Baby swap and infant death at christmas

[Abigail]

It's a shame she didn't refuse to do the storyline as I think this will have an adverse affect on her future jobs.

I agree. If she didn't feel comfortable doing it, she shouldn't have gone through with it. If I were a casting agent, I'd rather hire somebody that respected themselves and their opinions enough to know when to say something is ridiculous and likely to upset or offend many people. Compromising principles for the sake of money or future job prospects is something that I would never do and my personal opinion of Sam as an actress has drastically changed.

[Perdita]

The EastEnders baby swap storyline will reportedly have a "warm and tender" ending.

The controversial plot, which will end earlier than originally intended, will have a "soft and emotional" conclusion to avoid distressing viewers, according to reports.

An insider told The Mirror: "When Kat Moon is finally reunited with her son, the focus will be on her *happiness at *discovering the child she thought was dead is alive and well."

The scenes will apparently air around Easter and will show Ronnie Mitchell handing the baby back to Kat and Alfie Moon.

DS

[Abbie]

I wonder what the orginal plan was

[Chloe O'brien]

How the flaming hell can this storyline have a warm and tender ending? By the time Ronnie gives the baby back to Kat he will be 4 months old and would have bonded with Ronnie and Jack. Kat/Alfie will be strangers to him. Also Kat may have difficulty bonding with the child because as far as she is aware her baby is dead. Both characters are prime candidates for having PND and it's likely that Ronnie will suffer a breakdown, locked up and that will be her exit story. Never mind silver linning it may get EE a soap award. and that's all that matters.

[Perdita]

EastEnders star Shane Richie has assured fans that he has no intention of quitting the soap despite the controversy surrounding his current storyline.

Newspaper reports have today suggested that Richie and a number of other cast members are considering their futures with the BBC show due to the backlash the programme has suffered over its baby swap plot.

Richie's character Alfie Moon is currently grieving for the loss of his newborn son Tommy on screen. However, he and wife Kat (Jessie Wallace) are unaware that the child is alive and well - as Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) secretly switched the baby with her tragic son James after losing him to cot death.

In a statement released to This Morning's soaps correspondent Sharon Marshall this afternoon, Richie dismissed speculation that he is planning to leave Walford.

He said: "It's absolutely not true. I have no plan to quit EastEnders. In fact, as I have been saying, I've never been happier there.

"I'm reading reports that we are all about to walk out, which is nonsense. I know some people have found this story challenging, which I can understand, but EastEnders have listened to that and taken some of the feedback on board.

"I just want to carry on giving the best performances we can to do the story justice."

On Friday, EastEnders bosses confirmed that the baby swap plotline will be brought to an end in April.


DS

[lizann]

EastEnders’ actress Samantha Womack reportedly considered walking out on the show when she first received scripts for her character Ronnie Branning’s controversial baby-swap storyline.

The ‘EastEnders’ actress has faced verbal abuse and been at the centre of public outcry over the soap’s current controversial baby-swap storyline – which saw her character Ronnie Branning switch her dead infant for Kat Moon’s (Jessie Wallace) newborn – and even considered walking out on the show in disgust.

A friend of the actress – who quit the show in November, allegedly after receiving scripts for the plot – said: “Sam’s had it with the BBC now. She wants to come out all guns blazing but she’s still under contract so had to bide her time.

“The thing with Sam is she’s a professional. She did think about walking off set and never coming back but that’s not how she operates.

“Nevertheless, she’s been plunged into a living hell by this. Some viewers can’t separate fact from fiction. It’s a huge ordeal and she doesn’t even want to leave the house.”

Show bosses have confirmed they have rewritten storylines so the plot will come to an end in April – eight months earlier than planned – in a bid to diffuse the outcry, but ‘EastEnders’ chief Bryan Kirkwood is said to be furious at the chaos the programme has plunged into because of the changes.

An insider told the News of the World newspaper: “The show’s in meltdown. Bryan isn’t happy at all because he’s being forced to rewrite the baby stuff. It’s absolute havoc.

“He believes he should be left alone to run the show like he was at ‘Hollyoaks’.”

Bryan faces further stresses as it is claimed senior cast members are furious with Samantha’s decision to quit the show and believe it is his fault.

The source continued: “Now he faces revolt from some senior stars, angry at Samantha’s going and that the producer ever let it come to this.”

[Abigail]

Hollyoaks isn't watched my millions of people and it isn't the BBC's flag ship programme. The issue is a pointless, unrealistic storyline that in reality has probably never happened anywhere in the world. He really didn't think this one through, didn't research what goes through bereaved mothers' minds and obviously didn't consult charities like FSID who knows better than this chump what the effects of losing a baby are.

[alan45]

Former deadenders actress Barbara Windsor has waded into the soap’s baby swap row, saying: “God elp us.”
The furious actress, who played Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, slammed the show as a “sad disgrace” while starring in panto.
On stage playing Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington on Saturday, she ad-libbed to the audience: “Are you watching EastEnders at the moment? Urrrgh. God help us.”
And backstage at the Bristol Hippodrome, Barbara, 73, she told a theatre-goer: “EastEnders doesn’t need to shock to get figures, it should stick to what it’s good at – comedy and pathos. Someone’s lost the plot and it makes me so sad. This isn’t the show I know and love. It is a disgrace and I just hope they get back to doing what they do best.”

The star, who first joined the BBC TV show in 1994, quit for good last autumn.
More than 9,000 viewers have complained about the plot in which Ronnie Branning, played by Samantha Womack, swaps her dead child with the baby of Kat Slater, actress Jessie Wallace. Writers are now shortening the storyline, chopping more harrowing scenes.
Yesterday, Derek Martin, who plays Kat’s dad, Charlie and is leaving the soap this week, admitted he was also “surprised” by the plot.
He told ITV’s Daybreak: “When I heard the news about the swap it was a surprise to me. But the cot death is a thing that happens, and the swap – you see it in movies.”


Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...#ixzz1AinAKo2d

[alan45]

Ex-EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy has criticised the show for having a poor attention to detail following the birth of Ronnie Mitchell's baby.

Cassidy - who will reprise her role as Sonia Fowler for a one-off episode later this month - gave birth to her first child Eliza last September. The 27-year-old did however praise the BBC soap's cast for their performances in the controversial baby swap plot.

"The cot death storyline in EastEnders has stirred up a lot of emotion," she wrote in her column in New magazine. "I think the attention to detail was poor - Ronnie walking around hours after giving birth. Also, mums are advised to keep babies in a Moses basket until they're six months and you wouldn't leave a newborn on the bed like Ronnie did."

The hard-hitting storyline has seen Ronnie (Samantha Janus) lose her son James to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and switch him with Kat and Alfie Moon's newborn baby Tommy.

"That said, the acting has been sensational," Cassidy added. "Unfortunately, I hear Samantha Janus has quit. I know how it feels to have big storylines take up your time and energy, so maybe it’s her time. I'm sure she'll continue to have a great career. I wish her lots of luck."

(c) DS

It seems that all the publicity seeking luvvies are jumping on the bandwagon. If of course the storyline had received rave reviews instead of its well deserved criticism then no doubt the same luvvies who are condemning it would be voicing their support

[Siobhan]

I think they are doing a good job.. we are seen both mothers trying to cope with the death.. Kat thinks her baby is dead and that scene in the hospital where she is asking for answers and saying she did all the wrong things. The doctor telling her they may never know what happened.
Ronnie's mental state also done well here.. I think I would be more critical if she just took to baby Tommy like it was her own. She is grieving too and doesn't know how to handle the situation. Luckily I have never had to deal with this so I am not sure how I would cope in this situation