The Year Was… 2009

Voodoo Child
Nick Cotton had arrived Christmas 2008 on Dot’s doorstep claiming to be a redeemed man: he had a van with a business name on it, new carpentry skills, a charming personality (not that much though) and was now a single parent to young Dotty, who’s mother Sandy had ‘died in a car accident’ according to him.

Nobody was happy to have Nick on the Square, but before you knew it Dot had been once again charmed by the demon: she was watching him, but was distracted by the charming, innocent Dotty, named after her grandmother and seemingly an angel in Dot’s eyes.

This was obviously not to be and, not for the first time, Walford had a demon child loose on the streets. Dotty bullied, lied, stole, hit, cheated, vandalised and victimised the other kids of Walford, including cousin Tiffany. Dot swallowed it all, it seemed, even when Nick took Dotty (really Kirsty) to one side to hatch the plan – they would poison Dot – no one would suspect the little granddaughter.

In the end, Dotty fell in love with her grandmother, just like the rest of us, and betrayed Nick, who held a load of people hostage in the café. Pushed into the chip pan, the café went up. The hostages escaped, but Nick was trapped inside when it blew.

A few days later, after the area had calmed down, he revealed his survival to Dot and left once again, breaking his mother’s heart and leaving his daughter behind, literally selling Dot custody of the child, sinker lowing than ever.

By George!
The only thing Heather Trott wanted more than cheese and true love was true love with a George Michael made out of cheese – no one had the heart to tell her – and Heather had every CD, single, album and piece of memorabilia going! Every time the karaoke machine came out (and with her and Shirley Carter together it came out often!) Heather could be found belting out an 80s Wham classic, whether at home, in the Vic or in a Brighton pub on a pier.

Heather and Shirley had made unusual partners in crime with best mates Garry Hobbs and Minty Peterson, so when the grease monkeys were ripped apart by Garry mum Hazel falling for his mate, it was Heather and Shirley who brought them back together. However, Hazel was not the settling-down type and, after entering a wedding competition and winning a makeover, disappeared on a cruise ship without a moment’s thought. Minty still needed his bride to complete the competition though, so Heather , friend that she was, stepped in to Hazel’s shoes and claimed her identity for Minty to win; the catch – they would actually get married,

This was not a problem for Minty, who just wanted to win. Heather, on the other hand, fell completely in love with Minty. They married, but it was not to be and the marriage was annulled when Minty admitted he loved Heather, just not like a wife. Heather was devastated and to cheer her up, Shirley gave her the perfect depression cure: a trip to George Michael’s house!

Okay, it was next door to George’s house, but Shirley kept that information to herself. Heather was happy though – she had a yoghurt pot lid touched by her idol, which she laminated and kept. Heather never found out it wasn’t George’s but she felt it brought her luck. After an incident with an escort at the club, Heather fled, and an unseen person returned the yoghurt pot lid and gave Heather a lot more besides.

Now pregnant, Heather refused to name the baby’s daddy. When she gave birth to baby ‘George’ – naturally – she called the dad to deliver the shock news – and the whole country had a shock when Darren Miller walked through the hospital door!

Forbidden Desires
The latest forbidden romance on the Square broke several different barriers that society had at the time and is still relevant to this day in the way it was portrayed and received.

Syed Masood had been on the outs with the rest of his family when they had moved into Albert Square. Dragon Zainab wore the trousers, but when it came to their eldest, banished from even a mention around the dinner table, she had no say. Syed had stolen from the family business and dad Masood took the blame. However, this did not mean Zee did not love her eldest and would do anything to bring him back into the bosom of his family where she felt he belonged.

When Zainab discovered that Syed had been evicted from his flat for being behind with the rent, she promptly invited him and girlfriend Amira Shah (rich and loaded and well-connected) to move in with them. He began working with Masala Masood, a catering company set up with the Beales, working closely with Christian Clarke. The pair clashed at first: Christian was an openly confident gay man who wore his pride out loud, while the strict Moslem Syed was tolerant, at least, of his colleagues lifestyle. Until he wasn’t, and was openly homophobic. Eventually, one night, arguing once again on the subject, the pair ended up throwing more than punches and ended the night in bed together.

Syed revealed he had done this before, but struggled majorly with the religious aspects of his life. As he and Christian continued their tryst, Lucy tried to blackmail them, but they surprised themselves by genuinely falling in love. He ended things, proposing to Amira, but still could not resist Christian. When Masood had a car accident, Syed took this as a sign that he was being punished and ended things with Christian and rededicated himself to Amira, his family and his religion. Christian couldn’t cope, and at Christmas took his broken heart and left Walford…

The Secret Mitchell
Scared, nervous and timid, Danielle Jones did not seem anything like what a Mitchell should be – but nonetheless, that’s what she was. The apparently deceased daughter of Ronnie Mitchell, Archie had lied through his teeth just to torment Ronnie and it turned out she was very much alive and right in front of us, working on the market with best friend Stacey Slater!

Danielle had come to Walford to find Ronnie, but was hesitant to reveal the truth, partially out of nerves, partially because Archie told her not to, claiming Ronnie was unstable. Working as a cleaner for Peggy, Danielle saw Ronnie cringe every time her evil dad walked in the room and, as a result, she believed her grandfather. Why, after all, would he lie? He had promised her that when it all came out she would be fine.

The Mitchells were heading for a meltdown: Archie had played everyone all to get his hands on the Queen Vic and oust Peggy and her clan from their precious boozer. He had intended to marry Peggy and exerted control over her – her money, her time, her clothes. Walking up the aisle, Peggy saw sense, sorted her own wardrobe out and defied Archie at the altar. Oh, she married him, but the wedding reception would be the real event. Archie messed up, failing to kill Danielle when he had the chance. The girl unravelled, blurting the truth to Ronnie and aghast when Ronnie didn’t believe her and threw her out of the pub and onto the pavement.

But a pair of lockets would prove Archie’s downfall. One that Ronnie had kept of her baby girl. And an identical one, given to the child, that suddenly found itself in Ronnie’s champagne glass. Left there by Danielle, the moment Ronnie saw it she knew that Archie had lied, Danielle was her daughter and she raced after her long lost baby. Once out on the Square, Danielle ran to her mother – straight into the path of Janine Butcher’s car – and she died shortly afterwards in a disbelieving Ronnie’s arms, her screams filling the night.

Archie didn’t stop there: when he returned to the Square a few months later, he stunned the world by proposing to money-grabbing Janine. He convinced Sam to flee whilst on bail, landing the family in dire striates money-wise and Archie swooped in, manipulated everything and signed the Vic over to himself, throwing Peggy and her clan out just before Christmas. He then threw Janine out and revelled in the fact that he had won and the Vic was his. By Christmas afternoon, everyone on the Square had a reason to hate Archie – and that night someone bludgeoned him to the death in the bar with the Queen Vic bust!

Stacey’s Spiral
Stacey Branning’s reaction to best friend Danielle Jones’ death by Janine was life-altering to say the least. She had tried to repair her marriage to Bradley, but a one-night stand with Callum Monks put paid to that. After Danielle’s death, Stacey’s behaviour became much more erratic. Eventually she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, just like her mother Jean, who struggled watching her daughter go through the same illness as her. Stacey was not a medication taker though and she ended up so bad that she had to be sectioned. Bradley left the Square for a new life with new girlfriend Syd Chambers and son Noah in Canada. It didn’t last.

When Stacey came out of hospital, she recovered slowly, but an encounter with Archie left her shaken. She also had a one-night stand with Ryan Malloy, which left her pregnant. On Christmas Day she confessed that Archie had actually raped her in the back of the launderette and Bradley had to be stopped from killing Archie on Christmas Night. You see, someone else got there first…

Thou Shalt Not Kill…
Lucas Johnson may have come out of prison renouncing his drug taking ways, but he had embraced something else: religion. However, his take on the Bible was a slightly differently interpretation than the ordinary member of the clergy would have. He took things literally. An eye for an eye, that sort of thing.

Romancing ex Denise was easy enough once she got rid of ex Owen, out of prison and determined to see daughter Libby. Denise wasn’t having that, and Lucas warned off her ex, ready to make an honest woman of Denise. But Owen noticed a darkness in Lucas when he threatened him. He was right to be concerned.

Moving into the B and B with his son Jordan and Denise’s family, everything seemed perfect. His ex wife Trina turned up, wanting to see her son and seduce Lucas, but couldn’t accept that he was no longer a dealing junkie and relapsed herself repeatedly, scaring Jordan, who of course, loved his mum dearly. He bought her a lovely charm bracelet to prove it. Lucas tolerated her attempts to seduce him once too often though and caught in the act by Patrick, had decided Trina couldn’t stick around if he wanted to marry Denise.

Lucas argued with her in the allotment shed when she had been kipping and told Trina that she wouldn’t be part of her son’s life. She lay on the charm, but Lucas pushed her off and she bounced into the wall, where a rake was standing tall. Puncture wounds in her neck, she begged Lucas for help, but he fled and left her to die.

Of course, the body was found (by Jordan ironically, playing with Abi Branning) and somehow Denise was in the frame for murder. Owen was still on the scene, watching like a hawk and, on Denise and Lucas’s wedding day, had one final go at convincing his ex that the preacher was dangerous. Lucas had finally had enough and killed Owen, strangling him with a tie he was wedding up the aisle. He buried his rival on the Square, where the garden’s were being overhauled. Lucas had gotten away with murder, married his love and would have gotten away with all of it, if it wasn’t for that group of pesky kids and that dumb dog…

Ready or not, here she comes!
Ricky had fallen for Bianca again. Unfortunately, for now, the feeling was not as mutual as it soon would be, and Bianca wasn’t interested until Ricky took himself off to Brazil to run a job for Phil. While he was away, naturally, Bianca behaved like she had lost a limb and couldn’t understand why. When she was told the obvious, Bianca resolved to win back her ex-husband…

The day came when Ricky was due back. She organised a party and a cake from the kids in the attempt to welcome her man back home. She called round the Vic and found him talking with Phil. Loud as ever, B prepared to make her move, dropped the cake and looked up – straight into the disapproving eyes of hated love rival Sam Mitchell, back with Ricky, in the country and trying to avoid the police for outstanding charges regarding the murder of Den Watts.

The Mitchells, aware of the legal troubles, were just about tolerable to Sam’s engagement with Ricky (again) but Sam was not known for her quiet phases and was soon on top of the tables in the bar and entering barmaid competitions. Bianca was fuming and Whitney promptly reported Sam to the police, who arrested her and arranged a bail, which she only got when Ronnie put the money up for her cousin. Ricky walked away from Sam and eventually she fled, leaving the Mitchells in financial difficulty (and right where Archie Mitchell wanted them…) Bianca, taking complete advantage, proposed to Ricky, who accepted on Christmas Day. And then Sam, once again, knocked on the door…

Whitney: Bouncing Back
Whitney Dean’s start to rebuilding her life started the day she made a statement about Tony. However, she still felt lost and had trouble accepting the abuse she had been convinced was ‘real, true love’. After the revelation that Tiffany was not her sister as believed (she was Ricky’s, not Nathan’s) Whitney had the urge to reach out and started searching for her real mum.

Debra Dean was not the maternal type however. She had no interest in being Whitney’s mum and that was that – until she turned up on the Square needing somewhere to hide, with plans to fleece money from somewhere and flee to Greece. She even asked Whitney to join her! When the person hunting her down turned up, he revealed himself to be Ryan Malloy – Whitney’s brother who she didn’t know existed! Ryan saw Debra off and learning of his sister’s past, stuck around in Walford, making waves with the ladies, starting with Stacey. However, by December, due in court to give evidence against Tony, Whitney froze, unable to cope. For a minute, it looked like she would remove her statement and Tony would go free, but in the end Whitney bravely said her piece. Tony was banged up, and Whitney, looking forward to Ricky and Bianca’s wedding, started the long road to happiness…

The Other Stuff
Garry and Dawn finally get together and sail into the sunset! With Sean gone, Roxy moves onto the dishy Doctor Al while Ronnie romances her childhood sweetheart Joel. Stacey’s hospital roommate, Becca, comes to stay and stirs the pot with residents. Tamwar and Afia notice each other at an event and there’s major chemistry…