I'm watching a lot of the episodes from the first half of 2000 again on Dailymotion, and even though the early 00's are considered the shows peaks.

I'm finding the era didn't get off to the best of starts. There seemed to be a lot of secondary characters receiving poor storylines, and characters such as Irene and the DiMarco's appearing in almost every episode. It's no surprise most of them characters have been forgotten!

Did anyone else find this period a bit dull or is it just me? A far cry from the second half of that year and 2001/2002/most of 2003.

For me, 2000 & 2007 are very similar, with that they were poor in the first half, but the second half of those years saw the show on top form.

It's no different to any other TV show, everyone remembers them with a hint of rosy glow nostalgia but when you actually look back and actually view them you just see how bad they actually were, very few have stood the test of time that well especially the production methods and values, with soaps they have moved on in the types of stories they cover, but otherwise they are no better or worse than what they used to be it's only in some peoples minds that they have actually improved or worsened when actually in realty are still the same..

I'm pretty much behind you, lou. Save for the aftermath of Mel/Ian and the Matthew/Steve stuff it had literally nada going for it until Nick's return/Anthony's reappearance (not that I particularly liked him). It went from strength to strength after that point (Ethel/Dot, Slaters' arrival, Sonia's surprise pregnancy, Pat/Peggy/Frank climax, start of Little Mo/Trevor). I will say though that Xmas Day 2000 was nothing special. All in all though it was a massive improvement on the forgettable first half of the year.

I think 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 (to a certain extent) are all similar in that the latter half was invariably much stronger than the first whereas years like 2002 and 2004 are the opposite (brilliant first half, weaker second). We all know about the disaster of mid-2004 but the last few months of 2002 weren't anything to write home about either (relative to the very high standard of the show at that time) and that's how it stayed until Dennis Rickman arrived in spring 2003.

Not sure I completely agree, but I understand what you're trying to say. Watching some episodes in my opinion shows the show isn't as good as it used to be, but I think you definitely have a point when you say people remember some eras to be better than what they actually were.

I'm glad someone agrees. I do however think 2003 started off quite well, but went quite poor April - September. Den's return helped boost the show again, but soon after it became quite dull again, until the Christmas period.

I can't remember last week never mind 2000!

but given the year I think I spent most my of it either in the pub or socialising at friends

I don't blame you.

Last week will never be forgotten with that hilarious Kathy/Gavin 'showdown' (Circus) for me

Hmm. 2003's quite a tricky one. The needless Barry/Natalie/Ricky triangle and Sonia being a prick I didn't think kicked 2003 off to a very promising start but I do recall it getting a lot more interesting toward the middle of March with Sharon and Vicki (yuck) searching for Dennis. It got loads better in the May when he returned full-time and made quite the impression (knocking Philth into next week while striking up a genuine and endearing friendship with a kindly old lady). It was a bit shit in parts of the summer and a couple of weeks after Den's return with all that Ferreira wedding bullshit/Shirley and Gavin but it was always interspersed with decent enough stuff (Philth and Kate, Lisa's return, Dennis shooting Jack Dalton, Kat and Andy/Alfie at loggerheads, Philth being set up for robbery). That's the difference between a year like 2003 and a year like 2016 where everything's either on point or completely out of synch. I remember there always being something to tune in for.

As far as 2003 goes at least. I'm one of the few who actually defend 2004 to an extent but there's no denying it was a crock of shit for weeks on end. Especially around the May/June period. We went from the kidney bollocks to the fairground disaster to Gus and Juley fighting over a gun. It was a mush of continuous shite until the autumn.

To be honest, I wouldn't imagine that most people even remember EE in the first half of 2000. IMO, it's been utterly shit since about 2009. I stopped watching it about 6 years ago. I have caught the odd 5-10 episodes from time to time since, (to kind of try and get back into it,) but I never did, as it's just that little extra bit shit each time.

Amazed that people can remember what was happening during specific months over so many years. Impressive recall!

There's actually tons of clips on DailyMotion so it's not that hard to find out if you can't remember. Some people on here wouldn't have even been born when these things first broadcast.