BetterForgotten

There's a new blog post from Matthew Robinson where he talks about Michelle Collins and the decision to kill Cindy. I love how transparent he is. http://walfordweb.com/blog/entry/4047849/597819/ The ego most of the cast had in the late 90's seemed out of control and exactly what led to both Michelle and Martine McCutcheon's downfalls.

I did think Tameka was doing some of her best work recently, but this storyline isn't working for me or the character. I doubt they will invest more than surface-level writing into it, and Kim will likely be ignored in a month or two.

I think Barbara herself may be the only person of colour to produce a UK soap, so she probably can speak to the issues of diversity with a more holistic view having worked from behind the cameras as well. Here's an interview she did last year:

Barbara Emile, who was one of the show's strongest producers/EP's in the 90's, clearly isn't fond of DTC's stance on diversity: Former EastEnders producer: TV industry must 'get real' on diversity

I wonder if Jan will appear in the Sarah Phelps episode, but I think that's airing this month as opposed to next month. I f.ucking hope they don't waste a one-off Sarah Phelps return on the Carter's. She should write for Sharon, Kat, and Stacey - three characters she wrote well for in her original stint on the show. I guess Whitfield will be connected to the new Harry storyline for Kat.

In a way, I can understand why Abi and Ben are drawn to each other and want to use one another to cover up their insecurities. They're both incredibly pathetic and needy characters. I think Lorna and Harry Reid are playing the hell out of the pathetic aspects of the characters. I am actually really surprised by Harry Reid, he brings a lot of vulnerability to the role - sometimes I want Ben to die, but other times I want to give him a hug. He's been a great recast, IMO. I just wish they knew how to write for this type of character.

The seemed to update the Sharon clip a lot compared to the others from the 25th anniversary version on the recent cliffhanger special.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPS0YtJdhRk There's also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N79S_JFoXU

The scriptwriters need hell for that. Den and Angie are her "real father and "real mother." Gavin and Carol are her "birth parents." I wonder if Sharon's Gavin is the same Gavin Kathy was/is married to. It seems like her birth father has been searching for her for years too...

The Sharon and Shirley scenes were the only thing worth watching, even if I hate Shirley. Sharon's finally being treated like a core character again, and it really works.

God, all the Carter crap was just terrible in today's episode. This family is really a massive failure, and the next EP really needs to give them the di Marco treatment. This one family weights the entire show down. No one cares and they are so badly fleshed out.

I'm always surprised they never did anything more with Mark and Mandy. I think this is one of my favourite uses of Julia's Theme - just the celebratory and welcoming environment in the Fowler house. I guess this was the trailer the BBC ran for the Christmas Eve episode that year: I think the 1990-1995 period is kinda underrated in retrospect. Yeah, even if the Mitchell's sort of changed the DNA of the show a bit, I think the producers for most of the 90's did a wonderful job of carrying on Tony Holland and Julia Smith's vision, while updating it a bit to match a more 90's sensibility. I really wish there was some place we could see these years again. So much is available from the 80's, late 90's, 00's, and present, but this era should be remembered more, from everything I've seen and read, it looked consistently good.

I had forgotten just how badly BBC America edited the sh!t out of the classic episodes when they aired them. Nearly half of the episodes were edited out and it makes it really hard to even understand some of them. I also forgot they aired them under the name, EastEnders: The Early Years. Thankfully, I was able to download a lot of the early episodes non-edited a few years ago.

This is Ellen's 4th role on the show, the most times someone has appeared on the show as this many different characters. I don't have faith in this, so we'll see how it turns out. that omnibus mistake is f.ucking hilarious. I hope it gets posted soon. I hope this Harry revisitation story can move Kat forward as a character again. I hope that they write Alfie out, I think Kat can function better away from him, and obviously there was a Kat before and after Alfie. But I don't know if they see these two character separately anymore, sadly. Sharon's improved a lot character-wise recently, I guess I can still hold out hope for Kat again.

I think the Kat/Zoe story was the last one that had any longterm impact. It drove 5 years worth of story, and they worked so hard to establish those characters and their relationship after the shocking revelation. It wasn't all about the shocking revelation - they cared enough to explore it with those characters for a long time afterwards.

When was the last time they did a topical issue with any integrity? Probably during the John Yorke era? I have to say though, I think a good deal of the 90's are underrated. There's this great understated quality of the 1990-1996 era where they tackled a lot of stuff, and a lot of of it never felt contrived or sensationalized. I also thought the show had its best writing for people of color in the 90's.

Well, there's also this: How many theme songs have been this versatile? Simon May never has to work again thanks to the theme song and the various iterations he's written and produced. Strangely, songs from the show have had great success on the UK pop singles charts. Anita's vocal version of the theme peaked at #4, Letitia and Paul's Something Outa Nothing peaked at #12, and Nick Berry's Every Loser Wins hit #1 (for three weeks in 1986 and was the #2 best selling single of the year in the UK). Simon May wrote and produced all these songs, by the way. The last time a song inspired by the show or character from the show crossed over the pop charts is probably Shane Ritchie's cover of Wham's I'm Your Man, part of the show's 2003 Children in Need contribution, which peaked at #2 on the UK singles chart in 2003. RE - the transgender story, I hope DTC and team takes this seriously and doesn't sensationalize it. We'll see...

Hmm, I didn't know they made a video for this:

Thanks for posting. A lot of it makes me nostalgic as we were able to see so much of this era on BBC America a few weeks after it aired in the UK. The show was so hugely popular in those days. In particular, I remember the Little Mo trial and verdict making front page news in many of the mainstream UK newspapers I used to keep up with in those days.

I have to say one thing, it does feel like they're finally in a good place with Sharon again, and the up hairdo really works for Letitia and is age appropriate. I hope this storyline doesn't turn into another vehicle for someone else, but it's nice to see that DTC seems committed to the character and actually seems to get her more than Lorraine Newman strangely did, even though Newman worked on the show in eras where Sharon was part of the cast. Sharon's really keeping those Mitchell's together these days, but I like that this storyline has potential to take her outside of the Mitchell orbit as well. This is the best Sharon's been since her most recent return. I can even stand Linda when she's with Sharon. However, Linda's mother needs to die a torturous death...

She's really trying hard to be taken seriously these days. Too bad it look a backlash and deteriorating commercial success to make her change course. I wish her luck, because as mentioned, she does have talent. But her time at being at the center of the pop universe came and went very quickly and she will not recapture that again.

Another blog post from Matthew Robinson. I kind of love the subtle shade he throws at Ross Kemp. http://walfordweb.com/blog/main/4047849/ I know he's considered controversial in the show's history, but I really think the show has needed someone like him over the past 10 years or so. Someone who doesn't put up with bullsh!t and not afraid to make changes that need to be made. He says he'll also post about his time directing the show for Julia Smith and Tony Holland in the 80's.

I have no idea why some are clamoring for Stacey and Martin. I see nothing there. But ....anything is better than Sonia, I guess... Though, now that Stacey isn't the entire show anymore, I've been really enjoying her in this supporting capacity.

I don't know what they'll do with Lauren when she returns with a kid (and presumably as a single mother), honestly. I kind of wish Jossa had left with Hardy. Maybe they'll use Lauren's absence to develop Abi more, but I doubt it.

Speaking of Matthew Robinson, he's started blogging for Walford Web! http://walfordweb.com/blog/main/4047849/http://walfordweb.com/blog/main/4047849/

The storytelling Robinson and Yorke did was a little more sensationalized than what had been there before, but I do think they both "got" the show and you could tell they genuinely loved and cared for it. I don't know if I've felt the producers since have felt the same way. Maybe Louise Berridge, her intentions may have been good, but executionally flawed.