I see comments people don't like Shakil but he is realistic as a teen person. A 16 year old kid wants to have sex, has insecurities and has issues. He speaks like a teen saying stuff like awks.

I like him and don't get the bad comments about him.

I'm 18 and don't know anyone like him.

I think the most realistic teen in EE is Louise, the only thing what lets her down is that the actress looks too old to be 14.

Teens should be on the backer burner in EE unless they are in big storyline..... It's a adult show after all...

I don't like him but I don't think I'm meant to - he is playing the part of a cocky, dumb teenage boy pretty well. He remind me of Martin on his "return" - he was a tedious lad. And we've seen him develop into one of the best characters the programme has.

As long as every storyline doesn't revolve around him, Shakil doesn't bother me. He's a realistic part of everyday life.

Incorrect, it's pre-watershed therefore meant as family entertainment

Do you live in London

Yes the damage done to young people in the show under the previous producer looks like it will be reversed under this one

I wouldn't class it as family entertainment. I certainly wouldn't let children below teenage years watch soaps

All very well and good. Trouble is he can't act.

nail meet head

Interesting the get rid of the young characters approach under DTC has immediately been reversed .

I assume the show lost a lot of young viewers and they are trying to get them back

Maybe not all over the UK people speak like he does but in London nearly everyone i knew as teenagers were like him.

EE has always featured teenagers as key members of the cast right from day one?

Go to admit, today's episode was his best since being in the soap. He was one of a list of new characters i wanted axed but today may have made me think there is a chance of him being usuful, although i still think he is a "raw" actor.
Some people on here may have been right, his biggest issue is he has been lacking a decent storyline and screen time.

I think if more of the family join it will benefit all the current Kazemi's and Carmel can become a matriarch. I have a feeling her and Denise and modern classics who could be in the show for the long run now.

Ummm, i thought pre-watershed was about the guidelines on what should not be shown, that is not the same as being a "family show". there is some people who would not want their 12 yr olds and under watching a show like Eastenders.

Really? It's on at like 7.30 or 8pm. I think anything shown at these times is meant to be suitable for any age. When I was a kid in the 90s my parents had absolutely no problem with me watching any of the soaps, it was family time, I was home from school, my parents were home from work, we'd had dinner & we sat in front of the telly for a couple of hours watching soaps like every other family I knew! Apart from in the summer when I would go & play out so sometimes I missed the soaps lol!

I've always thought it to be a slope re the Watershed. What they are saying with the 9pm watershed is that there won't be anything explicit such as nudity, graphic violence shown that non adults (so that is everything up to 16/18) might not be okay to watch.

But that is not the same thing as saying that everything showm up to 9pm is fine for children of any age to view, especially without adult supervision. When Daytime Television started properly in 1986, they were very careful about what Soaps to buy for it as they knew children and teenagers would be watching it, perhaps on their own so it would have to be less offensive than an evening Soap. Compare Neighbours to EastEnders in the mid 80s - which is the harder in content, even if not explicit and that is because they expect a younger audience at 5.30 than at 7.30 - indeed they edited Neighbours at points because of its timeslot here when they wouldn't if it had been shown after 7pm. OfCom have rejected complaints about Hollyoaks by saying that children should not be watching Hollyoaks and if they do, that is the parents decision, not the makers fault.

Even something like Doctor Who, which is certainly classed as 'family' entertainment, they will transmit some episodes which they consider more disturbing later in the evening, though still not past the 9pm watershed, to indicate that younger children or even teens should not watch that one and they do expect parents to judge as they know their kids and what they will understand, perhaps be scared by.

I have friends who won't let their 12 year old watch any of the evening Soaps, especially EastEnders. They don't consider it suitable for her.

Re teenagers in the show. Yes, there is a place for them, i consider it to be a generational/community Soap so all aspects of that should be represented from kids up to the very elderly. As somebody said, teenagers have always been a part of the show and that should continue.

However, i don't want to get back to a situation which we had a few years ago (during Kirkwood's era I think) when we had about a dozen characters under the age of 21 who were extremely prominent and only 3 characters over 55.

I don't mind Shakil as a character, i just think the actor is very limited but he might improve.

I think it possibly (probably) depends on the kids - how mature they are. Also, it makes a difference if the family is actually watching as a family or whether each member of the family is watching a different tele on their own. When I was a kid/teenager, we only had two teles in the house (like most people in the 70s/80s) and the second one was for my parents if they wanted to watch two different things and rarely used - it was in their bedroom. So everything was watched in the lounge, together. Which meant they could monitor it and if something came on they felt wasn't suitable, it could be switched off. Also, they were there to explain anything we were perhaps seeing for the first time and might be upsetting/disturbing like rape - I know Lucy Ewing in Dallas was the first time i learnt of it. They also came to know what we would and wouldn't be able to cope with and actually let us watch quite a lot of post watershed stuff.

I do think a lot of the issue now when people complain is either that their kids have watched when they were on their own or the parents just don't want to have difficult conversations as subjects come up. I remember somebody complaining about the Dean rape scene, saying they didn't want to have to explain rape to their 7 year old grandson - well, don't let your 7 year old grandson watch a soap where subjects like rape reguarly come up them!

I pray you are wrong, OP, or the future of humanity is doomed.

Have you not seen the state of his hair?????

Shakil is awfull as last night shows.

Can't believe this is the same kid who sung as Micheal Jacksons memoriel

He makes Dexter Hartman look like one of the all time great EE characters. That's how unwatchable he is. Aren't there more capable young actors DTC could've considered for this role?

Shakil is one of the most realistic teenagers...
...and one of the worst actors.