The Great British soap opera has become segmented in our lives, with the likes of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks providing us with over 22,850 episodes between them totalling over 11,500 hours since they all began entertaining us, making them almost an extension of our own lives.

With these facts and figures which make the likes of the Mitchells, the Barlow’s, the McQueen’s and the Dingles such a strong influence on society, it is no wonder the divorce rate in Britain today is so high.

The average relationship life expectancy in soapland is anywhere between six weeks and six years, and whilst weddings occur almost weekly on one mainstream soap or another, successful, long and fulfilling marriages are almost unheard of.
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As fans of EastEnders will know, June Brown who plays Dot Cotton, is currently on extended leave from the show, and part of her time spent away from the soap was to film June Brown: Respect Your Elders, which will air on BBC1 on Thursday at 10.35pm…

And in it, according to the Daily Mirror, we’ll see June visiting her co-star John Bardon who of course played the role of Dot’s husband Jim Branning until he had a devastating stroke, which saw him having to leave the role.

However, John’s stroke was written into Dot and Jim’s storyline, and Jim was of course an occasional visitor back in Walford at times when John was well enough to make brief appearances.

But as we’ll see in the show, sadly 73 year old John’s condition has deteriorated and he now needs constant 24/7 care from his elderly wife Edna, as he’s unable to walk and is speech impaired… Read more & comment »

John Bardon has reportedly filmed his final Albert Square based Eastenders scenes.

The Mirror reports that the 71 year old actor recently shot scenes as part of a storyline which will see his wife Dot deciding to put him into a nursing home on a full time basis.

John suffered a stroke in 2007 and has returned to the BBC soap as Jim Branning on a part time basis ever since, after his condition was written into the storylines. However viewers will see Dot become increasingly tired by the responsibilities of caring for Jim and later this week she will fall down the stairs and break her arm, while trying to settle him before going to work.

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Jim Branning is due to make a return to Walford this week. The character was written out when actor John Bardon suffered a stroke in 2007, he has made occasional guest appearances since.

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