EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I really think EE needs major changes in how they pace their stories. If that involves new writers then new writers should come in. I've been surprised at just how easily they let the show fall apart. They banked everything on the live episode and never tried to build up anything else before or after. Christian/Syed/Amira barely appearing for four months, made even worse because the times they did appear during last year they had the same one or two scenes over and over. The continuity is a mess. What was the point of having all that about Roxy making changes to the Vic and hiring new people when the Vic is completely unchanged and we never see any of those people working at the Vic? The need to have so much revolve around big fights or tense moments means everything is so forced that key scenes, like that stuff with the Mitchells in the Vic last night, seems like a bad knockoff of an 80s primetime soap. And there's no reason whatsoever why they needed to reveal that Ronnie was raped for years by her father and then never bring this up again for over a month. Instead she comes across as this freak who is shunned by everyone in Walford -- it just looks awful. So does acting as if the Tony story never happened and having Whitney jump into bed with Billie and obsess over him.

As it is now there's really no reason why the show should be on more than one episode a week.

Edited April 3, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if the pacing issues will change though. As I said before, ratings are still generally strong and John Yorke and BBC One seem to be under the impression that EastEnders doesn't need any fixing.

In fact, EastEnders has been beating Corrie with more regularity in the ratings in recent times. Not that I can blame people for turning off Corrie. EastEnders at least still has some potential, I find Corrie completely boring and flat, which is sad, since it was my first British soap. Though, I do think Corrie is slightly ahead overall in the ratings.

I guess time will tell if the Kirkwood era ushers in any changes in the way stories are told on EastEnders.

[DRW50]

I don't know if the pacing will change or not, especially since Kirkwood could not pace Hollyoaks for sh!t for his last year on the show, but I certainly hope it's going to change. They are beating Corrie, a show that has been overextended and has been left to stagnate for a number of years, but they should worry about themselves, especially since budget issues mean the BBC is less and less hesitant about cutting long-running programs.

The show has become a lot of nothing, a parody of itself, major stories go nowhere, and the actors, especially the newer hires, can't pull it off. They all seem like those last few years of Dynasty before Phillip Capice came in. Wooden actors, stories that start off big and then fade away, followed by increasingly flimsy stunt episodes.

You shouldn't have to watch key scenes and think about bad acting or think about how self-conscious everything is. What bothers me is how often the show coasts on hollow stories ending in big yelly climaxes or on poor attempts at humor or on poor characterization with "That's just Eastenders." If anything it's anti-Eastenders. The show's best years had stories that built and built. They didn't have someone like Ronnie who stagged around like the undead for an eternity because the show hid lack of interest in character development under "She has to be miserable, otherwise she has no story." She has no story anyway. It's hard to believe that losing a child and revealing your sexual abuse means you have no story, but it does with her and has for months on end.

They didn't keep any of the viewers they got for the live episode. I think that's a huge waste of an opportunity and as long as they keep focusing on getting press and on staging this cliched idea of what Eastenders is supposed to be, they're probably going to start losing more viewers.

Edited April 3, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Sorry, I don't think that was Phil Capice at Dynasty. I am mixing him up with someone else. I guess he was more with Dallas and Knots.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The first two years or so of Kirkwood's Hollyoaks were decently paced, I thought.

But, of course, a lot of EasttEnders current story problems come from Dominic Treadwell Collins, who Santer and Yorke had no problem giving all the credit to. I don't think Kirkwood will be getting rid of him, at least not anytime soon, after all the praise Collins has at times undeservedly gotten.

I don't think they were ever going to keep those big viewing figures from the live episode. In the past when one-off episodes have gotten huge figures, the show has always gone back almost immediately to being where it was before in the ratings.

But I'm not sure if we'll be seeing any changes on the show, since EastEnders isn't thought to be bad right now, for some strange reason. There's stuff with potential, of course, but the execution needs A LOT of work on this show.

[DRW50]

I think there was a chance they could keep at least some of the viewers they got for the live episode. That's 7 or 8 million viewers, and this is at a time when Corrie isn't exactly going great guns and when there's less and less scripted TV to be found. It's hard to know if they can keep viewers because they never bother to keep momentum going after the stunt episodes. When they got the huge Christmas Day boost in 2007 they followed up on this with garbage like Tanya burying Max alive.

I've heard increased criticism of the show in the past month, even at lovefest boards like Digital Spy, so maybe something will get through.

What I don't get is that Treadwell-Collins apparently loves Roxy, yet he has done nothing but butcher her character for years. I dread to think of the weeping and self-pity and wailing they will give us when Danny takes her money.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Something about Samantha Womack reminds me of Michelle Phifer. I like that.

Womack is so underrated and Ronnie has so much potential that they aren't tapping into.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Are there any characters you wish would return to the show, Carl?

[DRW50]

Well, I got my biggest wish with Carol.

Others I'd like to see again:

Alan. He was a nice, ordinary guy who would blow up when you pushed him. He had fab chemistry with the entire Jackson family. They just pretend he never existed. He should be there for Billie's story.

Shabnam. I see no reason why this role cannot be recast if the actress does not want to return. Santer said that Masood and Tamwar would be overshadowed if she returned, and that her role is taken by Syed. I don't get any of that and I think it's an odd way to write a show -- using that logic, the Beale/Fowler family should have been limited to Lou, Pauline, and Mark. I think Shabnam should return as a very conservative woman who unsettles most of her family and reinforces to Syed just how out of step he is with his family.

Belinda. This isn't a big deal but she was the unexplored Slater and I think she could be their Aunt Sal, an occasionally seen supporting/comic figure.

Lisa. I'm sorry, but if Louise is there I think Lisa has to return even briefly, no matter what issues Steve McFadden and Lucy Benjamin may have.

Steven Beale. His exit was appalling and a slap in the face to the character and to what he should have been to the Beale family, which is a confused good/bad figure who pushes their buttons even when he doesn't mean to. He would also cause a lot of problems for Christian. They can recast.

David Wicks. Again, even briefly.

Kelvin. This role can be recast. Kelvin was best friends with Ian and Ian still mentions him. The Foxes are probably on their way out, and Kelvin and his family can help fill the void with black characters. If they keep Denise, which would be fine with me, they could pair her with Kelvin and have her interact with his kids.

That's just off the top of my head. There's a lot of others I still miss, some even after many years (Colin, Punk Mary, Sharon, Ruth, Sue Osman) but I know they probably don't have a story on the Square now. There are a few others like Michelle and Vicky I wouldn't mind seeing recast but that's a huge minefield and there's no reason for it at the moment, there's too much else going on.

Who would you pick?

Edited April 4, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I was happy ton see Janine return, even though her stories weren't good, and I'm looking forward to Kat and Alfie's return, though more so for Kat.

I agree with David Wicks.

I also agree with Lisa. No way do I see her abandoning Louise like that. It doesn't make sense.

The PBS affiliate here is airing episodes from the HORRIBLE Louise Berridge era. Remember that AWFUL Vicky recast that suddenly dropped her American accent?

If Sharon ever comes back from America with her son and if Vicky ever returns, hopefully they can hire actors who can master a decent American accent. There's plenty of American actors involved in London's arts scene, if they choose to employ British actors, they better audition them properly.

[DRW50]

I do remember that terrible Vicky. A flop in two accents. She always sounded like she had a cold. How hilarious that Den basically said he could never love her as he did Sharon.

I didn't see the later Ferrieras stuff, like her fling with one of the brothers, but their early stuff I actually thought they were OK.

[BadBoy93]

GOD Berridge was like The JFP Of British Soap. Just a women who should never be anywhere near a soap after the mess she made with EE.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Take this with a grain of salt, of course...

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a212428/spencer-moon-to-make-walford-comeback.html

[DRW50]

This was rumored a few months ago and I think may have been denied at the time. The rumor was that

As for Berridge, a lot of fans say Kate Harwood was even worse. I don't know.

[dannigold]

I don't know if this has already been posted, but it is a fascnating interview with Louise Berridge

http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2284

EastEnders' denies Spencer Moon return

EastEnders bosses this afternoon denied rumours that Chris Parker is to make a comeback to the BBC soap.

According to a Sunday tabloid today, the 26-year-old has been approached to reprise his Albert Square role as Spencer Moon alongside Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace, who return as Kat and Alfie Moon later this year.

However a BBC spokesperson this afternoon told DS: "There are absolutely no plans to bring Chris Parker - or the character of Spencer Moon - back to EastEnders."

Parker was written out of the show in 2005 after a failed suicide attempt.

Edited April 4, 2010 by dannigold