had always been stormy but now it looked as though they were on the verge of a divorce - something that Julie took quite badly. When most of the Ramsay Street residents went away for a murder mystery weekend, Julie decided to follow Phillip there in a bid to sort things out but her attempts at reconciliation ended in an argument...and the next morning, a real-life murder mystery situation was under way when Julie's body was discovered by Cheryl Stark. At one point Phillip was suspected of Julie's murder - until Debbie had a flashback and realised she had blocked the memory of seeing a drunken and hysterical Julie fall from a tower onto the lawn in a tragic accident. When Julie Mullins - the second actress to play Julie - decided to leave the soap after two years, producers decided to inject some excitement into the show by killing off the character. Mullins agreed to this move as she felt that it was the only way she'd be able to shake off Julie Martin for good. Originally Julie's death was supposed to have been suicide but writers changed the plot just a couple of days before filming. Which character's death had you reaching for the tissues? Photos: YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire

Fans of British sit-com Birds Of A Feather will be saddened by the recent news that the show has been axed by ITV - nearly thirty years after it was first broadcast on BBC1. I loved watching Birds as a kid back in the Nineties. I didn't know many people who didn't enjoy keeping up with the antics of the two sisters and prisoners' wives Sharon Theodopolopodous and Tracey Stubbs, as well as their man-mad neighbour, Dorien Green. But fifteen years after the BBC had cancelled Birds Of A Feather , it was announced that the show was back and would have a new home at ITV. On the one hand, it was great news - like being reunited with a long-lost friend. But on the other, I wasn't so sure I was completely sold on the idea... Could the new-look Birds be anywhere as good as it was all those years ago? The new Birds Of A Feather was pleasant... funny... definitely watchable... but not a patch on the original. Sorry! Perhaps if I'd never watched the BBC version, I would have loved the ITV one. And that's my problem right there - I have never been a fan of reboots. Every child of the Nineties is familiar with the phrase "this is the remix." In the last ten years or so it's been more a case of "this is the reboot" with so many films and TV series being remade. I can definitely see the advantage of doing this as it means bringing the film/show to a whole new generation of viewers who have never watched it before, and for those of us 'oldies' who remember it the first time round, we get that delicious taste of nostalgia. But the problem is that us oldies, who not only remember the show the first time round but remember it well (in some cases too well!) we often feel that the show has changed so much that it may as well be a different program. We understand that times and things will have changed since the show was last on so that has to be reflected. We try to accept the new look series for what it is. We try to find positive things about it in order to keep watching because we really do want to keep watching. With the new series of Birds, at least all three of the main characters had returned. It really wouldn't have been the same if one of the actresses didn't want to reprise their memorable role that the British viewing public still remember and love them for. And you can forget about recasting them for a start! But more often than not, the show has a new team behind it who, it seems, don't have an understanding of the characters, their situation and circumstances. Or maybe the new team of writers, producers, directors etc. just want to put their own spin on it. What sadly happens is that one-time fans of the show inevitably end up switching off. It's a bit like biting into a chocolate bar that you last scoffed when you were a kid. The packaging is similar; the bar looks the same, and it still tastes sweet and yummy. But no matter how many years have gone by, you know it's not the same formula and the taste is different to how you remember it. Once that wave of nostalgia has finished washing over you, you can't help feeling just a little bit disappointed that it's not quite the same. I remember when my mum and her sisters heard that there was going to be a TV movie based on Peyton Place , an American soap opera they used to watch during their teen years. So they excitedly settled down to watch it - and let's just say they weren't so excited by the time the movie finished! So me personally, I don't go crazy over reboots. I'd much rather watch old episodes of the show so it's exactly as I remember it. What's your view of reboots? Are there any you've liked? Are there any you feel are way better than the original? Photos from YouTube Blog graphics: Angel Noire