EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Ben]

Name those episodes!

Seriously, those "dreary" periods were horrific; for the first time, I actually tuned out for several months, things were that bad. So it would be nice to know which episodes were "pure magic," as I seriously can't remember any at all. The behind the scenes haemorrhaging during this time, nearly killed the show, literally.

[Sylph]

Why? It makes no sense for me to do that. You've already made up your mind that it was all horrific. After putting dreary in inverted commas. I don't see what purpose would it serve for you to see which episodes I liked.

De gustibus…

[Ben]

I know taste is subjective, but I wasn't arguing against that. You made a statement, and I thought it would be interesting if you explained it in more detail. I don't have an encyclopaedic mind that remembers every episode, every stotyline, from every soap throughout the years; you might be able to remind me of some of those dreary magic moments that I might've forgotten.

I put dreary in inverted commas, b/c I thought it was an understatement of what that period truly was. IMO, if that period had been dreary, it would've been a welcome.

[DRW50]

I think it depends on how you feel about certain characters and what they're doing. For instance, I have heard that Santer's run was a golden period, but I thought 2008 was a huge waste of a year, in part because most of the characters I had interest in were damaged or given boring stories, and also because that was when Santer's inability to plot a story beyond shock value flared up the most. Chelsea gets hooked on drugs for a week and is then cured! Clare is thrown out of a taxi and...reads a black book for a few months before simpering out of town! Lauren runs over Max and...nobody cares. Tanya buries Max alive and takes up with Jack and becomes such a shrew that it's hard to watch any scene she has, even years later. Steven Beale is a quasi-bisexual loon who tries to smother Nana Pat after the worst hit and run sequence ever, then disappears. Stacey and Bradley stuck in go-nowhere stories with dull romantic partners because the show is too afraid to actually let them be happy, as that is "boring" in their mind. Endless garbage with Sean/Roxy/Jack, culminating in a poorly acted, not all that well directed Christmas/NYE revelation borefest.

I've heard that 2006 was EE's worst year. I haven't seen any of that year, beyond Dennis's funeral. From what I've seen of the awful Kevin Wicks, if he was a major part of 2006, I'm not missing a lot.

I've heard 2004 wasn't good either but I've never seen that year.

The odd part is that the year which ended up with a new producer firing like 20 people, 1997, I actually enjoyed, generally. Not all of it (I hated the Irish relatives they brought in for the Beales), but some was quite good.

[Sylph]

I think it was the most awful under Brigie de Courcy. Before and after Grant dumped Carla in the litter bin. It was painfully awful for the whole of her tenure.

[DRW50]

Was Carla that woman he was living with while he was in Spain? That must have been more of the 2006 I didn't see.

[Sylph]

Carla was Brazilian.

After her dumped her in the bin, he left for Portugal, I believe.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

This was also the time of the Grant/Jane affair I've heard such bad things about?

[Kylie]

Where did Danny disappear to? I'm so tired of this whole Archie "Who dunnit". I don't even care anymore. It seems like for the most part, whoever did it, did the town a favor.

[Sylph]

Actually, I'm not sure how long did that afair last. They had a one night stand, Ian discovered it, proposed and wanted to use the wedding to humiliate her.

I always found Ian/Jane a terrrible couple. Grant was much more suitable. Now – I kind of don't care about her, after oscillating between loving and hating the character.

[DRW50]

It's too much of the same scenes over and over, too many obvious red herrings, and the cops telegraph everything to the residents of Walford.

Danny will be back, I think he just left to try to manipulate Roxy and Ronnie into feeling sorry for him, I don't know. He needs a haircut and some acting classes. I don't know why so many of the men brought in over the past few years have been so weak and empty (Syed, Danny, Callum, Ryan, Dr. Al). It's hard to care about any of them.

I like Ian and Jane, mostly because she seems to genuinely love him and he also tries to love her, instead of getting sick of her. I like them in comedy stories more than the baby stuff. I hate the baby stuff, it's too much, and lazy writing.

I don't like it when the show goes overboard on Ian bashing, which has been one of the stronger points with Santer, I think generally he's had some respect for Ian as a character. I hated stuff in the past where someone would flush Ian's head down a toilet, or they would have Ian kick a dog.

[Kylie]

Exactly. It's just pointless now, and so repetative that I don't care any longer. I'm sure it's going to be someone the police haven't looked at. Ugh.

What is the story with Bianca and Whitney? I know Whitney isn't her daugther, but I'm confused as to who she is to Bianca and why lives with her. Something about Bianca being married (at one time) to Whitney's dad?

[Dion]

Whitney is basically Bianca's de-facto step-daughter (as Bianca and Whitney's dad were never married I don't think) whom Bianca has been raising for nearly eight years.

The back story for Bianca and Whitney is that a few weeks after sleeping with Ricky during the Ricky and Bianca spin-off in 2002, Bianca met Whitney's father Nathan who was a trucker. Whitney was only about 9 at this point and Whitney's mother Debra had abandoned her and Nathan some years previously. Bianca soon learned that she was pregnant, but wasn't 100% sure if the baby was Ricky's or Nathan's. She decided to make a go of things with Nathan but Nathan ended up being killed in a Traffic accident when Bianca was seven months pregnant. After Nathan's death, Bianca became Whitney's legal guardian.

Soon afterwards Bianca gave birth to Tiffany, who was assumed to be Nathan's daughter and thus Whitney's half-sister, although last year Bianca finally did a DNA test which showed that Ricky was Tiffany's father not Nathan. Whitney did not learn of this until several months later and was angry at first but came to terms with it.

And just to add, Ryan is Whitney's half-brother. He is Debra's son.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Dion

[Ben]

I think it's seen as a golden period, b/c he managed to turn the show around, when it was at death's door. EE was damaged, some of which will never be repaired (apparently), and that took a lot for him to do. ITA on 2008 - it was a real let down. I actually think a lot of those stories had potential (bar Jack & Tanya), but due to their execution/pacing/direction that potential was squandered. Such a shame.

I liked Kevin with Denise (she made him likeable). 2006 featured the horrendous Naomi/Sonia lesbian romance; Martin's boring psycho stalker Sarah; the ruined pairing of Joe & Pauline, which resulted in her lacklustre death and him stupidly trying to kill Dot!

2004 was bad, b/c it had the change over from Louise Berridge to Kathleen Hutchinson, a decision which cost the show dearly. But, IMO, the bad was all ready settling in during the latter months of 2003, particularly when Little Mo was raped a second time (a plot that felt very unnecessary - to put it mildly). In 2004, The Ferreira family was centre stage, with their ridiculous kidney transplant story. I actually thought Tariq revealing he was their half brother, was inevitable, yet a lot people didn't buy it. Then there was Adi/Sasha; the gangster war between Phil and Andy; Kate being an undercover cop; Julie Smith and his gun drama; the Real Walford football team; the icky Den/Zoe relationship, which was part of the tedious Sharon/Dennis/Zoe triangle; Vicki Fowler's ever changeable accent, and her boring plots involving cheating uni lecturers that nobody cared about; the go-nowhere lesbian kiss between Zoe and Kelly; the horrendous fairground disaster; the equally horrendous Alfie/Little Mo affair (reminiscent of Jack/Tanya). It was around the time of Kat discovering the affair, and the ever changeable character actions, that made me tune out. You could literally see from episode to episode how the characters/storylines changed direction; it was frustrating, as you'd see Kat react/say something one ep, then forget she did/said that the next.

2005 was just as bad, yet did manage to recover in the latter months. The show was so bad, that the BBC didn't even bother to celebrate the shows 21st birthday, yet did celebrate Neighbours' a month later. 2005 also saw the lowest ratings ever. But there was one particular storyline that was handled well, and probably the only bright spark: Nana Moon revisiting Normandy. Well written, and well acted.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Ben

[dannigold]

I love the BBC 1 EastEnders ident