So what have been your highlights since he took over as producer?

Getting Alfie out of the Vic and putting the Carters in there was a great move

I love all the surprise returns

the writing and continuity is much better

Fixing Sharon has been good; mick, linda, and johnny are good creations.

But he has made some dire decisions: bringing Stacey back chief among them. (I can almost guarantee this will be something they will regret).

And too much Shirley.

Ethnically it is not as diverse as I would like it to be.

Things I'm liking: the continuing mystery of Lucy's death, the addition of the Carters and Sharon's rejuvenation as a character.

This^

The good for me:

Bringing in Tim West as Stan Carter and teaming him up with Cora - brilliant move.

The surprises and 'secrets' have been good - bringing back a bit of mystery and genuine shockers like Mick/Shirley, Jane's return, Phil sending the thugs that smashed up the Albert and the Charlie Cotton mystery.

Love that Shirley is being utilized better. I don't think she has been 'overused' at all, she is just more prominent and she is where she deserves to be at the moment. Love that we are finding out about her backstory/childhood. One of the best things DTC has done is to give her a family. Shirley/Mick/Sylvie to me is the basis of understanding who Shirley is, why she is the way she is and why she couldn't support her children.

The lack of Lauren is pleasing too me, cannot abide the character.

The returns for certain s/ls make it more believable and the continuity is better.

Lucy's murder has played out really well so far imo.

The addition of the Cokers.



The not so good for me:

Sharon. if LD didn't do 80% of her acting with her eyeballs, I might be able to take to her more.

I'm not sure on Stacey returning yet, will have to see more. I wasn't keen on her the first time around and her return earlier this year was a shambles.

The lack of the Masoods. I'd like to see them explore Mas' darker side a bit further.

Lee/Whitney. Lauren/Dean. - I really couldn't care.

Lastly - too much Tina. She has been shoehorned into almost every s/l somehow.

Stan, Pam, Charlie, Les, Johnny, Nancy and Linda are all faves of mine now. Charlie needs to be in it more though.

I love the fact Jane has returned and Ian and Sharon are at the front of the show
Bringing characters back for guest appearances is a huge plus.

I think some of the pacing has been off in particular dots plot. I am not looking forward to Nicks return but i cannot wait to see more of Yvonne. I also wish we knew more about Donna as i dont want her to be a token character.

Lee and Whitney should not be dragged out or given too much screen time.

Good

Installing the Carters in the Vic, I have enjoyed/am enjoying all their stories so far nd can't wait to see more.

The reunion of Kat and Alfie and birth of their twins.

Carol's cancer and Patrick's stroke, both well handled and raising awareness.


Bad

Alfie's silly scheming and lack of respect and care towards Kat and the twins and big I am attitude to his job and boss and guilt tripping Terry into letting him use his taxi.

Ian's shameful secret and letting Mick take the blame.

Dean being creepy with Linda.

The good:
- Sharon's back on the right path. It's not perfect but I have every faith that DTC has the best intentions.
- The Carters have totally reinvigorated the show. The Vic feels like the centre of the action again.
- There's always something of interest going on. In recent years you could tune out for a week and the story wouldn't have progressed much. Now you feel like you absolutely HAVE to watch every night in case you miss something important.
- Stan Carter. He started off as a villain, but he's now one of my favourite characters. Pairing him with Cora has also been a good move.
- Brief returns add to the stories and they make sense.
- Every character gets a moment to shine.
- The sense of mystery, secrets and lies build a momentum. EE does reveals very well.
- Shirley actually has a purpose now instead of unrealistically skulking around Walford for no real reason for almost 2 years after Heather's death.
- The acknowledgement that killing Pat off was a big mistake. You could tell in Janine and David's Christmas scenes that the show longed for that character.
- Aleks and Roxy's pairing. I like them together.
- Dean's return. Vast improvement on his previous stint. The character and actor have aged well (very well )

The bad
- Shirley has been shoehorned into almost every story in some way. She's there with Dot during her suspicions about Charlie, she's there when Jean has a breakdown etc.
- Tina Carter. Annoying, immature and dresses like a 7 year old. She's 40! The ambiguity of Tosh's character - is she a villain or not? Right now, Tosh seems the more sympathetic character in that relationship.

The questionable
- Stacey's return. The writers had written her into a difficult corner in 2010 and I understand there was never going to be an easy way of reintroducing her. I'm just patiently waiting to see her back on the Square and progressing her.

The ugly
- Dexter. I know we've barely seen him all year but the fact we've heard nothing to suggest he's been written out permanently is irritating. He should killed off - off-screen. No one will mourn.

Good

The Carters, particularly Stan, Shirley, Mick and Nancy.

Charlie and the fact that Dot has a decent, long running s/l.

Anything Denise, Patrick and Les.

I've loved seeing a few old faces but at the same time I'm relieved that most of them haven't stayed around.

I like having Stacey back but I haven't been impresses with her return s/l.

I still don't like it enough to start watching regularly. I don't care enough about all the silly, newer characters eg Linda, Tina, Tosh, mouthy woman off market . There are still too many of the old, past their best characters eg Bianca, Abi, Kat, Alfie, and some pretty dodgy acting eg Linda, Sharon, Peter. The only storyline that holds my interest at the moment is the Charlie Cotton/Nick Cotton one.

So if you were EP now you would get rid of all the characters you really dislike like Sharon, Kat, Alfie, Peter, Carol, Whitney and Liam? Because you would get rid of characters with strong links to the past like Pat and Frank and Den and Angie and the show IMO needs characters with strong links to the past. Do you think DTC did a good job bringing Janet back and would you have bought Janet back?

Does anyone like that DTC bought Janet back into Eastenders?

It's given Billy something new to do which I like. The actress is one of the best child actors they have as well!

Good

Lucy murder - although he needs to step it up a gear, Im getting a little bored atm
Old characters returning esp Jane
The Carters - although he needs to remember than not EVERY story needs to revolve around them and not EVERY scene needs to feature one of them!
Charlie Cotton, Les and Pam Coker

Bad
Sharon and Phil - I dont buy them as a couple, sorry
Alfie - nothing to add, time for him to leave
Ian and his shenanigans with Rainie and letting Mick take the blame - stand up and be a man Ian - please
Dean

Largely I agree with this, but I was glad to see Jean and Shirley's friendship being acknowledged rather than being dropped like some others. Just a shame that Jean had to leave the kids to facilitate her meltdown, as with all the kids that end up in her direction lately, it's like they're trying to paint her as some sort of Mother Theresa.

Yep it has given Billy something to do and I hope Eastenders keep her for a few years I want to see her grow up on the square.

Besides having one episode with Dot and one scene with Jean (which I agree with was good, as it acknowledged Shirley and Jean's friendship) where has Shirley been shoehorned? She is only really involved with the Carters and the Mitchell's. Phil and Shirley are linked and that isn't going to disappear esp with Ben coming back. The Carter imo who has been shoehorned a LOT, is Tina.

Loving The Carters. Very thankful for the focus on The Beales; it's fitting for their 30th. Loving Stacey's reintroduction. I've thought that Carol's cancer storyline was done fantastically. Enjoying Billy's refocus. Dean is an interesting character with huge potential. Absolutely invested in the whole Charlie situation, it's really compelling. In terms of improvements, I feel that the Brannings need more work.

Good
Resurrection of Sharon although still a long way to go and I hope there is a decent story planned for her after.

The Cottons - love that Dot has an intriguing story and am interested in Charlie, Yvonne and even Nick.

The Carters have definitely livened up the Vic. Stan is the best male character for years and I like his dynamic with everyone he interacts with. Linda is growing on me too.

Ronnie going apeshit was refreshing.

Characters like Roxy, Patrick and Denise getting stories.

Dean is interesting, he never was before.

The unsure
Don't know where Stacey fits in.
Don't like the writing for Kat around her.

Maybe overdoing the Carters a bit. That's enough for now.

Shirley/Mick: probably unfair to judge til it's over but this just seems daft to me.

Lucy. Sometimes it is intriguing. Other times it's dull. With a bit of tweaking it could have been spectacular.

The bad:

Max doing the same stories again and again. But thank crunchie his awful brothers have gone!

Dennis/Phil reveal. The pacing took all the tension out of this and rendered a potentially brilliant storyline into a damp squib.

Ronnie and the Whites. They just disappeared!

Shirley suddenly being everywhere! Don't detest her like many others do but she does seem to pop up all the time!

Tina and Tosh: Why?

The pacing doesn't seem right. Stories are picked up and dropped so you lose tension. However I suppose it's better than just having a few stories done to death.

Overall you can tell the show has been given a kick up the arse though!

Janet and Tommy Moon are adorable! Lily too!

I can honestly say I'm enjoying it more than I have for a long time.

Highlights for me:-

The whole Charlie Cotton storyline (especially the casting of Pauline McLynn)
The 'return' of Sharon (and the return of Marcus Christie)
Denise finally getting something to do
Getting Laurie Brett back
The surprise returns
The Carters (especially getting Timothy West hired).
Cora hasn't been axed, as I was worried. She's fabulous.

Lowlights:-
While I'm enjoying the murder storyline, it's another 6 months before we get any resolution
The axing of Jake Stone, just when I was starting to warm to him.
The axing of Danny Pennant, just when he was getting interesting
The axing of Terry & Tiffany, seems a shame to lose them.
Not killing off Bianca, so that we could be sure she'll never come back.
Contradicting myself, because I love the Charlie Cotton S/L, but I'm not looking forward to Nick coming back if I'm honest.
Chrissie Watts, why haven't they got her back yet?
Alfie, why is he still in Albert Square?

Again, contradicting myself, because as much as I love The Carters, and as an actress, LBW is very good, I hate Tina.
The whole time Zsa Zsa was in the show, we were told that she was a bad mother, basically abandoning her child whenever she got a better offer, but now we're supposed to like her because she's a bit 'kooky'? No, sorry, I don't buy it for one second.

I like...
The new additions, in particular the Carters, Alexs, the Cokers and Charlie Cotton
Lucy Beale murder storyline- lots of twists upcoming with this
Carol's Cancer- my favourite family having a story which united them all
Focus on previously under used characters, mainly Denise, Shirley and Carol
Surprise returns
Sense of mystery and surprises
Kalfie having twins
Patrick's Stroke

Improvemts/ future hopes
Alfie getting a storyline which doesn't involve dodgy deals all the time( Shane needs more serious material)
Kenny Beale, Ada Fox, Clare Butcher all to be introduced
Charlie Slater to return permanently and Big Mo to be remade a regular( if not done so already) to fill out the Slaters
Kim to return with a decent storyline
More scenes of Jay with Billy

I can't think of anything bad to say about him, except getting rid of Poppy.

The Carters have been a really good addition to the show, even if at times it feels like they are constantly spawning new ones!

The Lucy murder plot has been interesting, and I like the fact that it's a slow-burner.

Charlie Cotton and Alex Shirovs are really good new characters. Both seem nice people on the surface, but we are constantly wondering what their true intentions are.

I love how he and his team have clearly had a lot of fun with EE, hard work though I'm sure it has been. There is a lot of love for the past of the show onscreen, and the names of new characters are brilliant (surely inspired by Who-obsessed Hollyoaks). It's taken me ages to realise that Aleks is named after Alexei Shirov, a Latvian chess master (and writer), and I like all the Johhny Cash/Carter familyreferences.