I always imagine in my mind what I would do if I was the big boss in EE
Character continuity is something which drives me bananas I hate it when characters come back and they have a completely different personality from what they left with.
I also don't like what I call lazy writing, Where you bring back old characters or bring in new families and make the majority of the show about them, any tom, dick, harry or Sheila can create new characters with lots of secrets which have no understanding to the viewer because we have not made a personal connection with that character yet.
Id make storylines have more of a moral ending where the viewer themselves can actually learn or at least question there own beliefs or way of handling issues in there own lives. (kind of sitcom style)
I am not a big fan of murders, affairs and lies in soaps I think if you have to much of it the viewer becomes very sanitised from the issue, So when it happens it does not really have a shock value. It almost becomes the norm when in fact it should be displayed as anything but the norm in our society.
The first few storylines I would bring in at the moment would be a legal high storyline maybe even have a shop open near the square or a stool selling them.
a breast feeding in public storyline as that seems a very controversial issue at the moment.
The growing cannabis storyline would have been great I felt, as by the amount of people that seem to smoke it these days a lot of people must be growing it.
Maybe highlight the struggle that pubs are going through these days by having the Vic struggle to make ends meet.
Bisexuality seems to be on the rise at the moment or at least much more openly discussed I think, that could be a really different take on a characters relationships instead of just your typical gay/hetro angle.
Immigration seems a big topic as well these days so I would focus on maybe Stan and Aleks building a friendship based on banter but where they both learn each others point of view in a civilised adult way.
I know these probably seem quite minor storylines but I think they are current and it would be a great way to not only be a discussion point I believe it would make EE more of a representation of the British public instead of a general stereotype decided by people who are probably not as in touch with real people as they think they are.
I think the way forward with TV in general is a light mix between reality and fantasy. I understand they record episodes months in advance but I think it can be done if you have a team with there pulse on the relevant issues in our lives.
as for axing characters my list would probably be hugely unpopular so I will not even try.
Last thing I would do though is tell all cast members and producers that when you pour a hot drink from the kettle not no one can take a sip within 30 seconds of pouring it.... That will always bug me