Eastenders - Heather

[supersuezy24]

I really feel for Heathers character, Imagine feeling that lonely that you couldn't tell your friends or anyone how hard you were finding things financially. I know it's only tv but kinda makes me think how lucky I am.

Anyone else watching this tonight really feeling for the character..

[joggerjayne]

Not watching, sorry.

[cathfromsaron]

yes it IS only tv but soaps really do help people access information and empathise with others! and i would hate to be that hard up! xx

[supersuezy24]

No bother...

[joggerjayne]

Presumably the actress who plays Heather earns a bundle.

[supersuezy24]

Me too cathfromsaron, and she has two jobs!

[sandyRoe]

Lots of people live on social security and are hard up. Is the character in debt?

[supersuezy24]

Sandyroe, she can't pay her electricity bill so has been cut off, she can't afford heating as her boiler is broken and leaking carbon monoxide into her flat.
She can't afford food either.

[dotty.]

she's not been cut off, she has a key meter and she has no money to buy credit with. there is an emergency supply facility in the meter so that the power does not go off after 8pm and she could use it until 8am the next day, then it will cut off and she will have to put back an amount to cover the emnergency (£7 usually) and her debt, a weekly amount automatically factored into the meter, and her over usage from the night before, plus an amount for her new supply, in all she probably would need to put at least £20 on to get any electric at all for a day or so, they are not easy to manage, I;ve inherited one and they are fine most of the time except in very cold weather when you run the central heating more,

[supersuezy24]

Consider me told Dotty :)

[dotty.]

the freaky bit was how the pilot light on the boiler managed to relight itself autimatically when she added the leccy from her key. That type of boiler surely would need manual relighting!

[supersuezy24]

I feel silly now for not knowing anything about boilers...

[alexanderd]

I sometimes wonder if the character they are playing has any effect on them personally. Incidentally she is a hell of an actress

[pusskin]

it must be very hard for her to play heather. its an awful situation to be in, and i think she does it brilliantly

[dotty.]

the 'widows nite' angle is a real heart wrencher, many years ago, when the kids were small, i was in that state, it was like a long dark tunnel and i couldn't ask mum and dad for help as they had no idea i was on my own, it was truly bleak,

[sherrardk]

Three years ago we had to declare ourselves bankrupt (this was two weeks before our twins were born). We were then served notice to quit our rented house and had to wait 13 weeks before any benefits were paid. It was a truly dark time for us and I still don't know how we got through it. We didn't ask anyone for help or tell anyone how bad it was. (Things are getting better now and my husband has managed to start his own business.)

[bld767]

I do hope that they don't kill Heather off yet - I think that whoever is playing her is doing a very good job. We've recently been very hard up and are on PAYG meters, and I know the feeling of whether or not to buy electricity or food with your last £5.00! Fortunately life is starting to look up a bit for us, and I hope that it does so for Heather as well. EE may only be a soap, but I think that there are a lot of very good actors in it.

[horselady]

We have had times like that too-when our kids were small. I remember once having a few slices of bread and a small piece of cucumber, and some milk and no other food at all, I made tiny sandwiches for the kids and gave them milk to drink. The next day a cheque for £38 arrived in the post, a tax rebate as my husband had been laid off work. In 1974, £38 was a small fortune.