Agree completely, it's awful at the moment. Seriously, after tonight's had ended I just thought "what the hell have I just watched?!" Instalment #794 of Whitney's crap love life, a Max storyline that's been recycled numerous times through about five years, and Tiffany... singing a Little Mix song?
So yeah, it's appalling at the moment. Hope it picks up because last time I remember it being this bad I stopped watching for a few years.
Are there any big storylines coming up?
The last time it got this bad you say? I don't think it has ever got this bad in the past before has it?! - not even during the Kirkwood era - from which incidentally, I don't think it's ever recovered!
Sorry, just to add, not only do they not move it forward, they take Zainab's character progression back several years. She finally accepted Chyed - whoopy doo (though that was dealt with in one episode) but became the small minded petty snob she was when she first arrived in the Post Office and berated her daughter in law into going to the opening party for the B+B her Dad died in, meddled in their marriage till they broke and slapped Tamwar on his (burnt, scarred) back when they lost the Argeee Bhargee. Amongst other things
Sorry, just to add, not only do they not move it forward, they take Zainab's character progression back several years. She finally accepted Chyed - whoopy doo (though that was dealt with in one episode) but became the small minded petty snob she was when she first arrived in the Post Office and berated her daughter in law into going to the opening party for the B+B her Dad died in, meddled in their marriage till they broke and slapped Tamwar on his (burnt, scarred) back when they lost the Argeee Bhargee. Amongst other things
Yes, while the Masoods aren't my favourite family in EE by any stretch, they seem to be the most popular family with most of the others on here at the mo. and I agree that they've been poorly written for of late....taking them back into the bickering family they often were in their earlier days of 6 years ago or so when Zainab was a tempestuous postmistress and Mas a humble postman - as still now!
Tamwar has been a glorified extra following the departure of the tedious Afia last summer, while Mas and Zainab have got on the slippery slope of a circular EE nature with yet another potential affair kicking off in the show, this time with Ayesha.....though I don't blame him - something AJ has been pulling his leg about without realising the true score! Infact the only Masood left I now like is AJ - and he was someone who I couldn't stand at the beginning funnily enough!
Although I have loved Zee, I feel that her character has gone so far back that I think the only hope for the Masood family is for them to become the 'house of trouser' of the Square with Mas, Aj, and Tam. That worked quite well for tje couple of weeks last Autumn after Chryeds wedding.
I think a big fault with EE of the last few years is the repetition of storylines. This worked 2, 5, 20 years ago so let's do it again rather than risk something new hence Masoods back to 07, tanya and Max back to Stacey reveal time, Phil back to getting custody of ben, louise with an added dash of sharongate, kat is messed up but alfie is her true love so get the audience to root for them. All these plots worked first time, not the second or third.
They need a complete cast overhaul. Something similar to what Matthew Robinson did in the late 90s - which actually then helped to kickstart the brilliant early 00s period. We need new interesting characters who can carry interesting storylines but most of all the characters have to have enough about them for us to care. That is what the show is lacking right now. Its hard to actually care. The current set of characters have been exhausted. The rest are just stale. At least 15 of this lot could go to make way for more interesting characters.
Ironicly, I think killing Heather was a huge mistake. She was a ray of sunshine among a dark circle of characters. Its that sort of character who you can root for the show is lacking. There is just too much nastiness within all the characters currently on screen. Viewers like to get behind someone and follow their story with passion. There is not one character currently who you could do this with. Maybe with the one exception of Dot, perhaps Jean.
Sorry, just to add, not only do they not move it forward, they take Zainab's character progression back several years. She finally accepted Chyed - whoopy doo (though that was dealt with in one episode) but became the small minded petty snob she was when she first arrived in the Post Office and berated her daughter in law into going to the opening party for the B+B her Dad died in, meddled in their marriage till they broke and slapped Tamwar on his (burnt, scarred) back when they lost the Argeee Bhargee. Amongst other things
They did the same to Syed - take his negative traits to the brink for his exit. I'm not surprised by Zee's poor exit, no matter how big a character she's been. It's like the producers have stopped caring about character GROWTH and it gives a bad name to soaps. No wonder Call the Midwife is more successful than Britain's biggest soap.
As I keep saying, they would rather repeat the same plots with the same characters again and again as it worked once rather than move the character forward!!! So we have looped behaviour and critique.
The last real breath of fresh air was 06 with the new brand Brannings, foxs/wicks and masoods.
As Nina has said though, I don't think Ayesha is that important to the storyline, it's about Masood realising that he no longer loves Zainab enough to live with her dominating personality and she's always had a dominating personality right from the off.
Zainab - despite playing second fiddle to Masood and Ayesha - doesn't seem to be happy with her life, seems to want 'something else' right now, which could be why her sudden need to look better in the community has re-surfaced. It's been poorly written though.
Danny wasn't important to Syed's exit - he didn't love him or want him as a lover - it was about how Syed felt about himself but the story development was awful.
Although I have loved Zee, I feel that her character has gone so far back that I think the only hope for the Masood family is for them to become the 'house of trouser' of the Square with Mas, Aj, and Tam. That worked quite well for tje couple of weeks last Autumn after Chryeds wedding.
I think a big fault with EE of the last few years is the repetition of storylines. This worked 2, 5, 20 years ago so let's do it again rather than risk something new hence Masoods back to 07, tanya and Max back to Stacey reveal time, Phil back to getting custody of ben, louise with an added dash of sharongate, kat is messed up but alfie is her true love so get the audience to root for them. All these plots worked first time, not the second or third.
To be fair the last time they went for something totally out there it ended up being the baby sway saga, so you might see their reluctance to end up there again.
Thing is there are really only a few stories to tell and all they can do is tell them from another angle (not the same characters over and over again).
E.g Chryed which was the same old coming out tale, but with a muslim twist which made it fresh.
That's why they need new characters! But I'm hopeful Ava, Dexter, Kirsty can add to this... and the new family, whenever they rock up.
To me what seems to be wrong with the show at the moment, is they don't have an eye for the over arching storyline... they are too drawn into the mini episodes... so they are forcing incident into each episode to give it drama but it feels artificial in most instances... then they do these "Big" episodes where they seem to get it right...
That said I have been enjoying it in parts... it's certainly funnier than it has been. And there are some fun friendships forming (love kat and bianca)... i think once the ground settles and they find the tone Lorraine wants they then need that gritty story to cut through it.
Maybe the Liam storyline will be it? they haven't said much about it yet,,,
Towers.
I totally agree that )eeshy is irrelevEntt in the $masood marital breakdowm. It has been cominging for years in their marraige - ayeesha is unnecesary.
Seriously 2013 so far (Yes I know we have only Just started Feb) has been nothing short of Sh*t
Nothing is actually happening and none of the episodes actually feel different. Everything seems to blend in to one.
I have been watching for over 20 years and I have never known some many affairs to be taking place
right now we have
The very boring Ayesha trying to get off with Masood
Whit/Tyler/Joey love triange
Roxy/Alfie/Kat which will know doubt end up with a Kiss between Alfie and Kat while he's with Roxy
Michael and Kat soon to be (Then Janine returns)
We had Kim/Denise/Ray
Max going around in one massive circle. He wants Tanya and not Kirsty but can't seem to keep his hands off her at every given chance:rolleyes:
Take out those storylines and what are we left with? Nothing
There isn't any storyline running at present
I want the EastEnders that would tackle a tricky subject and not be afraid of doing so. I want EastEnders to shock and make people moan about it but at the same time Enjoy it.
EastEnders has a fantastic cast whom do the job they are suppose too but sadly something just doesn't seem to be clicking
While I don't think we are at panic stations just yet
if it carries on this way then EastEnders is going to lose a hell of a lot of viewers and they might find it hard to gain them back.
With Zainab leaving next week I feel the Masood family's
time on Albert Square could soon be up. Mas and Zainab work very well together but without Zee the family is nothing (imo) and it's only a matter of time before Nitin quits.
I think Lorraine Newman needs to listen to the viewers a little bit (not too much as that never seems to work and did EP's in the 80's and 90's look on an internet forum? Well no of course not)
Gritty Drama is what EastEnders does best but sadly we are getting nothing.
Sorry to bore you all (or Surprise you) but I felt this needed to be said.
I can only agree with you dan, in fact it's been bad since the murder reveal.
For every step forward..Bianca/Kat friendship, Denise and Ian, the arrival of Kirsty and seeing more of Michael, they've taken several steps backwards.
Phil/ Lola/ Lexi is just too frustrating to watch. Lola was someone I was getting to really like, but now she's just the same in every episode and I'm fast going off her. I was looking forward to seeing Phil lonely and defeated after his part in the cover up last year and his abysmal treatment of Jay and Ian, but he's swanning around with his new family as if nothing happened.
I can only echo what every one else has said about Zainab's exit...just dire.
Does anyone care about Sharon/ Jack/ Phil or indeed her strange drug addiction. Her return has been a complete flop.
They seemed to have turned Roxy into a complete shrew to aid some sort of Alfie/Kat reconciliation...too soon to go down that road IMO.
I can honestly say that there is absolutely nothing I am looking forward to. From someone who tries to avoid spoilers usually I now find myself scouring them in the desperate hope that there is something on the horizon that might appeal.
Towers.
I totally agree that )eeshy is irrelevEntt in the $masood marital breakdowm. It has been cominging for years in their marraige - ayeesha is unnecesary.
What I find very offensive is that the breakdown or crisis in a relationship/marriage cannot be dealt with without using a third party/prop (like Ayesha). It is simply insulting to the characters, actors and the intelligent spectator.
Promoting from within doesnt always work. Ln might be with the show for 20 years but all she can invent is love triangles and cheating.
An outside producer with fresh ideas is desperately needed.
Yeah I agree to a point.
Though I would also say I remember Santer getting absolutely slated for his first year but what he really did was slowly and quietly put the pieces in place to knock our socks.
As another poster said she has taken see things in the right direction: Denise and Ian, Kat and Bianca, Kirsty, Ava. She was kinda suck with this Branning xmas thing and the masood disintegration. Maybe once these at out of the way...
Still I don't think last years ratings drop and losing award to Corrie will have gone unnoticed by tptb
Seriously 2013 so far (Yes I know we have only Just started Feb) has been nothing short of Sh*t
Nothing is actually happening and none of the episodes actually feel different. Everything seems to blend in to one.
I have been watching for over 20 years and I have never known some many affairs to be taking place
right now we have
The very boring Ayesha trying to get off with Masood
Whit/Tyler/Joey love triange
Roxy/Alfie/Kat which will know doubt end up with a Kiss between Alfie and Kat while he's with Roxy
Michael and Kat soon to be (Then Janine returns)
We had Kim/Denise/Ray
Max going around in one massive circle. He wants Tanya and not Kirsty but can't seem to keep his hands off her at every given chance:rolleyes:
Take out those storylines and what are we left with? Nothing
There isn't any storyline running at present
I want the EastEnders that would tackle a tricky subject and not be afraid of doing so. I want EastEnders to shock and make people moan about it but at the same time Enjoy it.
EastEnders has a fantastic cast whom do the job they are suppose too but sadly something just doesn't seem to be clicking
While I don't think we are at panic stations just yet
if it carries on this way then EastEnders is going to lose a hell of a lot of viewers and they might find it hard to gain them back.
With Zainab leaving next week I feel the Masood family's
time on Albert Square could soon be up. Mas and Zainab work very well together but without Zee the family is nothing (imo) and it's only a matter of time before Nitin quits.
I think Lorraine Newman needs to listen to the viewers a little bit (not too much as that never seems to work and did EP's in the 80's and 90's look on an internet forum? Well no of course not)
Gritty Drama is what EastEnders does best but sadly we are getting nothing.
Sorry to bore you all (or Surprise you) but I felt this needed to be said.
While I was reading the post I found myself nodding away and saying yep yep totally agree THEN I noticed who had posted the post and nearly fell off my chair!
The start of 2013 for EE has been terrible its becoming like groundhog day, affair after affair after affiar. All married couples have seperated or are about to be seperated.
There was a time when I hated to miss an epsiode but now I just watch it if there is nothing else on.
At least last year we had something to look forward to, at the moment I dont any huge plots for us to look forward to
What I find very offensive is that the breakdown or crisis in a relationship/marriage cannot be dealt with without using a third party/prop (like Ayesha). It is simply insulting to the characters, actors and the intelligent spectator.
Huh? All drama needs inciting incident. Alyeesha and her back story of arranged marriage and the other paths she could take in life is causing Mas to question where he stands with his own pathway... that's the reason she exists in this story.
It is in need of some big storylines. I know normal life can be boring and humdrum but people tune into the Soaps for some escapism away from their dreary lives. Last nights episode was just boring. Max Branning going around in another relationship circle, Tiffany singing to all and sundry for no logical reason,Alice trying to get Tyler to tidy up and worst of all the stupid water feature storyline.Every scene with the insipid Ayesha grinds the show to a halt too.
We need some big gritty,exciting storylines and not just affair after affair.
I can't say I've been on the edge of my seat, and the fact that Tyler is still there and getting story lines is farcical. It was painful watching him and Joey having a scene together last night... it got me thinking why are both these idiots on the show? It's just terrible.
That Alice stuff was dreadful as well and I've got no interest in Liam Butcher so not looking forward to that storyline. Not too keen on Lucy either.
Comments
The last time it got this bad you say? I don't think it has ever got this bad in the past before has it?! - not even during the Kirkwood era - from which incidentally, I don't think it's ever recovered!
Yes, while the Masoods aren't my favourite family in EE by any stretch, they seem to be the most popular family with most of the others on here at the mo. and I agree that they've been poorly written for of late....taking them back into the bickering family they often were in their earlier days of 6 years ago or so when Zainab was a tempestuous postmistress and Mas a humble postman - as still now!
Tamwar has been a glorified extra following the departure of the tedious Afia last summer, while Mas and Zainab have got on the slippery slope of a circular EE nature with yet another potential affair kicking off in the show, this time with Ayesha.....though I don't blame him - something AJ has been pulling his leg about without realising the true score! Infact the only Masood left I now like is AJ - and he was someone who I couldn't stand at the beginning funnily enough!
I think a big fault with EE of the last few years is the repetition of storylines. This worked 2, 5, 20 years ago so let's do it again rather than risk something new hence Masoods back to 07, tanya and Max back to Stacey reveal time, Phil back to getting custody of ben, louise with an added dash of sharongate, kat is messed up but alfie is her true love so get the audience to root for them. All these plots worked first time, not the second or third.
Ironicly, I think killing Heather was a huge mistake. She was a ray of sunshine among a dark circle of characters. Its that sort of character who you can root for the show is lacking. There is just too much nastiness within all the characters currently on screen. Viewers like to get behind someone and follow their story with passion. There is not one character currently who you could do this with. Maybe with the one exception of Dot, perhaps Jean.
They did the same to Syed - take his negative traits to the brink for his exit. I'm not surprised by Zee's poor exit, no matter how big a character she's been. It's like the producers have stopped caring about character GROWTH and it gives a bad name to soaps. No wonder Call the Midwife is more successful than Britain's biggest soap.
The last real breath of fresh air was 06 with the new brand Brannings, foxs/wicks and masoods.
Zainab - despite playing second fiddle to Masood and Ayesha - doesn't seem to be happy with her life, seems to want 'something else' right now, which could be why her sudden need to look better in the community has re-surfaced. It's been poorly written though.
Danny wasn't important to Syed's exit - he didn't love him or want him as a lover - it was about how Syed felt about himself but the story development was awful.
There's storylines for Lucy and Liam incoming shortly too
neither of which are return, exits or anything to do with relationships... i think the Liam story starts the week after Zee leaves.
To be fair the last time they went for something totally out there it ended up being the baby sway saga, so you might see their reluctance to end up there again.
Thing is there are really only a few stories to tell and all they can do is tell them from another angle (not the same characters over and over again).
E.g Chryed which was the same old coming out tale, but with a muslim twist which made it fresh.
That's why they need new characters! But I'm hopeful Ava, Dexter, Kirsty can add to this... and the new family, whenever they rock up.
To me what seems to be wrong with the show at the moment, is they don't have an eye for the over arching storyline... they are too drawn into the mini episodes... so they are forcing incident into each episode to give it drama but it feels artificial in most instances... then they do these "Big" episodes where they seem to get it right...
That said I have been enjoying it in parts... it's certainly funnier than it has been. And there are some fun friendships forming (love kat and bianca)... i think once the ground settles and they find the tone Lorraine wants they then need that gritty story to cut through it.
Maybe the Liam storyline will be it? they haven't said much about it yet,,,
I totally agree that )eeshy is irrelevEntt in the $masood marital breakdowm. It has been cominging for years in their marraige - ayeesha is unnecesary.
I can only agree with you dan, in fact it's been bad since the murder reveal.
For every step forward..Bianca/Kat friendship, Denise and Ian, the arrival of Kirsty and seeing more of Michael, they've taken several steps backwards.
Phil/ Lola/ Lexi is just too frustrating to watch. Lola was someone I was getting to really like, but now she's just the same in every episode and I'm fast going off her. I was looking forward to seeing Phil lonely and defeated after his part in the cover up last year and his abysmal treatment of Jay and Ian, but he's swanning around with his new family as if nothing happened.
I can only echo what every one else has said about Zainab's exit...just dire.
Does anyone care about Sharon/ Jack/ Phil or indeed her strange drug addiction. Her return has been a complete flop.
They seemed to have turned Roxy into a complete shrew to aid some sort of Alfie/Kat reconciliation...too soon to go down that road IMO.
I can honestly say that there is absolutely nothing I am looking forward to. From someone who tries to avoid spoilers usually I now find myself scouring them in the desperate hope that there is something on the horizon that might appeal.
Your right of course Dan.
An outside producer with fresh ideas is desperately needed.
What I find very offensive is that the breakdown or crisis in a relationship/marriage cannot be dealt with without using a third party/prop (like Ayesha). It is simply insulting to the characters, actors and the intelligent spectator.
Yeah I agree to a point.
Though I would also say I remember Santer getting absolutely slated for his first year but what he really did was slowly and quietly put the pieces in place to knock our socks.
As another poster said she has taken see things in the right direction: Denise and Ian, Kat and Bianca, Kirsty, Ava. She was kinda suck with this Branning xmas thing and the masood disintegration. Maybe once these at out of the way...
Still I don't think last years ratings drop and losing award to Corrie will have gone unnoticed by tptb
While I was reading the post I found myself nodding away and saying yep yep totally agree THEN I noticed who had posted the post and nearly fell off my chair!
The start of 2013 for EE has been terrible its becoming like groundhog day, affair after affair after affiar. All married couples have seperated or are about to be seperated.
There was a time when I hated to miss an epsiode but now I just watch it if there is nothing else on.
At least last year we had something to look forward to, at the moment I dont any huge plots for us to look forward to
Huh? All drama needs inciting incident. Alyeesha and her back story of arranged marriage and the other paths she could take in life is causing Mas to question where he stands with his own pathway... that's the reason she exists in this story.
We need some big gritty,exciting storylines and not just affair after affair.
No she is not she has given Patrick a storyline and Lucy a storyline a Liam a storyline and is bringing in a new family
Liam falling in with a comedy teenage gang of wrong 'uns is hardly groundbreaking or original :rolleyes:
Ok but what about the Patrick storyline and the Lucy storyline?
That Alice stuff was dreadful as well and I've got no interest in Liam Butcher so not looking forward to that storyline. Not too keen on Lucy either.
Hopefully, this Patrick stuff is good.