EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Someone at DS mentioned that today was the 12th anniversary of Tiffany's death.

I could stand the character ... until she got involved with Grant and became Grant's victim. Then she started repeating the same sh!t in every episode about why Grant didn't love her, and why things were this way, and so on. I don't think it was a mistake to kill her ass, as Martine McCutcheon always wants to point out, thought I did like her friendship with Bianca.

I did not think Grant ever loved her, at least not to the extent he loved Sharon, and I never thought Tiffany loved Grant, she always seemed to be in love with the idea of being with Grant more so than Grant himself.

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Interesting that Frank, Pat, and Janine have all killed people by running them down with cars. A Butcher thing?

Edited December 31, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

I'm going into more detail in this when I write my best/worst of the year thing (are either of you going to do this?), but for a brief answer, I think Kirkwood is doing a good job. Not anywhere near perfect, and you can see some very insightful criticism from Ben several pages back, but I like the humor and the edge and sense of community he's brought back to Eastenders, and I like that the godawful crutches of the Santer era, the horrible attempts at aping primetime soaps of the Reagan years and the constant empty plotting, are gone. The stories, well most of them, have some fascinating moments. The show is like a curate's egg at the moment, but some of it is the best Eastenders has been for years. Even stuff that I don't care for, like Carol's current material, I get drawn in by, because they are letting us see so many sides of her and she has a real sense of vulnerability that has always been there but not developed until recently. She and Conor work well together. (Whitney sucks though).

Kat and Alfie had a shouty and overpacked return, too much going on and she was too harsh towards him, but since then I think she's calmed down considerably and I've really enjoyed them over the last few weeks. I also think Alfie, for all the stick Shane Richie gets, has fit back into Walford well, even if they aren't having him interact with people as much as I thought they would.

The main thing is that the show is moving away from being so safe and so trapped in its own head, which was very much needed. And for the endless hostility Kirkwood has faced since he arrived, the viewing public has been supportive, at least so far - this is one of the most consistent ratings years Eastenders has had in a long time, and their ratings held strong even with the whole TRAM CRASH!!!!111 stuff.

Now in a few months if I'm still posting and Tanya is eating up the show, I might not have as positive an answer.

Edited December 31, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Tanya is supposed to be featured more in the new year.

They've been at or close to 10 million viewers all week, while Corrie has fallen back into pre-Tram Crash ratings territory. So, the viewing public seems to holding onto the show better than most of the other soaps.

[Skylover]

I'm sure you would have seen me on Digital Spy before. My favourite soap is Neighbours, which I am very protective of, and am still hoping it will pull out of its recent ratings slump, as it's totally unique to the other shows. I have ventured into that thread but it seems that not many people here watch it. Home and Away would be my second, and I collect the fan cards for these two shows. EastEnders has been a favourite in our family for absolute years, though I got totally put off during the time earlier this year when they sent all those dreadful teens into the woods. I'm not very impressed with Kirkwood for making Mercy and her grandmother permanent, as I never thought Mercy was a strong character in the E20 episodes. Vanessa and Jodie Gold totally make me cringe; whenever they get a big story I seem to lose interest, such as when Vanessa's ex was causing all sorts of trouble with her, it seems to me that Vanessa was a gold-digger and only stayed with Harry for his money, though I think the audience is supposed to feel sorry for her because of the way Harry treated her when they were together, but I just completely lack any sympathy whatsoever.

The Ryan/Stacey/Janine plot has put me off as well, though Stacey's Christmas Day exit was extremely well-done. I feel like Janine isn't developing much as a character, and before her return she was my favourite soap character of all-time on any soap. It seems that the writers have brought her back as a panto villian and she was such a complex character before. I like that she's fallen in love, but some of the lines they give her are so unrealistic. Ryan is a boring plank too.

I'm really enjoying Connor and Carol, which is a storyline that apparently not many enjoy. I think they have good chemistry, I care about Carol, Lindsey's a fantastic actress, and Connor is extremely hot so I'm not complaining

[DRW50]

Mercy was my favorite part of E20. I wish they did more with her, but I like the role she fills on the show at the moment.

I don't know what happened with Vanessa and Jodie. They seem to have dropped whatever story was planned and now it's a long, slow death. It's a shame because I think Max and Vanessa have chemistry and she's a respite from more Max/Tanya hell.

[DRW50]

You should write some best and worst stuff in the other thread - I don't watch the Australian soaps that often and would like to hear your thoughts on them.

[Skylover]

Sure, will do, where's the best and worst thread?

[DRW50]

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Other than Tiffany's death, Dennis of course died in Sharon's arms 5 years ago on New Year's Eve/Day:

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[DRW50]

"We did it"

The last interesting younger leading man on the show.

Steve McFadden has lost a lot of weight.

Edited December 31, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I did like Dennis, and at times I could like Dennis & Sharon, but ultimately, I don't like what that relationship did to Sharon's character.

My PBS affiliate is airing stuff from 2003 now, Sharon becomes a plot device for both Den and Dennis and gets totally washed up in their shadows that she stopped having a personality of her own. Even when she was involved with the Mitchell's, I never felt Sharon ever lost her identity to her dynamics with Grant or Phil, she was still very much her own person, that seemed to stop with the relationship with Dennis and Den's return.

[Bright Eyes]

The coke story did him wonders.

That was so heartbreaking. Sharon is definitely the type of character I'd love.

[DRW50]

I see what you mean...to me, she lost her identity more with Grant than with Dennis. I was so put off by the way he treated her, especially at the end, after Sharongate.

I think Letitia's frequent absences helped make the character seem more isolated and weak.

For me the chemistry between Nigel and Letitia carried the story.

[Bright Eyes]

Was that just a random act of violence or was their a reason Dennis was stabbed?

[DRW50]

Dennis was stabbed because a mob boss, Johnny Allen, threatened Sharon and said that if she didn't get Dennis out of town, he would kill Dennis. Phil told Dennis about this and Dennis beat up Johnny, but stupidly left a phone for Johnny. Johnny then called Danny Moon, who killed Dennis.