I know two years ago it was very much seen as that it had a big young following stories centred on the young people older characters were seen but not usually head, people moaned on here new exec producer comes in.

However two years down the line most of the younger characters have either left, been killed off or the few that are left lie dormant and get few stories.

Have the shown gone from one extreme to the other now and it has too many older characters and it's very middle aged in its outlook now, this has probably taken a lot of the younger a viewers away.

It shouldn't be either but it just seems to have gone from one extreme to the other.

The writing for the young characters is pretty dreadful at the moment as well

Still is if you ask me? Although it's audience attracts a mixture of ages IMO

EastEnders seems to have maintained its younger audience since DTC took over, but I can see a lot of them switching off and thus causing a decline in ratings because DTC is trying to focus on the older characters now. Hopefully some of the older viewers return to watching it now that it isn't so teen-based, and the ratings will go back up.

Soap ratings are in terminal decline. It's a whole range of things but primarily two factors. Firstly there is other stuff to do and sitting down to watch so many episodes of soap is a big commitment. Internet / Gaming etc. Secondly they have all jumped the shark to a smaller or greater degree. Shock storylines are following the 'law of diminishing returns'. The basic essence of soap is being lost. What even up to a few years ago would be considered good storylines/episodes are now tagged 'boring'.

I don't think it has gone from one extreme to another, just got a better mix now.

Fact is although the elderly ratio went up a lot in the last year, with Stan and Jim (offscreen as he was) now dead, dot in prison and Cora left (temporarily or otherwise, Patrick is now the only Square resident over 60. Babe and Especially Sylvie are only semi regulars.

Re middle aged, yes i think there has been a shift in that direction purely due to characters introduced nearly 10 or 15 years ago when in their 30s still being in or having returned (Max, ronnie, Roxy, Denise, Kat) or havung been even younger when introduced like sharon, ian, Pohil who were teens or twenties, not to mention Sonia and Martin who were babies or children when first seen but turn 30 this year.

But how do we define middle aged? Are Sonia and Martin at 30 young or middle aged? Are ronnie and Roxy at 40ish? Everybody's criteria is different.

The middleaged are always going to dominate soaps as they are the longest period in a person life (only 7 years of teens, not officially an OAP until after 65, some would argue later) and it is the time in your life when the most drama generally happens - having kids, parents dying, children getting older and leaving home, careers taking off, paying off mortgages (or not if financial diFficulty) etc, etc

I prefer the current mix. With the loss of Peter and Lauren thus Where's Waldo of Lola and Whitney it has possibly tipped a little too far away from teen interest but personally i think the mix is better.

But then i am middle aged. By any definition!

It's now all adult. I think that is just as bad. Eastenders is supposed to be all ages and has fans of all ages. It's gone from one extreme to the other of you ask me.
Younger characters get little to no screentime and mostly only side stories to.

In this situations 25-60 (as a rough outline) just want thing that's not teens/child or pensioner/elderly age

No i wouldn't say that.

I fall into that category and have for 25 out of EastEnder's 30 year history. However i was interested in elderly characters when a teenager and in my twenties and still am now. I am also still at 44 interested in teen characters and storylines provided the characters themselves are interesting and we aren't overloaded with them or having them shoved down our throats. For the record, i couldn't stand Ricky Bitcher and his first girlfriend when they arrived despite still being a teenager myself at the time.

It is about balance, no one generation should be overly portrayed but due to 'middle age' being the 'longest' one in duration there will be more of them at any one time than teenagers who will by necessity either grow into 'young adult' age and them 'middle age' within 20 years at most (as Ian, Sharon and arguably Bianca have-did and Martin and Sonia are on the cusp of) or they will leave. Wherease 'middle aged' characters will have to stay in for 40+ years to become 'old'. I mean many would term Carol middle aged when she arrived in 93 and here she is 20 years later, still middle aged.

The balance is much better now. Under Kirkwood and Newman, EastEnders basically became Hollyoaks-lite. There was an unprecedented number of young characters hogging the limelight, and a huge number of pretty young actors employed primarily for their looks. EastEnders has never been a teen soap; in 1985 the show only had a very small group of young characters (Mark, Ian, Michelle, Sharon, Kelvin), and I suspect that the focus on teens in 2010-13 is what cost the show so much of its audience. Who actually cared about Tyler and Whitney? Or Joey and Lauren? It was boring as hell.

Of course, I like having young characters in the show. Some of EastEnders best ever characters have come from the 16-25 age group (and I'm certainly not old myself ) but a balance needs to be struck. The show is now largely focused around a cast in their 30s, 40s and 50s, with supporting characters in their teens and 20s. This is how it should be.

I don't think the ratings are THAT bad ATM. They could be better, but they're nothing shambolic. I'm glad the show is no longer about the teens, and if the younger audience abandon the show, as it's no longer focused on them, then they can go as viewers. Idc, as long as EastEnders isn't trying to focus on youth, which it was doing way too much 2011-2013. It was focusing on the younger characters, which helped the decline in viewers in the first place, like you said.

Yes & I'm SO glad about it!

I remember in the summer of 2013, when the show became all about:

Alice, Joey, Lucy, Lauren, Tamwar, Jay, Dexter, Abi, Lola, Whitney, etc... It was SO bad! Btw, this is coming from a 15 year old... Don't think the younger generation want the show to be about youths. Pretty much every viewer, regardless of age, will more than likely be satisfied with a good mixture of age groups and most importantly characters and drama.