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Eastenders: Can it get any worse?


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Old 07-02-2013, 11:49
smalljeangenie
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I'm normally a bit of a lurker but feel moved to actually put a post of my own about the awfulness of Eastenders for the last year or so. Been watching for donkeys years and with the exception of the awful Ferreira kidney transplant/Shirley and her cat era (which I've largely managed to block out), I can honestly say this is one of the worst periods in Eastenders I've ever known.

Its got to the point where there is literally no character or storyline I give a toss about. Zainab and Masood are two brilliant characters who are being simply destroyed. Fair enough Nina Wadia wants to leave so they have to write her out somehow but this exit storyline is SUCH an insult to a great character and a brilliant actress. Basically after all the two characters have been through, they are just splitting over a freaking water feature. I mean has Masood suddenly realised his wife is a bit of a nag and social climber?! Ayesha seems to be a total bunny boiler bitch who the Masood of old would have asked to leave weeks ago out of respect to Zainab. Looks wise Ayesha could have anyone but has set her sights on a cuddly middle-aged postman - also she seems to have gone overnight from being a clueless innocent doe-eyed girl to a hard as nails femme fatale. Would have been far better to kill off Zainab and give her & Masood a heartbreaking farewell death scene. Would have been better if they brought the Ayesha actress in a recast for Shabnam though not convinced how well Ayesha actress can act!

And as for Sharon - literally everything about her annoys me since her return! The ridiculous Dynasty hair, the totally unbelievable relationship with Jack (talk about zero chemistry), the fawning over Denny (even that nickname grates on me big time). The Phil/Lexi story is just rubbish - we're supposed to believe a young mother would have her child taken away from her that easily and given to an ex-con recovering drug/alcohol addict. Puh-lease.

The Alfie/Roxy relationship is a total flop - after quite sympathetically building up their friendship in the summer, the speed they got together and their interaction just doesn't seem natural or believable. The shagger storyline was total crap but actually I'm liking Kat better away from the endless cycle of Kat-Alfie marriage woes. Also intrigued by the burgeoning friendship between Ian and Denise - two brilliant characters who are woefully underused long with Carol. Please move heaven and earth to bring back David Wicks! His brief return was amazing.

I really think the show needs a massive clear-out of deadwood: Tyler (should have gone with his equally crappy brother and dad), Joey (nasty snarly character and rubbish actor), chavvy Whitney (so over her endless I'm a victim blubbering), Shirley (never warmed to her and she's just redundant now), Kim (one-dimensional & utterly cringy), Ray and boring daughter, Lucy (terrible actress and appalling recasting), Jack Branning (doesn't really work post-Ronnie and is as dull as dishwater), Tamwar and AJ (characters seemingly going nowhere). Jury is out on Fatboy (where is his character going?), Poppy (see Fatboy), Ava and Dexter (early days but not blown away) and Masood.

The character who I currently like the best by miles is Michael Moon (who I couldn't stand at first!). His withering sarcastic interaction with most of the other characters sums up how I feel when watching them! Thank god Janine is coming back soon though which should mean Michael and her get some meaty storylines.

Rant over!
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:07
Harlowe
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Agree with you on many points, think its the general feeling lately of the quality of the show has declined a lot, apart from a few saving grace characters who are not even being given enough screen time,too much focus on certain families and confused or lackluster storylines is making the show tedious viewing.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:16
alakazzam
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*Round of applause* .. you have just totally read and spoke my mind. You are not alone!

I agree the current period of Enders is just really really drab. I agree with everything you mentioned, Shabnam recast, Sharon epic fail, Alfoxy relationship, Shirly carter ghost roaming the square like a lost soul.

Michael Moon is probably one of the best characters / actors. I love watching him and his comments and expressions.

Enders needs a real big shake up. Something I used to watch religiously without fail has now become background viewing and sometimes catching up on the iPlayer if I can be bothered. It’s sad to see it go downhill. Not winning NTA award should wake the writers and producers up.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:16
JarkdeLuxe
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Usually when people ask "can it get any worse?", the answer is "yes". However this time I'm not sure. It's just dreadful at the minute. The storyliners and Lorraine have no clue. They need a clear out of writers too.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:23
RadicalNature
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I've been waiting for it to pick up since the Who Killed Archie? Storyline And the Lucas story before that. And Stacey's Bi-Polar.

It just doesn't feel the same since Santer left - I thought he was great.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:27
Harlowe
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I've been waiting for it to pick up since the Who Killed Archie? Storyline And the Lucas story before that. And Stacey's Bi-Polar.

It just doesn't feel the same since Santer left - I thought he was great.
I think that is a big problem we don't have any long running storylines or big characters to do it with, I wasn't Santer's biggest fan but you got too give to him he did create a buzz.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:29
Its-Gillian
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I agree. I've watched since it first started and I don't ever remember it being as bad as it is now
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:31
davedub
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EE is so bad at the minute, , the only thing keeping me interested at the moment is the Lucy SL, roll on friday when Zainab leaves, cant bare another second of her. People complained when bryan kirkwood was in charge, this is the worst its being for years
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:36
priscilla
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Excellent post. I agree with lots of the points you made.
Currently I think the show got worse. I really enjoyed Santer era even though sometimes it felt like the 'Stacey Show' her SLs were interesting. BK era was ok, but LN era is not good I personally think it's worse than Kirkwood.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:40
Broken_Arrow
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I don't like the Brannings, the majority of the teenagers/young adults or the comedy characters. With the focus on these aspects the characters I do like are being neglected. But even if they were being focused on it's likely their storylines would be boring anyway because it's all so dull.

I think, with 28 years of viewership under my belt, I'm in a position to be informed enough to declare this the absolute worst era of EastEnders since it began. The warning signs have been there for the better part of a decade that EastEnders was going to hit rock bottom and it has. Can it get worse? What could be worse than the dross this once mighty show has become?
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:43
Mormon Girl
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I don't like the Brannings, the majority of the teenagers/young adults or the comedy characters. With the focus on these aspects the characters I do like are being neglected. But even if they were being focused on it's likely their storylines would be boring anyway because it's all so dull.

I think, with 28 years of viewership under my belt, I'm in a position to be informed enough to declare this the absolute worst era of EastEnders since it began. The warning signs have been there for the better part of a decade that EastEnders was going to hit rock bottom and it has. Can it get worse? What could be worse than the dross this once mighty show has become?
Are you a fan of Carol since she is a Branning but her last name is Jackson?
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:45
Broken_Arrow
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Are you a fan of Carol since she is a Branning but her last name is Jackson?
Yes but does it really matter? She's a very minor character these days.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:47
tinkerbell987
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when i saw the title i did think not another thread bashing EE. so glad i read your post smalljeangenie as what you have said is spot on about all the characters. i dip in & out of EE. more often than not i sky+ it & fast forward to through the bits i'm not interested in so i'll what about 10 to 15 mins. totally agree with u about Sharon & Jack. don't get the whole Phil thing either. i certainly don'tget Alfie & Roxy. She's now in a relationship with a man she calls granddad? That's weird & it all happened way to quickly. Preferred them when they were just friends. Joey sleeping with Lauren is icky. Don't care that its legal it just feels icky & as for his simpering sister of his, words fail me. Why the hell aren't Lauren's parents dealing with her drinking? Couldn't care less about Whitney & Tyler either. The Brannings are overused but after years of hating Abby I've grown to like her & finally she has seen her dad for what he really is. Ray just needs to go for very obvious reasons.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:48
vaslav37
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great post - will respond in due course...
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:58
bass55
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I don't like the Brannings, the majority of the teenagers/young adults or the comedy characters. With the focus on these aspects the characters I do like are being neglected. But even if they were being focused on it's likely their storylines would be boring anyway because it's all so dull.

I think, with 28 years of viewership under my belt, I'm in a position to be informed enough to declare this the absolute worst era of EastEnders since it began. The warning signs have been there for the better part of a decade that EastEnders was going to hit rock bottom and it has. Can it get worse? What could be worse than the dross this once mighty show has become?
Agree totally, particularly with the second paragraph. I thought EastEnders had hit rock bottom in 2006/07, but I was wrong. That era looks positively golden compared to the crap we've endured from 2011 to present. And this last month or so has been, without a doubt, the worst I have ever seen it. There is literally NOTHING happening, and nothing to look forward to.

P45 for Lorraine Newman.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:59
lloys-strachan
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Fantastic post smalljeamgenie.

Eastenders has really lost it's way. The scripts and storylines are beyond amateur and have no basis in real life.
I know this is soap but a modicum of realism has to be maintained.

It also suffers from a bloated cast. Far too many characters that I really don't care about (Ray, Mo, Joey, Alice, Kim, Fatboy, Whitney, Jack, Tyler), and main characters who have come to the end of their stories (Alfie,Kat,The Brannings,Rox and Shirley), and who the writers have exhausted their limited imaginations for.
Yet we seems to be force fed Brannings and Kalfie at every sitting.
I can't believe we have another cancer story so soon on the heels of Tanya. Just shows the writers lack of imagination and experience.

The water feature story was a total W.T.F moment.

I had hoped for a big improvement after Burger King and was willing to give Lorraine Newman time to sort out the mess. Well she's had that time and it's only got worse.

Does the head of BBC drama not watch his/her own programs?
If not, why not and if so how can he/she let this mess continue?
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Old 07-02-2013, 15:33
doobeedoo1981
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Agree with all these posts. I vaguely remember late 80’s storylines (I’m 31) and have been a regular viewer since early 90’s. This is the worst period I can EVER remember. Agree about deadwood characters; in fact I’m struggling to give a damn about what happens to any of them right now, even the ones I like such as Lola. The Phil/Lola/Lexi story now just makes me switch off at it’s ridiculousness. Was looking forward to Sharon returning, but they have totally changed her and now I can’t stand her!! I haven’t watched for 2 weeks now and don’t miss it one bit, not even Zainab’s exit is enough for me to switch it on and from what I’ve read it’s rubbish anyway. When I watched last weeks Corrie with the Lewis reveal and Roy’s Mum coming back it was a dramatic reveal that was also very funny and made me laugh out loud. And I thought to myself when was the last time Eastenders made me laugh? Then I thought when was the last time Eastenders stirred up any sort of emotion in me? I honestly can’t remember...........
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Old 07-02-2013, 16:46
bumpandgrind
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I defended EE a lot in December with the build up to Christmas and the climaxes of storylines originally drafted by Kirkwood, but I agree with most, if not all of the original post. I had so hoped that the Christmas episodes would sow the seeds for new storylines to develop, but instead January turned into a month of filler episodes dealing with the Branning fallout without much else. I know some complained about Branning overload but personally I have no problems with aftermath drama – I’d much prefer to see the Max / Tanya / Kirsty plot kick into gear than nothing at all (for example the complete absence of Masoods after Christmas 2011). However that needs to sit alongside other plots. A complex drama needs to have several interesting storylines playing out at the same time to hook in the viewers and maintain interest and it seems the current production staff are incapable of this. Currently it seems they focus on one plot per week / fortnight, whilst everything else falls by the wayside (this week being for example being ‘Masood week’).

What really showed this was the Christmas Day episode. Where were the scenes of the other residents having dinner / opening presents / going for a drink in the pub? We got none of that. It was basically Branning with a splash of Roxy / Alfie. It was the least community-centric Christmas episode ever in my opinion – no scenes of the Masoods, Foxes, Beales or other groups of characters, such as Shirley (perhaps raising a glass in memory of Hev?)

I can’t yet work out in my head whether or not Zainab’s exit is as rushed as people are saying. Part of the problem is they announced it so soon to her actual on screen departure, making it look like it’s come out of the blue. However the breakdown of that particular union has slowly been happening for the past 2 years as well as strongly linked to the fallout from Syed’s exit. So it’s not completely unrealistic, although I suspect she will leave with nothing more than a suitcase or two. Ayesha has little relevance and should only have appeared as a contributing factor, if at all. There is certainly no need for her once Zainab leaves.

Sharon also needs to be fixed. This is a woman who runs away from her own wedding and is six months later considering two marriage proposals, one from her vile ex and another from a man she’s known a few months. She has zero chemistry with Jack and for the first few months of dating she strung him along without committing. I thought her moving in with him was quick but now we’re expected to believe they’re so in love that they’re engaged? Have we even seen them declare their love to each other? What tosh. Out of character for Sharon as well as Jack. It’s hardly been played as a ‘swept of their feet’ love affair. We now have a love triangle with Phil to endure – someone she wasn’t the slightest bit romantically interested in during her last stint. Leave Sharon single or write in a new love interest to progress her character. Pairing her with Phil is repetitive. As for Jack, he only works with Ronnie and should’ve been axed when Sam Womack left. Either find him something interesting to do or write him out.

There were hints of Sharon’s extended family – by extended family I assume Newman means the Brannings now she’s engaged.

Roxy and Alfie are so unbelievably rushed that it’s now taken the charm out of the pairing. It worked as a slow burner with her pining for a married man and him trapped in trouble marriage. Showing a slow build up with them both single, and him reassessing his life and falling for Roxy following Kat’s affair would’ve worked well. Instead they’ve been thrown together, Roxy’s moved in and he’s telling her he loves her within days of the love of his life leaving. Ridiculous. Also why has everyone else on the Square not batted an eyelid at this in the judgemental way they always do?

I agree that the Denise / Lucy plot is interesting and has potential, but I suspect, due to cancer being dealt with relatively recently with Tanya, it will be a false alarm and soon forgotten about. No doubt written to give Denise and Ian some more screen time when he comes back from visiting Michelle (who Sharon hasn’t mentioned once). I’m not necessarily against this as I’m all for more Ian and Denise as friends, but not sure I want a romantic pairing just yet. Whilst I’m on the subject of Ian; has he recovered now from his breakdown? Is he still seeing a specialist? Or have the writers forgotten about this?

As for Lucy, I’m glad they’re finding her something to do away from the bed-hopping teens. She’s an important character to the history of the show and I’m glad she’s got her own storyline which mixes her with some of the older cast.

Lauren’s drinking also has potential but is it going anywhere? Why haven’t her parents stepped in? She was drunk at the front of the wheel and let her lover take the flack. Surely alarm bells should be ringing! Newman has said this will come to a conclusion in the early part of the year, but based on how sporadically this storyline has already been played out, I’m not sure how I have much faith in the climax.

Whitney / Tyler – who cares? He’s an awful character and brings her down. Were we meant to care about them breaking up and getting back together? If so, I didn’t get the memo. All her storylines ever do is revolve around falling for inappropriate men. Shame as Shona has proven herself a great actress in the past. Tyler should leave – I can never see myself showing the slightest bit of interest in anything he does. Also add Joey Branning to the list of characters I couldn’t care less about. I’m still not sure about Alice.

As others have mentioned, thank god Janine is set to return in the coming months. Finally a character worth investing in and hopefully we will get some good meaty, kitchen-sink drama between her and Michael. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing how she is with Scarlet considering her own upbringing being influenced by abandonment by family members. Throwing Kat into the mix doesn’t put me off too much as I enjoy seeing Jessie and Charlie sharing screen time.

The gang storyline also has potential, although any attempt to show gangs in the past has always fallen flat. I wonder if this is the Ava / Dexter / Bianca story that was hinted at? If so, I like all the characters involved, so I may end up enjoying it.

Few more points:

Why did Bianca get a haircutting qualification in prison? Was there any point to this? Good character progression dropped.

Why have we not seen more of Big Mo supporting Kat? Mo is hardly a saint.

Is there a point to Ray? Has his daughter died or something?

Has Shirley fallen down a hole? Does anyone care if she has?

What was the point of axing Afia and isolating Tamwar so much? He is now redundant as a character.
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:16
vaslav37
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EE is a mess but the back room staff simply don't care anymore, they have forgotten that there is an audience out there that is watching this show- a show that is rapid decline.

So what has to change?

Lorraine Newman is worse than BK and I never thought I would say that- her writing team are a joke, these people who are supposed to be experienced writers have turned this show into a laughing stock. Employing Actors for their looks rather than their talent, ignoring talented actors out there who can act, giving weak actors leading storylines while the good ones are ignored-

SIMPLY THE ROT HAS TO STOP-

Axe Newman and her band of incompetent writers...

The show is littered with over a dozen characters that have run out of steam and offer nothing new...
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:23
RonSwanson92
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I have stopped watching, I used to be an avid viewer but it just seems really boring, like their is no spark to the characters or the story-lines. Kirkwood had many faults but at least some of the characters had some spark to the personality when he was there such as Janine, but now I'm dreading Janine's return as Lorraine might ruin her character.
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:29
smalljeangenie
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So glad to know I'm not alone! I was worried I would get the odd 'well if you don't like it, don't watch it' response. I was 10 when it started and watched it on/off from almost the start and then fairly religiously for about 20 years, so I really don't want to give up on the show.

BUT as alakazzam said, its no longer must-see. Generally episodes are sky-plussed and if its been a particularly dross week, I might just read a synopsis and then delete the episode unwatched! Or just fast-forward heavily throughout certain scenes (did this majorly with Tyler/Anthony/Eddie Moon scenes and Zsa Zsa/Leon/other randoms scenes). I think when you stop becoming fully committed to soaps its a bit of a slippery slope before you give up altogether (see Brookside!).

Character development is so poor and lacks any continuity (as someone said Sharon showed no romantic interest in Phil in her last stint but now she suddenly is torn between him and Jack?!). They seem to do lots of short-term little storylines that never actually lead anywhere so there's no continuity (ie. Billy and the missing post!). It seems like they try things out and think oops that hasn't worked, lets just abandon that and hopefully no one will notice. Not that I care but Ray went from nice, bland boyfriend to womanising stud-machine overnight. Has he left? Does anyone care?

Totally agree with bumpandgrind as well about Lauren. Supposedly has alcohol problems which worry her parents so much they take her to a doctor, then Max merrily sits down and glugs a bottle of wine with her in their kitchen.

I'm almost missing Fat Hev, that's how bad it is!

*Steels myself for tonight's episode*
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:39
KieranDS
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EE is a mess but the back room staff simply don't care anymore, they have forgotten that there is an audience out there that is watching this show- a show that is rapid decline.

So what has to change?

Lorraine Newman is worse than BK and I never thought I would say that- her writing team are a joke, these people who are supposed to be experienced writers have turned this show into a laughing stock. Employing Actors for their looks rather than their talent, ignoring talented actors out there who can act, giving weak actors leading storylines while the good ones are ignored-

SIMPLY THE ROT HAS TO STOP-

Axe Newman and her band of incompetent writers...

The show is littered with over a dozen characters that have run out of steam and offer nothing new...
She hasn't employed any new writers, so they cannot be classed as "her band of incompetent writers". The most of them have been there for years.
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:40
RonSwanson92
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She hasn't employed any new writers, so they cannot be classed as "her band of incompetent writers". The most of them have been there for years.
And that's the problem with EE, it seems like the show is just going through the motions.
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:42
bgtension
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Not judging by tonight's efforts so far.
The Masoods are coma-inducing.
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Old 07-02-2013, 19:42
vaslav37
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Well Kieran they are simply not good enough and need to leave...
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