Chryed leaving didn't even get a mention in this weeks article Hollyoaks got like 2 pages though! Not good when I'm trying to ignore John Paul's imminent return and keep him safe and happy in Dublin with Craig!

Hello

Congrats to Jenn on her milestone

Very interesting discussions on parenthood. For me the most important thing is love. The more people a child has in their life who love and care for them, the more likely they will grow up to be happy, confidence and well-adjusted adults who value themselves and others.

Syed chose to share his role with Christian. To give Yasmin two loving fathers who would bring her up together. In the eyes of the law Syed is her Father, but to Yasmin they are both loved equally as her Daddies. And there is no reason for that not to be the case for the rest of her life.


I agree. I think both Syed and Christian have been shown to be very loving parents to Yasmin. Christian has always been shown to be a natural with children - Amy, Lucy,Bobby,Peter and now Yasmin. And was at the right stage in his life for parenthood. Where Syed has less experience with children and was still coming to terms with who he is, when he found out he was a father.

There was only a few scenes were Syed was rushing out the house when Christian and Yasmin were at home, and it was when he was stressed and guilty about the business.(and part of that was letting Christian and Yasmin down,not providing for them in the way he wanted to or thought he should be- because he loves them so much) That is human and does not mean you are not interested, or you love your child any less at that moment.



I was so happy we got the happy ending last week, that I thought I had let go of the anger about the exit story, but this week it has been slowly coming back.

I feel sorry for Jamie Foreman. It must have been very hard to keep coming into work every day and either have the same argument with your on screen brothers or son - talk about groundhog day!

I wonder if the Chryed exit story line was played out on screen the same way as Marc and Johnny has been told it would? I have my doubts


Hi Lovely post about a great thread

Hi, thank you!

And great post BIB is a good point also! He wanted to provide for his family and didn't want to be seen as a failure in their eyes.

Hi AussieEnder I have not watched the DVD yet either, but hope to get time tomorrow. Really enjoyed reading the Q&A booklet and programme.

*waves to Jenn* and thank you

Morning

Really lovely post Seemoewe

Morning MrsP

Seemoewe's post is lovely....wish I head been on here at the start of the Chryed story...oh well

Fantastic post seemoewe!

I must admit, this past week,I have found myself lost.

I've been lurking alot lately and yesterday joined in on the Yasmin debate but with Chryed no longer a dynamic, it does change the function of the thread. It's now a memory for us, which is fab. I'm just having a hard time adjusting. For three years, I - sorry we, have been specing, ranting, discussing debating all things Chryed on screen and future spoiler snippets and now we have none of that. It's come to a permanent end. I suppose when you constantly have three years of that, and then it stops, it's difficult to make that transition. I never found it this hard when Shannis left but that's probably because I was in the middle of my uni degree so just threw all my efforts into that. :sleep:

What I have been doing this week though, is throwing myself into my xmas shopping. I've bought lots of new decorations to spice up the house and yesterday I was downloading xmas tunes.

Anyway, I think it's because it's all so raw and they only left last week that it's going to take some time. Chryed, this thread, have been part of my life for such a long time and we're no longer at that stage where it's a black hole. Give it another three months, it will feel less bad and I can continue to throw myself into my weight loss, which I'm at my half way point now! So yeah, concentrating on other things, but always having this lovely memory of this place and the fandom as a whole!

This thread rocks and will always be the best fandom EVER!

I've found myself feeling quite lost as well...I knew it was coming, but I couldn't really prepare myself for it. It hasn't helped me that I was not very happy with the exit s/l (they deserved to have more thought put into it - it would have been enough to resolve the 'Amira' issue properly, or just explore Syed's feelings on the marriage - they did too much, and did none of it justice) and it also doesn't help that EE is not watchable for me at the minute. Maybe the Masoods in general will be something for the thread to 'appreciate'?? Just a thought

Well done on the weight loss

I think the exit has alot to do it with it for me too. I enjoyed parts of it. Others I didn't. I liked the scene in the AB ( but I do think a large chunk was cut) and if I'm honest found thier departing scene total cheese.

I think if thier exit storyline was better (no cheating and character assasination for Syed), I'd be able to move on better.

I think this was what fundementally allowed me to move on from Shannis, easier than I have Chryed. While Dennis died and I was devestated, neither of them strayed and they were in love right up until the end. Also because they were big characters they were never short of screentime or development. I was gutted when EE killed of Dennis because what I really wanted back then was for him to get his happy ending with Sharon. However looking back now, I don't think I realised how lucky I was.

I'd really have a exit like that if it meant not this dross over the last two years.

This has also been the first time I've shipped a couple, which have been D-listers for thier show. Not saying Chryed are that, but thats how they were treated by tptb. I've now walked a mile in the shoes of fans who's favourites never get any screen time or blockbuster storylines in favour of certain other families and characters. More than anything, I empathise. I'll never take screentime for granted again. I used to moan when Sharon and Dennis were off screen for more than 3 weeks. Never again. We've had 3 month black holes at a time these past two years.

Having said that, under Santer, despite certain families taking centre stage (and with him, it was clearly the Mitchells), he never neglected other characters. Under his helm, EVERY family had a big block buster story. The Mitchells had Ronielle and Who Killed Archie. The Slaters, Stacey's bi-polar, Masoods had Chryed, The Foxes, had seriel killer Lucas, Jacksons, Tony's abuse of Whitney, the Beales, Steven Stalker/Lucy's rebellion plot. The only family I don't remember having a big story was the Brannings but that was because Jo Joyner took a year off. I do remember the ridiculous burying Max story though :sleep: - one of the weaker periods of Santers rein. Santer did give us Stax reveal however was easily one of the best episodes last decade.

Kirkwood on the other hand, to be fair did try to give stories to each family. The Masoods got the Yusef plot, Jacksons the connor thing :sleep:, Mitchells/Slaters - baby swap, Ben killing Hev, Moons, Eddie plot, Beales, Ian/Lucy/Mandy, Foxes, nothing, Brannings, everything.

The difference in storytelling, quality and screentime is shocking! I'll never describe any of his storylines hard hitting blockbuster storylines. His high point was Billie's death and that's it.

Sorry for the BK rant. I'll never stop being pissed off with what he did, for not only my favourite couple, but my favourite show too.

I did feel sad when on the TM interview Marc said about the 'decline of Syed' and I don't know why they decided to write it like that and as you say leave out what could have been really interesting avenues and already existing issues. Maybe they just aren't up to it.
Well I think I might know why they went with what they did, but that's guesswork but it does seem to be what they sometimes do when people choose to leave, maybe so the s/l doesn't leave a massive hole by the time they go.

If Syed and Christian had left in the middle of a well written gripping s/l like they used to get it could have been quite damaging.Less so this way. A lot of fans had given up anyway.

I hope they realise that destroying characters that people care about is quite damaging to your audience too though.


I could be totally wrong and probably am it's just it would have been a shame to find out after the ticket application thing closed. Yes that's true about ballet training but for a one-off I think they'd go more for the entertainment and they'd want some good people rather than all new to dancing.

Apparently Louis Walsh is leaving DOI though...that might be interesting too...I've never watched that but Jason Gardener? I think does it or used to and is a good friend of Johnny's too.
So that's another thought maybe too. Again though would it clash with panto? I'll stop speculating about things I don't know enough about now.

Good Morning All

Just thought I'd pop on as not been posting for a couple of days but have been lurking.

Jenn, congrats on your milestone.

Seemoewe - lovely post! Hope you still post on here from time to time.

Katrina....I'm the same, feeling a bit lost. Yesterday felt rather angry all day - kept thinking of the lack of care and thought put into the final story, and the fact that clearly some things were still missed and edited out. I will NEVER understand EE in this respect. Really interesting to read on the MF that Jamie Foreman is not happy and I don't blame him!

I feel really sad, most of all - that the programme has got into such a big mess - obviously all stemming from the beginning of this year and back before then and it's a shame that the effects are still showing on screen. Lack of long term planning seems to the biggest issue. Sounds like they are promising things to actors but then the character doesn't get taken in that direction after all. This seems to me to indicate that perhaps there is not enough vision in the storylining team or perhaps too many conflicts of which way to take it?

I miss Chryed very much but I'm still glad they are gone. The enormous blackhole with them gone from the screen for most of this year meant the final story couldn't work that well, and it was rushed, with not enough build up or motivation (really) for Syed's behaviour. But if they had chosen to do something else, such as an illness storyline that would have felt rushed as well, it's difficult to make anything work because you have to have the characters consistently on screen much more, IMO, to really make anything work and not seem out of the blue. And all the Masood family relationship development that we missed!

I will say it did achieve a few important things:

1) The whole Syed is gay only for Christian angle was well and truly squashed. That I think was important. That was perhaps important in the bigger scheme of things and something that needed to be done (not nice if you are fans of them as a couple) but looking at the bigger picture I don't think it was destructive to their relationship and I feel like it was important that Syed's sexuality was seen to be his and his alone. I would however have LOVED a conversation about why he felt he did it - in more detail - but as usual we are never going to get that kind of depth, although I did appreciate the line about needing to see if he was still him without Christian.

2) Having realised the grass wasn't greener - he definitely did choose Christian, meant it on the day (despite the evil twist which was really unnecessary) and I think seeing the vows twice over was lovely. I think this removed some of the argument (not from in here) that he was tying himself down too early to Christian - and I really felt that it was more about Syed coming to terms with his whole life and where it was rather than just anything to do with being with Christian per se.

3) I felt seeing them finally realise some of their patterns of behaviour and look at their imperfect relationship was realistic and made them more 'real' and more grounded. There was real honesty in how they wondered what made them tick and what they were all about - and also something of the mystery of love was touched on - because in the end it's very hard to explain that type of powerful, chemical attraction in words, it's a mystical thing. And they decided it was too powerful to let it go - too precious to lose and they decided to go on together.

Big regrets - I really do wish we could have had more scenes with Syed and Yasmin. I followed the fatherhood debates yesterday and it never came across to me that he loved Yasmin less, just that he felt the burden of responsibility more and felt rather swamped and confused by it all. I think it must be difficult to have the other partner take to it all so much and be so 'into' it - so I do think he might have felt a bit pushed out or perhaps just let go of the reins. I also think the need to 'be someone' was re-activated by becoming a father, and also so suddenly. I did think we got some lovely scenes with 'bounce' and reading the duck book - they weren't entirely absent.

The whole Christian Daddy thing - I've got no problem with Christian saying it - as it was clearly what Syed wanted and he himself said they were both her Dads. So it wasn't as if this was assumed by Christian - he was actively invited into this role and to take that title. I also feel it was a bit like last year when he felt he was on a knife edge and could be rejected or pushed out - I just think this is part of his personality and he is beligerent at times, and will fight not to be pushed out and won't let things go. Sometimes it makes him come across as a bit desperate, but again, they are meant to be flawed and his behaviour comes from a need to be loved and to belong.

Now it's more complicated and of course there might be a further debate with Amira but I think it would be unfair to take that away from Christian now. He did do more of the day to day care in the last few months (it would appear from what we saw) and you can't have it both ways - they 'enabled' Amira to find herself, (and I don't begrudge her this in the slightest) and therefore they did their bit for her, about the only thing they could do. I don't think Syed would want Christian to lose that right, to call himself her Dad. Interesting all the passionate feelings it brings up in people but I really do think there is no right or wrong in any of it - for me it's fine to call step-parents by their first name instead should the person themselves, the other parties or the child when they grow up - want this. In my own family we've always had both situations - one where my uncle was called Dad from the word go as he took over and the biological father was not on the scene and never has been. And the step-parents have been the one's who have stuck around, long after the biological parents have departed. I think it's up to the individual's concerned and every single case is different. In this case, as they are looking after Yasmin from so young, it's fine to use that title, IMO, and of course she should have the whole situation explained to her properly, and in stages, as appropriate as she grows up. And then she herself can decide if that is what she wants to call him, and indeed Amira's new partner as well. I think ultimately it has to be the decision of the child but of course this cannot ever be until several years have elapsed because of the nature of growing up.

With regard to Syed not telling Christian, about the change of arrangements - I think he should have considered him and told him, but I completely understand why he didn't and couldn't because they were split up and also he felt a complete failure and totally wrecked by that stage. I also saw that it was a strong thing to do - looked at from another angle - he took his own feelings out of the equation and of course we all found out that it was only ever a temporary arrangement - so it wasn't as if they were intended to have sole custody forever. He put Yasmin first because he believed he had far less to offer her (not necessarily correct but it would have felt like that to him in those moments)

It would have all been improved 100% by us being able to meet Amira's new man, he didn't even get granted a name! It would have made it work so much better and would have provided good on screen motivation for Syed's reasons (which I understood) - this is a prime example of absolutely rushing it. Syed needed to have met him and therefore this was just one of those moments where it all seemed a bit unbelieveable......not only that Syed would let her go to someone he'd never met but that the Masood's would too.

I was really annoyed by not seeing the end of Amira's journey because I wanted to see this man and also to be able to imagine him as part of the new set up in Birmingham. It's like they couldn't get it all off screen fast enough. And of course Masood and Syed - we didn't even get their scene. I'll be forever angry about that. Their relationship was always underexplored - such a disappointment for me.

Right - said I wasn't going to be negative any more (not easy) - I did still love the good bits and of course I'm so glad they went together. It's just kind of frustrating that there is this rich vein of material that never got to the screen. But I guess we were always good at using our imaginations....I just hope we are left in peace to fill in the blanks ourselves and if we do get some on screen mentions of them, they are happy and positive ones!

I'll be on from time to time. I'll try not to do any more posts like this as it's boring and I'm boring myself

Laura - I'm excited for Johnny's new news....thanks and who me - thanks for the SCD Christmas special tips - somehow I don't think it would be this but you never know - I'm hoping for an album myself as that would be something that wouldn't involve loads of trips.

Once my bank balance has recovered a bit - by the summer Johnny in a musical and Marc in another play or in a musical too would be fantastic!

Sorry I don't have time just now to give this post full justice but I think this must be true...I hope so. Well I don't it will 'p' me off totally to be fair but I'd like to think originally it was better. And it would follow with whatever logic was behind cutting that Syed and Masood scene.
If the AB dialogue was supposed to be this as Marc described...

"The writer, Pete Lawson, was very careful in looking back over their story, and has written a very detailed argument for both of them. I hope it comes across well and explains why the characters have behaved the way they have over the last three-and-a-half years.”

....Then it just didn't do that, so maybe some was cut.

Hello!

I agree with posts saying how angry and upset they are at tptb for how they treated Chryed and Johnny and Marc. It is literally is so absurd to me how badly they were treated. Not only two of the most interesting and emotionally complex characters but also two of the best actors who unlike so many other actors never gave tptb any trouble off screen.
It is literally only down to Johnny and Marc's amazing acting and loyalty to them and the Masood's that I kept watching. Even when the story was terrible you could at least rely on the the acting, the chemisty (and the pretty!)
The good things were so few and far between and only ever lasted a couple of eps....ARBC, proposal/bed scene, break up fight, reunion with family, wedding, leaving ep. There were other eps and scenes that were good but the majority of it......piper kiss, surregocy, adoption, BF, Amira's return, Syed losing the money, Danny.....just smacked at tptb caring so little that it's insulting to the characters, actors and the audience.
Not that I suppose the favourites fared much better...I mean tptb loved Kalfie and looked how they've ruined that.
But still the appalling lack of screen time and care from everyone except the actors and a few of the writers will never not make me upset. And it's a big reason why I won't watch the show any more. And also because nearly all the plots at the moment are awful (Joey/Lauren ridiculous ily after a week, Kat shagging a shadow, social services give a dangerous criminal someone else's baby, moronic Branning brothers, no one caring that Ian had a breakdown and his apparent sudden recovery, Lucy turning into a simpering drip who would beg some annoying bloke to stay with her, Titney dullness ruining Whitney's character, Kim never being given a story of any substance, Denise never being given a story, Sharon pretending to be engaged to Phil making me wish she had never come back.) Cora's story with Ava, the Masood's, Roxy and Fatboy are the only things I care about any more but that's not enough to keep me watching.
And I feel sad saying this because I've watched EE since I was seven! I took breaks at times because of things going on in real life like illness, exams etc but I never stopped watching because the show was bad before. And it's bizarre because the actors are generally all really good and the writing can be really good but the stories are just mainly all....terrible. I'm so so so sooooo glad Chryed are free from EE now!

Rant over!

Great posts starfish and elphie. And, no, who me, the AB talk did not really come near to helping us understand what had been going on in the last two months let alone 3.5 years!! That could have been done during the I can't say ILY madness (plot device so Syed made the decision over Yasmin alone??) - it should have taken a good week's worth of screen time to sort out the mess of a s/l tptb created

My mantra over the last week has been at least Syed chose Christian - Danny was a mistake and he didn't want him, he gave into lust at a moment when he was at his lowest and thought he had ruined everything, anyway - and Chryed went together. It's not much, but it's something

Hiya

BIB 1 - that made me sad too. That's the thing I've been most upset about - that he feels let down. However he seemed good humoured and philosophical at the stage door and I'm sure Tape was a huge boost. Don't want to post private conversations on here but I think it must have helped a lot to go straight into something else - they have both thrown themselves into work so that is good.

BIB 2 - I think I really dislike this aspect of EE - the desire to ruin a character (Syed was not ruined for me, I still love and adore him) but the ramping up of all the negative bits, I hate. They did to Ronnie, and they did it to Pauline and I am sure it's to do with some misguided notion that the audience finds it easier to let go of a character (felt they did it to Stacey too) - it's idiocy and incredibly annoying.

Mind you, I hated that they took it too far with Christian too - last year, and Johnny wasn't leaving - just seems I hate the soapier aspects of soaps, I should probably give EE up for good.

BIB 3 - Jason Gardiner is going back to DOI. Which I'm pleased about as I think he's the best critic (although does sometimes go too far).


Cut for space, but yes, this is it in a nutshell.

Katrina - don't apologise for the rant! x I think too many new characters who all felt the same, both male and female, was the biggest mistake of BK's reign. I think the producer should put their ego aside and think of the overall show - use the existing characters better. We had far too many similar males and females introduced and all in a similar vein. Made it all feel very generic and I like my characters to be distinct individuals.

Ah well, said I would try to stop droning on about it all - seems I can't shut up today.

Elphie - good rant! I feel the same as you about all the current storylines. Everything feels dumbed down and also a bit unrealistic.

Right I must go for the day and stop sitting on here. I promise to come with some kind of a different offering than just moaning next time I visit. Not that there is anything wrong with that, and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts and we are all saying very similar things.

Speak later, and Love has Prevailed.

Realised I'd forgotten to check the spoilers.

Then realised I didn't need to. :sleep:

Let me guess...

Derek gurns and shouts

Lauren and Joey get married

Phil wins 'dad of the year'

and Sharon and Tanya snog

(ok that last one is just my fantasy :sleep: )

Afternoon

Good to see this thread is still moving along, albeit slowly. I hope it continues to. We still have plenty to talk about and im sure we will have stories from panto come Jan and of course the survey results, which i really should do btw. Havent had time to do it yet.

My life is very hectic. Got to get sorted for xmas and my birthday is in 2 weeks so ive got to do something for it. Plus having 2 very noisy kids to look after is driving me mental. Being on here is the only peace i get. Dan wants us to get our whole flat done up for xmas and he's already looking a painting sheets. Im not keen as it means moving out to my parents or Dans and id rather have a nice family xmas the 4 of us is my ideal day. I think he thinks he can twist my arm, which to be honest he probably will, but i rather take it a room at a time and we dont need to move out then. He will convince me though. I know he will. He convinced me to have a baby and i got pregnant with Lily a few months later and then a few months after she's born he convinced me to start trying again but i found out i was pregnant with Jayden a few days later and only last night after the kids were in bed he spoke about us trying again in the new year. Im not sure but Dan will probably convince me. I do want another but id like to wait. 2 kids under 14 months is hard work im sure i could handle a third so soon but who knows, i may have been convinced by the next time im on.

BIB: It would be great if EE went 'gay' - who would make good couples? Alfie and Ian? Phil and Jack? I'm stuck with who Denise might be good with...Kat and Kim...now then they might think of some original stories

I'd just love them to have a lesbian, bisexual or transgender (spell check doesn't recognise this word ) character. But I won't hold my breath.

I got the impression from the LN interview that she is holding out for Gary Lucy to come back

Dead thread

Also having withdrawal symptoms. I miss them sooo much. It's mad - I wasn't enjoying their s/l towards the end and was willing the exit to hurry up. They've been there for 3 years and it's harrrrd.

Great posts, especially yours Starfish.

Poppy ITA. It's not just that they've been there three years but we've been this collective thing over three years. Everythings changed now.

It's going to take time. We'll always have the fab memories of them and this place. It's just a hard time adjusting.


I'll be honest, I'd like him to come back. It won't make me watch again but I do think he's the kind of character that the show is lacking.

I never did like what he did to Chryed but his character I did find interesting, as a single entity. I can so see him ruffling a few feathers on the square. He makes a much better villian than Derek, even Michael IMO. He had a real villianary presence about him.

GL could have potential. If utilised properly he could be a success. It would be great to have a different type of 'gay character' too - one that's promiscuous, villainy, smooth.....

I wonder when they'll introduce a new gay couple? They can't EVER compare to Chryed, obvs, but I'l sure EE will create one at some point in the next few years.