Pauline: Er, she were alright

It was sad to see the death of Wendy "Martin" Richard the other day. Despite her appearance in her sixties, she was a stick-on corker in her youth, and although she didn't pull up any trees acting-wise in Eastenders, she was perfectly adequate as put-upon battleaxe Pauline Fowler for the 58 years she appeared in the show.

Being such a famous face in the classic 'household name' sense, I was genuinely surprised to see a) how little coverage her death got (especially from the BBC who she worked predominantly for) and b) how utterly lame the tributes paid were.

I tuned into BBC News 24 on the day it was announced and all they were doing was showing a great big picture of her every few minutes, followed by the same stock footage of her clattering Arthur with a frying pan (also neatly showing just how far away the pan was from his head at the time - worst stunt work ever). Then they got some no-mark who worked on Eastenders to offer their fitting (if not entirely glowing) tribute. He mentioned her 2 outstanding qualities:

- She knew everybody's names
- She occasionally brought cakes in

I can imagine old Wendy is sat in a rocking chair peering down on this from Heaven going "Well cheers for that". Basically, despite being a constant fixture in the show for God knows how many years, the best they could come up with was that she knew everyone's names (not really surprising given the length of time she worked there) and she brought in the odd bun on her birthday. Hardly gravestone material is it?

I didn't know the woman, nor a great deal about her life, but there had to be more to her than infrequent confectionery supply, surely? I've said before that when I cark it I want people to be honest rather than flowery about me, but I'd be a bit peeved if they said "Sent the occasional birthday card, was known to clean the bathroom". What about the glittering tennis career? The Oscar nominations? The award-winning blogs? It's a bloody disgrace and no error.

I hope in time (not sure if the funeral has been yet) that somebody steps up and gives her a proper send-off; mentions her kind-hearted nature or generosity towards kids, etc. Anything to avoid being known as the "woman who knew names and bought cakes".

Anyway, I'm off to Tescos at lunch if you want owt. Remember that when I snuff it...