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Is it Lorraine Newman's fault for the decline of EE or was it Bryan Kirkwood's fault?


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Old 16-09-2013, 02:56
Bomani channing
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Newman did well in restoring friendships, building up families, changing some of the god awful sets, fixing certain characters like Kat who is now as close to 2001 as we are ever gonna get and has laid some great foundations and and put some great characters in the show that I am confident will go on to shine, she has left EE in a far better position than Kirkwood and Santer did and that she deserves credit...

However when it came to storylines Newman is probably the worst Exec Producer the show has had, this year Liam's gang storyline and Sharon's pill addiction on paper looked strong, gritty and classic Eastenders storylines,on reality both were piss poor with the gang story only being saved by Pasty Palmer's strong performance but it was very much a watered down version that you would find on the CBBC channel, the gang was not scary and poorly acted and written but lets face it gangs in soaps are all like that and with a timeslot of 7.30 we can't expect much else, Tamwar's battering was laughable, a few years ago a scene like that would have had more violence, some racist language but a quick punch in the ribs and its all over, the fact most of the 'drama' took place away from the square didn't help either, Liam's stabbing was badly done in terms of the way it was filmed, the conclusion was the worst part, it started good with Kane putting pressure on the family to stop Liam from giving evidence yet we saw no court case, no scene of Liam who I think is a good little actor giving his evidence, instead just a throwaway comment and Liam leaving Walford to the sound of Little Mix, I mean seriously WTF.

Then we have Sharon's pill addiction, everything was bad about this...the research, the writing, the pacing and the acting, this was a perfect comeback story for Sharon, we know she was lost and still depressed about losing Dennis, she latched onto men and with Angie's addiction in the past everything about this storyline screamed YES, this is the perfect and natural storyline for her, but the show just couldn't be bothered from start to finish and now it seems it has been totally dropped, awful

And finally Zainab's exit, the worst exit I have seen for a character in years, whilst only 2 months earlier we saw EE put everything into Derek Branning, who was just terrible and one of the worst EE characters in years, it seemed like Zainab's exit was planned in about 10 minutes over the EE storylining lunch break and was a major injustice and kick in the teeth for a character that was well loved and popular with millions of viewers.
while I don't disagree that zainab's exit was criminal, we don't know what went on backstage or the nature in which she quit. As wendy richard's exit showed ruffling a few feathers can get in the way of creative integrity.If the writers could "stick" it to her of all people no one is a exempt. You just have to see what the masoods are today to know how important Z was.
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Old 16-09-2013, 08:09
KieranDS
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Both.

People need to remember that Lorraine Newman was Bryan Kirkwood's second in command.

Simon Ashdown also shares some of the blame.
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Old 16-09-2013, 09:56
dazza89
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while I don't disagree that zainab's exit was criminal, we don't know what went on backstage or the nature in which she quit. As wendy richard's exit showed ruffling a few feathers can get in the way of creative integrity.If the writers could "stick" it to her of all people no one is a exempt. You just have to see what the masoods are today to know how important Z was.
I agree but that is just unprofessional to give a shit exit to a character that was loved by many fans because of something that went on backstage. I'm sure at the end there was no love loss between Martine McCutcheon and Matt Robinson yet despite there differences Tiffany was given a fantastic exit. I think if Nina had fallen out with EE they would have just killed Zainab off like EE did with Tiffany and Pauline who both actresses left under a cloud.
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Old 16-09-2013, 10:04
CherryRose
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I'd say it was both, LN was part of BK's team.
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Old 16-09-2013, 14:06
dantay24uk
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I agree but that is just unprofessional to give a shit exit to a character that was loved by many fans because of something that went on backstage. I'm sure at the end there was no love loss between Martine McCutcheon and Matt Robinson yet despite there differences Tiffany was given a fantastic exit. I think if Nina had fallen out with EE they would have just killed Zainab off like EE did with Tiffany and Pauline who both actresses left under a cloud.
Tiffany was pathetically hit by a car, I don't think there could have been a bigger f you possible. At least the door was left open for Zainab.
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Old 16-09-2013, 14:18
LaneKent
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Both, because let's not forget she was his number 2.
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Old 16-09-2013, 16:41
Keibro
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Kirkwood for his faults, was a bit more ambitious storywise. A tad too ambitious for EastEnders maybe.
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Old 16-09-2013, 19:42
Pizzatheaction
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The pedestrian pace of storytelling under Kirkwood was another problem. The Yusef/Zainab/Masood triangle went on forever, with more false ends than a wig.
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Old 16-09-2013, 19:44
Sez_babe
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I think BK can get away with his style on Hollyoaks, but not with Eastenders.
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