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The "foreign soaps" topic


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I cant say I'm a fan of that updated opening. The concept is good but it didn't really pan out too well...it looks the old AMC open from the early 90s but cheaper. You can tell they went with that one because it would be easier to update than the old one, but it just looks and sounds dull. Maybe if they brightened up the colours and brought back the faster theme tune, changing the pace of the opening to fit it, it would work.

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Okay so Echo Beach and the companion show Moving Wallpaper started tonight. MW was funny -- not exactly a laugh a minute but some nice in jokes and digs about ITV.

The soap itself though was just...really, really bad. The concept should have worked and the story was ok. I mean the scenery was stunning, they intended to get a sexy teenage cast with a smattering of adult characters and a script by Tony Jordan. Don't get me wrong, I'm no huge fan of his but I can't believe he wrote that crap. Cliched, cheesy lines. Very few cast members could act and Martine McCutcheon was woefully miscast. The crew obviously hadn't stopped to think that a beach might be windy so dialogue was dubbed which made it sound even more wooden.

It can't possibly succeed.

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ITA James on everything.

Moving Wallpaper is much better than Echo Beach. It's like 30 Rock, only not as sharp. I get the concept of the cross-over shows, it's just it doesn't work. The idea of EB is that it's supposed to be a product of bad writing and poor producing, while being a serious soapy at the same time. Scheduling MW before EB disables all seriousness that EB is trying to strive.

It's not the bad acting, or bad dialogue, that's annoying, but the plot structure of the all important première episode. It was dire. The characters all seemed a bit of a muchness, and I struggled to relate to any of them. The second ep felt more like a first episode, IMO. The setting was awesome, and kinda reminded me of Sunset Beach and it's location shooting, except BEACH was much better at the windy beach scenes, than EB. Someone should tell Tony Jordan to stay clear of anything that's about a beachside community - Eldorado anyone?

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I have to say I enjoyed Echo Beach. It wasn't perfect but I like the fact it's different to all the other soaps on in the UK and that it's set in beach community with wealthy and good looking characters. I think it will take a while to warm up but it's got some interesting storylines starting up (like the Mark/Susan/Daniel) triangle and the mystery that surrounds it, as well as the fact it looks like Mark and Susan's son will fall in love with Daniel's daughter. There are a few kinks that need ironed out (like the dubbing over the beach scenes, although a few of the actors have said in interviews that they didnt anticipate how windy it would be when filming) but it works well as a stand alone drama. It's harder to take serious because of Moving Wallpaper but it's still quite fun to watch.

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I wondered whether Moving Wallpaper clouded my judgement but I watched the second episode with that in mind and it just seems so clumsy. I think part of the reason I dislike it so much is because I embraced the idea of a pretty people, pretty locations soap but the writing and acting just haven't lived up to expectation. It's frustrating when the writers and actors have proven themselves elsewhere to end up with something that seems subpar. There also doesn't seem to be any chemistry between the actors which I blame entirely and slightly irrationally on Martine McCutcheon. ;)

In other news I enjoyed the kick off to Susan's MS story on Neighbours today with her accidentally running down Bridget. Found a scene of her telling Bridget's parents/her friends that she's responsible. It's suitably awkward.

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Patsy Palmer has said she "can't believe" that she is returning to EastEnders.

The actress will walk back into Albert Square as Bianca Jackson, the character she turned her back on nine years ago.

She insisted in 2005 that she would never reprise the role and branded the soap "rubbish", but announced last August that she had changed her mind.

Co-star Sid Owen, who plays her ex-on-screen-husband Ricky Butcher, will also make a comeback at the same time.

Palmer told OK! magazine: "After being there so long and then leaving, it was the weirdest thing to open the script and for it to feel natural."

Speaking of her insistence that she would never return, she added: "It's never been in my heart to go back. I even said some of the storylines were ridiculous and unbelievable and I meant it at the time. Even a month before I decided, I was adamant I wouldn't return.

"I still don't know if returning to a show works and that worries me, but the storylines are brilliant, so I'm halfway there."

The 35-year-old – who played Bianca between 1993 and 2002 - will re-enter Walford as a single mother with a hoard of children in tow, each with a different father.

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Walford actors Rob Kazinsky and Mo George have quit their respective EastEnders roles.

Kazinksy – who first appeared as Albert Square's Sean Slater in August last year – has reportedly been taken on by Brad Pitt's agent who has high hopes for him in Hollywood.

A source told The Sun: "He's desperate to be a Hollywood star. He's ambitious, which Americans love, and easy on the eye – the first thing that Hollywood producers look at."

The 24-year-old actor will remain filming at the soap's Borehamwood home until October, continuing on-screen until the end of the year. The fate of his character has yet to be decided.

A spokeswoman for the soap today said: "EastEnders can confirm that Rob Kazinsky will be leaving later this year. We wish him all the best for the future."

Rob Kazinsky added: "If I had done everything I wanted to do as an actor before I joined EastEnders I would have wanted to stay forever. I have really enjoyed my time with the show - it's such a wonderful place to work and it's become more like a second home to me. I'll be sad to leave."

Meanwhile, Mo George – who has played market sweeper Gus Smith since 2002 – has agreed to bow out of the BBC soap by "mutual consent".

Of his exit, a BBC spokeswoman said: "As the character did not have any big plots coming up it was agreed Mohammed would leave. He is in talks with the BBC about other projects."

Both actors were suspended from the show for two months in the early part of last year – Kazinsky for sending lewd text messages to a model and George over suspicion of causing actual bodily harm to partner Emma Archibald.

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These are the latest Eastenders credits from the BBC, i do not think there is any change

Cating - Julia Crampsie and Steven Moore

Production Manager - Richard Moat

Series story scheduler - Kayla Miller

Programme scheduler - Natalie Wragg

Company manager - Carolyn Weinstein

Series story producer - Dominic Treadwell Collins

Series story editor - Michael Dawson

Senior story editor - Alexander Lamb

Script Superivsor - Hilary Charles

Script producer - Sharon Batten

Script editor - Megan Herbert

Series Consultant - Simon Ashdown

Series Producer - Lorrainne Newman

Executive producer - Diederick Santer

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Channel Five is to move its 5.30pm news to create an hour-long burst of Australian soaps Neighbours, which is moving from BBC1, and Home and Away, from next month.

Neighbours, to which Five secured the rights last year in a £300m 10-year deal, will air in the 5.30pm slot every weekday from February 11.

Home and Away will continue to run in its usual 6pm slot, but will now follow Neighbours rather than the 5.30pm Five News.

Five's news bulletin, which will be fronted from February by another arrival from the BBC, Natasha Kaplinsky, will move to the earlier time of 5pm. A second instalment of the news will continue to run at 7pm.

Neighbours is also scheduled to run at 1.45pm every weekday, with Home and Away straight after at 2.15pm.

Five has also scheduled a weekly Neighbours omnibus from 12.30pm on Saturdays.

A catch-up episode will also be shown twice daily on the broadcaster's digital channel Five Life, which will screen the omnibus on Sundays.

It is understood that the scheduling of Neighbours on Five's flagship channel has been designed to closely match the times that fans have become accustomed to after 21 years of it running on BBC1. Neighbours currently airs at 2.10pm and 5.35pm on BBC1 on weekdays.

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Sets too shabby for latest TVs force EastEnders out of town

The Queen Vic’s windows are cracked and the walls are peeling. So run-down has the old place become that EastEnders are being evicted because the shabby sets do not meet the scrutiny of HighDefinition (HD) television.

The BBC is preparing to move Albert Square from the 16-acre Elstree studios in Borehamwood, Hertford-shire, which have formed the backdrop to the flagship soap since 1985. EastEnders is expected to share space with 007 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, under proposals being recommended by BBC bosses.

The 28-mile move is required because, after more than 20 years, the Elstree sets are showing the wear and tear of Walford’s stormy history. Never designed as a permanent fixture, Albert Square has been patched up over the years, often in bursts of late-night activity. One operation involving scaffolding even had to be written into the script.

The effects of cut-price renovation jobs are all too clearly visible on HD. A source said: “You can see every crack, chipboard flake and Blu-Tack solution. HD also shows that the set isn’t built of real brick.”

A BBC memo to drama producers warns: “Using HD will highlight scenery defects such as repeat taping and painting over scenery flattage joins, knocks and damage, dirt and scuff marks. Knocks, scratches, general wear and tear are distinctly noticeable and need additional time and effort to rectify.” The memo says producers must add in the cost of “repairs and revamping scenery” at a time when BBC budgets are being cut.

The cost-effective solution for EastEnders is a move to a new brick and concrete-built set at Pinewood, allowing the Elstree studios to be sold. The hospital series Holby City, another Elstree drama, is also expected to move and show the benefits of an HD “deep clean”, along with Casualty.

The “warts and all” reality of HD, which enhances sports and natural history programmes, is unforgiving when it comes to close-ups. Cosmetic surgeons reported a surge in business from actors and newsreaders when the technology hit the high street.

The BBC launched its own HD channel last year to showcase programmes such as Planet Earth and Bleak House. All new programmes intended for international sale must be shot in HD to meet the demands of US broadcasters.

A research group, Screen Digest, forecasts that by the end of the year 11.3 million (40 per cent) of British homes will be equipped with HD-ready televisions, compared with the current 6.5 million homes.

Albert Square was designed by the late Keith Harris, the senior designer in the EastEnders production team. Extensions including a fictional Tube station have been added over the years. Executives are in talks with Pinewood Shepperton for about 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) of studio space

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That promo looks great. It's amazing how good other countries treat their soap operas compared to the American soaps in the US.

The only foreign soap I have watched (courtesy of online clips, mind you) is Hollyoaks, which I am just loving.

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