Eastenders: Peggy Mitchell leaves the Queen Vic behind forever
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:48 PM on 10th September 2010
Tearful Peggy Mitchell walked out of Albert Square for the final time tonight – after turning down the pleas of her crack addict son Phil to stay.
The pub landlady quit Walford – ending Barbara Windsor’s 16-year stint on BBC1′s EastEnders – with emotional goodbyes to her precious family.
She cast one last look at the blackened shell of the fire-ravaged Queen Vic before walking out of the Square for good to rebuild her life, after assuring Phil: ‘I’ll be fine.’
Anguish: Peggy Mitchell leaves Walford in Barbara Windsor’s final episode of EastEnders
The finale for Peggy followed a gripping instalment last night in which she escaped the burning pub after Phil (Steve McFadden) set it alight.
In tonight’s poignant edition, viewers saw Peggy attempt to tie up loose ends and repair some of the damage wreaked by her wayward son.
She paid a visit to Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) in hospital, urging her to take the blame for the fire. And she found out that niece Ronnie (Samantha Womack) was pregnant with her longed-for child.
Farewell: Peggy has decided to stand on her own two feet, leaving Walford and the charred remains of the Queen Vic behind her
The matriarch then begged Phil to go away with her but, when he refused to leave Walford, she made up her mind to start afresh without him, saying it was for his sake.
His pleas for her to stay fell on deaf ears and, with him lurching after her repeating ‘Mum’, she delivered her final line on the soap with a tear in her eye: ‘Go back inside, love. Go on, I’ll be fine. Go on, darling, go back inside.’
As she walked past the pub one last time viewers saw her face etched with anguish.
Haunting memories: Peggy heard thevoice of late husband Frank (Mike Reid) as she walked through the remains of the pub
Earlier, as Peggy surveyed the charred remains of the pub, viewers heard haunting snippets of dialogue from some of the dramas which had unfolded during her life in the Square, including the voice of Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) declaring his love for her.
A specially reworked version of the EastEnders theme tune, called Peggy’s Theme, accompanied her exit during her final scene.
The track is to be made available to buy as a single.
Composer Simon May revamped the music for the occasion.
He said: ‘It is her theme, I wrote it for her. Barbara Windsor has been absolutely amazing on EastEnders.’
Up in smoke: Peggy Mitchell gazes unhappily on the charred remains of the Queen Vic pub as she bows out of Albert Square
Barabara Windsor’s best bits…
For a generation she was known as a cackling busty sex bomb.
But after 16 years on Albert Square Barbara Windsor will better known
as the no-nonsense matriarch who pulled the pints and called the shots
at the Queen Vic.
Her lengthy stint in Walford – broken only by a period of illness – shored up her status as a national treasure.
PEGGY IN HER OWN WORDS
- Get outta my pub!’ (To almost everyone)
- ‘If brains were dynamite, you lot wouldn’t have enough to blow your hats off!’
-
‘Listen to me, Den Watts – I don’t care if you have come back from
the dead, get out of my pub. The only spirits in here are gin, whisky
and vodka, so go on, get out.’ (Peggy making a cameo appearance in a
Doctor Who episode) -
Peggy Mitchell: ‘Oh, shut up you peroxide old bag!’ Pauline Fowler: ‘Oh,
yeah? What’s this, then – strawberry blonde at 70, that’s ‘real’ is
it?’ Peggy Mitchell: ‘Shut up! I’m NOT 70!’ Pauline Fowler: ‘No, but you
look it!’ -
‘One thing I’ve learned since I’ve been married to Mr Butcher is
never underestimate his capacity to make a cock-up of things.’ (After
finding Frank’s letter to her explaining how he plans to leave with Pat) -
Phil: ‘Mum what you doing here?’ Peggy: ‘What do you think I’m doing –
waiting for a number 13 bus?’ (Barbara Windsor makes her debut as Peggy,
visiting son Phil in hospital) - ‘You’re a Mitchell’ – Giving a pep talk to various members of her family.
-
Peggy: ‘What the hell are you doing behind that bar?’ Sharon: ‘Where
else does the landlady stand? What can I get you?’ Peggy: ‘You evil
little bitch – how dare you come back?’ (Peggy confronts Sharon when she
finds she is the new landlady of the Queen Vic) -
‘I do so admire a man who devotes his life to serving society. I nearly
went into politics myself you know …’ (To Boris Johnson when he made a
cameo appearance in EastEnders) -
Peggy: ‘Frank left ya, your boys left ya, and now Roy’s left ya.’ Pat:
‘You think Frank wants you? Mutton dressed as lamb?’ Peggy: ‘You cow.’
Pat: ‘Oh, temper, temper.’ Peggy: ‘Anyway you’re nothing to write home
about – no wonder Roy can’t do it.’ Pat: ‘How dare you.’ Peggy: ‘I’ll
flaming well kill you.’ (Peggy and Pat confront each other shortly
before having a fight) - ‘Let it burn.’ (As the fire brigade arrives with the Queen Vic ablaze)
Millions of viewers were gripped by the trials, tribulations, bust-ups, booze-ups, slaps and slurs.
But the image of Peggy Mitchell surveying the ruins of her once proud
domain as the Vic is left a charred wreck tonight will be one of the
most haunting memories for Walford devotees.
Windsor, now 73, found her first major taste of fame through her
string of bubbly-blonde roles in the slap and tickle Carry-On films.
But her career was reborn when she became the second actress to take
the role of Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, after Jo Warne had the role
briefly in 1991.
There were highs and many lows in the high-profile storylines she
carried during her time in the show, including a moving breast cancer
plot in 1996.
The story, which saw Peggy battle the disease and deal with a mastectomy, was praised by viewers and fellow cancer sufferers.
Peggy has had a chequered love life in Albert Square. She married
Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) in 1999, but later learned he was having an
affair with ex-wife Pat (Pam St Clement), leading to a showdown between
the two women.
She was engaged to Harry Slater (Michael Elphick) in 2001, but ended
their relationship when she learned he had raped his niece Kat (Jessie
Wallace) as a child.
In real life, Windsor has been married three times.
Her relationships included a 21-year marriage to East End wideboy Ronnie
Knight.
They were accompanied on their honeymoon by Windsor’s close pal
and Carry On co-star Kenneth Williams.
In 2000, she tied the knot with her third husband, Scott Mitchell, who is 25 years her junior.
Announcing her departure from Walford last year, she said she was
leaving to spend more time with her husband.
And in typically humorous
style she joked that it was because ‘he’s not getting any younger’.
Born Barbara-Ann Deeks in London’s East End, Windsor trained at the Aida
Foster School in Golders Green, north-west London, making her stage
debut at 13.
And she made her debut film appearance in The Belles Of St Trinian’s in
1954, later becoming a staple member of the Carry On cast, although only
appearing in nine of the 30 films.
Her most famous, and eye-catching role, was in Carry On Camping where
during an outdoor exercise routine her over-exuberant moves cause her
bikini top to fly off.
Last year, Windsor was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the
British Soap Awards, having won the Best Actress title 10 years earlier.
Other accolades included an OBE which was awarded in 2000.
She was forced to miss EastEnders for almost two years following an
attack of the debilitating Epstein-Barr virus between 2003 and 2005, but
she enjoyed a triumphant return.
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