Eastenders General News Thread

[Perdita]

Leslie Grantham has expressed interest in taking on a role on Coronation Street.

The actor, known for playing EastEnders villain 'Dirty' Den Watts, told the Sunday People that he would consider appearing on the ITV soap, having previously turned down a part in the 1980s.

Leslie Grantham
© Rex Features / Barbara Lindberg

"Since I left EastEnders, I have been doing lots of theatre," he said. "It would be nice to go back into TV - people like me in this country, I think.

"I would like to go into Corrie but I've been Den for so long. It's difficult to get in now if you are well-known in another soap. I know Michelle Collins went into Corrie but I'll always be known as Dirty Den."

Grantham added that he admires the careers of actors such as Nigel Havers, who starred in films before playing conman Lewis Archer on Coronation Street.

"It would be nice to follow people like Nigel Havers," he said. "He went to Corrie but he had made his name in Chariots of Fire."

Grantham also stated that he doesn't watch soaps himself, explaining that he prefers to watch sport on television.

"I don't watch soaps," he said. "I never used to watch them when I was in them. I would rather watch football or old *movies.

"I have got better things to do. My attention span is not good."

Grantham first appeared in EastEnders as Dirty Den in 1985 before the character supposedly died in 1989. He later returned in 2003, but was eventually killed in 2005 by his second wife Chrissie.

[parkerman]

Grantham first appeared in EastEnders as Dirty Den in 1985 before the character supposedly died in 1989. He later returned in 2003, but was eventually killed in 2005 by his second wife Chrissie.

The way things are going in Eastenders I wouldn't rule out another return in that yet.

[Perdita]

BBC Three's EastEnders repeat screening is moving back to its old timeslot.

Fans currently get a chance to catch up on the latest drama from Walford at 10.30pm on the channel, but the repeat will be shifted back to the earlier slot of 10pm from next week.

While BBC Three's repeat has been known to move around the schedules in the past, it has been confirmed that the shift to 10pm is a permanent one.

EastEnders previously aired its repeat at 10pm on BBC Three for many years and often topped the multichannel ratings in the slot, but the screening was moved to 10.30pm in 2012.

As the EastEnders Omnibus aired for the final time last week, the BBC Three repeat will now be the main chance for viewers to catch up on the soap, alongside the BBC iPlayer.

The BBC has previously announced plans to close BBC Three as a broadcast TV channel and transform the station into an online-only service, but the move was recently delayed until 2016 while the BBC Trust makes a final decision on the controversial proposal.

Wish they bring it back to weekend afternoon

[Perdita]

EastEnders star June Brown has revealed her sight is failing but she needs to carry on working because her pension funds have plummeted.

The 88-year-old soap favourite said her sight was now so poor that the vision in one eye is sometimes reduced to looking like the cross-hairs of a rifle.

She said: “I see things in my eyes now. My eyes are not very good. In the left occasionally I do get this small circle with what looks like cross-wires.

"I do pray about my sight – maybe it will return.”

And the twice-married star – who plays Dot in the BBC1 soap – said the financial crisis had badly affected her savings.

She revealed in a Radio 4 interview that she had to keep on working because she was scared of “being poor when I’m old”.

She added: “You might laugh at that and think ‘she’ll never be poor when she’s old’ but I’ve not squirreled away lots of money.

"I’ve had two pensions each that have gone down by 50%.”

June joined EastEnders at the age of 58 - two years before her official retirement age.

And she’s played chain-smoking Dot for 30 years, apart from a four-year break in the mid-1990s.

She was made an MBE in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours.

[parkerman]

You tell 'em, Babs! http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/b...-stars-5931829

[Dazzle]

You tell 'em, Babs! http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/barbara-windsor-eastenders-young-stars-5931829

I've never seen you applaud Barbara Windsor before.

She does talk some sense though.

[Perdita]

​He may now be juggling presenting and singing, but Olly Murs is still holding out hope for a role on EastEnders.

The 'Kiss Me' singer hasn't made any secret about wanting to appear in the BBC soap and has now even been in talks with Alfie Moon actor Shane Richie.

"I'd love to do acting," ​X Factor ​co-host Murs told The Sun. "I know that it's something I want to do. It's just whether I have the time to do it.

"I love EastEnders. I've spoken to Shane Richie, I've told everyone down there, that if there's ever an idea or a role and you think I could do it then I would jump at it."

Murs has clearly given the role some thought, revealing that he has some rather creative ideas on what his character could get up to in Walford.

He said: "I've always had this idea that one of the girls goes away on holiday, has a romance and brings her boyfriend back to the square. Everyone hates him, he's a bit of a rogue. He's trying to chat up her sisters and best friends and he gets booted out. I've got it all mapped out.

"If I'm going to do it I'd do it right. I'd go back to doing drama lessons and go back to what I used to do years ago. Learn the skills again and improve it. I wouldn't want to do it because of my name. I want it because I want to act."

Murs currently hosts The X Factor with Caroline Flack. He came under scrutiny earlier this month when he made an embarrassing on-air error, but later claimed that it had all been blown out of proportion.

[Perdita]

EastEnders star Shona McGarty is reportedly the victim of a 'revenge porn' plot.

The Sunday People has revealed that the actress, who plays Whitney in the BBC One soap, is calling in police after a man tried to circulate images of her when she was younger.

Along with the images was a crude message and a mobile number that the man claimed was McGarty's, but there is no evidence to suggest it was.

New laws were introduced this year to prevent intimate images being made public, and a friend of the actress noted that she was going to use that law to make sure that the images aren't shared.

The law states that circulation of images that "show what would not usually be seen in public" becomes illegal if they are distributed without the person's permission and with intent to cause harm or distress.

At the time of the new legislation, ex-Culture Secretary Maria Miller said that the law gives "young women the opportunity to protect themselves from their lives being blighted".

It can carry a maximum jail sentence of two years.

[flappinfanny]

This made me chuckle on the BBC official EE website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fgygl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fhdhr

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fhf0z

Sorry if posted in wrong thread, wasn't sure where to put it.

[Perdita]

This made me chuckle on the BBC official EE website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fgygl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fhdhr

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fhf0z

Sorry if posted in wrong thread, wasn't sure where to put it.

Right place