I am delighted that a mere entertainment show, has helped transformed this womans life, and that a paedophile is now behind bars.
I think everything in my post speaks for itself, its amazing how this storyline has impacted so positively on the lives of the women involved.
Actors Shona McGarty (Whitney Dean) & Tony King (Chris Coghill), as well as exec producer Diederick Santer, as well as the writers of the key episodes in this storyline, have helped transformed lives, should all feel very proud of that.
This clearly shows that when its at its best EastEnders is a massive force for good, and something that impacts on society in a positive fashion.
It's a soap opera and is more like Sunset Beach thesedays, than real life. I watch Eastenders sometimes as well, but let's not go over the top with its value to the public.
It's a soap opera and is more like Sunset Beach thesedays, than real life. I watch Eastenders sometimes as well, but let's not go over the top with its value to the public.
my sister was into Sunset Beach, it is a very fine example of how poor US soaps are. Safe to say that EE is closer to reality than Sunset Beach ever was, or ever even tried to be.
I am an EE fan, and often find myself thinking that these days it could do with a Jerry Springer style 'summing up' at the end, finishing with the words 'Be kind yourself, and eachother'.
The whole of each and every episode is a constant lecture on how things can fall apart if you do something 'bad', and how to be 'better'.
End of the day though, can't knock them for doing this if people still want to watch it, and IMO can't really say anyone is being over the top just because they recognise what a positive influence the show can have. It's a masterpiece of life lessons really.
my sister was into Sunset Beach, it is a very fine example of how poor US soaps are. Safe to say that EE is closer to reality than Sunset Beach ever was, or ever even tried to be.
it never tried to be. Sunset Beach was a soap spoof that poked fun of itself by its fantasies and outrageous storylines like evil twins, voodoo, baby swapping and love potions.
my sister was into Sunset Beach, it is a very fine example of how poor US soaps are. Safe to say that EE is closer to reality than Sunset Beach ever was, or ever even tried to be.
I remember my mum watching Sunset Beach years ago, I was too young to understand it but she reckoned it was so bad it was good She told me that the acting in it was terrible.
it never tried to be. Sunset Beach was a soap spoof that poked fun of itself by its fantasies and outrageous storylines like evil twins, voodoo, baby swapping and love potions.
well in that case its more than clear, that EE is more like real life than it is like Sunset Beach.
Soaps were originally invented to provide two services
1) to sell soap powder
2) to allow the housewife to escape the real world for 20mins or so.
Corrie and Eastenders are to much set in reality to be classed as soaps.
Say what you like about SB, Neighbours, crossroads or H&W but they are enough removed from UK reality to be classed as a soap opera.
British soaps are usually dull with recycled scripts and no glamour or style what so ever and usually an actors last port of call when they can't get work anywhere else.
Soaps were originally invented to provide two services
1) to sell soap powder
2) to allow the housewife to escape the real world for 20mins or so.
Corrie and Eastenders are to much set in reality to be classed as soaps.
I think its true that a US auidence (for whom soaps were actually made by Procter & Gamble) would not consider EastEnders or Corrie as soaps, UK & US are very different.
I would disagree that UK soaps are not partly about escapism, given that they are on up to 6 times a week, how can they be anything else?
EastEnders & Corrie, is how the UK define soaps, so they are soaps, we just define a soap from the US, as a "US Soap" Americans would call EastEnders a UK soap. (if they bothered to watch)
All that said, EastEnders does wonderful things with the soap genre, if you think of a soap as something that was only ever meant to sell cleaning products, then for one of them to be responsible for two paedophiles being put in jail, then you have to admit that the BBC is doing great things with its soap.
Also whilst you could never put a figure on this, one of the most valuable part of the storyline, was near the end when Tony befriend Lauren (a younger girl than Whitney) and starting to groom her, whilst Whitney may have helped those two women come forward, Lauren may have made a few more question the strange behaviour of a bloke around them.
Actually on the topic of the US view on EastEnders, Chrarlie Brooker put together a panel of Amercians and showed them EastEnders.
I may have been a little over critical in my view without highlighting the positive. I do agree that Eastenders and corrie do occasionally come up with some good stories even if they are far and few between and I believe Eastenders is worthy of being called a PSB as it can inform, educate and entertain which is the core of the BBC Charter.
I also believe that Eastenders and Corrie are both tired show's that should be put into retirement and replaced with something new. I also said the same thing about the bill a show I watched and enjoyed from the very begining until the mid 90s when it started to get stale. STV saw sense on that one and eventually so did ITV.
I don't believe for 1 second ITV or BBC will ever drop these shows because of the ad revenue and the obscene amount of money spent on sets but cutting down on episodes per week would not be a bad thing.
I also believe that Eastenders and Corrie are both tired show's that should be put into retirement and replaced with something new.
I have to disagree with that, soaps are like Time Lords, in that they regenerate every few years, by which I mean that along side long running characters there is a near constant flow of new characters, provided the show has a good exec producer, it can feel fresh. Despite being 25 years old.
Even now, Bryan Kirkwood is doing new things with the show, heck he is getting rid of about 1/4 of the cast, and characters like the Masoods keep the show fresh.
Cant speak for what Corrie is like at the moment, but as long as it remains fresh& has a good exec producer, it too can survive.
As we are learning from Hollyoaks, one of the biggest dangers to a long running succesful soap is a poor exec producer, as I understand it Bryan Kirkwood left Hollyoaks in the best shape of its life over a year ago, since then Lucy Alan took over, and has seen the show become dull, and ratings collapsed, she has now been replaced.
and the obscene amount of money spent on sets but cutting down on episodes per week would not be a bad thing.
I grant you that when the sets were first set up, im sure Albert Square and um "Corrie Street" were expensive, but over time those sets have more than paid for themselves. There was a post recently about how much an episode of EE cost, its was far less than the average cost of drama. The cost of filming EastEnders in the real world, for the past 25 years, im sure far out weighs the cost of the set, also there is just not the time for real world filming, producing 2 hours a week, they need to locations where they can film (I dont want to say 24/7) long hours, without outside forces slowing them down.
Heck the EastEnders set has been used for other projects, such as Daytime TV shows, hosted by Dale Whinton, and 2 appearances in Doctor Who.
Meanwhile the Corrie set appeared in the recent Red Dwarf mini series, and The Bill & Family Affairs, used each others sets near constantly. The Family Affairs Stanley Street set, also featured in a recent music video
The controversial child sex abuse storyline marked the first time the subject matter had been broached in a UK soap opera.
not true, Family Affairs did it first, where a young girl, (younger than Whitney) was being abused by her older sister boyfriend, this was back in 2004. The character was about 10, much younger than both Whitney & Lauren, the storyline was not done in as much detail for that reason.
Soaps are a dying breed. Thankfully. They are derivative, uninspired, uninspiring, lazy, cheapily made, not particularly well acted, formulaic, and, in the case of Eastenders, relentlessly depressing.
Soaps were originally invented to provide two services
1) to sell soap powder
2) to allow the housewife to escape the real world for 20mins or so.
Corrie and Eastenders are to much set in reality to be classed as soaps.
Say what you like about SB, Neighbours, crossroads or H&W but they are enough removed from UK reality to be classed as a soap opera.
British soaps are usually dull with recycled scripts and no glamour or style what so ever and usually an actors last port of call when they can't get work anywhere else.
Eastenders is not realisistic, it's miserable and depressing, I'm sure that people in the East End aren't all like that and if it was truly realistic then over half of the characters would be Black or Asian. if you go to Leyton or Walthamstow it seems to me that 90% of the population there are Black or Asian and of the 10% that are white 9% are from Eastern Europe, why doesn't Eastenders reflect this? There are 1 million Poles in this country so why aren't there any in Eastenders? Also in Eastenders why doesn't anyone own a washing machine?:D
Eastenders is not realisistic, it's miserable and depressing, I'm sure that people in the East End aren't all like that and if it was truly realistic then over half of the characters would be Black or Asian. if you go to Leyton or Walthamstow it seems to me that 90% of the population there are Black or Asian and of the 10% that are white 9% are from Eastern Europe, why doesn't Eastenders reflect this? There are 1 million Poles in this country so why aren't there any in Eastenders? Also in Eastenders why doesn't anyone own a washing machine?:D
And of course Jack Cohan who named the super market chain after his wife Tessie , The success story.to end them all, a young East Ender barrow boy starting up the UKs largest retailer, where £1 of every £8 is spent..
Soaps were originally invented to provide two services
1) to sell soap powder
2) to allow the housewife to escape the real world for 20mins or so.
Corrie and Eastenders are to much set in reality to be classed as soaps.
Say what you like about SB, Neighbours, crossroads or H&W but they are enough removed from UK reality to be classed as a soap opera.
British soaps are usually dull with recycled scripts and no glamour or style what so ever and usually an actors last port of call when they can't get work anywhere else.
Fully agree, but don't forget Soaps started on the radio in the 1930s in the US
In the US many daytime soaps have been re-classified as Daytime Drama's. It seem's Soap Opera is becoming a dirty word worldwide in the same way Porn is re-classified as Adult entertainment and Beastiality as Inter species erotica.
Changing the name does not change the content or what it is.
unless US soaps are changing what they air, no one could class them as "drama" as Charlie Brooker says (about US soaps) "makes EastEnders looks like I Claudius" no one could seriously consider a US soap, a drama of any kind.
mikw
Posts: 48,715
Comments
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=39740701&postcount=1
Blimey! DS were slow on this one!
Raymond Sharratt, 37, has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars after pleading guilty to two rapes and two indecent assaults on three girls
Frederick Hanmer, 55, was found guilty of four counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault at Exeter Crown Court on Thursday.
as I said on the first post
I think everything in my post speaks for itself, its amazing how this storyline has impacted so positively on the lives of the women involved.
Actors Shona McGarty (Whitney Dean) & Tony King (Chris Coghill), as well as exec producer Diederick Santer, as well as the writers of the key episodes in this storyline, have helped transformed lives, should all feel very proud of that.
This clearly shows that when its at its best EastEnders is a massive force for good, and something that impacts on society in a positive fashion.
The whole of each and every episode is a constant lecture on how things can fall apart if you do something 'bad', and how to be 'better'.
End of the day though, can't knock them for doing this if people still want to watch it, and IMO can't really say anyone is being over the top just because they recognise what a positive influence the show can have. It's a masterpiece of life lessons really.
it never tried to be. Sunset Beach was a soap spoof that poked fun of itself by its fantasies and outrageous storylines like evil twins, voodoo, baby swapping and love potions.
I remember my mum watching Sunset Beach years ago, I was too young to understand it but she reckoned it was so bad it was good
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1289159/Paedophile-Raymond-Sharratt-jailed-victim-sees-EastEnders-child-abuse-storyline.html
Dont panic I am sure it is just a temporary glitch, normal service will resume soon.
1) to sell soap powder
2) to allow the housewife to escape the real world for 20mins or so.
Corrie and Eastenders are to much set in reality to be classed as soaps.
Say what you like about SB, Neighbours, crossroads or H&W but they are enough removed from UK reality to be classed as a soap opera.
British soaps are usually dull with recycled scripts and no glamour or style what so ever and usually an actors last port of call when they can't get work anywhere else.
I would disagree that UK soaps are not partly about escapism, given that they are on up to 6 times a week, how can they be anything else?
EastEnders & Corrie, is how the UK define soaps, so they are soaps, we just define a soap from the US, as a "US Soap" Americans would call EastEnders a UK soap. (if they bothered to watch)
All that said, EastEnders does wonderful things with the soap genre, if you think of a soap as something that was only ever meant to sell cleaning products, then for one of them to be responsible for two paedophiles being put in jail, then you have to admit that the BBC is doing great things with its soap.
Also whilst you could never put a figure on this, one of the most valuable part of the storyline, was near the end when Tony befriend Lauren (a younger girl than Whitney) and starting to groom her, whilst Whitney may have helped those two women come forward, Lauren may have made a few more question the strange behaviour of a bloke around them.
Actually on the topic of the US view on EastEnders, Chrarlie Brooker put together a panel of Amercians and showed them EastEnders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bQ229AZIUM
I also believe that Eastenders and Corrie are both tired show's that should be put into retirement and replaced with something new. I also said the same thing about the bill a show I watched and enjoyed from the very begining until the mid 90s when it started to get stale. STV saw sense on that one and eventually so did ITV.
I don't believe for 1 second ITV or BBC will ever drop these shows because of the ad revenue and the obscene amount of money spent on sets but cutting down on episodes per week would not be a bad thing.
Even now, Bryan Kirkwood is doing new things with the show, heck he is getting rid of about 1/4 of the cast, and characters like the Masoods keep the show fresh.
Cant speak for what Corrie is like at the moment, but as long as it remains fresh& has a good exec producer, it too can survive.
As we are learning from Hollyoaks, one of the biggest dangers to a long running succesful soap is a poor exec producer, as I understand it Bryan Kirkwood left Hollyoaks in the best shape of its life over a year ago, since then Lucy Alan took over, and has seen the show become dull, and ratings collapsed, she has now been replaced.
I grant you that when the sets were first set up, im sure Albert Square and um "Corrie Street" were expensive, but over time those sets have more than paid for themselves. There was a post recently about how much an episode of EE cost, its was far less than the average cost of drama. The cost of filming EastEnders in the real world, for the past 25 years, im sure far out weighs the cost of the set, also there is just not the time for real world filming, producing 2 hours a week, they need to locations where they can film (I dont want to say 24/7) long hours, without outside forces slowing them down.
Heck the EastEnders set has been used for other projects, such as Daytime TV shows, hosted by Dale Whinton, and 2 appearances in Doctor Who.
Meanwhile the Corrie set appeared in the recent Red Dwarf mini series, and The Bill & Family Affairs, used each others sets near constantly. The Family Affairs Stanley Street set, also featured in a recent music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iBqhMfyoPU
I note there is a mistake in the Daily Mail article
not true, Family Affairs did it first, where a young girl, (younger than Whitney) was being abused by her older sister boyfriend, this was back in 2004. The character was about 10, much younger than both Whitney & Lauren, the storyline was not done in as much detail for that reason.
Eastenders is not realisistic, it's miserable and depressing, I'm sure that people in the East End aren't all like that and if it was truly realistic then over half of the characters would be Black or Asian. if you go to Leyton or Walthamstow it seems to me that 90% of the population there are Black or Asian and of the 10% that are white 9% are from Eastern Europe, why doesn't Eastenders reflect this? There are 1 million Poles in this country so why aren't there any in Eastenders? Also in Eastenders why doesn't anyone own a washing machine?:D
Interestingly enough, I saw an advert on ITV once (I was in the room when mum was watching) and it advertised Corrie and Emmerdale as drama.
And of course Jack Cohan who named the super market chain after his wife Tessie , The success story.to end them all, a young East Ender barrow boy starting up the UKs largest retailer, where £1 of every £8 is spent..
JO
Fully agree, but don't forget Soaps started on the radio in the 1930s in the US
Changing the name does not change the content or what it is.