Honestly, if I was in charge of this show, I'd probably axe half the cast or more, including Billy and his family, and the extended NuMitchells, pretty much all the Slaters including Kat, Alfie, Jean and Mo. Penny, Linda, Callum, the Panesars and Anna.

I really wish they'd get back Harry Reid as Ben and Kim Medcalf as Sam even if she just comes back as recurring to build up the Mitchells with some real Mitchells, or Mark jr and/or Courtney, which makes sense with Vicki back. They could then do with a new unrelated family of fresh characters.

I'm glad Stacey's going. I'm currently watching the 2007 season on Drama channel and it's really eye-opening seeing how having new younger female leads as part of the Mitchells really refreshed that family dynamic in the form of Ronnie and Roxy. They also did amazing introducing the Foxes, Masoods, Brannings, Heather, Steven, Shirley etc around this period. They used to be better at introducing new families and characters in the past, the new cast don't hit as hard these days.

And having said all that, the show's in a much stronger place after Clenshaw's run, but it's amazing how much more of a clearout is still needed.

Edited June 12Jun 12 by Skylover

So that concludes Clenshaws tenure. The show is definitely in a better place than it was when he first arrived, and I liked how he understood the importance of the Beale and Fox family to the square.

 

The show has posted on social media that there is going to be a big reveal Monday to start off Ben Wadey’s tenure. 
 

https://x.com/bbceastenders/status/1933601514901340243

Zoe is back lol she looks like a future Lily. Crazy..

 

Granted it's only two episodes but I'm enjoying the new stories so far. I feel like I didn't love what was done with the Slater's under the previous regime but they seem more interesting so far. I know it takes time to see if a UK writer is good or not due to the rotating stories but they're definitely off to a good start.

So far, Ben Wadey's tenure is off to a solid start; still holding out to see once we truly get into it, but I do feel like he inherited a soap in better shape than Chris Clenshaw inherited.

Behind the scenes of Michelle Ryan’s first day back as Zoe. Ben Wadey talks a bit about the Slater era being his era of the show. Jessie seems elated as well. 

I’m not watching as I feel disconnected from the show in its current state, but hope it works out, even if Zoe was damn annoying outside of her relationship with Kat. 

 

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

I’m not watching as I feel disconnected from the show in its current state

Why do you feel disconnected from the show? I do too, but I'm still watching. I don't know how long I will be, but I guess with the news that Neighbours is going, I will probably carry on watching.

16 hours ago, Skylover said:

Why do you feel disconnected from the show? I do too, but I'm still watching. I don't know how long I will be, but I guess with the news that Neighbours is going, I will probably carry on watching.

I just haven’t cared for anything that’s been dished out for like a decade + at this point. I’ve seen both good and bad eras of the show, and Chris Clenshaw’s run (which some folks seem to really like) left me a bit cold from what I saw. The show still seems as short sighted and and hastily produced as possible to me. 

Also, because Corrie and Emmerdale suck, it doesn’t give EE a pass for mediocrity. I’ve seen a lot of that behaviour on other forums and I think it’s stupid as hell. There’s a segment of fans that are so desperate to cling to anything after the very loooooooooong dull period EE experienced (which tbh, I don’t think it’s really recovered from based on what I see). 

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

I just haven’t cared for anything that’s been dished out for like a decade + at this point. I’ve seen both good and bad eras of the show, and Chris Clenshaw’s run (which some folks seem to really like) left me a bit cold from what I saw. The show still seems as short sighted and and hastily produced as possible to me. 

It sounds like you're on the same page as me really. I think Chris Clenshaw has just been the best of a bad bunch since the early 2010s. He's definitely done some great things for the show, I think his choice of returnees has mostly been good. However, there were some terrible ideas like resurrecting Cindy from the dead (which I think was executed pretty well, apart from the coincidence of her new family moving to the exact location of her old family). His era was far too sensationalist with stories like the Six, and then of course Linda not facing any consequences for her actions.

The last good era was Diederick Santer's run from 2007-2010 but even then I think there were considerable problems with his era; that's where the sensationalism really seemed to take hold and whodunnits taking priority over good writing, like Stacey being Archie's killer and Darren being the father of Heather's baby. I suppose the rot really set in during the 2000s though, it became bleak under John Yorke, and characters like Janine, while great, should have gone to jail and probably shouldn't have been able to return after killing several characters.

Ultimately, the show lost its heart some time in the late 90s. I really enjoyed EE during the 2000s, but somewhere it lost its moral compass. They even mention in recent episodes that Nicola killed someone, like it's just nothing. There's too much arguing and violence these days, and too much reliance on murders, and affairs. Why is there no fun anymore? Even the teen characters like Tommy are depressing to watch.

I hate to say it, but I think what people have been saying for decades about EE being depressing has become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Edited June 20Jun 20 by Skylover

13 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

I just haven’t cared for anything that’s been dished out for like a decade + at this point. I’ve seen both good and bad eras of the show, and Chris Clenshaw’s run (which some folks seem to really like) left me a bit cold from what I saw. The show still seems as short sighted and and hastily produced as possible to me. 

Also, because Corrie and Emmerdale suck, it doesn’t give EE a pass for mediocrity. I’ve seen a lot of that behaviour on other forums and I think it’s stupid as hell. There’s a segment of fans that are so desperate to cling to anything after the very loooooooooong dull period EE experienced (which tbh, I don’t think it’s really recovered from based on what I see). 

Sometimes I think people spend more time hate watching Corrie than caring about EE (beyond the adoration of various memes and camp). When EE is spoken about it often seems like running cover or lowering expectations for choices made rather than genuinely appreciating the content. Now that Martin's been dead several months does it really feel like it mattered, even with his being an original character? If Cindy's return had been done on Corrie or Emmerdale, could we more easily say that pretty much every aspect has been a failure?

16 hours ago, Skylover said:

It sounds like you're on the same page as me really. I think Chris Clenshaw has just been the best of a bad bunch since the early 2010s. He's definitely done some great things for the show, I think his choice of returnees has mostly been good. However, there were some terrible ideas like resurrecting Cindy from the dead (which I think was executed pretty well, apart from the coincidence of her new family moving to the exact location of her old family). His era was far too sensationalist with stories like the Six, and then of course Linda not facing any consequences for her actions.

The last good era was Diederick Santer's run from 2007-2010 but even then I think there were considerable problems with his era; that's where the sensationalism really seemed to take hold and whodunnits taking priority over good writing, like Stacey being Archie's killer and Darren being the father of Heather's baby. I suppose the rot really set in during the 2000s though, it became bleak under John Yorke, and characters like Janine, while great, should have gone to jail and probably shouldn't have been able to return after killing several characters.

Ultimately, the show lost its heart some time in the late 90s. I really enjoyed EE during the 2000s, but somewhere it lost its moral compass. They even mention in recent episodes that Nicola killed someone, like it's just nothing. There's too much arguing and violence these days, and too much reliance on murders, and affairs. Why is there no fun anymore? Even the teen characters like Tommy are depressing to watch.

I hate to say it, but I think what people have been saying for decades about EE being depressing has become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Can I just say you mapped this out beautifully?

I feel like UK soaps have fallen into the same curse that US soaps have, where sensationalism/shock-factor trumps character arc. I think the excessive murdering and doom/gloom take away from reality. Honestly, I am stunned that a writer hasn't dropped a line in there with one of the characters mentioning dreading X-Mas to NYE time, as there's always a murder. 

I've said this countless times, but EE lost me when they killed Lucy in a stupid, pointless murder, and made it worse by making Bobby the killer. And then seeing the clips from earlier this year with Martin being killed off was further disheartening. I just never think it is smart to kill off core characters unless it will ricochet and impact the rest of the family for years to come.  

16 hours ago, Skylover said:

It sounds like you're on the same page as me really. I think Chris Clenshaw has just been the best of a bad bunch since the early 2010s. He's definitely done some great things for the show, I think his choice of returnees has mostly been good. However, there were some terrible ideas like resurrecting Cindy from the dead (which I think was executed pretty well, apart from the coincidence of her new family moving to the exact location of her old family). His era was far too sensationalist with stories like the Six, and then of course Linda not facing any consequences for her actions.

The last good era was Diederick Santer's run from 2007-2010 but even then I think there were considerable problems with his era; that's where the sensationalism really seemed to take hold and whodunnits taking priority over good writing, like Stacey being Archie's killer and Darren being the father of Heather's baby. I suppose the rot really set in during the 2000s though, it became bleak under John Yorke, and characters like Janine, while great, should have gone to jail and probably shouldn't have been able to return after killing several characters.

Ultimately, the show lost its heart some time in the late 90s. I really enjoyed EE during the 2000s, but somewhere it lost its moral compass. They even mention in recent episodes that Nicola killed someone, like it's just nothing. There's too much arguing and violence these days, and too much reliance on murders, and affairs. Why is there no fun anymore? Even the teen characters like Tommy are depressing to watch.

I hate to say it, but I think what people have been saying for decades about EE being depressing has become a self fulfilling prophecy.

I think the show tries to have more humor than Corrie or Emmerdale these days (Emmerdale in particular seems to have become even more downcast than it was in the '70s). I just don't really feel any interest in the characters anymore. I struggle to believe in most of what is being told. Tommy, for instance, I just don't think the role was well cast and they rushed through the story of him abusing Kat. I know Jessie had to be written out but that's not enough of an excuse.

I think EE did lose its compass around the late '90s with John Yorke taking over, but I think the show still felt like itself until the mid '00s.

The Six is one of those ideas which was created for press stunts and did nothing of value on the show. Kathy was especially damaged.

I agree about the problems in Santer's era. We're back there again as many fans seemed to worship Clenshaw the way they worshiped Santer, which means they are likely going to take their disappointment or anger at his exit out on Ben Wadey, as they did with Kirkwood (Kirkwood doing no favors for himself).