Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) has tried to do something truly, truly awful in EastEnders – and failed miserably.
Wanting to make his mark on The Queen Vic, he prepared to get rid of Walford icon Tracey the barmaid (Jane Slaughter).
Silent Tracey has graced the BBC soap since the very first episode – becoming quite the fan-favourite during that time.
The character is, of course, one of the many named supporting characters that help cement Albert Square as a real life area in East London.
Originally operating a flower stall on the Bridge Street Market, she was taken on as barmaid by Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) in 1989. Her presence in the pub often helps explain other characters’ absence from work, allowing them to be at the centre of the drama elsewhere.
On a number of occasions that position has been threatened, though without fail, our Trace’ always worms her way back into the fold.
In tonight’s episode, just 24 hours after learning he was the new landlord of the new pub, Alfie decided that he was going to have to make some staffing cuts to be able to afford their new venture.
Waltzing into Walford East, he told Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) that he was resigning from his role at the Minute Mart.
In disbelief, Ravi told him that he actually didn’t have a job to resign from after doing a disappearing act some weeks ago. As viewers know, he headed to Barcelona to track down estranged step-daughter Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), to no avail.
Alfie tried to sweeten the deal, saying he had a perfect replacement.
…Tracey!
Ravi was furious that he was prepared to ditch such a valued member of staff, who has given decades of her life to the boozer.
Nevertheless, Alf’ continued with his decision to ditch her and headed back to the pub to break the difficult news. Tracey brushed him off, saying that she’d turned down Ravi’s job offer and was more than happy to stay at The Vic.
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Enter Alfie’s wife Kat (Jessie Wallace), who said she’d grab a bottle of wine and take Tracey upstairs so that they could discuss it properly. Alfie was sure that this would do the trick.
How wrong he was!
Trace wandered downstairs with a huge smile on her face, picking up her bag and waving goodbye. Had she really left without kicking up a fuss?
Not at all. Kat had caved, felt bad, and offered a pay rise and an early finish.
