Why do some people like trashing Louise Berridge's era of EastEnders? Some people call it the Dark Era, like it was a time where demons ruled the Square.

Berridge was underestimated in my view, she was also landed a lot of problems not of her own making such as the Ferreira's, the actor playing the father being deported, the re-writes due to that, Steve McFadden also took a hiatus from the show at the time and there were all sorts of other things and on top of all that I read Louise was also dealing with a stalker at the time so I think she was judged harshly. I personally liked her and she's far from being the worst EP.

Oh god she was awful

The square actually became boring

She was a mixed bag but Hutchinson and Harwood were much worse imo.

There wouldn't have been 12 to 14 million viewers each episode if it was that bad.

The latter half of 2002 and all of 2003 I enjoyed to a lesser extent than the John Yorke era but it was still a fairly solid time for the soap. 2004 was quite shaky but it still had the classic EastEnders "feel" about it and it managed to pick up by the end of the year. 2006 to present is essentially EastEnders 2.0.

I feel sorry for her, like Aaron said she had a really shite time on there and had so much drama going on behind the scenes I don't think she was ever able to get what she really in-vision on screen, the stalker problem must of been hell.

There was a interesting interview she did with the old Walford Web site, not sure it exist anymore but worth a read if it's still online.

I did like some aspects of her time, Dennis Rickman being one.

http://walfordweb.com/blog/entry/3788441/635468/

Her interview with WW.

I thought she was quite underrated and had a lot to deal with. The Ferrerias were forced on her from above and the big storyline she had planned for them involving Shirley Benson and the kids killing the father had to be hastily rewritten after the father was deported.

Dirty Den and the webcam fiasco ruined that particular character and storylines.

The Shirley/Gavin noisy neighbour storyline was also forced on her from above and had to be cancelled after the actor that played Gavin having to also leave at short notice.

Not to mention she had a deranged stalker after her the whole time.

The things that went wrong were generally not her fault.

I agree. Even though 2004 was a bit shaky it still felt like old EE with classic characters such as Pat, Pauline and Den ad the newer characters like Chrissie Watts. Sady that has been gone for a few years now.

Louise started off really well but a lot of behind the scenes dramas, actors getting deported, illnesses and dealing with her own stalker drama took its toll. I was surprised to read during this period Wendy Richard had cancer yet stayed on the show during treatment, shame they treated her appalingly in 2006. There was some good episodes including Janines arrest for Barry's murder and Den and Dot in the launderette but also bad storylines such as the fairground disaster and Jack the never before seen war veteran. I think her problem was she had lots to deal with, eventually including news tabloids criticising the show, saying it was going to be axed and making it out as if it was her doing when it wasn't.

At least 2005 was a solid year for EE.

Absolutely. The beginning and end of 2004 were fantastic (ironically, the end-of-year resurgence in quality was heralded by Stacey's first appearance, which is a far cry from the moody bore she is now). It was mainly the intermediate bit, with all that Ferrera kidney guff and "fairground disaster" (or whatever it was). But 2004 is still heads and heels over any year since 2005. Even the second half of 2007, which was the last quality period, it still wasn't the same show given all the classic characters who had either gone or burned out.

And, of course, 2005 was fantastic, and marks the end of "true" EastEnders.

At least it managed to pick itself up in time for Christmas. Louise left in September 2004 and Kathleen Hutchinson axed characters and made ratings go up which presumably helped. I'm not sure who created Stacey but she does mark when EE got good again. I'd have 2004 again over any year since 2007 tbh, it might not have been at is best even then but it still felt classic. EastEnders really does feel like a different show, late 2013 and 2014 were the best current years for me but apart from a few stand out performances this year it's nothing special.

Lacey Turner started filming when Louise Berridge was still there.

Dont think her time on the show was half as bad as it gets criticism for. There were some bad decisions like axing Roy and the Ferrerias IMO (oh and the fairground disaster). The Den return was believable and I loved the arrival of Dennis and Chrissie. She had to deal with a lot of off screen problems including actors leaving, webcam antics and a stalker as well.

The show was still doing fine in this period and I personally enjoyed the majority of it and I much prefer 2004 to anything 2011-13 and probably now as well.

It was Louise Berridge suggestion that Stacey Slater was created in conjunction with Tony Jordan who created the Slaters, as Lacey Turner had previously audition for Demi Miller but was unsuccessful, she also introduced Jane and brought Bitch Janine to her prominence.

I didn't much like that period of the show, but I do prefer it over 2011-13, but I always felt like she had a strong passion for the, like people say she did have a stalker terrorising her, people getting ill, pregnant,deported, scandles etc, so a lot of it was out of her control. Kirkwood for example had none of those problems and his era was much much MUCH worse, but there was no press and newspapers criticising him, which I thought was pretty unfair, not even the baby swap (the most complained sl the show has ever had) got as much flak as she did.

Berridge was fine when everything went to plan. Unfortunately, her tenure was plagued by crises. Most notably the drastic re-writing of storylines to deal with Leslie Grantham's suspension and Dalip Tahil's deportation. Then it all went pear-shaped.