The 2 Joey's

Much has been talked about the comparison's of Howitts portrayal of Joey Boswell compared to Graham Bickley's.
Firstly as Howitt was first cast he was and will always remain the favourite, however at the moment, having seen some repeats on GOLD - which is now into the Bickley era, I came to looking at the 2 as impartially as I could.
IN the earlier Howitt era Joey comes across as much more cool and grown up, and cock sure of himself, we don't know what he's up to, but he's making money, and we don't know quite how but we can assume some of it was crminally, whether he forgot to pay the tax or not it was still illegal if you "forget" to pay tax, not too mention claim every bit of benefit under the sun that certainly proves he is to say the least lacking certain scruples. He gets away with it, because Howitt's portrayal was so full of charm, that you don't think of him as a crook in any way, within the family he is in total control, even of his Mum, as he takes charge when she can't cope.
He looks out for everyone, provides the most money, has the best car, and normally solves most of the family crisis at least to a degree where it's basically sorted.
However in the Bickley era, he's been rumbled for his dodgy dealings and owes £20,000 to inland revenue.
He's different, he's portrayed and seems to be written perhaps more as he actually ought to have been, as not as saintly, as Howitt's version came across, but more of the dodgy crook and slightly shady character he was meant to be.
He was more tortured, and torn between his love for the divorced protestant with children and his devoutly catholic mother.
He also lost a lot of authority after the £20K deal, as his Dad had to bail him out, and whilst he was still the most senior of the kids, and tried his best he seemed to be less in charge, more prone to getting angry almost to the point of violence on more than one occaison.
You get the impression that this Joey was actually a far darker character, never better illustrated than in the final confrontation with his Mother, you get the impression the earlier version would not have reacted this way.
So in the end I decide to look at the 2 Joey's like this.
Howitt is the charming lovable rougue that Joey Boswell would like to portray to the world, a cheeky chappy who does his best for everyone.
Graham Bickley's version is perhaps the darker Joey, the person who really lurks beneath Joeys apparently selfless and helpful exteriour, capable of more than we might imagine.
If you think of it this way it helps get over the character swap of such an integral character and the actor who portrayed him originally.