EastEnders - General Discussion Thread

Yes. Yes I really do.

Just noticed that today is the 'First Anniversary' of this thread. One year on. Well done to all you fans who have kept this thread going. I didn't think it would last this long. Thanks to all those who've contributed. And it's also coming up to some great storylines this Christmas. EastEnders will be great.

Oh this is pathetic. Lets have some constructive criticism instead of this constant 'I hate Shane Richie' fest.

Well I would probably be accused of being a hypocrite if I were say such a thing to pad, following his stern words to me in the Corrie thread.

Shane Richie is by no means a great actor, but in these particular scenes it was apparent to me that the emotion he was portraying was coming from a very real place. I think I might feel the same had I worked with Hilda Braid for so long and with such a poignant farewell story.

Of course, it's probably easier to write him off as some shabby red-coat and dismiss the entire thing.

But that would hardly be a fair or accurate evaluation.

Yes, because when somebody dies they'd be talking during their death? What I meant was, she could have had a death where she was on her own, doing something that 'nana would have been doing.'

I despair at your attempts at wit.

Okay then, I'll explain why. Shane Richie largely plays himself on that show, IMO, and this is when he is best as Alfie - when he needn't make much of an effort. However, in the event of having to show emotion - which has become a regular occurance of late - his struggle to depict distress and anguish realistically has become clear.

In the Armistice Day episodes, I felt that the scene in which he broke down was just not done well enough for me to feel any compassion. It was laughable and he looked a fool. Supposedly, Richie was crying for real in those scenes, but it didn't come across as natural at all to me. Moreover, in the episode of Nana's passing, his melodramatic wailing also came across as a desperate stab at emotion, but to me it was just farcical. He looked like he was laughing.

I'm delighted he's leaving; he can take his ego and poor acting skills with him.

That would negate the last few weeks worth of story though, surely?

The arc of this story has been Alfie's mission to make his Nana's wishes come true, and becoming stressed and worried by making it all perfect for her.

Kat's timely advice to him to "enjoy each moment rather than look to the next" prompted the evening of charades, fun and laughter.

Alfie finally relaxed and enjoyed the night, no longer being preocupied with his lack of control of the situation, and with that, his Nana slipped peacefully away.

To have her die alone would have made no sense dramatically, and would have been very poor indeed.



As I hadn't written it with any wit intended I can see why.

Alfie is a clown, a joke, an idiot, a failure, a loser, a ridiculous person. This isn't a swipe at Shane, but at Alfie.

Up until that point it was good. It was the pathetic and cringe-worthy response to this that ruined it for me. Shane Richie was truly dreadful IMO.

True, but a clown who cries gives us pathos.

I'm not going to get too hung up on whether Shane is the best example of acting, but being 33 and having lost my grandmother a year or so ago I had at least an inkling on what the story was all about.

From that (albeit squewed) perspective, I found it to be one of the better EE storylines of late.

I think it was - the only thing that didn't work for me was how no-one found out for a few days. It didn't seem realistic - or maybe that's a cultural difference between London and Norn Irn?

I liked how Nana's death wasn't made a huge announcement in the square, and was much more subtle and how Peggy knew without asking Shane what had happened. I've really warmed to Peggy, I didn't like her when she first returned, but her scenes with Alfie are certainly heartwarming.