EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[BetterForgotten]

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.

Edited February 25, 2015 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

Thanks for telling us about these blogs. I haven't been to Walford Web in a long time, before they ever shut down (are the same people still running it?), but I will have to look and see if they still have all the individual and group cast photos from over the years, which I always liked seeing.

[NothinButAttitude]

I always thought that they were going to go the route of Stacey/Mick, and always wondered why the dropped it. Not that care but I was just curious.

[DRW50]

It's because there is a God.

[TimWil]

LOL, Carl. It could still happen, though. I predict Mick/Linda's wedding will end in tears and Mick might gravitate toward Stacey.

[Bright Eyes]

Not Boyhood, Bealehood!

Please register in order to view this content

[BetterForgotten]

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...

Edited February 28, 2015 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

[BetterForgotten]

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.

[BetterForgotten]

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

Please register in order to view this content

[DRW50]

Thanks for finding that. I saw "She's better than Anita Dobson!" comments. She's a better singer, yes, and it's a pleasant enough, horribly dated song, but not dated in the cheesy fun way that the main EE tune (and Dobson's version) is. The main EE tune always reminds me of the old Brookeside theme - of a time, but also timeless. That version, while I did grow to like it, just makes me sleepy.

DTC says they will be bringing in a transgender character, ideally played by a transgender actor.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/eastenders-introduce-first-transgender-character-5250950

[BetterForgotten]

Well, there's also this:

Please register in order to view this content

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...

Edited March 1, 2015 by BetterForgotten

[NothinButAttitude]

I don't trust DTC to handle a transgender story. Like the past few showrunners, he's shown he's not good with handling topical issues.

[DRW50]

In the show's earliest, roughest years, we would have been hearing tra*** and other comments, but the characters had enough integrity and inner life (the gay or POC characters) to where it didn't seem like a cheap "issues" storyline or an attempt at controversy.

The show in recent years doesn't have that. It's always so clumsy. The way they write disabled characters is just awful - they always come in being rude and aggressive in some type of "we're not being PC here!!!!" clumsiness.

I hope they won't do that with a trans character. Just be matter of fact about it. Don't play games or pat yourself on the back. Just trust the audience. If you trust the audience they'll go along with you.

[BetterForgotten]

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.

Edited March 1, 2015 by BetterForgotten