So there have been a few reports at the beginning of this year that EastEnders is too white and now we have seen the axings of minor characters such as Lola and Liam. I am wondering if their axings are so they can pave the way to introduce more ethnic characters in the soap.

Personally, I feel the show has had too many new characters recently and while I have no objections to them expanding families such as the Kazemis and Hubbards, I would rather they developed the characters they introduced within the last eighteen months first.

The thing is, you cannot expect them to make Eastenders a more diverse program without them axing some of their existing characters so I feel getting rid of Lola and Liam was inevitable.

If a show with a vast majority of white characters begins to cut some of them, chances are they'll be white.

The show has been criticsed for being too white so maybe we will see some more axings.

Billy & Roxy need to go and Rita Simon's contract is up for renewal in July.

Fatboy needs to go too.

Exactly. I'm unsure about what the OP is even suggesting.

Yes. We probably will see more white actors axed, because statistically that can only be the case.

Although I do agree that characters that have been introduced in the last year and a half should be being developed more - regardless of race.

I don't think race has anything to do with the recent axings. It's not like ethnic characters, have never been axed before. Also, Eastenders has a predominantly white cast so it's not surprising if a white character is axed.

I'm not sure it's about race, it seems he cannot simple manage his cast effectively or storylines for that matter, you can tell who are his focus and he priority and it's not the likes of Lola and Liam unfortunately , I guess he also needs to balance his budget with new additions etc, Eastenders probably has a more diverse cast now then any other soap,

From the top of my head.

Emmerdale has 1 asian family, Corrie has 1 Asian family and 3 black cast members, Hollyoaks has 1 black family, Eastenders has 5 black cast members, 1 asian family, obviously that includes singlur cast members as well.

Before DTC, EastEnders was the least ethnically diverse soap on TV. Which I thought was shocking given it's setting.

Is that not rascist towards white people to axe them purely to replace them with people of other ethnic groups

No it isnt.

It's an absurd basis for a discussion. You might as well argue that Liam's being axed because DTC has a problem with people who aren't bald and then ask:

Isn't it prejudice to axe characters simply because they have hair?

When 95 balls out of 100 are red and the other five blue, if you pick out a red ball you can't ask "Typical, he hates red. Racist!"

It's absurd.

I am absolutely sure that there are laws in place that mean you cannot discrimiate againt people on the grounds of their race.

sacking someone for purely being white (as suggested) is actually against the law and a dangerous game to play by any employer never mind one who broadcasts on national tv

I also thought that when they do castings they were not allowed to specify what they were looking for such as white bald man with 6 fingers to give equal opportunity to everyone.

Agreed.

There's Kush , Vincentand that woman who Les is knocking off. That's like three non-white faces off the top of my head in many years

Maybe Karl White was axed because he was white and had the name White and Patrick had a stroke as some kind of PC-gone mad attempt to push more black faces on TV by giving him a storyline.

...or not?

You see I never really saw it like that, don't get me wrong, granted it could have a much more diverse cast and they have messed up in the past *cough* *Ferreiras* but I think other soaps have been far worse Eastenders have kept two major 'ethnic' families in their cast for more then 5 years or more actually it's nearly 9 which is The Foxes and The Masoods, the other shows have failed badly, ED The Sharma have probably been the only one to last a couple of years, others leave after one or two years.

I think BBC gets a lot of criticism for it because it's a tax funded broadcaster, you don't see ITV or C4 getting so much stick about diversity in their soaps.

I thought these axings were so that he could bring in big names like DVO and BL who add nothing to the ethnic diversity. In fact giving Kush a white mum is a bit of a cop out, as is giving Vincent a white step sister.Then there is Paul, who seems to be replacing Johnny/Lola.

The addition of Vincent and Claudette is good as far as it goes, but as she's a Foster Parent her 'kids' could all be white apart from Vincent.

We have:
Claudette
vincent
Kim
Denisd
Patrick
Pearl
Arthur
Masood
Shabnam
Tamwar

Who are all black. The show is mostly of white
Characters but some areas like where i love people are mostly white.
It shouldnt matter. We have 2 family unuts and an outside.
The way people go on makes me think they want all the white characters out and replace with blacks. Its a no-win situation as then we will have complaints that there isnt enough white characters in the soap.

I should make clear that since the beginning EastEnders has been very diverse, perhaps the most diverse. What I meant to say is that immediately before DTC's arrival, Easties was slacking in representation. Particularly in the Newman era.

Masood,Tamwar and Shabnam are not black. They are Asian. Fatboy is not black, either. He is mixed raced. His dad is white.

I agree with the BIB. It's almost as if they wanted to include ethnic characters, but didn't want to go the whole way - for want of a better phrase. Although having said that I think Davood Ghadami is mixed race in real life, so it makes sense to give him a white parent and I think Bonnie Langford really suits her role well and is great for the show.


Pearl is a baby and the names after Pearl are not the names of black characters. Ethnic yes - not black.

Hmmm a race bait thread...how long before its on lock down i wonder.

Nice to see you back posting Scrabbler!

There is no race baiting going on.

I was simply asking if there was a connection between reports such as this

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/e...-gayle-5107426

And the recent axings.

I have asked the Mods to close down the thread. There was no inclination on my part to offend anyone.

Yh i know your intentions was innocent but people will start turning it into a race bait thread.

Why are you always so fixated on Roxy? She's a much better actress than waste of space Cora.

Fatboy needs to stay, he is brown after all.

Ay I like Cora

BIB You shouldn't have to do that S. There was no suggestion of baiting in your post. The worlds gone mad if we're not allowed to discuss ethnic diversity in Soaps without people getting alarmed.