Baby swap and infant death at christmas

[Perdita]

Ronnie tells Jack that the baby is not his


JACK: "Ronnie, where you been? I've been looking all over for you."
RONNIE:"I'm sorry."
JACK: "Well come on, Tanya's in a right state. What you doing?"
RONNIE: "I'm going."
JACK: "Going where? I need to talk to you."
RONNIE: "No, there's something I've got to do, Jack."
JACK: "Well it can wait."
RONNIE: "It can't!"
JACK: "Ronnie, I'm serious, you need to tell me what's happened."
RONNIE: "Don't worry, I am going to put it right. I am going to put everything right."
JACK: "Ronnie, what are you talking about?"
RONNIE: "You don't deserve this, Jack! You deserve much better, I should never have lied to you."
JACK: "So you lied to me."
RONNIE: "Yes."
JACK: "Is it about Michael?"
RONNIE: "No."
JACK: "Then what is it, Ron?"
RONNIE: "Jack, I've got to go."
JACK: "Go where?"
RONNIE: "Back, okay - I've got to go back!"
JACK: "Go back where? Oi, you tell me, right. If it's not about Michael, then what is it?"
RONNIE: "It's him, it's about him, okay? It's about James."
JACK: "Ronnie, what about him?"
RONNIE: "He's not your son."
JACK: "What you talking about?"
RONNIE: "Jack, listen to me - I'm sorry but it's true."
JACK: "No, I don't understand Ronnie, what are you saying?"
RONNIE: "I've got to go!"
JACK: "What are you talking about?"
RONNIE: "He is not yours and that is all you need to know."
JACK: "You're lying to me, right - you're doing this to hurt me and to mess with my mind. Ronnie, look at him - look at his face, everyone always says that this kid is the spit of me, everyone knows that he's my boy!"
RONNIE: "Jack, I'm so sorry - I'm so sorry, it's true."

Ronnie tells Kat the shocking truth


KAT: "What is it?"
RONNIE: "Maybe we should go upstairs."
KAT: "I'm working. I ain't really got the time, so just spit it out."
RONNIE: "It's about James."
KAT: "Right."
RONNIE: "I know what you've been through. I know how difficult it's been for you, I understand."
KAT: "What do you want, Ronnie? I've got a pub full of punters."
RONNIE: "He's not mine."
KAT: "Sorry?"
RONNIE: "He's not mine, he's yours."
KAT: "What are you talking about?"
RONNIE: "I know. I know it sounds crazy. I should have come here before - I tried to come here before. This isn't James, it's Tommy!"

Outside, Jack arrives back on Albert Square and looks over towards The Vic.

RONNIE: "Please listen to me, Kat, you don't understand. You don't understand."
KAT: "Why don't you go home, yeah, call a doctor, go and talk to someone!"
RONNIE: "Listen to me, Kat!"
KAT: "You're mad!"
RONNIE: "Please, please, listen to me. I took your baby. I know how you feel. I am the only other person in this world who knows how you feel. To give birth to a baby and have it… to have your heart shrivel up inside. I know because it happened to me."
KAT: "You need to go."
RONNIE: "My baby died on New Year's Eve. Kat, listen to me! I went in, I went in and saw him in the cot, and he was still. He wasn't breathing, he was still and I was so scared. I was so scared. And I was trying desperately to believe that it wasn't true and then I ran out, I panicked - I ran out into the Square and I wanted somebody to come and help, but nobody came. Nobody came and then I heard him - I heard Tommy crying and I came in there and I walked up the stairs and I took him. I took him, Kat."
KAT: "No, you couldn't have, you wouldn't do that…"
RONNIE: "I'm sorry Kat, I'm so sorry…"
KAT: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, my Tommy's dead! Yeah, I saw him, I held him in my arms - he's dead!"
RONNIE: "You didn't, that wasn't Tommy!"
KAT: "No! No, no, no!"

Alfie enters.

ALFIE: "What's wrong?"
KAT: "Get her out of here! Get her away from me!"
ALFIE [to Ronnie]: "What have you said to her? Just stop."
KAT: "No, he's not mine! How can he be mine?"
RONNIE: "Please take him, you need to take him!"
KAT: "No, I can't!"
RONNIE: "He needs his mum! You need to take him."

Jack has now entered The Vic and seeing the commotion, goes to join Ronnie, Kat and Alfie.

RONNIE: "Please take him, please take the baby…"

Ronnie hands Tommy over to a distraught Kat.

ALFIE: "I need to phone the police, alright."
RONNIE: "You don't need to phone them, I've already phoned them, and I'm so sorry."
KAT: "Get her out of here! Get her away from me."
RONNIE: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Ronnie heads for the exit, and following a final apology to Jack, she gets into a police car to face her punishment.

DS

[Perdita]

The conclusion to the EastEnders baby swap storyline was apparently re-shot to be more emotional.

The original scenes, filmed last month, saw Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) storm into the Queen Vic and confess her secret to Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) in front of everyone.

However, according to the Daily Star Sunday, producers decided that the climax would be more effective if it focused on the four central characters - including Alfie, played by Shane Richie, and Jack (Scott Maslen).

"The original ending showed Ronnie telling Kat what she'd done right in the middle of Greg and Tanya's wedding reception," a source revealed. "We saw the reaction from people who were not involved in the storyline and Kat reacted a lot more angrily.

"She told Alfie that she was going to kill Ronnie for what she'd done and, as you can imagine, there were a lot of gasps of shock from people watching the events unfold inside the Queen Vic.

"But once the producers watched it back they realised it didn't have to be done in front of everyone. In fact, it was better for Ronnie to confess to Kat alone. The scene was re-written and the actors were called in a couple of weeks ago to re-shoot."

The scenes were eventually watched by 10.21m people on Friday, with a further 1.15m watching the 10pm repeat on BBC Three.


DS

[Dutchgirl]

Sometimes less is more. The only emotions that count are the 4 involved.

And that goes for the Character Michael. Maybe he had some emotion about the death, but if he had it at all he hid it very well.

[Perdita]

DEVASTATED Jack Branning is set to make a move on his sister-in-law after discovering wife Ronnie's baby swapping.

The troubled ex-cop seeks solace from Ronnie's (Samantha Womack) sister, Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) after his wife confesses that she swapped their dead son James with Kat Moon's (Jessie Wallace) tot, Tommy, at Christmas.

With Ronnie banged up after she confesses all to the police, Jack (Scott Maslen) asks Roxy to take him to James' grave where the headstone has been changed.

Jack, who is dad to Roxy's daughter Amy after an affair three years ago, has a heart-to-heart with the club owner.

And in scenes due to air on 29 April, confused Jack can't stop himself from leaning in for a kiss from his former flame - but Roxy pushes him away.

Actor Scott, 39, admitted that his character is a broken man since discovering the truth about his son.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star told Inside Soap: "Jack is distraught - he loves the baby like he's his own.

"It feels like he's losing his own child. Jack can normally cope when things go wrong, but this situation has brought him to his knees."

He continued: "Added to that, Jack loves Ronnie. There's an unbreakable bond between them, despite what's happened. One day he might even be able to understand why Ronnie did what she did."

The baby swap plot, which earned the BBC a record number of complaints - more than 8,000, was not one of Scott's favourite storylines.

Speaking to This Morning today, the ex-Bill star said: "It's not a story that I enjoyed because we've all got kids and we all know what the implications of these sorts of things are.

"It's a tragic story but I felt that in the circumstances we played it really well and that was the very positive thing to come out of it."

He added: "You have to keep yourself very focused on what you're doing and not listen to what other people are saying about things, otherwise it influences it."

The Sun

[Perdita]

DEVASTATED Jack Branning is to return to his wild ways in a bid to get over the loss of his son - by bedding his ex's SISTER.

EastEnders' reformed romeo romps with ex-drug addict Rainie Cross while wife Ronnie is behind bars.

They come together for a one-night stand after Rainie (Tanya Franks) - the sister of his former girlfriend Tanya Jessop - offers grieving Jack a shoulder to cry on.

He is still in shock after learning that his baby son James is dead. Desperate wife Ronnie swapped the infant with Kat and Alfie Moon's newborn son Tommy, so Jack (Scott Maslen) had no idea that his child had died.

He also has to deal with Ronnie (Samantha Womack) being imprisoned for the baby swap.

An insider at the BBC1 soap said: "Jack's a real mess. He's lost his son and his wife. Rainie is there for him."

The storyline will hit screens from early next month.

The Sun


*Yawn*

[tammyy2j]

^ I think we can add Vanessa and Roxy to his bed list also I seen on another board they also make their way into his bed

[Dutchgirl]

Please give the man a decent storyline.

[tammyy2j]

EastEnders star Scott Maslen has claimed that Jack and Ronnie's relationship is strong enough to survive their recent devastating experience.

The actor's alter ego discovered the shocking truth about his baby son James last month as Ronnie finally confessed that she swapped him with Kat Moon's newborn child on New Year's Eve after losing him to cot death.

Although Jack is currently keeping his distance from his jailed wife, Maslen told Inside Soap that the businessman could soon decide to build bridges with her.

Maslen explained: "There is this unbreakable bond between them. Would Scott Maslen forgive? I don't know, but Jack would. Jack loves Ronnie that much.

"He'd want to sort things out because they're married, and they promised to be together and work through things."

The 39-year-old also reflected on the controversy which surrounded the baby swap plot after it began in January, insisting that he never had any doubts about the story.

"I trust what they do here - you've got to," he commented. "The BBC is renowned for its stringent policy when addressing issues and I didn't doubt our producers for a minute. I believe in what they do.

"Through adversity comes strong stuff. The bosses listened to the complaints which were voiced in the media and by the public, and changed things accordingly. In the end, I'm happy with what we've produced - and on the plus side, maybe now people will finally stop coming up to me in the street and telling me, 'That baby ain't yours!'"

Earlier today, it was revealed that the baby plotline has been nominated for the 'Best Storyline' prize at this year's British Soap Awards.

[Perdita]

Samantha Womack has hinted that there could be a long road ahead before her EastEnders character Ronnie Branning is forgiven by husband Jack.

The pair's relationship comes back to the forefront of the BBC soap in next week's episodes as Ronnie returns to the Square after being released from prison.

Although Ronnie keeps a low profile by going to stay with sister Roxy, viewers will soon see Jack confront his troubled wife over the baby swap and his sadness over their late son James.

Speaking to Inside Soap about the row, Womack explained: "Ronnie tries to apologise for everything. But Jack says he'll never be able to forgive her for not giving him the chance to say goodbye to his son. Later on, Jack asks her once again to try to explain the reasons why she took the baby that night."

Following a heart-to-heart in which Ronnie finally speaks candidly about her decision to steal Kat Moon's child, Jack invites Ronnie to come home. However, Womack warned that even this is not a sign of forgiveness.

"The pair of them have a lot to sort out. Even though Jack has told Ronnie to come home, it doesn't mean that he's forgiven her," she said. "And Ronnie still believes that she should be punished for her actions. Although she loves Jack deeply, she feels they can never really get over this."

Womack will soon be leaving EastEnders before joining a touring production of the musical South Pacific.

[tammyy2j]

Please give the man a decent storyline.

Put a blond wig on Phil and hey presto a new Mitchell for Jack this couple could rival Chryed