EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Bright Eyes]

Bianca better be leaving with her kids, and that especially includes Whitney. It's too bad she can't take Dexter with her, too! LoL

[BetterForgotten]

In other news, Gillian Wright is back as Jean for a short stint. I'm glad it's only a short stint and won't spoil Jean's happy ending exit.

I honestly don't know why Stacey had to come back this year. This character needed a good 5-6 years of resting, I still think it's way too soon for her. They also seem intent on making Lauren the nuStacey Slater, which is jarring with the real thing on at the same time.

http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/55796-ee/

[DRW50]

We don't need David...we have the Carters!11!111!

I wonder if there are any posts going around about how "ungrateful" he is to not support DTC's "vision."

I think it was a ratings and awards grab. They clearly have no idea what to do with her.

[BetterForgotten]

Honestly though, I always expected French to be short-term. His original stint was only 3 years, and it took him a long time to even consider coming back.

I know he and Lindsey Coulson had some strange falling out in the 90's. It looks like that's gotten better with time, but probably still awkward on an ongoing basis for both.

[TimWil]

Michael French would never agree to a long-term contract. I'm just glad he came back at all. David is one of my all-time favorite characters, along with Den, Angie and Dot.

Wasn't the trouble between French and Coulson somerhing to do with him being named as a corespondent in Coulson's divorce? French is by all accounts a gay man so I wonder what the real story was.

Edited May 18, 2014 by TimWil

[BetterForgotten]

I think the ongoing story was French had a strange infatuation with Coulson's first husband, and seduced her to get back at him when he wouldn't return French's sexual advances.

This old archived article speaks about it:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Who+shall+I+bed+first+..you+or+your+wife%3F%3B+WHAT+GAY+EASTENDER+TOLD...-a061180285

Edited May 18, 2014 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

I think that whole mess is one of the reasons he doesn't do publicity isn't it? There was some weird vendetta against him in the press.

Just to clarify, I don't think he is leaving because of DTC. I think he's leaving because he doesn't stay around long. I just get the feeling the DS purity brigades will trash him for somehow letting their new/old savior down.

Speaking of DTC, I wonder if he's gotten any better at casting young men if he's going to be recasting Ben. I still wince at the memory of Callum Monks.

[Bright Eyes]

I have no idea who Callum Monks is, but if the Sam Strike is any indication, we'll have no problem since Strike is absolutely perfect. That sounds hyperbolic, but I don't care.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Bright Eyes

[NothinButAttitude]

No!!!

Michael French is leaving?!!!

I'm probably in the minority but I hope that Liam does stay behind when Bianca leaves the square. I'm indifferent with Morgan, BUT Tiffany & Whitney annoys me, so them leaving is fine with me.

And I cannot handle too many more Carters on the square. It'll be like the Brannings when they consumed the show ... too much and overly saturated. This is why the Slaters (besides the Masoods) is one of the last great families to be on the square. The writers at the time only focused on Kat, Lynne, Zoe, and Little Mo (with Charlie & Big Mo as supporting), and when they made their impact and started to leave the square, they brought in Stacy, Sean, & Jean.

DTC needs to develop the Carters more before bringing on any more of them. I'd rather him bring back Sam (Kim Medcalfe), Grant, Courtney, Louise, Sharon's brothers (Chris & Jonathan), Chelsea, Steven.... before adding more Carters.

I kind of wish he would've kept the Spraggans clan and actually developed them before axing them because Bianca is leaving. Terry & Nikki seem interesting on their own.

[TimWil]

Wow, BetterForgotten, I've never heard that story. I do remember the tabloids having a great time with French apparently having had an affair with one of the male background actors on the show. I think the background actor sold his "story" for £££. That would certainly explain French's unwillingness to do interviews and the like.

It's absolutely true that French isn't leaving "early." By all indications he never intended to stay on the show for very long at all in the first place. I wonder if David will be killed off? Having him simply run off AGAIN is way too obvious.

Edited May 18, 2014 by TimWil

[BetterForgotten]

I don't have any sort of opinion of the Carter's, they're just there, I'm really ambivalent about them as a whole (I really don't care for Kellie Bright and Danny Dyer though). But overall, I don't hate them, but I don't have a strong care for them either from what I've seen.

The Masoods initially (before they were trashed) worked because they show learnt from their mistakes with the Ferreira's on how not to write a South Asian family. The Slater's are a different situation altogether, as they were introduced on what was probably the show's last real golden era. They dominated almost the entire show from 2001-2005, but strangely, I didn't mind as I fell in love with them from almost the beginning, and that was when BBC America aired the show just a few months behind the UK transition, so it almost felt like I was experiencing everything in real-time, as PBS was quite a few years behind by that point. It's strange how popular the show was during that time when a new family dominated so much airtime, I don't know if they would be as warmly received today. They did have their detractors though, as many of the cast weren't happy with them being given such high priority at the time, and it did feel like they didn't interact with the entire Sqaure as a whole, but moreso with each other for most of the time. But at the end of the day, their storylines are probably EastEnders most definitive stories of the 00's. The Kat/Zoe reveal is EastEnders signature pop culture moment of the 00's (with Who Show Phil? which happened around the same time a close second), and most definitely that of British soaps in the 00's, nothing else comes close from a pop culture and definitive perspective from that otherwise uneven decade.

It gets me thinking that they have absolutely no idea what to do with Sharon anymore, which is sad. From what I've seen, she doesn't even feel like a supporting player, but more like a dayplayer. I can't believe this is the same Sharon who was once a very vital character. I know DTC once said she was his favourite character, but I haven't seen that. He'll be more interested in pushing Stacey again, and moving Ronnie into her new villainous direction.

[DRW50]

I'm sure glad DTC doesn't do retreads...

[BetterForgotten]

Are you referring to the clear rip-off of the iconic Kat/Zoe story tonight? As I mentioned above, that's probably the show's definitive moment of the 00's, so strange to do a retread as it's now going to be compared.

[NothinButAttitude]

So I guess it is true that Mick is Shirley's son. SMDH. But people were calling it from day one, so....

[ReddFoxx]

Max is a pathetic slut, but that goes without saying. I think Abi might have killed Lucy, she was so angry about the whole situation, that I think she's a plausible suspect.