Oh, that should be fun.

Of course it's old, but I've still come across people who don't realize it.

It would go against my point, that's what. Which is, that fans and critics are too different kinds of critic; at times, what is critically acclaimed, isn't necessarily fan acclaimed.

Sometimes. Sometimes not.

Kirkwood? Really? He loves gay characters but he may not get to do that on EE. He also loves darkness, and loud women, so that will be a good fit for EE. He was a mixed bad at Hollyoaks, but his first two years were solid.

LOL at some comments on DS!

People are talking about how he'll make EE "teeny", add "pointless cheesy montages" as episode openings, "Gemma Bissix must be wetting herself with excitement", "Hollyoaks has become a joke again since he left", "I think those expecting him to turn EastEnders into Hollyoaks 2.0 or something are being a bit dense", "Going from Hollyoaks to Eastenders you have to wonder who he slept with..." (one answer: "Dominic Treadwell-Collins ")...

just get a campaign going for a character/story that ended/left a year ago and he'll bring them back even if it doesn't make sense shame he let his ego get in the way in his last few months with HO because he did make it into a watchable show", "His work at Hollyoaks was appropriate for the demographic it's intended to appeal to. Let's not forget that this man worked extensively at Corrie before he moved to Hollyoaks and was heavily involved in the Hillman storyline. In fact I always thought he'd end up producing Corrie so this move is quite unexpected.

It's certainly the right time for Santer to step down as I think he's done all he could do now and it's always wise to inject fresh blood into the show every so often. And I'm very confident that Bryan will be able to take EE into a fresh and exciting new direction. I have a great feeling about this appointment.

And more:

Not exactly thrilled by this news, Bryan Kirkwood did some great stuff with Hollyoaks but it soon turned sour and 2008 was overall quite a weak year for the soap and things just deteriorated in his final few months there.

I'm not sure what to think, I can only judge him on what he's done at Hollyoaks and that doesn't fill me much confidence despite the good work he did there in his first few years.

Well if we're going for all the Kirkwood HO cliches then which five characters do we expect to be killed off when the Vic explodes?

He certainly won't be able to kill any characters he feels like off. Channel 4 gave him a lot of freedom because the show couldn't get any worse than it was but EastEnders is doing quite well. The BBC will just be looking for a smooth transition between the two producers and more of the same really. Subtle changes perhaps but nothing as drastic as the changes to Hollyoaks, that's for sure.

I think this is great news. I loved Kirkwood's reign at Hollyoaks. He got the audience, told teen stories but also created great plots anyone could enjoy - and not at the expense of characterisation. He won't make EastEnders teenage - he knows better than that.

Saying all that, I don't watch EE at the moment unless it happens to be on in the background (or if I'm catching up on Chryed clips on youtube), and I'm not sure Kirkwood turning up will persuade me to go over to it fulltime. But I might! HO certainly hasn't been the same since he's gone, so I have a vacancy for a soap.

All I have to say is that I hope he can make the show a bit better than it is right now.

All I have to say is that I hope he can make the show a bit better than it is right now.

What is missing now, in your opinion?

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by Sylph

A lot of people don't seem to realize that Hollyoaks had those montages before he arrived. The show is a half-hour, edgy show. That was a way to get viewers hooked early and want to see what happened next.

Obviously that won't work on Eastenders.

Frankly the teens on EE are in need of help. When they get major stories the limitations show. Most of them are wooden and dull, and Jay, who does have some personality, is written like a dirty old man. Abi does seem to be getting better, and Lucy has her moments.

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by CarlD2

Wow, Kirkwood at EastEnders? Seems like a damn strange fit to me. I'm interested in seeing where this goes. I did enjoy most of his tenure at Hollyoaks.

Santer was both brilliant at times and brilliant awful.

It will be interesting to see Kirkwood write for the older, non-teen characters and generally see how he does at a "mature soap". I expect him to sack Dominic Treadwell-Collins, but then again - who knows...

I like this pic of Santer:

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by Sylph

Santer is talented, but I don't think that he was exactly suitable for overseeing a serial and serialized storytelling on a day by day basis. His strengths seem to be be outside of the serialized format.

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Santer is talented, but I don't think that he was exactly suitable for overseeing a serial and serialized storytelling on a day by day basis.

As someone said that was, partly, because he was too preoccupied with creating media buzz all the time instead on focusing on all the beats of the story.

OK... A completely banal statement. What was the writer's intention? What did he want to prove?

My interpretation was that he was just explaining what he meant by "ensemble show," not trying to prove anything. The implication is that EastEnders once supposedly featured the same main characters every episode, with no rotation. I don't remember it being that way though.

LB just inherited the flack and bad press. She wasn't without problems, but after Kathleen Hutchinson, who wouldn't be.

Not sure what you mean? Louise Berridge took over from John Yorke when the show was doing great - no flack, no bad press. Hutchison was after her.

If one disagrees with the blog post that she was too focused on character history and on pleasing Internet fans, then the other reason the blog post gives for the show's dip in LB's time were down to external factors outside her control - Dalip Tahil (Dan Ferreira) being denied a work visa and Kacey Ainsworth being pregnant resulting in rewrites. I feel bad for her and wish she had stayed. I thought the Ferreiras and, especially, the Moons were super-interesting, so I'll always be grateful to her for them.

Not sure what to think of this new producer, not having ever seen Hollyoaks.

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by jfung79

I agree with Diederick's summary of Bryan Kirkwood. He does have a brilliant storylining mind - the two have that in common I believe. This is a good move, Santer is leaving at the top of his game not leaving opportunity to get slack and Bryan is the perfect choice to carry on that good work.

At Hollyoaks, he had a mammoth task of turning the show on it's head, and he did so with style. He looked at every aspect of the show, quickly rid us of the deadwood, introduced several well thought-out characters, and set up some incredible storylines, three of which lasted a full year before all reaching their brilliant dramatic conclusions.

I'm interested to see how he'll make his mark on EastEnders seeing as it's in it's best shape in years.

I couldn't agree more. BK understands storytelling and how to let things grow slowly then peak at the right times. He's got an instinct for what makes soaps work - there's no doubt he transformed HO and made it newsworthy and critically praised.

I'm sure I read somewhere ages ago that he's a big fan of Eastenders so he will know the history and know what makes Eastenders Eastenders. I think it's unlikely he'll bring in any ex-HO actors - he knows he'll get stick if he does. There's already a very large and strong cast at EE and a well oiled production team behind the scenes. It's a very different situation from when he took over HO. So I wouldn't expect any huge changes, no mass culls, just strong storytelling with maybe a bit more character based humour thrown in.

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by Sylph

I wonder if Kirkwood will give EastEnders an immediate overhaul when he gets there, kind of like what he did at Hollyoaks. By the sounds of it, EastEnders could sure use some type of overhauling.

I recall UK LAW's post regarding Kirkwood in the Hollyoaks thread:

Bryan Kirkwood joined in January in 2006, but didn't jump straight in. He sat back and waited, though he did work with the previous Series Producer, David Hanson to steer the show to where he wanted it to be when he took over.

Justin and Becca was the work of David Hanson and Previous EP Jo Hallows (who between them nearly destroyed the show in my view).

The dates escape me, but the week that led up to the Twins Birthday/the reveal of Justin and Becca was Kirkwood's first set of episodes. I believe it was May or June 2006. The next few months that led to the explosion at the pub were what could be classed as a 'transition period' where characters came and left (Warren, The Valentines, McQueens, Kris, Zoe, Will, etc arrived. Olivia, Joe, the Twins, Sam Owen, Jez, etc left) and the stories shifted. The tone of the show also changed.

According to Bryan Kirkwood, one of the first things he did was call a massive story conference, in which he and his storyliners (details might be sketchy, as I'm typing from memory, here) mapped out the show's stories for the next two years. (These included the explosion, Clare's terrorising of Max, Tom and O.B, Clare being pushed, JP and Craig, Hannah's anorexia, the continued McQueen sagas, Will and Zoe, etc).

I'm sad to see Bryan Kirkwood leave, as he clearly has talent as a storyteller (Coronation had problems with their stories around the time he left, which wasn't helped by the fact Steve Frost was an inept producer, but that's another topic). If he is able to adapt his storytelling style, then he will go far. It's not likely going to happen, but imagine if he was given the pen to an American soap. He could be the 'new blood' some have been asking for.

Imagine he and Bevan Lee (Home and Away) being allowed to write a soap in the U.S.

Producers here can vary in role. Usually, they work with all areas of production and writing. They set the tone of the show. They are an amalgimation of the Head Writer and EP. They may not map the specifics, but the direction and outcome generally come from them. Each has their own strengths. For example, Diederick Santer's strengths lie in production (compare it to Edward Scott), whereas Bryan Kirkwood is a storyteller, so he is hands-on in that department.

Edited November 2, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Well this certainly be interesting. If he makes it anymore interesting than now it will be good to see. Currently the only storyline I am enjoying is Christian and Syed but the intmacy is missing and needs to be shown but I cant wait to see what he does and who becomes his favorite storyline.

I don't think he will have as much power at EE as he did at Hollyoaks. As Sylph has said, they need to get rid of this Collins person. Enough of these "shocking" stories. Hollyoaks also had a few too many of those, but generally they worked a little better.

I wonder if Syed/Christian will still be going on by the time he gets there.