EastEnders - General Discussion Thread

What made the episode so pleasant for you, if you would care to explain? (In more than two sentences).

i'll explain for him...

'oh shut up! why you say that? it was brilliant now that kate santer has left and diederick harwood has taken over now. louise holland and tony smith were really bad writers. imo.'

my reply....

'there you go again. You're not answering his question.'

This thread is just a merry-go-round and yes I'm in a bad mood.

No offence, but what the hell was sweet about it? Oh yes, she's having it off with her ex-boyfriend's father. Delightful.

According to The Sun, EastEnders is going five nights a week.

Is The Sun ever reliable with TV news? It's interesting they have put it on the front page and if this is true, the words 'nail', 'coffin' and 'final' spring to mind.

It's no coincidence that the show started to go downhill when a fourth episode was added a few years back, so if anything they need to lose an episode, not add one. Coronation Street is on five nights a week and struggles to keep the quality up, and Emmerdale is on six nights a week and is virtually impossible to keep up with.

Hopefully if this does happen it will kill the show off once and for all. It won't be missed.

Five nights a week? Pwah! They struggle with what they've got.

Here on BBC Prime, we now get EE approximately two weeks (I think) behind the UK, as Prime has altered the schedules for some reason. Rather than nightly, EE is now only shown twice a week on Prime.

Due to the couple of days lag, I used to avoid coming into this thread as much as possible, as I used to enjoy EE and didn't want to spoil what was coming up by reading about it here.

However.................it's now so bad, that I don't even bother to watch it at all, and now solely come to the thread to piece bits together to see if there is anything worth knowing.

Judging by the last couple of pages I've read, it seems that it is going right down the tubes!

Some of the current characters are entirely unbearable and totally pointless. Can't remember their names, but Squiggle's Mother and Sister are woeful characters and actors. Deano is an incredibly handsome guy, but that's where the interest stops. Charlie is still moping around and never contributes anything. Phil's son (can't remember his name, is it Ben???) is the most pointless character and worst child actor I have ever seen. Gary and Minty - non-contributing characters. Dawn = why??????? Honey and Billy = ????? Rosie Millar was a great character after she settled in. Where has she gone??

I now only like Dot and Pat, as they are the only characters who seem to have any substance.

I never thought I would see the day where I would be longing for the return of Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie to save this rapidly sinking ship. I wasn't the biggest fan of those characters at the time, but compared to today's bunch they are more than welcome on my screens.

Letitia Dean has made so many comebacks that another "return" would not carry any credibility whatsoever.

My own personal view is that the BBC should try to inject life by bringing back some of the longer departed (yet surviving) members of the cast, such as Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler/Holloway), Ali Osman (Nejdet Saleh), Carmel Roberts (Judith Jacob), Mary Smith (Linda Davidson).......or bring in Pauline Quirke as the new landlady of the Vic and make her character work in a way that Julie Goodyear's Bet Lynch did when Corrie was at its peak.................

I hope to God EastEnders doesn't go 5 times a week. I started to lose interest when it went to 4, and so did many others.

If it went to 5, they would need two Executive Producers, a whole new production team, and even more new characters, otherwise it will be the final nail in the coffin

I haven't watched Eastenders for years, but I had the misfortune to catch a scene featuring Ben the other day before I had a chance to change the channel.

I know that child actors in soaps/soapy dramas generally aren't known for their oscar-winning performances, hence why they tend to be seen and not heard (or they certainly used to be, anyway). But in this case...dear God. If that child actor won the part, I'd hate to see what the reject auditionees were like. You see more convincing performances in an amateur school play.

I bet they can't wait until he's old enough to be sent up to his room and then a week later come down with a new face.

The only thing EE needs at the moment is a leader with a clear sense of direction. He or she needs to do an Emmerdale Plane Crash, type scenario on Albert Square. Something to make it feel it's turned a corner.

It then needs to invest in a coherent team of scriptwriters, who have there own fresh ideas but at the same time are following the master plan. One thing the scriptwriters need to do is look back over old episodes of the show and rebuild the old guard. Peggy, Phil and Ian are a shadow of their former selves. Dot & Jim are fantastic but over used which isn't good for actors health, let alone the toil it takes on the script.

Bring back older stable characters, even for short periods of time. What has EastEnders got against recurring characters. I think one of the show's main downfalls is that fact that once a character leaves the Square they never come back. Michelle Fowler ridiculous absent from any funeral or wedding was just jaw dropping. Why didn't Carol or Bianca ever come back for Sonia when she had troubles? And I truly believe if Kathy didn't die and returned from South Africa , we wouldn't have to put up with constant and painful drivel between Phil and Ben.

A definite cast cull is needed: Gary, Gus, Ben, Chelsea, Dawn, Rob, Keith, Darren just need to go now. And as for an extra episode.... EastEnders 1985-2007

Oh dear, I hope this isn't true. I expect it would air Wednesday at 8, to shore up BBC1's poor Wednesday night performance