Season 8 Episode 32 Episode 356 Sky One Transmission Date: Sunday 29th May 2005 Directed by Sean Glynn

Season 8 team Viv Barker vs. Jaws Gina The celebrations will be short lived... Barker faces his daughter one last time Jodie The end of the team

GS: Detective (Russell Floyd) West Ham Rep (Colin Wells) Jeff Winter (as himself) On their way to Cardiff, the car blows a tire leaving Don and Jodie stranded on a country road. Lee tries to call Ryan again and he finally answers, in bed with Savannah. Before Lee can warn him Viv takes his phone, saying today the only thing that matters is the game. Fretting that Viv will drop him Ryan gets a head start onto the coach. Curtis sees Ryan already there, and he and Lee tell Ryan that Viv knows about him and Chelsea. Ryan squirms in his seat at being trapped with Viv. Gina gets a call from the police about Fletch not reporting, and tells Dean something could have happened to Fletch other than him doing a runner. Jodie tells her dad she doesn't believe he meant to kill anyone, but she can't sit by and leave Fletch where he is. The coach arrives in the VIP car park of the Millennium Stadium, and Curtis tries to get Ryan to stay and play for the team but Ryan is more concerned about Viv killing him. Don and Jodie arrive and the West Ham representative berates Don for being late before dragging him away from the car. Ryan climbs out of the back and Viv spots him, as Ryan jumps into Don’s car and speeds off. Viv marches the team into their dressing room and yells that Ryan is coward and how much he has hated Clyde when the poor kid took his own life. He then turns on the team and asks why he should stay when they treat him like this. Lee answers because they have a football match to win. Ryan meanwhile has driven back to the hotel and tells Savannah Viv is after him over the Chelsea affair. Suddenly he receives a call from Viv, who tells Ryan that whilst he wants him dead, the team cannot lose today for all they have worked for. Afterwards they will sit down and talk without any violence but for now all Viv needs him to do is play, which Ryan reluctantly agrees to come back. Ryan is stuck behind a line of cars waiting for entry to the car park, and fearing he will miss kick off skips the queue and drives into the VIP area, where the police stop Ryan. The game is being held up due to the wait for Ryan, and referee Jeff Winter tells Viv they either go out now or the game goes to the other team. A detective questions Ryan as policemen open the boot and find Fletch's body, immediately arresting Ryan. As the game kicks off Don scuttles away and is shocked to find the car is not in its allocated space. Don, now suffering chest pains collapses to the ground. The half time whistle blows and in the tunnel the detective asks for a moment with Viv. He explains how they've found the body of one of his players. Viv clearly wants it to be Ryan but the detective confirms it is Fletch. Gina is devastated and collapses in Viv's arms, who has to call Scott to take her somewhere as she howls that it can't be true. The West Ham rep speaks with the police and with the vehicle records, they see the car Fletch's body was found in is being used by Barker. Viv is affected by Fletch's death, but gives the lads the half time team-talk of his career. With just ten minutes left West Ham equalise, but luckily the off-side flag is against them. Gina weeps that all she wants to do is see Fletch, but Dean stops her as it's a crime scene, and Gina sobs they were getting married as Dean holds her. West Ham score again but Harchester are saved when it too is ruled off-side. The final whistle blows and Harchester are back in the Premiership! The team celebrate as they receive their medals and Curtis lifts the trophy to the rapture of the Harchester crowd. Barker realises he has to make a dash for it and gets up and out the door. Dean asks the boys not to shut him out as he will do anything to make it up to them. The team (minus Sully, Tyson and Viv) climb aboard the coach. Jodie sits close by with the police, in shock at Fletch being in the car all the way to the stadium. Don makes his way out into the car park, where Jodie sees him and calls for her dad. Knowing the game is up, Barker mouths to Jodie that he is sorry and sprints to the Fletch car barricading himself in. He faces the coach filled with his former team celebrating their win, and pushes his foot down on the accelerator, taking one last look at Jodie as he speeds past her and head on into the coach. The impact causes a massive fireball explosion which engulfs the coach and all inside, with burning debris scattered all around, and everyone's fate left in the balance. Notes: Last appearances of Curtis Alexander (Chucky Venice), Dean Boyle (Michael Ryan), Lee Presley (James Watts), Vivian "Jaws" Wright (Philip Brodie), Don Barker (Jon Morrison), Frank Stone (Colin Parry) and Carl Caskey (Stephen Rahman Hughes) Last appearances of team players Alex Lawler, Mark “Ammo” Hammond, Alex “O.B” O’Brien, Charlie Taylor (Ryan Lee), Wes Caine and Tony Piper. They are the eleven characters (minus Jaws and Barker) we see board the coach and subsequently die in the explosion. First team coach Scott De Mercado is also offed in the blast, along with substitutes Xabi Munoz and Sean Colton. Also last appearances of Gina Moliano (Kara Tointon), Jodie Stone (Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty), Nicole Caskey (Cassandra Bell) and Savannah Caskey (Hannah Tointon), who all leave off-screen over the summer. Best Known For: Russell Floyd had regular roles on “EastEnders” (Michael Rose) from 1996-1999, and “The Bill” (Ken Drummond) from 2002-2005. Colin Wells, alongside main parts in “The Hello Girls” (1996) and “CI5: The New Professionals” (1999), also spent his time in the soaps, with roles in “Crossroads (II)” as Jake Booth (2001-2002), and playing Johnno Dean in “Hollyoaks” from 2003-2005 with a return in 2017. The Best: As the two teams prepare to leave the tunnel, Viv and Don come face to face showdown style, with Viv’s "When the final whistle goes, run!". Dean trying to assure Gina with how he bets Fletch is in the crowd somewhere after sneaking in with the fans. Quotes: In full, Viv’s half time speech, which could be considered a final bow for the character. "This is only a game of football. We win it, we lose it, so what? People who think that are blaspheming. This game means everything to each and every one of us. We'd do anything, we'd give anything to be out on that pitch playing. And we dread the day that it is snatched away from us. So we stock up on all our glories, keep 'em treasured, right here [points to mind] in the hope that one day when we're old they'll keep us going. Because they are our lives. If we lose our football we are dead men. You're going to look back on today, it's going to be one of your treasures. 'Cause we are going to hold on no matter what they throw at us and we are gonna win. We don't die today gentlemen. We go out there and we live forever. In the memories of those who took part and those who came to see. Forever. Yeah?". Ammo (to Barker’s portrait): "And you can kiss my arse baby!". Foreshadowing: Jodie (to Don) over his phone: "You're not talking and driving dad. You'll kill yourself, or someone else” Additional Info: This episode takes place on Monday, 30th May 2005, also the day of the real 2005 Championship Play-Off. Match footage of the 2004 final between Crystal Palace and West Ham is used for Harchester v. West Ham, explaining the HUFC kit change to orange as CP played in yellow (rotoscoped to orange). The West Ham team co-ordinator is believed to be the competition winner of a cameo appearance in the show. What Was The Score?: During the first half Alex O'Brien comes through with a pass to Lee making it 1-0 to Harchester. Following two disallowed goals from West Ham, Harchester win 1-0 and are promoted back to the Premiership for the 2005-06 season. For the on-screen team sheet, Chris Cahill who didn’t travel is mistakenly listed while Sullivan is left off. Soundtrack: Dizzy Gillespie: "Menteca", DJ Tiesto & Jan Johnston: "Close To You", The Chemical Brothers: "Come Inside" and "The Boxer" Behind The Scenes: *Updated Aug 2023* The final scenes of Season 8 came in an attempt to reset the show back to the day one feel of Season 1 Episode 1 after the tone of the show had become "too heavy and issue-led". In regard to the members of the team written out here, we were told that the focus for Season 9 would be on four players, as with S1's Dean and Sean Hocknell, Warren Masters and Conor McCarthy. We got Casper and Eugene Rose, Liam MacKay and Gavin Moody. But alongside the killing of Fletch, could that have resulted in the demise of a mere three players on the coach, instead of the overboard twelve that was done? It would have to be regular characters lost; If Fletch's contract was not being renewed for the PL then would Caskey's, when he was a year older and more injury prone? Colin Parry wasn't continuing as Stone due to having done a year travelling from the North West where he was based to London. And as sad as I am to admit it, maybe Presley was the right decision. He had been terribly under-used starting with the departure of two key contacts in Jeff and Nikki, floundering until the quickly dropped relationship with Shanice which was then continued off-screen - a move which left him floundering with an invisible girlfriend! And then only given the odd line of dialogue an episode from then onwards. The lack of interest shown in the character in Season 8 left me feeling it would have been a surprise if he'd been taken forward into S9. So with four players lost for four new ones, could Curtis have not been allowed his long-dreamed move to Charlton? If Sully was good enough to be promoted to the main cast why not Ammo, who more than showed that he was. Could the rest of the team not have had the regular summer transfers? And could Dean Boyle not have left for the Wrexham job mentioned in 8.26 A Champions' League Outing? It almost feels that the clean slate goal that was set out for Season 9 was squandered before it even began, with the show unable to move past such a big event which hung over the show like a dark cloud. <<SE08 EP31 | Season 8 Main Page | SE09 EP01>>