It's got to be the Lorraine Newman era. No drama what so ever.

Whatever period it was that this pile of shite was considered a good idea. I I think after 2011/12/13, any of the years considered 'bad' before then would stand up as gold.

I've watched since the start, I would say 2004 was the worst year so far

They kind of tied the knot that year, so yeah. Ian's nervous breakdown wasn't too shabby either.

Absolutely nothing happened until November 2013.

2012 was still awful but at least had Pat's death, Heather's murder and aftermath, Michael conning Jean and the Christmas episodes were also half-decent.

2010:2013 for me.

Yes that was another terrible year, I only didnt put it because the Janine and Barry SL saved it a bit.

2003. We had gems like Mo being upset Billy killed a mouse, Vicki pretending she was pregnant and Alfie scouring London for a condom. While safe sex is sensible I'm sure half an hour of looking for a condom wasn't realistic. Wasn't funny, wasn't entertaining, in fact was just like a really crap comedy programme where you know Kat will have passed out by the end. That's when I stopped watching for years after watching it from the very first episode as a kid. Next time I saw it Sonia was a really tedious lesbian so it was turned off again.

I stopped watching in 2012, so then

I'd forgotten all that. 2003 was Dens return and the toppling of Phil which I thought was fantastic.

2002 was bad so we'd just had enough by the condom caper. I can't say I even missed it even Den coming back from the dead. I only started watching again in 2008 and even then it's the omnibus in the background.

I find it pretty dire right now. I know soaps are nothing to do with real life but this is getting barmey. In the whole of London can't Alfie and/or Kat find bar work? how many more fires do EE think we need to liven things up. And with 3 kids and no jobs they should be getting housing benefit.

The Carters are tedius and don't work for me, there are too many of them, keep Shirley and put the rest out of their misery. The daughter runs the family, mummy looks like a 70's throwback, daddy does very little, and what is the point of the two sons? oh yes Whit needs another boyfriend. Grandad already has rigor mortis setting in but nobody has noticed.

Sharon and Phil have been on and off for years, always a good storyline when the writers run out of ideas for them, and a wedding with a twist, well that is exciting stuff isn't it, if they want to surprise us let a wedding go ahead with no last minutes disaster.

As for who killed Lucy, who cares? if it is one of the main characters they will get off anyway.

Definitely from Kirkwood's induction to the end of Newman's reign.

Kirkwood just produced Hollyoaks in the East End. He had no respect for the history of the show - for example Kat and Alfie being ruined under his reign and killing off Pat for no real reason other than ratings. His only real great moment that I can remember was the Tanya cancer reveal.

Then Newman came along and the storylines were horrendous. There were either no storylines for weeks or just really unbelievable ones (Lexi being taken away, Lauren coming close to death after heavily drinking for nearly a year). The only episode I thoroughly enjoyed while she was EP was when Lucy and Lauren went on a night out together and Lucy was looking out for a drunken Lauren. That was a rare moment in BK's/LN's Eastenders where there's some subtle and realistic characterisation going on. LN definitely had respect for the show's history (unlike BK) but unfortunately she was incapable of thinking of strong storylines which were entertaining.

September 2010 - November 2013 was pure drivel. Janine was the only saving grace of that entire period.

2011, 2012, and 2013 stand out as the worst years the show has ever seen. Kirkwood's stories were offensively bad, and the vast majority of Newman's work was just plain tedious.

2004 and 2006 were forgettable, but absolutely golden when compared with anything Kirkwood produced.