With Peggy Mitchell having departed, Grant gone and unlikely to return and the upcoming exits of Ronnie and Roxy we appear to be approaching a less Mitchell dominated era. Whether you were a huge grant fan like the lovely Sorcha or a Philth lover like Lea or like Keyser and myself who have a less favourable view of them, they have undoubtedly been a massive part of the show and although it appears the Philth will remain, the Mitchells are undoubtedly going to be a slimmed down and a more lean part of the show.

With this in mind, where would you guys like SOC to take the show. What characters would you like to have more attention? Would you like new characters? And if so should there be a lot of focus on them? Should the Fox/Hubbards be more prominent? What should be done with the Carters as we know we're losing Lee and Linda will be gone as Kellie will be off maternity leave soon?

I want more concentration on character. Character driven drama that we will care about. I'm not that bothered about huge stunts as long as there are characters I care about and enough going on to truly hold my interest.

What do you guys think?

There is still deadwood in the the cast but our view of deadwood could be different from Sean O'Connor's.

Personally the following characters need to go-

Donna, Tina, Kim, Jane & Shakil- I wouldn't bring Sonia back but we know she will be back.

The writing team also needs a shake up.

From reducing the Mitchell and Carter families in terms of numbers, I don't want to see one dominant family taking centre stage. Certainly not in a controlling way like the Mitchells have done and the Brannings in the past.

Sick of the fact that certain characters always come out on top, like Phil and others like Billy, Jay etc never seem to be anything other but treated as a doormat. An end to that is important to move away from what the show has been this last 10 years.

Reducing the cast made sense, too many appear for a couple of weeks, then disappear mid story for 2-3 weeks then it gets picked up again. When you are juggling a cast over 50 that is always going to happen, get it down to 30 odd and you can pace storylines better without characters going off screen sometimes for months on end.

I think the show desperately need a new family, ideally a mid 30's couple, maybe with 3 kids, couple of 10-12 year olds and an older brother or sister. A proper natural family like the Millers started out as.

There will be a number of empty houses soon so new characters are bound to join.

Character driven drama, with morals and less of the stupidity its been prone too over the last few years eg Just tell the truth / tell the cops... Less of the splitting up and getting back together..

But completely avoid random sermonising - that scene with Colin and Jonny in the vic yesterday was horrendous!

Honestly, all I want is for the sensationalism to end and have down to earth, gritty EE back. An EE that isn't afraid to break bounderies and taboos.

New, fresh characters mixed with the old schoolers.

Well written character plots.

I am really looking forward to see what comes in the new era of EE. We also know that there are changes coming ahead in terms of set changes and characters leaving.

I do think the mitchell sisters have had their time and as long as they are not killed off they can be written back in if it really does flop without them. I just hope Jack doesn't leave though as he is a well balanced character. May be Ronnie and Roxy go off to find Charlie as they realise that Matthew needs a father.

We know that the Cokers are leaving so there is some deadwood going there. Masood is also leaving, I thinks that's a bit of a shame as he is a good character and well established but he could have had more deep stories instead of just love interests and being a supporting character for others.

I really hope that they don't bring Sonia back, she is just a bore and there is no reason for her to stay anymore. Becs and Martin will do just fine without her.

I would really like the Beales to leave, they are so boring to watch and Bobby was the best out of the lot of them. I would like Bobby to return though and it could be written in slowly with his psychpathic ways. Think headlines on the Walford Gazette first such as body found in river, that kind of thing, then have it so Bobby has been released a little while before he is shown on screen again.

I think Sharon should go too, the whole her being on and off with Phil is boring and stale. They could use her for much stronger stories but have reduced Sharon to this so time for a break and a complete refresh for her character.

I think that Claudette and Donna should go from the Hubbards, Donna is just a madam and I really don't like the character and the actress who plays Claudette cannot act so begone and save us from them.

A controversial one I know but Dot needs to go now, again stale storylines and poor acting from June Brown, though I do think this is in part due to her health and age.

We do know that both Max and Cora are returning and I am sure there will be others too.

It has also been hinted that Kim will be getting a big and serious storyline which I am looking forward to. I like Kim for bother her humour but Tameka Epsom can also do serious storylines incredibly well and now with Vincent being around and being the somewhat supportive husband that knows his place it will be great to watch. I really hope that they are kept as a couple as it really works well.

Denise has her baby storyline coming up and it will be interesting to see how that develops and if she allows Kush to be a father without him being biologically related, I have a sense that Denise to an extent feels sympathy towards Kush for what has happened with his children. This could also cause a shift in the set up with Stacey and Martin. Be a shame as again they are a good match.

Whilst I like Carmel, giving her the market inspectors job when we know that is being axed from the set I think is glaringly obvious that she is not a potential long term character. Especially when it comes out about Kush and Denise. I think the same for Shakil too. A shame as I think Carmel is an incredibly refreshing character.

The Carters I like, Linda is my favourite and thought it was a shame that Nancy left but think they could do with a little break for the time being then regroup and be that strong family unit again. I would also like for Babe to get her comeuppance though! I do like how evil Babe can be don't get me wrong but someone needs to remind her of the pecking order. I am also a little annoyed at Linda for rolling over with Mick about Babe moving back in. Maybe Babe does another nasty act and Linda has enough so leaves thus being her maternity leave storyline.

I would like Kyle to get some more meaty storylines and agree with everyone else, Jay really needs something and stop being made out to be the bad broken one. Hopefully when he returns from his short break his character will have a more positive outlook on life and set up his own business or something.

Will be really interesting to see what happens with the new producer. As long as Birkwood never returns to ruin things I am happy.

Do you mean that the market is being axed or just that role?

Eastenders has roughly 40 main characters. Dont know where you got 50 from.

I thought Colins gay wedding and Shakils sex eps felt like social information videos rather than episodes of eastenders. Focusing on social can be good but the emphasis has to be on the characters rather than the actual issues.

New, fresh characters with no existing ties to the current cast.
A new family is needed, the younger cast definitely needs expanding and most importantly, the show needs a great villain. Since Michael and Janine left, the show has been in desperate need of one.

I think this has turned into another lets axe the characters we dislike thread.

what I would like to see happen

block storytelling. - has to and and has to go asap. the time between pauls death, release of his body and subsequent funeral has been ridiculous. not a good advert for the coker business

Characters - start introducing characters that are planned, well thought out and well rounded characters and not characters introduced as a plot device and no personality oranything about them. examples Paul Coker and Kyle Slater

The Past - stop relying on it, stop bringing back old characters. no we don't need any other "legnds" from the past. look to the future and create new legends. example.. Colin what was the point of that! however I do agree with bringing back living associated family members if the storyline requires.

finally introduce a new family and a bunch of single unrelated characters because at the moment its not even 6 degrees of seperation

curiosity got the better of me and I watched just before I watched casualty.

I agree. what was the point to colins return other than the speech to Johnny telling him what it was like 30yrs ago. it was a bizarre scene but given that people, some on this forum expect everyone to be instantly acceptable. the scene may have been educational. but I dont watch soaps for education.

colins return somehow was there not for dot but to facilitate Sonia's storyline

Not sure why you would highlight other forum members opinions. .. are they the soap guru's
Anyhow's I think there are still plenty of Mitchell's left, I suspect we will see a lot more of Billy and Honey and I think Honey will be interesting as she will have her on opinions. Ben and Jay are clearly brothers from another mother and I hope we will see more of them.

We should definitely be entering a new era noe

Hurah to less Mitchells. Now let's see Phil and Sharon take a nice long break and send Louise back to her mum. I'd be happy to see Honey, Billy, Ben Jay and Courtney representing the Mitchells for a while. Let's see what would happen with them in a loving family.

The Beales....Jane to go and let's see what happens if Kathy has to step up. Put the focus on the Fowler branch of the family for a while...again have Kathy more involved.

Slaters....a serious s/l for Belinda. Comedy acts get tiring.

Carters...get rid of Babe. She's become the new Dean. It makes my blood boil to see her in the Vic. Shirley should move back. They need to employ some outsiders.... Steven for sure and Courtney if she returns.

Denise...keep her with Kush but give them some drama that doesn't involve a baby.

It is very annoying. Real life is not like that. I think it makes people worse actually. People get frustrated that they aren't allowed a different opinion (and why shouldn't they be) and people get more and more easily offended having to be comforted all the time..

It's nanny state. Not helpful and not particularly enjoyable to watch from a show like Eastenders which has always been controversial. Offensive to pretty much everyone from time to time, then flipping it round and doing the complete opposite.

I'm not sure that it was educational. Like all of DTC's tenure the emphasis was again on gays as victims. Even on the happiest day of Colin's life we had to have a reminder of what gays suffer and have always suffered. Then there's Paul....the only gay that was both comfortable in his sexuality and fully accepted by his family ends up being murdered by homophobes.
It did feel like preaching but in the most negative way.

This, this and this. Totally agree OP. Definitely feel the story blocking format in the way storylines are portrayed on screen has to change - a more intertwined feel and character driven drama (rather than plot driven) would make this a great era.

Bollocks.

Colin accepted Dots views even though they weren't her views as they were a result of brainwashing by the church

The scenes were wonderful.

Agree with your post 100%, Damien!

Ignore him Sorcha. Seriously, ignore him

He is a wind up merchant. And he openly admitted on here several months ago that there is nothing wrong in a gay person being beaten up for their sexuality. I've challenged him on his bigoted views and he couldn't even come up with a detailed answer.

[quote=vald;83899621]I'm not sure that it was educational. Like all of DTC's tenure the emphasis was again on gays as victims. Even on the happiest day of Colin's life we had to have a reminder of what gays suffer and have always suffered. Then there's Paul....the only gay that was both comfortable in his sexuality and fully accepted by his family ends up being murdered by homophobes.
It did feel like preaching but in the most negative way.[/QUOTE]

Hardly preacher

Getting the word out that despite it being 2016, these things still happen to the LGBT community.

It's only the heterosexuals who feel they are being preached because they hate being reminded that they have never had to suffer, be abused or potentially be killed for loving who they want.

While Dot was a homophobe in the eighties she became a much more tolerant person. Then we suddenly found she was against gay marriage but the next episode she changed her mind and was fine with it. I did feel it was a bit preachy to be honest. A topic like this could have gone on for a bit longer just to highlight how bigoted some people can be.

It's sad really that an organisation that preaches about love a lot is so hypocritical when it comes to gay marriage.