Jack on the Box

The Wedding / Thu 2, Fri 3 BBC1
The big one. No, not Ian's ego, but the episode we've all been waiting for; the wedding. In a one-hour special (and working on the rough equation of twice the length making for ten times the drama) Peggy is preparing to tie the knot with Archie. For quite some time we've been screaming, even hurling things at, the tv screen in a desperate bid to make poor Peggy listen, but alas she goes ahead and marries him, the epitome of east-end evil. A hushed row at the altar is just the beginning though; back at the Vic, Ronnie catches Danielle attempting (in a strange turn of events) to kidnap baby Amy; naturally she assumes insanity and throws Danielle out, but not before Danielle, after six searingly-long months, finally confesses the truth, giving us the best "You're my muvvah!" moment since, well... "You're my muvvah!", that fateful time when the Slater slappers dominated, pre-Branning brats.

Anyhow, back to the point. Ronnie finds the locket in her champagne glass (and where better to ensure something is found in Walford than placing it near alcohol?) and suddenly Archie's world falls apart. As threatened by Enigmatic Voiceover Lady, he is no longer in control! Ronnie, desperate to find Danielle, makes her way to Stacey's, but she too busy spewing her guts up to keep an eye on depressive Dani. Eventually she catches her outside the tube station - naturally. Things get really emotional now. "Baby", mouths Ronnie, and Dani runs her way. A happy ending! Well... not quite. Janine, ruiner of all things good and consumed by rage for Jack and 'Fat Pat', plows Danielle down in the middle of the road. And there she lies, dieing in Ronnie's arms. It's an immensely sad moment, the shock value of which isn't likely to be repeated for some time. Ronnie shrieks for her daughter, the family which could've been. Without any doubt, this episode will be looked back on alongside the likes of the Max/Stacey and Kat/Zoe reveals, tissues dabbing eyes.

Friday's follow-up episode was perfectly-judged and just as upsetting. Much of Walford is in a state of shock - except, of course, for Ian Beale, who will do anything to overhear a tidbit of gossip. Peggy and Pat have gone to stay with Aunt Sal (and how I wish she was my aunt); incredibly, Archie thinks himself welcome at the Vic, where even Phil doesn't both reddening the skin of his fists. Again Samantha Janus gets us going as she begs Dani's incensed adoptive father (whose lament that she had 'everything' in Telford provides a rare chortle) not to stop her from attending the funeral. Episodes like this are a poignant reminder of why Eastenders is truly the country's finest soap opera.