HANNIBAL LECTER EATS OAKDALE

Well, not really. But in Friday's cracking good episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS Oakdale's famous serial killer Rick Decker made a welcome reappearance in order to solve The Mystery Of The Poisoned Accessories. I think he's a big red herring and the soon-to-return James Stenbeck is the real culprit. When that scene started where Carly dared to knock on Lily's door, I was hoping that Luke would rip Carly a new one. No such luck, but Van Hansis conveyed volumes with just a few lines and a few looks. Speaking of characters with few lines, I was pleased to see Wole Parks' Dallas make an appearance. Now that it looks like Bonnie is finally getting a storyline, can't Dallas get one too? Wole is charismatic and his body is TIGHT!

We started our rewatching of the brilliant 4th series of DOCTOR WHO tonight, since I finally gave in and ordered the uncut UK DVDs after suffering at the hands of Sci-Fi Channel's butchers for the last 13 weeks. The guest casting this series has been really top notch, with several ex-soap stars making an appearance. Episode 1, PARTNERS IN CRIME, has ex-CORONATION STREET star Sarah Lancashire doing a funny takeoff on Supernanny Jo Frost and it's even funnier because she plays it dead serious. Sarah took a similar gambit in CORRIE; Raquel was a typically comedic Rover's Return barmaid, but Sarah never descended to caricature in her portrayal.

Episode 2, THE FIRES OF POMPEII, featured a soap actor less well-known than Sarah but still remembered by me -- Francois Pandolfo, who was briefly in EASTENDERS as Enrico, a foreign exchange student with funny spiked hair and a weak grasp of English. Sonia and Nicki fought over him and he chose Sonia over the DeMarco chick because of her passion for the trumpet. (Yes really!!) Then he went back to Italy and didn't answer Sonia's letters or Valentine Day's card, causing her to get really, really upset and to sleep with Martin Fowler. That one night of foolishness on Sonia's part led to at least seven years worth of story for Sonia and Martin! So Enrico may be a footnote in Albert Square history, but a notable footnote nonetheless. His portrayer Francois has grown up to be rather hunky, with a good pair of legs noticeable beneath his short tunic in POMPEII. (Wole's tight body, Francois' fit legs -- WHAT is on my mind tonight???)