So it has become increasingly apparent on here that DTC is now firmly settled into his role, and that for some people the cracks are starting to show whilst others are loving his work. This thread is to discuss how you personally feel about Eastenders at present, what's good and what's bad.

Overall for me the show has kept me interested more recently than it has for a long time. Largely this is down to the Carter's as I personally love each and every one of them. Whilst as a character I'm not keen in Shirley - I am looking forward to the dynamics of her relationship with Mick being explored. Mick for me has been brilliant- I expected Danny dyer to be awful after hollyoaks later last year but I have really enjoyed his character- similarly I love his relationship with Linda and the three children. I really think Johnny Nancy and Lee all need their own stories - I like all of them and together they interact and work hugely well- personally I'm not sure why lee is so disliked on the forum.

Tina and Tosh are undoubtedly the weak links- but have potential though im not hugely enjoying the baby storyline. Stan, Babe and Dean I all love. I really like the darker side of Dean being explored, though I'm not sure I would like it to extend to the rape of Linda.

My other favourite family: the Massoods are being criminally underused. I liked the darker side of Massood and I would like to see more of Tamwar and Shabnam as together the family unit is interesting to watch.

Additionally I would like some of the lesser prominent characters explored more. I really like both Charlie and Alex- they could do a lot with these, I also think Donna has potential as does Jay and would like to see these four utilised more.

Although I know i will be in the minority here I want Denise and Fatboy back together. I enjoyed their brief fling and I love Denise Patrick Fatboy and Kim so would like all of them back and in the B and B.

Whilst I love the Lucy plot Ian as a character infuriates me even more so since the rainie situation. I think Peter needs more to do than the cheesy Lauren and Lola romance as I think he is capable too. The Mitchell's and the slaters need work. The skater episodes have bored me to tears this year- I can only hope the upcoming event is actually as good as these characters can be. Again Phil and Sharon need work- as do billy and Lola. None of them interest me and I just don't know why.

Finally the brannings/butchers I'm glad Bianca tiff and Morgan are going. I'm annoyed that Tj is as I would have liked him Liam and Cindy to cope with the baby. However I am glad we are not losing Liam or Whitney as again there is a lot that could be done with them. I wouldn't much miss Abi leaving, and max and Lauren just need something new. I think the idea of a sex addiction storyline for max would actually work really well.

Overall although I have some complaints im generally enjoying the show, the pacing of the storylines and most of what is being aired. Although some improvements could be made the difference from the last few years is incredible. The secrets being kept l, older characters being introduced (les and pam) and the sustained quality are all bringing me back night after night.

I would not however miss Cora or dexter.

December 2013 - May 2014: brilliant, gritty, outstanding performances, great stories, powerful scenes, a brilliant connection in the cast, EastEnders gets it's balls back

June 2014 - present (bar sharon week): week, awful, poor performances, same old, same old, stupid filler storylines (micks swimming phobia, ian and rainie, tosh and tina) a very messy summer!

Hopefully, the autumn will be a real turn around though, it sounds like we have some amazing stuff on the way !

I was thinking when i saw him back the other day that it'd be good to see them back on even just for a fling. She deserves some fun after Ian!

Its a hell of a lot better than what it was.

I'm still loving it. I love that the Carters fitted in straight away - I remember thinking that when we saw Johnny come out to Mick; 'have they only been here 10 days?!!'

I do get impatient with some elements of it but I'm actually watching it again!

It's a brilliant, cohesive, collective body of work at the moment.

It's weaker in some places but I really believe that it's getting stronger and stronger as the months go on and we're building to a brilliant Autumn.

I agree, I think September will be the beginning of a great 6 months (at least)

If I'm honest it's been like a return to the Newman era for the last month or so. This week especially feels like it with the focus on the Brannings. I also think The Carters need to take a backseat for a while because even though I like them they're not the only characters I like and I feel a lot of the cast are playing 2nd fiddle to pretty bog standard filler involving The Carters. If there's nothing of interest to be seen from The Carters then I don't see why they need to appear all the time. There's nothing wrong with them standing in the background of The Vic serving pints but the focus on their daily activities has become boring and reminscent of the Branning dominated era of EastEnders.

Aside from those concerns the storylines need to pick up the pace because every one of them has been dragged out to the point of tedium. I scarcely care what happens next in the Beale murder or Cotton mystery thanks to the pacing. Sharon's revenge was shaping up nicely but it was taken off screen for the better part of 2 weeks to focus on ANOTHER Carter storyline. These are my current issues but DTC has done a good job with intoducing some interesting characters and developing some old favourites who went stale. On the flipside I would not say every character has had a chance to alternate in the spotlight while others order a packet of crisps in The Vic like he claimed would be the case. Many characters are completely underused while The Carters (sorry to mention it again) have been the only constant of 2014, more so even than the Beales.

Great post.If it turns out not to be a temporary blip and its going to remain Cartercentric from now for the duration,perhaps even past the 30th then my caveted vote of confidence in DTC will be up for cobsideration.

In addition to your points I think he is woefully underusing the Masoods and thats pitiful given how talented Nitin is.They had what seemed like the beginning of a renaissance at the beginning of the year and it just kinda stopped as other stories took priority.I respect the gentle easing in of Shabnam but its so slow that her return is giving the impression of being pointless.This needs attendion.However if the rumours are true that a Fatboy Shabnam romance was planned but scrapped because of Rickys suspension then that makes it more understandable but it still needs sorting.

Given the writing for Alfie Im assuming hes a character not on DTCs favourites list by a long way.In those circumstances I would prefer dtc show courage and axe Alfie rather than have him languish and increasingly becoming an irritating futile caricature.Give Alfie a grand exit-he and Shane do deserve that and let Kat thrieve post Alfie.

My other reservations are Im unpersuaded of the wisdom of making Ian Beale so detestable in the run up to the 30th anniversary and Sharon,Pam and Roxy are charactersI feel we need to see more of.
I am however excited for Ben Mitchells return and Denises much deserved prominence.

Hopefully 2015 can be a massive calm down for the carters and the beales! I hope jane and ian get back together, they work wonderfully together! I hope he can give Denise some real good material aswell! A zainab and tanya return is also much needed to build the branning and masoods back up! But we can be sure if a tanya return in a year or so! I would like to see a lot more of Sonia next year, and also key characters like kat and alfie, stacey, sharon, max and Masood! and I would also like to see ronnie and roxy kind of run the square like they did back in 2007-2009, it would be nice to see them both take over R&R again! They are wonderful! I'd also like to see better plots, not too sensational but still quite sensational, but the focus always needs to be characters, and family! Character development and famiy are Crucial to EE! And dtc has got that spot on! He just doesn't seem to be coming up with the best plots this summer! But let's see how the autumn goes first! One thing he does need to realise is that lee, dean, and tosh have all destroyed the amazing connection the carters had! They are woeful! Lee has completely ruined the carter 'kids', tosh has completely brought down tina, who is a brilliant character! And dean is just so creepy, and not even in a 'love to hate way' in a really annoying way! One other thing is the comedy! EastEnders CANT do comedy! They should not attempt it! Unless it comes naturally in the scripts! apart from that he's done a great job! December - May was wonderful! Be like that but even better and the show could rocket above 9M this autumn!

i am loving it again and especially enjoy the carters.

i stopped watching during the newman era (makes me shudder it was so bad) because it was just so dull and boring but i'm personally really happy with what DTC is doing and think he is doing an excellent job of reviving it.

Ever since the Lucy murder im struggling to watch two episodes a week, barely one, its still boring. All the storylines going on are with characters i couldn't give a shite about or the ones i do have shit storylines like Shirley been Micks mam *insert snore here*. Although what i can say is there is stuff bubbling which makes it better then it has been for a while but that could be more empty promises (wasn't Ronnie meant to be darth Vader now? Wasn't everyone from Dot to Tracey meant to have had a reason for killing Lucy?)

For me the big mistake was dragging storylines out because the main complaint for eastenders was it became boring so a long running storyline (Charlie/Nick, Lucy, Stacey) was hardly going to make ME switch back on.

Its perfect, in each and every way.

It started out well, but now we are getting an unwelcome dominance of the Carter family.

I was not a fan of DTC's early work at all; I thought January-May was very hit and miss. Some of it was good, but a lot of it was worse than Newman ever was (the market story, Stacey's farcical return).

I think the show has actually stepped up a gear over the summer; this is currently the strongest period for the show since about 2007 (and yes I know that's not saying much!), and I'm particularly thrilled with Sharon's comeback. I don't really mind the Carters taking the limelight, because they (Tina, Deano and Babe excepted) are actually interesting and engaging characters. When the disgusting Brannings hogged centre stage I was forced to switch off.

My only real criticisms are: block storytelling, a problem which plagued the show for years, is back ; stories keep disappearing for weeks on end (Charlie and Nick; Sharon's revenge) and then pick up where they left off several weeks later. And Shirley is still everywhere.

It's good, but not perfect.

I don't see any improvement to be honest it could be the same producer for all I care, it is still boring, certain characters are still over used, there are far too many teens. Too many stories are left hanging or dragged out.

I really don't care who killed Lucy she was a horrible character. They really missed something with Ian as well, there was no aftermath of his time on the streets bar the first couple of weeks then they turned him back to his old weasel self but made him even worse and I don't know whether I should have sympathy for him right now or not. Making Mick Shirley's son was a big mistake and pointless except to give Shirley a big storyline and push her to the front of the show. On the plus side at least they finally remembered Sharon and Ian's friendship!

I do think the show misses characters like Pat, Janine and Peggy (even though I didn't like the character much).

I think folk can be a little harsh on DTC, he has taken over a sinking ship and revived it - for the majority. I admit we have had some stand out weeks that are then followed by filler and that is probably something that ought to be addressed because the filler isn't great. For example the last few weeks have been pretty dull, not as dull as the material we subjected too last year though! There are many decent s/l bubbling away under the surface and I think Sept-Dec is going to be an explosion of secrets from a tangled web of lies and deciet - can't wait.

DTC has rejuvenated many characters in such a short space of time which just goes to show.
Last year we had:
*Sharon Rickman, the overbearing mum, boring and bitchy and now we have Sharon Watts who is slowly regaining her respect from viewers. The writers are also well, er, writing Sharon better too. You can see that Letitia Dean is relishing this new direction for Sharon - it really comes across on screen - my only bugbear is the 80% eyeball acting..

*Shirley: acting as a glorified extra, blackmailing Phil - which really took a toll on her character - now we have the feisty Shirley back and are exploring her history. (less bitterness and boozing though please, EastEnders) She always had the best one liners imo, but it nice to see of a combination of the original bolshy Shirley as well as the softer side of her with her family. I love how she is being written currently, the beginning of the year it was a bit hit or miss but keep writing her like the last few months and you're on to a winner Easties!. - I'm glad Linda Henry stuck around and hopefully she will for a long time to come.

*Ian- Spent most of last year as, well just boring and weasel-y - now he is in the centre of a big plot which has allowed Adam Woodyatt to really shine, still a weasel but a manipulative and extra weasel-y weasel. I'm enjoying watching Ian again.
Just three examples of good characters DTC has revived this year.

Right now we have the Shirley/Mick reveal, Sylvie's arrival, Carter backstory, Phil and Sharon's wedding, Sharon's revenge, Phil and Shirley affair, Slater house fire, Ronnie's return with another bun in the oven - courtesy of Charlie, who is an enigma in himself, Nick's return, Yvonne/Charlie/Dot, Les/Pam Coker - what's their story?, Who killed Lucy Beale?, Patrick's stroke, the aftermath of Carol's cancer to llook forward too, after a slow August - September - December looks set to be a corker, if they pull it off.

The stories I'm not so keen on are Tina/Tosh, Lauren/Peter, Rainie return - unless this is a way for her and Cora to re-bond, (if they don't pair up Rainie with Nick - that would be a missed opportunity imo), Cindy's pregnancy, Dean/Linda.

The Masoods are being criminally underused and Masood specifically is one of faves but I think they have a big s/l to come over Autumn, hopefully exploring his darker side again and they need to bring back Zainab and Kamil! Oh and Kim! I miss Kim.

Not a fan of the Brannings or Slaters besides Kat and Jean but you win some, you lose some, right?

A lot of folk seem to want every character a have a major s/l but imo that would be too much all at once - for example - the Carters, there are several s/l's running - if they gave Nancy, Lee and Johnny one as well - it would be way too much. I like the focus on the older Carter's at the mo and I'm sure the younger ones will have a bigger s/l next year when there isn't so much going on, at the moment they are needed to support the family with everything else going on.

I think every producer will be criticized over something, not every viewer will agree on every s/l and overall, bar a few slight things, I think DTC has done a bang up job. When we have filler weeks I do tend to zone out a bit but then recently I watched episodes from 2013 on YouTube and realised that even the filler weeks are of a better standard!

(I'm also at a loss at why certain people still conclude that Shirley is everywhere - she hasn't been in the most episodes and she also hasn't been in it throughout most of August, we have had several weeks through they year where she hasn't featured at all and she is only involved with the Mitchell's/Carter's bar a couple of mini scenes with Denise/Dot and Jean..)

I love the Carters but Tosh was a mistake IMO. I don't care about her and Tina and their quest for a baby. Mick and Linda are great and I love Shirley having a family around her but I wish she'd stay away from Phil.

I'm enjoying the mysterious Charlie and, although I'm curious to find out more about him, I think his story has benefited from being a slow burner.

Stacey's first return was pretty awful but her second was well done and we got a chance to see Jean and Ollie which was a bonus.

Ronnie's return has been a bit strange, I'm not sure who she's meant to be......let's see what the future brings for her.

The Sharon/Phil stuff is all a bit predictable, just a convoluted way to give her a business or two.

Lucy's murder has been hit and miss, more miss than hit though.

I was loving the Butcher/Wicks/Jackson stuff right up til David left. A dreadful exit that showed Carol in a poor light.

As for Alfie.....I can only think they want shot of him.

Oh I forgot Denise and Patrick. I've loved Denise this year. It's great having her back at the centre of the show. Now we just need to see the Massoods given the same recognition. Patrick's stroke has been well written and acted and so sad.

I agree that in the first few months of Dominic's reign the stories were explosive and gripping television. The Christmas episode was the best for some considerable time and probably matched the Archie murder in 2009.

Since around June/July, it has stagnated slightly with a lot of filler episodes and nonsensical plot lines. However, we have a lot to look forward to with Jane returning which could reignite the who killed Lucy story line and the Slater fire.

Good Post, I agree the Summer has been weaker than Dec-May but the Autumn and beyond could be cracking.

There has been nothing that has made me want to start watching it regularly again, infact most things have turned me right off it, and I say that after having watched it religiously for the past million years. For every one person that thinks the show has been rejuvinated there is someone (like me) who thinks that it has gone downhill.

The main reason that I don't enjoy it now is "the Carters", this time last year we didn't even know that the majority of these people exsisted, now we find out that Shirley has more family than the Queen. I couldn't care less about Shirleys mother still being around, that Shirley is Micks mother (variations on this story have been done to death), Mick not being able to swim, stupid drug storylines, Tosh/Tina wanting a baby......

The Lucy story is so boring now, Lucy is as annoying in death as she was in life. The story needs to be wrapped up.

The ridiculous way that Stacey has returned is just silly, and why would she want to return to Walford of all places? The place of many bad memories, it's not even where her mum lives.

Hmmm, Phil crossing somebody and them trying to get revenge, now theres a novel storyline.

The few episodes that I've seen recently have made me wonder where the hell they are going with the character of Max, he used to be great, now he just seems full of self pity.

Speaking of self pity... grow up Ian. Admit to what you've done instead of running around trying to cover everything up. Your daughter has been murdered for Gods sake, nothing could be worse than that.

I liked seeing David Wicks back, but the way he left made me detest the self righteous, miserable character of Carol even more. Thankfully some of that family are leaving, but I would be happy to see them all go.

If it wasn't for coming onto this forum, I wouldn't know a lot of what is going on in Eastenders, but the stuff I hear about Lola, Jay, Lauren, Peter etc is never going to make me tune in.

I will tune into the return of Nick and to find out what the Charlie storyline is all about. That seems the most interesting story going on at the moment.

I did look forward to the return of Ben, but when I found out there was going to be yet another recast, it has put me right off. Some of the recasts have been terrible.

I would like the characters of more established regulars like Max and Masood improved and given decent storylines rather than all of the newer, tedious characters that are being brought in.

A lot of the stuff happening now is just a watered down version of storylines that have gone before. Is there no originality anymore?

Summer is never good for soaps, story wise, and this year all the soaps feel quite weak for some reason - but EE still feels a hell of a lot stronger than it has been for the last few summers. Autumn will be when we know for sure. Yes, the early part of this year was a surprise, considering how new DTC's work was (I honestly expected to see a lot more threads of "I hate it and I hate the stories" filled with posts that said "You've go to give it time; his stuff is only appearing on screen now/he's still finishing off the last EP's stories", but there were very few of those compared to BK and LN's beginnings); but the summer lull is nothing new, and everything on screen coming into Autumn is DTC's work. If it works, it works and a lot of people will be happy.

Personally, I've enjoyed the summer stories more than the last few years' offerings, and I'm looking forward to Autumn. I also love how I can't get on the forum after an episode, and jokingly predict all the major 'twists' in shitty stories. These days I'm actually left guessing, and DTC has managed quite a few nice shocks/surprises.

Tired of the Carter's but unsure why Danny dyer seems to be camping up the character with each passing week, this coming Monday proves this.

There is also quite a camp feel to the show in general now

The characters that have been pushed to the forefront seem to be more producer faves than viewer faves.

It's also getting less viewers now that what it did under the previous producer which is very worrying