with the sheer amount of departures (nine now confirmed) and the Masood house soon to be empty, do we think SOC will introduce a new family? i personally think he will, hopefully something a bit different to the Carters(not that i have a problem with them, i really enjoy them actually)

I think either the Masood house or Coker flat/store will be filled by a new family. If it's the latter they may set up a business there.

oh yea i forgot that the Cokers will be empty, plus the flats that Jack has as well

I hope he introduces a Syrian family trying to start a new life in London..... It would be good and show that Eastenders is a modern soap ... dealing with todays issues......

Who's with me

I think he will bring in a new family - hopefully if he does, every member will get stories and it'll work out well. None of the recent families have done that well - the Hubbards and the Cokers were/are largely seen as flops, the Carters as well with the exception of Mick and Linda. The Spraggans interested me more that the Hubbards do.

Do you want to see Albert Square looking like rubble

I really do think EE could benefit from having a ready-made black family move into Masoods. When I say "ready-made" I mean a black version of the Slaters or Carters. Most of the black "families" we have seen recently have been fractured in some way. We are in desperate need of some black teenagers because EE just does not reflect this and hasn't done so as a full family unit since the Taverniers I think I know we have Kim, Vincent & Pearl as a family unit but like I said, we need something a little older.

Or, what about a Chinese family - have EE ever had one before?

I think he will probably cast a white family.

There is potential for more than one family but I would like to see some variation.

A Family headed by two gay Fathers for example would be good.

While I agree I don't think it will happen.

I think either a Chinese or a Sikh family would be interesting. They've never done the first one. Perhaps could slowly make Jo, the Chinese lady who works at Beale's chippy a regular and we see her family as well. As for a Sikh family, we've already had Asian Hindu (the Kapoors), Muslim (the Masoods and there was the Karims in the early days) and even Catholic (the Ferreiras) families.

The cast became its most diverse under DTC and it seems like most soaps have non-white or LGBT characters (even HO in the less than diverse has a regular black family). Of course I'm against tokenism just for the sake of box ticking, but if they work out as well as the Masoods, I'm totally fine with that. It's a question of finding the right talent.

Here's an interesting bit of info I found out about SOC: Apparently he cast Rakhee Thakrar (Shabnam) as a juror in an hour long special of The Archers which went out just a few days ago. I think this was an episode he did as outgoing editor of the radio show.

I mean...there's surely space enough for one.

There must be at least one new family in the pipeline given all of these axings.

Of course it's possible that Max may not return alone. He could well come back with a new wife and a bunch of step children.

Don't be an idiot.

I hope they don't reintroduce Max with another new wife/girlfriend. The whole point of his return should be about making life hell for that crybaby Ian and his slithering family.

If he has to shag anyone, it could be Kathy just to spite Ian. Older woman but a very attractive youthful looking one

I do think a new Family is long overdue. Wpupd love to see one

I just get the feeling that all the axing is due to cost cutting more than not being part of SOC's plans for the future. I think operating with a smaller cast will help the pacing of the show, it means characters don't go off screen sometimes for a couple of months before picking up a storyline they dropped for something else.

Good writing and directing is the key to success in any genre. That is more what is needed rather than bloating up the cast size and creating all the same problems the last 3 producers have faced, mainly too many storylines going on at once trying to fit everyone in.

What the hell?

Yes, casting a new family could be one of the reasons why many are leaving but budget issues could be a major factor why some of the actors' contracts have not been renewed.

It's looking increasingly likely