Denise (Diane Parish)

[Perdita]

We now know she is still alive, as most of us predicted. Does not make sense at the moment but I am not Lucas so don't know how he thinks

[walsh2509]

What A load of BULL I Know Its A Soap But .. Dear God

She Is Alive ... Scriptwriters , lets totally ignore Police procedure where they would identify the body - Lets ignore the fact that the cops at the canal both interviewed Denise at her house and then a day or so later taking her to the cop shop and interveiwing her for hours sitting arcoss from her, could not see the difference between her who they had interviewed for hours and the body on the slab ... And don't say they might not have seen the body when it came out of the canal and didn't bother to look at it again on the slab and be present and the autopsy.

Or are we to believe these 2 detectives are that pea brained that they could not tell the differnce between a woman that they interviewed for hours at her home and again in the police station just a day or so before and a different woman they would have seen when brought out of the canal and again at the autopsy they would have attended.


What a JOKE!

[samandkai]

he is very strange lucas i didnt think she was dead like just like to see now how the story evolves and how it gets played with the storyline

[Perdita]

Ahead of tonight's game-changing EastEnders episode going to air, Diane Parish spoke exclusively to Digital Spy about the shock revelation that her character Denise Johnson is still alive.

If you haven't yet read the main part of the chat, click here to do so.

Alternatively, read on for more from Diane, including her thoughts on Libby, Chelsea and Don Gilet…

What have you thought about the storyline as a whole?
"It's all been a bit of a blur, but I've loved every last second of it. It's been really powerful, and there's some great episodes written by Christopher Reason next week - absolutely spot on. And the red button stuff that we've done is spot on. I remember saying to Bryan when I got the scripts that I was actually a bit petrified. I thought the scripts were really good, they're among the best scripts I've ever been given on the show in four years, if not the best scripts. I said to Bryan, 'I love them - but I really hope I do what you lot have put on the tin!' It's quite an intimidating thing when you get a really, really good strong bit of material to do - you then think, 'Am I going to be able to do it?' So I was really excited to do it and a bit terrified, but it's fun."

The Lucas story has been quite a slow burn one - what have you made of that?
"I think the point of that is that we don't know who we live amongst. We don't know who we live next door to. You can go through any situation in life - pass anyone on the street and you don't know, you just do not know what somebody's about and what they're up to. People have been shocked, but we don't know who we live amongst and that was the point of Lucas getting on with life in the Square.

"It wasn't about a storyline being dragged out or being overly long or anything like that. We wanted to give the sense that this guy got accidentally involved in a terrible crime with Trina, then he felt he was driven and pushed over the edge in desperation and did a terrible thing in murdering Owen. But all the way through that, he didn't walk on to the path of being a serial killer, it was just steps in desperation and being lost. We had to play that in real time."

Were you surprised when you learned that Libby and Chelsea would believe Denise was a killer?
"Oh yeah, I definitely was. Not Libby, because she's got some doubts, but with Chelsea. But I think we've got to remember that Chelsea had that bracelet thing nagging away at her for quite a while. But even so, I think, 'Do you not know your mother?!' She's obviously had that bracelet nagging away, and also she so desperately wanted to find her dad. We've got to remember that when Chelsea was in a very bad place, she was dabbling in drugs herself, so she felt she had some sort of connection with her dad and wanted to find him.

"Having her mum and her dad in the same house together was very important to her. So the idea that she could have possibly been the person to bring horror into her home, I think she would just block that out. Possibly the only thing is that it's easier to believe it was Denise who's done it, because the thought that it's her dad that's done it possibly is just too horrible."

Were you on set to see Denise's funeral?
"I wasn't on set when they did the funeral - I was at home in my garden! But it was really weird coming in after they'd all shot it. Everyone was going, 'God, Di, that was so weird, I didn't like it. I didn't like seeing your picture there'. I remember Nina, especially, saying, 'Oh no, I didn't like it'. She was really getting upset. I haven't seen those episodes but by the time you've done this article I will have seen it. I don't know what happens at the funeral, I look forward to it!"

Would you like to see Denise find some happiness now, or are you keen to keep playing the drama?
"I've always said that the most interesting characters are the people who go through these tortures and upsets. It's a rollercoaster of fun doing this. I always love doing the light stuff and the comedy, I absolutely adore it - bouncing off some of the actors in there is great. But when you do get stuff like this to get your teeth stuck into, it's brilliant."

Lucas's storyline is obviously drawing to a close now - will you miss working with Don Gilet?
"I will really, really, really miss working with him. Don plays a very intense character, and he's a very good actor and very professional, but he knows how to keep it light, put it that way! That is a blessing and a godsend to have when you're doing such challenging and intense work. Don and I have known each other for about ten years, we've worked together a lot, we get each other, and we don't have to work things out before we step on set - we just know.

"We can go and sit and have a cup of tea or lunch and go through our lines, and toss things into the air and come up with ideas. Neither of us are sensitive about that, and that is rare - it's rare to work with somebody where it's all easy and understood, and where you laugh. I spend all my time laughing with Don. I don't know if people know it, but he's a very funny man. He's crazy too, but really funny and we've both got the same sense of humour. I've just had two and a half years of working with someone who's like a best mate, so it's been brilliant."

Now that you're back from the dead, can you assure your fans that you'll be sticking with EastEnders for the foreseeable future?
"I would like to reassure them, but who knows?! I'm really enjoying myself at the minute and EastEnders is definitely keeping it interesting for all of us - it's some of the best work you'll get to do on television, being in this show, because you do get the full gamut of emotions and you get to really challenge yourself at times. I've been very fortunate that I've been trusted with really important issues and stories, and while that's happening, I'm loving it! I love EastEnders. I'm working with some amazing actors - there's some real talent to be proud of. And I'm really proud of our female talent - I think we've got amazingly strong, edgy women in our show. I'm very proud to be part of it."

[Perdita]

So Denise is alive after all in EastEnders!

The press at large have known for months about the Denise twist but (for obvious reasons) we haven't been able to say anything about it!

I've lost count of the number of times I was asked 'Is Denise really dead?' Feigning ignorance worked with the first couple of spotlight interrogations - beyond that, I opted for the 'I don't know what you're talking about' answer. That also made me look stupid.

The secret didn't stop the hardcore fans from guessing, though. The DS forums have been awash with Lazarus suggestions since Denise went missing. And the short press information which is publicly available actually gave away details about Denise's death - something which provoked further discussion as to why such a huge story moment would be revealed in such a way.

That aside, with Denise alive - and having been imprisoned next to her house for four weeks - where does this leave Lucas? His past surely has to catch up with him, doesn't it?

And more to the point, where does this leave Denise?

From chatting to her screen sister Tameka Empson - Kim Fox in the soap - it sounds like it'll be a 'sister doing it for themselves' story from here!

Take it away Tameka...

What did you think of the Denise twist when you first heard about it?
"I was like 'Whaaaat?!' I couldn't believe it. It's one of those things where you go through all that emotion and then to find out that they're alive?! I'm not always in the episodes, so to come back and see Denise is really crazy for Kim. It's the start of a new direction for Kim and Denise, though."

How does Kim react when she first sees Denise again?
"She screams!"

Where do Kim and Denise go from here?
"They're chalk and cheese - and the macaroni's yet to be made. You'll start to see - even more than you can now - that Denise and Kim are very different. You'll start to wonder how they can be sisters! They're Foxes by blood, though. They'll watch each other's backs but at the same time, they'll tear each other down. They won't let anyone else tear the other down, though - that's their job!"

Do you think we'll be learning much about their past?
"I'd really like to. With Kim being so fiery, there has to be some downtime. I'd like to see why Kim and Denise were separated in the first place and see their emotional sides."

What's in store for Kim now?
"I don't know much at the minute. Kim's slowly being introduced to the other characters at the minute.

You worked with Robbie Gee for a short time, too - do you think Kim's ex Dexter could make a return?
"Wouldn't it be nice?! Dexter's the one that breaks her heart over and over. There's always someone there in soapland to break your character's heart and they generally end up going back to have it broken again. It's been some time, but maybe he doesn't want to know any more… Who knows?!"

[walsh2509]

How do the scriptwriters - producers, get round the police part in all this ? The police were at the canal within an hour or so of the alarm in the car going off .. so if it was Denise dead in the canal the autopsy would have been able to tell how long she had been dead. And that goes for whoever's body was pulled out of the canal, now you would have to guess the body was in the canal longer than an hour or so, because the 2 detectives who knew Denise would have been able to tell it was not her if they body had only been in the canal for that short a time. If the body was in longer, and the 2 detectives could not tell if it was Denise or not , then again the autopsy would have told them that the body had been in the canal longer than Denise was missing, which was only hours ..

And when Lucas told them yes that is her , they would have known he was lying because the body on the slab would have been in the water longer than Denise was missing, again if the body had only been in the water a matter of hours then the cops would have been able to tell is was not the woman that they had interviewed two times in a matter of days and one of those interviews took place at the police station for hours so they know what Denise looks like.

[David261uk]

How do the scriptwriters - producers, get round the police part in all this ? The police were at the canal within an hour or so of the alarm in the car going off .. so if it was Denise dead in the canal the autopsy would have been able to tell how long she had been dead. And that goes for whoever's body was pulled out of the canal, now you would have to guess the body was in the canal longer than an hour or so, because the 2 detectives who knew Denise would have been able to tell it was not her if they body had only been in the canal for that short a time. If the body was in longer, and the 2 detectives could not tell if it was Denise or not , then again the autopsy would have told them that the body had been in the canal longer than Denise was missing, which was only hours ..

I think that Lucas probably had the black prostitute held captive somewhere and drowned her after the incident with Denise by the canal. Maybe he baptized her in the bath like he did Jade, but kept her under the water, then there would be no marks. He then dumped the body in the canal shortly before he sent the message on Denise's phone. We didn't see anything after Denise struggling in the car until the next day, so there was plenty of time for him to do that. It may never be fully explained to us.

I does seem very strange that the police investigating Owen's murder didn't also identify the body of a suspect in their case.

[David261uk]

Digital Spy had a completely new set of episode summaries for next week loaded within minutes of tonight's program. These new summaries have all the details of the Lucas/Denise story for next week.

[Dazzle]

I know this storyline doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but I'm just glad us Soapboarders were savvy enough to realize what the EE writers were up to.

[JustJodi]

apparently she got a pile of food from HER WAKE ???????????????????????