They do read these forums and they must have an idea that people are unhappy.

Although I do appreciate this forum is not always tune with the public.

Looking into the near future seems like the Carter stories are going to run and run and the producer doesn't care what the public think of this as they are his pet project

DTC is not on a zero hour contract, he has got a job for life.

He won't be if the viewing figures stay low

DTC needs to be careful because this is his dream job and if he keeps the Carter dominance up the viewing figures will drop and he will be sacked.

I like the Carters but EE must return to be an ensemble show

If DTC does leave I think the Carters will be culled. I can see Nancy, Dean, Tina and Lee going if someone else took over. Danny Dyer will be safe. He has quite a big fanbase and cult following thanks to films like The Football Factory and The Business. Granted some of his films flopped but he still has a following all the same. I think if someone else became producer maybe even Linda might leave Mick and go to live with her mother.

They'll be toned down and/or be out of the Vic.

I actually think Janine (she will be back in a few years) will be the next owner, buying out the Carters.

Mick, Linda, Shirley and Tina will still be around. I think Babe and Dean will be gone by then. Dunno about Lee and Nancy.

I think the actors themselves may get burn out, some are in the show 2 to 3 times as much as other characters

I would L♥VE Janine to take over The Vic! I would also love for David to return with her as co owner and for Carol to be given a job behind the bar and glam up. Yes!

Danny Dyer was never brought in as someone who would stay around for a long time. Another Steve Owen. Big impact / central character and then gone. It's the future for soaps otherwise you end up with Phil Mitchell type characters. Once great but living off past glories. Completely lacking credibility and rehashing storylines and going round in circles.

Oh I love the idea of Janine and David running the Vic 😊

Agreed.

DTC is a wealthy young man for 37.

Probably. Or when Danny Dyer leaves. Whichever comes sooner.

I think Danny Dyer would leave if a new boss came in - esp if the new boss didn't pander to his every whim - If Danny left - I imagine Kellie would follow suit and maybe Danny-Boy too. However it depends on how long DTC stays - Danny Dyer may leave sooner.

I think Babe/Annette would continue as a regular-recurring character. Sylvie may well stay as a guest or they may forget her completely.

Shirley, Tina and Nancy are the characters I could see staying around long term - though any of them could be axed by another producer.

Too soon to say on Buster, I don't know if Karl Howman is the type to stick around long term anyway - I would like him too but I'm not sure, nothing has been said. Interestingly I was told on twitter that his contract is under negotiation but he is there until at least June - which would tie in with then Linda Henry takes her A/L - wouldn't it?

The Carters are already burned out. They've had about five years worth of storylines in 18 months. Hard to see what else they can do with them now.

So long as they take Shirley with him when they leave...

OP - in a word - Yes, it will take DTC and/or DD leaving to cull the Carters back imo. The day cannot come soon enough.

I was pleased when they brought Shirley's family in because I love Shirley but they have been nothing but trouble for her as a character since this rape story. I wish they had incorporated Shirley more into the Fox/Trueman clan now.

I liked the idea of getting to know Shirley's family and I think that meeting Babe, Sylvie, Stan and Buster has been brilliant and explained alot about her (plus they are great characters). Tina is a good addition but I'm not sure 100% about her characterisation and although I like the idea of Mick and Shirley, this Dean situation should never have happened and has ruined their once brilliant relationship. We saw so much of Linda last year that I'm just bored of her, and Lee. And Mick is grating.

I don't think the Carters should have come in and gone straight into the Vic actually - I would have preferred Mick and Tina to have come looking for Shirley and then tptb could have brought Stan/Babe in, then Sylvie, and Buster - who would have been there for the Mick/Shirley reveal.

I think the Carters (Mick, Linda, and their children) would have worked better had they been introduced as an entirely new family with no connection to Shirley. The connection to Shirley adds nothing to the dynamic because they are all good characters in their own right. Indeed, I think Shirley has actually hindered their development, particularly since it was revealed that Mick is her son. And the rape story has finished them, as far as I'm concerned.

I have also had a suspicion that introducing the Carters was just an easy way to get Shirley into the Vic, and thus the heart of the show. Shirley is a DTC creation and we all know how he loves having his favourites front and centre. If they wanted to extend Shirley's family they could have easily introduced Tina (who we already knew about), Aunt Babe, brought back Deano and maybe create another unknown sibling. There was no need to connect an entirely brand new family to Shirley; it always felt very forced to me.

I don't think it was so much about getting Shirley in the Vic - she is being taken out of that dynamic now, isn't she? She will be bought out soon enough and they have already taken her name down.

But, and I say this as someone who is a fan of Shirley, I would rather she wasn't connected to the core four. I liked Shirley and Mick and I liked the Mick/Shirley parentage story but with everything else going on, it has got swept under the carpet and it could still have been done but with her brother coming in with Tina and not being connected to Linda/Mick/Lee/Nancy in the Vic.

I don't think Shirley has hindered their potential though - I think the rape and repetitive nature of their scenes is what has hindered them, as well as Linda and Mick being at the forefront of the show and the forefront of every advert or promo for the show. Generally I find the core four quite boring as characters - I feel like Linda is just a mash up of past landladies and doesn't really have an identity of her own, Mick - I mainly see as Danny Dyer and Lee is dull and forgettable. Nancy does show promise though. I don't see the chemistry between Mick and Linda as a couple and don't like them in the Vic either.

The likes of Babe, Tina, Shirley, Sylvie, Stan and Buster are flawed characters but are much more interesting and watchable to me. (If we forgive the terrible rape story). I see them as a separate unit to the Vic Carters now anyway.

The BBC Chief big wigs will never axe DTC. He has brought stars to EE which those kinds of people at the top like as it gives them press inches.

DTC will leave when he wants to leave.

Exactly. EastEnders has received nothing but positive press coverage since DTC took over. The BBC will keep him as long as he wants to stay. Which means the Carters are staying put for the foreseeable, unfortunately.

Agreed. The only one I can't stand is mick. He has done the opposite Linda who eventually grew on me, he has become worse and unbearable. He has to go ASAP and Dean will have to

Agreed.