Leading LADIES

To celebrate the return of The British Soap Awards, TV Times gathers four of soapland's finest for a very special photo shoot...

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THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS
NEW THURSDAY, 8PM, ITV1 AWARDS

EASTENDERS
DIANE PARISH
Denise Fox since 2006

Are you pleased that The British Soap Awards is back after a year's hiatus, Diane?

Yes, I missed them. I think soap fans appreciate seeing us out of our costumes on the red carpet, and we enjoy celebrating each other.

Working in soap is incredibly hard, and a lot of people cut their teeth in our field, so it's good to see the genre taken seriously.

How would you sum up the past 12 months for Denise, and for you?

Character-defining. Denise has been challenged, and I feel that Diane has been challenged a bit more as an actor. From being involved in a murder with five other women to psychosis and a love triangle, I've had all the challenges that most people get in a career in one year. It's been one of my favourite years here.

During EastEnders' 40th-anniversary live episode, fans chose Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), rather than Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), as the man for Denise. Did you expect that outcome?

It's definitely the choice I thought they'd make. Every character in EastEnders is flawed, otherwise they wouldn't be interesting. This doesn't bring a full stop to any of Denise's flaws, but what it has done is take her into the next chapter, because it was decided that it was time to leave those risky elements of relationships behind and try to make more stable choices. At the moment - and I stress at the moment - her choice of Jack is a stable one.

Which Walford performances have stood out for you over the past year?