WHO, WATTS, AND HOW!

This story appeared today on the BBC Online site:

'EastEnders' actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, who plays Queen Vic landlady Chrissie Watts, is to leave the soap. Oberman, 35, has been on the cast since April 2004 and will exit the BBC One show later this year.

Her character dealt the blow to kill husband "Dirty" Den and will leave in a "spectacular" storyline, a spokesperson for the show said.

But Chrissie will not be killed off and the door will be left open for her to return.
~~~~~
Yes. I freely admit it. I have 'Doctor Who' on the brain. But when I read that news item, I naturally thought that a departure via TARDIS fit the description of a "spectacular storyline" exit.

And the idea that the Doctor and Rose should facilitate Chrissie's escape from Albert Square in the Watford area isn't all that far-fetched. That's because there was already an established connection between 'Doctor Who' and 'EastEnders'.

It's true! Except for the unfortunate bracketing of the scenes from the "Children In Need" charity show, and from 'Noel's House Party' for the second half, a cute little Time Lord story unfolded about the Rani's plot against the Doctor in Albert Square.

And it wasn't just any incarnation of the Doctor who was involved. There were seven versions of the Time Lord caught up in the disruption of the Time Stream, with the reappearance of many of the Doctor's companions from the various eras. And all of them interacted with several characters from 'EastEnders'.

(The First and Second Doctors were already captured by the Rani and only seen as heads floating in the stasis of a "Time Tunnel". This was due to the inescapable fact that William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton had passed away. Tom Baker took part, but only in an opening warning to his other selves. His appearance was so radical from his last known look as the Doctor, that a possible splainin would be that the Fourth Doctor had been ravaged by his imprisonment in the Time Eddy during "The Five Doctors".)

And as each of the remaining four Doctors and their assemblage of Companions scrambled about Albert Square around the Queen Vic pub, they encountered such area residents as:

Pauline Fowler
Kathy and Ian Beale
Sharon Mitchell
Pat and Frank Butcher
Mike Yates
and Grant and Phil Mitchell.

It was a frenetic, sometimes confusing adventure, but it had the willing involvement of all those previously connected to the show, save for Hartnell and Troughton, of course. Even Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor, returned to take part - even though he left under such bitter circumstances that he refused to participate in the regeneration scene.

Add to this the fact that the script was by long-time 'Doctor Who' producer/writer John Nathan-Turner, and I can't see any real reason it should not be considered canon in the tele-version of 'Doctor Who'.

Therefore, why not do a crossover with 'EastEnders' again to help facilitate the departure of such a popular character as Chrissie Watts.

When the Time comes, why not a Time Lord to arrange transit?

BCnU!
Tele-Toby