Then why bring in the cast of other shows? The Coronation Street cast is in my opinion too big but how can it possibly date the show and therefor a pared down EastEnders cast is stronger? No logic and no explanation other than hyping EastEnders at a time when the show is wildly uneven and polarising.

But hey lets hope the Fowlers have a bigger 2017. That'll be good.

What I was saying is that in my opinion out of the 3 EastEnders has the best balance of characters. The other 2 are too big many characters I find boring and they need fresh blood. Does that answer all your problems with what I wrote?

It is strong but I think there are still some axings that could be made and the show is crying out for fresh blood.

Donna and shrimpy is a big fat no from me.

Edit: just seen your post above, I don't think Corrie or ED have too big a cast

P.s put the poster on ignore they wont be able to message you and it will hide their posts.

I have to say I've noticed this and it's incredibly unpleasant.

No it really doesn't and actually it undermines an EastEnders policy since about 2008...

The only character I totally loathe is Jack Branning.

There are a handful of characters who aren't particularly interesting and the actors playing them are adequate at best. But they don't irritate me as much as other characters in the past and I can tolerate them being in the show such as Tina and Whitney.

But on the whole I do think the cast is strong. I don't watch any of the other soaps any more and that's generally because I don't like a lot of their casts. Corrie for example boasts some truly awful actors and characters. I'd say Emmerdales cast was probably the second strongest when I used to watch it.

Partly the reason I don't watch the other 2 either as well. I tend to tune in on occasion when nothing else is on TV.

Is it because he is hot?

I could count the number of characters I like in EE on one hand.

EastEnders has a main cast of just over thirty while Corrie normally has sixty odd characters. Emmerdale usually has fifty odd.

I don't think he is hot at all.

Yeah but Corrie has an extra ep and emmerdale two extra eps.

Until recently EE had a bigger cast and were getting story blocked and you would have the same small cast through each episode/week.

Corrie and ED seem to have better rotation. The one thing I find at the mo is that both corrie and ED have dropped a bit in the community feel whereas EE have picked it up

I find Jack very unattractive. Now Steven or Kush that is hot.

Maybe 20 years ago...

I believe the approach was different. Corrie has core characters who carry the majority of storylines and then padding characters and arc which spread it. This cross continuity reduces the blocking.

EastEnders has downsized. Whether that's for budget or creative reasons is unclear, but it does lead to a danger of burnout, something EastEnders has suffered from before.

Thanks for the advice re blocking - but I think it will be fine.

Actually EE is on four times a week, for about 28 mins an episode so total run time is 28*4 = 112

Corrie is on five times a week for about 22 mins an episode so total run time is 22*5=110

So virtually the samd

The EP has stated that new characters are around the corner, it'll probably go up to about the early forties again.

It's a different approach... I guess one could argue that a bigger cast gives a more reflective view of a community, reducing to a cast similar in size to the 1980s but with double the episodes is very risky.

Isn't it a very odd approach to get rid of so many and then recruit new ones in separate acts... seems contrived, something the show is suffering from in a big way at the moment, although I am glad speculation was wrong about the source of Phil's new liver. That would have been irresponsible fantasy.

On a positive note June Brown and Steve McFadden continue to excel in their performances. Absolutely perfectly nuanced characterisation in a sea of sentimentality.

Too big a cast means some characters just get forgotten about and aren't developed satisfactory. So when they do end up getting a storyline the impact isn't the same,

EE has put a lot of emphasis on community recently giving us more of an option to care about the characters.

In theory, but as I've stated elsewhere, I find the recent "community" feel to be an utterly contrived, banal, sentimental fantasy.

I knew someone would get all mathmatical

But as we have ascertained your lack of taste in men how can I ever listen to another word you say

The casts are utilised in different ways though in my opinion but I do think that EE needs to just enlarge the cast a bit again just because it gives more variety and means you aren't watching the same characters all the time.

I remember towards the end of the dtc era, mcbeale kept being put in random scenes, in one episode I think she was in like 3 out of 4 scenes and I just found it far too much