Ever since Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) returned to Walford in the midst of his nervous breakdown last year, he’s been a changed man…

His recovery from mental illness has seen him take on an altogether softer persona from the ruthless businessman he used to be, however, in this week’s episodes, we’re set to see that that aspect of Ian’s personality is to make a comeback.

The drama begins when Ian confides in Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) that despite the fact his daughter Lucy (Hetti Bywater) has vetoed the idea of him opening a restaurant, he wants to go ahead with the plan to rent the space used by the Emporium to open the new venture. But he’s not sure he’s doing the right thing… Read more & comment »

EastEnders bosses have come under fire from some viewers who claim that the character of Jean Slater, who of course has bi-polar disorder, is made to seem “like a crazy person.”

The Sun reports that many fans voiced their complaints via social networking sites such as Twitter, with one fan writing, “Seriously disgusted and p****d off at the way EastEnders is portraying Jean as a crazy person when she is just bipolar.”

Another said, “The way Jean is treated sometimes really, really frustrates me. It’s as if bipolar = sub-human. It doesn’t.”

And finally, another Twitter user commented, “I feel sorry for bipolar people having Jean from EastEnders as a representative.”

Jean, who is of course played by Gillian Wright, has recently been depicted reacting to the fact that Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) stole money from her and then tried to imply Jean was “mad” by denying he ever took money from her… Read more & comment »

Jean Slater does of course have a heart of gold, and even though Michael Moon has given her more than enough reasons to hate his guts and wish all manner of ills upon him, instead, during Friday night’s episode of EastEnders, she’ll defend him and claim that the whole money debacle was in fact her fault…

And of course, as we saw in the last trip to Walford, when Michael (Steve John Shepherd) was about to leg it out of the area, unable to cope with the fact his baby daughter may die, Jean talked him round.

She also returned to him the St Christopher medallion that his mother Maggie had given him, which Michael had thought Jean (Gillian Wright) had flushed down the loo when she confronted him over his evil doings last week.

But as mentioned above, in Friday night’s episode, when Jean sees that Michael is now being treated like a pariah in the market, she intervenes and implies that she in fact imagined the whole scenario about him taking her money. Click ‘Read more’ to see a clip… Read more & comment »

Michael Moon is a bad, bad man, and in a special hour-long episode of EastEnders tonight, he’s set to prove that not only is he more bad than… the most bad thing you can think of, he’s also cunning and devious, and very determined.

But damn, he’s got good teeth. Nice dentistry impresses me.

However, back to the subject at hand, and as viewers will of course know, Michael (Steve John Shepherd) has conned poor Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) out of thousands of pounds of not only her own cash, but that belonging to Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) and the Vic’s VAT fund.

We had a glimpse last week of Michael attempting the plausible deniability strategy just as he and Janine (Charlie Brooks) were leaving for their hols in Paris, when he told Jean, “Money? What money?” as she frantically begged him to return the pub’s £10k… Read more & comment »

We all love to hate a soap baddie don’t we? And for me, Michael Moon is one of the best ever soapy villains…

And that’s because Steve John Shepherd plays him in such an understated way – with just a hint of the malevolence that lies beneath – that it’s a joy to watch, even when Michael’s fleecing poor, vulnerable Jean Slater.

As we saw a few weeks ago, not only did Jean (Gillian Wright) give her scratch card winnings of £8k to Michael by way of an ‘investment’ in the boxing gym, but she also handed over Alfie’s (Shane Richie) life savings too, which he has yet to find out about.

And in coming weeks, as her finances are increasingly strained, Jean begs Michael to give her the money back. When he refuses, Jean ‘fesses up to Alfie about what she’s done, however, when Alfie confronts Michael, he denies all knowledge of the transaction… Read more & comment »

Just last week, unscrupulous schemer Michael Moon convinced poor vulnerable Jean Slater – who’s played by the fantastic Gillian Wright – to hand over the £8,000 she won on a scratch card…

He tugged at Jean’s heart strings by telling her he needed money to fund a scheme to help vulnerable kids via the gym, when in fact, Michael (Steve John Shepherd) wanted the money to fling at Janine (Charlie Brooks) in order to buy himself the right to an opinion about their wedding plans.

But evidently, not content to have already fleeced Jean once, he’s about to manipulate her into getting yet more money for him, but this time, he’ll convince her to spend Alfie Moon’s savings behind his back! Read more & comment »

EastEnders actress Gillian Wright has admitted that she would love her character Jean Slater to find a man.

The troubled mum will return to the BBC soap next week and will reside in The Queen Vic with Kat and Alfie Moon.

On the future of the bipolar sufferer, Wright told Inside Soap:

“Of course I would like her to get a new man! Everyone wants Jean to find love.

Read more & comment »

It’s been revealed today that Lacey Turner – who of course plays Stacey Slater – is quitting the show, and it seems her on-screen mum Jean, who’s played by Gillian Wright, is offski too.

22 year old Lacey has been a Walford star for the past five years, but according to a report in The Sun, she feels the time is right to “move on.” The paper adds that Lacey wants to make a move from the small screen to the big screen and concentrate on landing film roles.

Lacey is quoted in the paper as saying, “I’ve had the most fantastic time at EastEnders.

“Stacey’s been a brilliant role – as has being part of the feisty Slater family.

“I’m so lucky to have had such challenging storylines, from the affair with Max and being diagnosed as bipolar, to the shock of being revealed as Archie’s killer in the live episode.

“I’ll miss everyone in Albert Square, but the time has come to try something different.” Read more & comment »