EastEnders: Farewell Peggy Mitchell. Not a dry eye in the land

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EastEnders: Farewell Peggy Mitchell. Not a dry eye in the land

May 18, 2016 - 09:45
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Some things don’t change. The brothers grim Grant and Phil will always be the baldest men in the world and Walford’s Cockney rabble will continue to throw weird parties in the middle of the afternoon. But after the death of Peggy Mitchell, EastEnders will never be the same.

Peggy Mitchell farewell to Grant and Phil in EastEnders

Some things don’t change. The brothers grim Grant and Phil will always be the baldest men in the world and Walford’s Cockney rabble will continue to throw weird parties in the middle of the afternoon. But after the death of Peggy Mitchell, EastEnders will never be the same.

Heart-breaking scenes as Albert Square’s legendary landlady bade a tearful farewell to her beloved Queen Vic and went home to die. And who better to guide her into eternity than the ghost of her old friend Pat Butcher?

Together again. The bottle blondes who once ruled the roost. Pat sitting on the stairs smoking, Peggy preparing to make her final defiant statement... suicide. Taking control of the cancer that was killing her, she took her own life.

“I will go as I have lived,” she declared. “Straight back, head high, like a queen.” And with that she downed a bottle of pills and – tick, tock – her time ran out. The end.

And then, the ultimate tribute. No theme tune, just the credits rolling silently down the screen. One of the greatest characters in soap history has gone. After more than two decades, Mrs Mitchell’s last episode was undeniably moving. We shall not see her like again.

Before her poignant demise, our heroine staggered over to the pub she famously ran with a rod of iron and said goodbye. “You dear old lovely lady,” she whispered as toilet thief Martin and boring Stacey staged their strange daylight stag and hen dos in the background.

Sure, it was sentimental. But as Peggy welled up at the beauty of birdsong and reminded her two boiled-egghead sons they were her world, it caught the mood of the nation. Millions of viewers were losing someone special. It was seriously sad.

Later, she ignored Phil and Grant’s desperate pleas, and committed suicide. She was all alone apart from a ghost. “Shift yourself you mad old tart,” she told Pat. “I’ve got stuff to do.”

A lot for Grant to take in. Just back from Portugal, he didn’t even know his mother was ill. Let alone on her last legs. He consoled himself by reigniting his love for his sister-in-law Sharon.

“You don’t look any different,” said Grant, whose eyesight is clearly on the wane. Sharon: “I’m 46, I’m going grey, I’m very different.” She’s older and wider.

In a declaration of war, Grant vowed to make Phil pay for not paying his debts. There was almost a fight until raging alcoholic sclerosis sufferer Phil doubled up in agony.

“You’re a mess,” snarled Grant. “I can’t even begin to think what your liver looks like.” Phil: “Why don’t you ponce off back to Portugal because I don’t need you.” Their seething sibling rivalry is still a sight to behold.

But they set aside their differences in a bid to persuade their mum that suicide isn’t painless. In a family showdown in the Vic’s beer cellar, Phil stormed: “You’re making out it’s romantic and easy and simple but it’s not like going to sleep and just slipping away. It’s horrible and it’s terrible and it’s cruel.”

No deal. After putting on her best dress and reminiscing with ghostly Pat about getting drunk in an ice cream van, Peggy did the deed.

As she departed this mortal coil she turned to Pat and said: “My dear friend, you will never leave me will you?” Pat: “No my darling, not for one single second.” Not a dry eye in the land.

There are 3 Comments

Kevin O'Sullivan's picture

Submitted by Hazeleyes on Tue, 17/05/2016 - 20:23

   

What great acting by dame Barbara Windsor, and good to see Pam St Clements make a guest appearance very touching moment between Peggy and Pat , and the Mitchell boys back how good is this week going to be. Not so sure on the Bobby storyline though that could be one too watch.

Peggy dying tonight was done so sensitively and caring , the only thing I will say is when the clock stopped at the end it should have stopped at 8.00 as it ended that would have been a fitting tribute to the cast and writers all round good story

Marcustheslim's picture

Reminding us just what a surprisingly good actress Barbara Windsor was, Peggy breathed her last this week.

Reunited with her best mate Pat, the equally fine Pam st Clement, Peggy toured the Square before taking her life when the thought of battling cancer became too much.

Given that the cast turnover had been so high since she was last here, the only surprising thing was that there was anyone left to recognise her at all- after all this is a cast that doesn't recognise their own family have had a head transplant.

Soft focus camera work came straight from undergraduate directing school but didn't hide the memory that Eastenders used to be sharp, funny & poignant, where writers realised that the occasional moment of lightness balanced the shade perfectly.

Goodbye Peggy you'll be missed.

Anna May's picture

Well, Peggy’s death was extremely sad and, as some fans complained, it was very ‘here today, gone tomorrow’. However, I actually feel denying viewers weeks and weeks to prepare for Peggy’s inevitable death worked well to mirror the sudden grief she caused for her family and friends on the Square. Nobody had time to get used to the news and let it sink in.

Well played by the writers, whether intentional or not...and, to be fair, there were a lot of heart-breaking moments leading up to her death, which Barbara Windsor played out like the boss she is.

Pat’s ghost turning up to accompany her to the other side was the icing on the cake and as she told Peggy she’d never leave her for a single second, her eyes filled with tears…as did mine. Two wonderful characters gone, but never forgotten.

As I said before, well played by the writers…except for the whole episode being punctuated with background scenes of Jack’s forty toilets being returned to his property in broad daylight. Although, I guess we should be used to subplots like this being stirred into the more serious stuff.

On a brighter note, thanks to the random glowing effects that followed Peggy into the Vic, at least we know she died with a good bowl of Ready Brek inside her.

I still can’t believe Grant came back just to argue with Phil and snog Sharon. As if Peggy didn’t have enough to deal with, she goes for a quick wee in the Queen Vic’s toilets and comes out to find two large thumbs standing there waiting to talk some sense into her. Sorry…sons. No, actually…thumbs.