EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Bright Eyes]

Thanks for posting, Carl.

I don't know much about Linda Henry so I can only hope that it's completely untrue. However, if I'm being honest, if it leads to a Shirley exit I can't pretend I wouldn't be happy about it as I've never liked her character. I realize that's jumping the gun though. Still, the way the article mentions Shirley as being an ex of Phil's rubbed me the wrong way.

[TimWil]

What few people seem to know is that Jean Fennell wasn't the only actress to begin shooting a role and then ended up being replaced by the time the character made its first appearance on the show. There was the actress Jill Gascoine who was to play Glenda Mitchell but she dropped out and Glynis Barber assumed the role. And Barbara Windsor herself told me that an actress named Frances Cuka was hired to be Jo Warne's replacement as Peggy Mitchell but it didn't work out after one day of filming so they turned to Windsor.

Edited November 28, 2014 by TimWil

[DRW50]

I remember that about Glenda (the original actress found the filming schedule too difficult) but didn't know that about Peggy.

So are you enjoying the show?

[TimWil]

I am, Carl, although I agree a lot with what you, Bright Eyes and Ben have been saying about the current status of the show. In comparison to what's on my PBS station now (they're still in summer of 2005) it's frigging Masterpiece Theatre. Rudolph Walker (Patrick) and Diane Parish (Denise) were extremely moving in Tuesday's episode.

[Bright Eyes]

This week not being Carter central has been ridiculously better than the show has been in weeks. Denise calling Jane a stepford frump had me smiling from ear to ear.

As for immediate recasts, the same thing happened recently with Sienna on Hollyoaks. Some other chick that is not the fabulous Anna Passey was in promo pics with Jeremy Sheffield when the characters were announced, but for some reason she didn't cut it and Passey became Sienna before the character ever appeared.

[TimWil]

I loved that "Stepford frump" remark, too, Bright Eyes.

I think Anna Passey definitely has a future in American TV/film if she chose to try her luck here. At the very least she'd get voice-over work. Her voice is awesome.

Edited November 29, 2014 by TimWil

[DRW50]

So, thanks to you guys and gals in the thread, I finally broke down and watched a little more material...

A few thoughts

- I actually was surprised by Harry Reid. He's very believable, charismatic, and makes Ben seem like a real, extremely damaged, unstable person. He also looks very different without his glasses, which works for the character, as Ben wears a mask. I still don't think there's a need for Ben on the show, and the closeting story is lazy and regressive, but he's good casting.

- The guy who plays Jay has become very handsome. The show is lucky to have him.

- I think the show made some big mistakes with the Carter casting. I don't believe that a couple as incompatible as Mick and Linda would have happy-clappy kids, which is how Johnny and Nancy are written. I don't believe Mick and Linda as a couple. Danny Dyer's speech impediment is very distracting - very distracting. He also has no heft. Kellie Bright reminds me of Anita Dobson, but without her energy. She's a good actress, but she's just draining to watch. The Vic is supposed to be run by someone with panache. The show hasn't been able to get this right since the first few years Peggy was in charge. Instead it feels drab and miserable, and most of all, claustrophobic.

- Why is Sharon wearing shoulder pads?

- Lee has a nice ass

- The guy who plays Lee is more than decent at everyday material, and even at the scenes where he was reacting to Stan's cancer. The big dramatic material was where he showed his weakness, overrelying on "who farted?" faces the likes of which I haven't seen in years.

- The show does not have the backbone to tell the stories they want to tell. Points to them for using actual homophobic slurs, but the scene where Lee went "crazy" and "beat" Ben was so lackluster and so timid, especially the part where he supposedly got so nuts that he almost hit Nancy. This made Nancy seem like a drama queen or a liar, which must not have been the intent.

- DTC has a certain one-note view of what a gay man should be. Johnny is a less irritating Christian - he's written as the all-knowing gay, with the same overly combed hair and the same tin-eared inability to understand the struggles of coming out. Johnny in general is just forgettable. If he weren't gay, and if people didn't want to !@#$%^&*] Sam Strike, he would have not one fan. I have no idea how they would have written Johnny/Ben if Strike had stayed. They have no chemistry and are incompatible.

- Charlie is very bland (Nick's sons seem to have this trait), but Ronnie has been revitalized more than I would have expected after the endless horrors overlaid on her in her last few years.

- I liked Annette Badland on Doctor Who, so I was surprised at how distracting she was here. Not terrible, but very actor-ish and overcooked. I can see why, if rumors are true, this character is on the way out.

- It's too bad Timothy West had to leave for personal reasons. IMO he's the only one who makes the Carters believable as a family.

[TimWil]

I enjoyed reading your observations, Carl. Thanks. I disagree with you about Kellie Bright, though. I blame the writers, not her, for her character being "draining" as of late. I think the painful dragging out of her rape storyline is pretty much unbearable to sit through now.

[Bright Eyes]

I vehemently disagree with you about Charlie and Johnny, but I smirked at you mentioning Lee's ass, because when I first saw how good it was, knowing your love of Jake Wood, I thought of you. I'm glad to know you feel as I thought you would on the subject.

[TimWil]

I'd like to see Kush's tush. Yep, I went there.

Edited December 3, 2014 by TimWil

[DRW50]

It even rhymes.

I don't think I've seen Kush.

I did see Aleks. Nice to know that Roxy continues to have bad taste.

BE, I did think Johnny was OK in the Luca stuff; he was blandly likeable and cute enough there. I liked Luca. It's more his role with Ben that feels way off. It just feels unearned and odd to have him be so, "Oh you can just come out, then it's easy," the way Christian was with Syed, and Stephen Beale.

I must say that it doesn't actually feel like the Carters own or operate the Vic. They just seem like people who are crashing while the real owners are away.

I get a sentimental feeling every time I see the place, especially the bar itself, but sometimes I think they would be better off just shutting the Vic down. It hasn't been the same in a very long time.

Edited December 3, 2014 by DRW50

[TimWil]

I want Sharon back in the Vic but NOT with Phil. Maybe one of her biological parents if they ever bring them on.

There must be a story behind Sam Strike leaving after just a year. Johnny wasn't featured in any storylines since the attack on The Albert (was that in June?) so something must have happened in the spring to cause production to put the breaks on. Maybe it had something to do with Khali Best (Dexter)'s sudden suspension which threw a wrench in plans for a Johnny/Nancy/Dexter etc. teen storyline.

I respectfully disagree with you about the young actor who plays Jay, Carl. His voice drives me nuts-by that I mean the sound of it as well as his accent. I'd have a big problem with the show if he was on any more than he is already.

Edited December 3, 2014 by TimWil

[DRW50]

It's a little annoying, but if everyone on EE who had an annoying voice left, they'd have about 3 characters.

I have a feeling Strike just decided to cut his losses. I do wonder about the backstage atmosphere. It rarely seems friendly to me.

I'd love to see Sharon in the Vic again. Oh well. I'd love a lot of things.

So anyway, apparently Jake Wood is still on Strictly. Good for him. I wonder if they put him in any nice outfits.

[DRW50]

Does Lola remind anyone else of a young Patsy Palmer (minus Patsy's manic energy in those years, and her hair)?

[TimWil]

Lola looks to me like the perfect combo (physicallly) of Denise Van Outen (Brit performer) and January Jones.

There were, funnily enough, not one but two decent shots of Lee'a butt in last night's episode-and Jake Wood happened to be there, too!