EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I remember how sensational and thrilling exits of characters like Sean and Danielle were supposed to be -- only to be a damp squib.

Pointless killing off of characters and endless baby/dead baby drama seem to be Santer's only storylines.

[aMLCproduction]

Does East enders come on any American channels. I would love to get into it?

[jfung79]

It is shown about five years behind (and falling further behind) on some PBS stations. Near-current episodes are available as pay-per-view from Dish network. I have access to neither. The local PBS in Austin does not show EastEnders.

[aMLCproduction]

My PBS used to but I don't think they do any more

[KSlater]

I pay for it on DishNetwork - $9.95 for a monthly subscription. It's about four or five weeks behind the UK. I am rethinking continuing my subscription right now. For the first time since I started watching, I'm starting to get bored with the show.

I really cannot stand the actress who plays Sam Mitchell. I know she's the original (I never saw her before) but I think she's terrible.

Edited December 1, 2009 by KSlater

[jfung79]

Awww ... Well she's already been written off in the UK so don't cancel because of that.

[dannigold]

BBC One - Christmas 2009 Drama Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc6EES-qxH8&feature=related

Eastenders christmas 2009 trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE4xD1e1NgU

[DRW50]

Santer says the Mitchells are "the premier family in British soap." All I could say to that is, "That doesn't say much for the others, does it."

I really can't wait for this Christian/Syed stuff to be over. They both behave in horrible, selfish ways, made even worse because we saw no buildup to their relationship and we see no affection between them. If this story was supposed to be done to address how Muslims feel about gays, then throwing around an assortment of anti-gay stereotypes was an odd choice.

Here's his year in review.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a189593/producers-perspective-2009-diederick-santer.html

[dannigold]

Part 2 of Diederick Santer's interview, where he talks about the handover to Bryan Kirkwood

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a189591/diederick-santer-executive-producer-eastenders.html

[dannigold]

I found some clips from Saturday's Eastenders Revealed. There are clips of Diederick Santer, Simon Ashdown and Dominic Treadwell collins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwoxZod100E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvigFrJ8gp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcxBjqtGW0

[Sylph]

Asian wedding behind the scenes.

[Chris B]

I was just coming to talk about the wedding! So there is a gay storyline with that sexy indian man? That story actually sounds good. Eastenders must have changed a lot since the last time I watched. I may want to look at some episodes from this story and I definitely want to see the wedding.

[dannigold]

Heres the wedding promo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJDuTgahN0&feature=channel

Behind the scenes feature

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZUXkCJVv8

Edited January 1, 2010 by dannigold

[DRW50]

The story sounds a lot better than it actually is. The men playing Syed and Christian are both attractive (although Syed looks like he's going to cry most of the time), but they don't have a lot of chemistry together and neither of them are the strongest of actors. The relationship was not built up to -- not long after they met, Syed made a move on him. Most of their relationship has taken place offcamera. What does take place oncamera is often them being unhappy and being nasty to each other. It's treated as some big shock if they ever even kiss. Their relationship was basically:

Syed: You make me sick/This is wrong.

Christian: I love you and you love me!

Syed: Yes, but I'm miserable. Can you see my face? I'm so miserable.

Now there's this happy wedding plan, and frankly, Syed looks much happier with Amira than he ever did with Christian. Christian is written as the typical bitter ex, who wants to spoil the wedding.

A casual viewer would probably see the relationship as unhealthy and unpleasant and want Syed to be happy with Amira. Or want Amira to dump him, and see Christian and Syed as losers. Syed is generally a whiner and very selfish -- he even convinced his mother that his father was having an affair, so she wouldn't suspect he was the one cheating.

There's no real gay perspective in the story at all, it's just shock value and stereotypes. Christian has had every stereotype in about two years. Being gay-bashed, weeping over the homophobic mother he can't live without, chasing after a teenage boy, being dumped for being too old, sleeping around, wanting to raise a child with his female best friend. I think the only one they've left off is an HIV scare.

The best characters in the story are Syed's parents, Zainab and Masood. The actors are wonderful, have amazing chemistry, can switch from comedy to drama without blinking an eye. So if you tune in to this story I'd suggest their love story more than Christian and Syed.

Hopefully that might change once the new producer arrives, who did some good-ish gay stories on Hollyoaks. As it is now Eastenders hasn't had any since the 90s.

Edited January 1, 2010 by CarlD2

[Chris B]

So should I bother checking out some of the episodes leading up to this or just watch the fierce and fabulous wedding? It's giving me Amber Gates flashbacks!