EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[BadBoy93]

Top 50 Favourite Characters.

01 - Grant Mitchell

02 - Peggy Mitchell

03 - Pat Evans

04 - Sharon Rickman

05 - Stacey Branning

06 - Dot Branning

07 - Phil Mitchell

08 - Max Branning

09 - Den Watts

10 - Zsa Zsa Carter

11 - Kat Moon

12 - Mo Harris

13 - Billy Mitchell

14 - Frank Butcher

15 - Johnny Allen

16 - Steve Owen

17 - Alfie Moon

18 - Jake Moon

19 - Dan Sullivan

20 - Mark Fowler

21 - Ian Beale

22 - Pauline Fowler

23 - Chrissie Watts

24 - Sam Mitchell

25 - Dennis Rickman

26 - Shirley Carter

27 - Archie Mitchell

28 - Jean Slater

29 - Darren Miller

30 - Rosie Miller

31 - Patrick Trueman

32 - Barry Evans

33 - Janine Malloy

34 - Ronnie Branning

35 - Melanie Owen

36 - Diane Butcher

37 - Nigel Bates

38 - Lucy Beale

39 - Lauren Branning

40 - Sonia Fowler

41 - Nana Moon

42 - Ethel Skinner

43 - Peter Beale

44 - Cindy Beale

45 - Tiffany Mitchell

46 - Bianca Butcher

47 - Ricky Butcher

48 - Little Mo Mitchell

49 - Whitney Dean

50 - Sean Slater

Edited January 7, 2011 by BadBoy93

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Wow, some fans are taking out their hate of Ronnie's actions on Samantha Womack and her kids.

Crazy soap fans...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/3335376/EastEnder-Sam-shows-strain-as-BBC-complaints-over-cot-death-plot-top-6000.html

[Kylie]

Just for the sake of argument: If EastEnders ratings are in the millions (I believe I saw 10 million here?) is 6000 complaints really worth pulling the storyline? Why not just let those 6000 viewers leave?

It kind sounds like a minority of upset people, who took their case up with powerful people to make it seem worse than it actually is. But I'm not in the UK anymore, so I'm not seeing the actual reaction to it.

Man, I wish I had EastEnders here to watch this. LOL

Edited January 7, 2011 by Kylie

[LondonScribe]

6000 people complaining yes, but they appear to have the press backing them up or stirring it (at the very least).

I only question the stability of Bryan Kirkwood's postion because at the end of these contentious episodes, the very last name on the credits are his. Some will point and say he is responsible (even if this was being planned before he fully took over)...

[Jocko]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgghwf_sam-quits-enders_people

[Cat]

I sort of love that fans were vocal in their dislike of what is a staple and over-used plot device on US soaps. Of course, attacking the actress and her children because of reaction to a SL over which she has zero control is absolutely crazy. That's not the kind of "vocal" I am talking about.

Can you guys access BBC i-player over in the States? On Radio 4's Today programme this morning, in the last 15 minutes of the show they had a discussion about this SL and Samantha Janus leaving the show. Theatre broad and ex-EE guest star Sheila Hancock weighed in on it and gave a nice defence of acting on soaps in general.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00x799l/Today_07_01_2011/

[dannigold]

There has been more defence from the BBC

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/07/eastenders-cot-death-plot

[Bella20]

So far, this storyline isn't as offensive as the baby switchkidnapping storyline that they did on AMC with Bianca and Babe, but, unfortunately, it does show that some people in daytime don't know how to handle these types of stories. It keeps ticking me off that the BBC keeps saying that this is about cot death, and that they researched that issue, because the story hasn't been about cot death or how Ronnie is handling losing her baby. The show went straight from one emotional and sensational topic, to Ronnie kidnapping the baby. So, did their research tell them that women deal with the unexpected deaths of their babies by stealing other newborns, and that the thefts make them forget that they've just lost a child.

Another problem is that I don't think they've established why Ronnie is keeping baby Tommy, or why she hasn't said anything. Once they made it clear that she realized that Tommy is not hers, in order to keep building the story up they needed to give her a motive for not saying anything or giving the baby back to Kat.

[dannigold]

A response from Bryan about cutting short the storyline.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eastenders/2011/01/bryan-kirkwood-responds.shtml#more

Edited January 7, 2011 by dannigold

[DRW50]

What I want to know if why there wasn't outrage over stuff like Lauren running over Max? It's just double standards. This story did at least show one family grieving from cot death without any baby stealing.

There are so many sick, lazy stories on British soaps, really trashy stuff, yet none of those get any criticism, but this one does. It's very annoying to me, and while I can see that some people are genuinely upset, so much else of this seems like people who hate the BBC/Eastenders/Kirkwood just using it as an opportunity.

And if this means more stories like "Who's the Daddy?" or gruesome mysteries, then British soaps will ultimately lose viewers.

[dannigold]

Jana Bennett said the storyline would conclude late spring, so it might not wrap until June.

[MichaelGL]

You know, they could still potentially continue the baby switch plot with Womack out of the picture. Ronnie could lose her marbles, get sectioned, thus leaving Jack all alone to raise James. Perhaps have another woman enter the picture, and eventually have a bitter Ronnie return and spill the beans that James is really Tommy.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if the show could get away with Little Mo/Trevor today, given how sensitive people are these days and how they'll complain about anything. There were so many disturbing scenes in that storyline, yet it was one of the biggest highlights and successes the show had.

[Toups]

I can't believe the controversary over a baby switch storyline. Happens all the time on US soaps. LOL Has there never been a baby switch storyline on the UK soaps? I don't get it.

Also, is there a youtube channel that is dedicated to this storyline? I love baby switch stories, so I want to see this.

[DRW50]

Toups your best bet would probably just be looking for the individual episodes, if they're on Youtube. Stuff which is dedicated to one story or couple seems to be taken down...there's some Christian/Syed stuff but that has to be hidden.

I think the Little Mo story would probably be allowed today, because John Yorke was a successful producer and Eastenders was riding high. There are a lot of people who have been waiting for Eastenders to fail and for Kirkwood to fail, and Corrie is seen by the press as being on the comeback, so Eastenders gets the boot. During most of the Little Mo/Trevor era, Corrie was seen as being in a slump, with a lot of stories which offended viewers and even some of the cast, like Toyah's rape and Alma's pap smear mixup/death.