Is Eastenders back to its best?

[pops110874]

Ok, so over the last year we have had to endure lots of bad press, lots of actors coming and going and lots of bland, boring storylines (main offender being molifie!!)

Not taking the figures for ratings into account here, just wanted to get everyones views.....

Are we starting to see the benefits of all the exec changes?
Do you think the storylines are improving?

Post your opinions!

I actually think over the past two weeks Eastenders has been, without doubt, back on form.

Loving the whole den/chrissie/shannis/sam stuff! Cant wait for the mitchell comeback either!! :cheer:

[i_luv_dennis]

and me lol and i think it is coming up to the best soap again

p.s i hope

[lollymay]

i only really got into it this year and i think its getting really good

[xXxJessxXx]

I've been watching it for as long as i can rember. i used to sit donw at a very early age of like 2/3 years old wiht my mum and sisters and watch it. lol

i think it has always been the best soap, although i do admit its had its rocky times. i do think its gettgin back to standard form again but i really never thought it was that bad. its just a little depressing i think.

but the recent events like Sharon and Demmis wedding... Den murdered and dug up. Sam goign to Jail. Demi running off wiht leo, Leo dying... Andy dying(Thank god!) we saw Dot being quiet funnylasdt night wiht the betty thing and denni being his witty self about sam. lol

the mitchelles... not sure that'll make a difference but it'll sure keep me glued to the screen. i think by the new year it will be good again.

Well lets hope so. :thumbsup:

[pops110874]

I've been watching it for as long as i can rember. i used to sit donw at a very early age of like 2/3 years old wiht my mum and sisters and watch it. lol

i think it has always been the best soap, although i do admit its had its rocky times. i do think its gettgin back to standard form again but i really never thought it was that bad. its just a little depressing i think.

but the recent events like Sharon and Demmis wedding... Den murdered and dug up. Sam goign to Jail. Demi running off wiht leo, Leo dying... Andy dying(Thank god!) we saw Dot being quiet funnylasdt night wiht the betty thing and denni being his witty self about sam. lol

the mitchelles... not sure that'll make a difference but it'll sure keep me glued to the screen. i think by the new year it will be good again.

Well lets hope so. :thumbsup:

Im the same have always watched Eastenders, since I was little. Strangely, its the only soap I do watch!

I agree with you, the recent storylines have been fab. Ive always said that the media set very high standards for ee, purely because it has been so brilliant in the past. No other soap can touch ee!! :cheer:

[Abi]

The only way that we're only going to really tell if it is, is if it is still great after these stories have finished. This is a sensational story, and whenever a soap has one of those their ratings and peoples opinions of them will go up. The question is, if they stay up. A great soap is great, even without a sensational story. Whether EE will be like that remains to be seen.

[pops110874]

The only way that we're only going to really tell if it is, is if it is still great after these stories have finished. This is a sensational story, and whenever a soap has one of those their ratings and peoples opinions of them will go up. The question is, if they stay up. A great soap is great, even without a sensational story. Whether EE will be like that remains to be seen.

Good point - i agree with you

Especially with the departures over the next few months

[CrazyLea]

this week has been really good. but i reckon after all the chrissie/sam/zoe/den stuff is over it wil go back to being quite boring. i'll still watch it though.

[alan45]

Its better but nowhere near the quality it once was

[pops110874]

Its better but nowhere near the quality it once was
:rotfl: Just noticed your new siggy alan!!

so funny! tee hee!

[alan45]

According to Ian Hyland in today's Sunday Mirror EE has not recovered
BANK Holiday Digging Up Den Day in Albert Square and, in the words of Walford CID's finest: "You should all prepare yourselves for the worst." Talk about understatement of the year. Because it wasn't good.

Worse even than the dark days of The Great Dragon Ride Disaster 2004.

And, whatever you say about a soap needing drama and suspense, Sharon and Dennis's wedding day will now be remembered as the day EastEnders scored its biggest own goal yet.

Because here was their chance to spread a little joy for once and give Sharon Watts - and everyone who has followed her trials and tribulations over the last 15 years - a happy ending. And they blew it. Thanks to Sam Mitchell, an inflatable pickaxe and a storyline with more holes in it than Leslie Grantham's pockets.

Even before we start to question how a slip of a girl like Sam managed to pickaxe her way through six inches of solid concrete in just 10 minutes when it took the police half an hour and a van full of power tools to finish the job, other issues need raising.

Like how come BBC1's flagship drama can't afford to cough up a few extra quid so we can actually have policemen who speak?



(Of course, I will accept that one or two of the coppers may have been struck dumb by the sheer power of Shane Richie's acting, but surely not all of them.)


And before the ranters and stalkers accuse me of nitpicking let's be clear. EastEnders considers itself, and always has considered itself, to be a cut above the other soaps. And at times in the (admittedly distant) past it has produced drama on a par with anything its post-watershed rivals have to offer.


Which is why it can't get away with camping it up like Corrie and Emmerdale. And why attention to simple police details like, erm, not allowing a crime scene to be touched under any circumstances should be important to the writers.


Sadly, it clearly isn't. And until it is they're going to keep throwing half- arsed, ratings-grabbing fixits at the show.


But approaching a top soap like a plastic surgeon approaches Ann Robinson is simply not the answer.


And that's why this time next year, long after Den's murder is forgotten and long after their next ratings band aid (Peggy and the Mitchell brothers returning) has served its purpose, EastEnders will be relying on (no drum roll required) Pauline Fowler, Ian Beale and The Millers.


And Dot Branning will still be wandering round Albert Square telling everyone "Jesus can help". Sorry, Dot. But even the best miracle workers know when they're beat

[alan45]

Gary Bushell on EE

HIGH drama on EastEnders as soppy Sam Mitchell dug up Den's moldering corpse with a pickaxe.

She reached the body in as little time as it took Miss Piggy to marry her Kermit.

So we can only assume that either a) writer Sarah Phelps has never swung a pickaxe against concrete in her life, or b) the workmen who laid that floor are due a visit from Rogue Traders.

The strange case of the wedding day stiff galvanised the Walford Old Bill into action. They spoke to Fat Pat, Stinky Miller, Plain Jane, Alfie, Ian, Martin, Mo...

The only person they didn't try to interview was Johnny Allen, the friendly neighbourhood gangster/killer...who's vanished.

Soap police are never much cop, but this lot make Ian Blair seem competent.

They had Sam at the station as their chief suspect in a murder case but they didn't think to seal off her flat and immediately search it.

Then they talked to her for three whole days without realising that she is too thick to mastermind a meringue, let alone a murder.

In fairness, this week's scripts had energy, even some wit. They brought in decent viewing figures and laid the foundations for the return of the mighty Mitchells. But it's all smoke and mirrors. Sharon and Dennis are the least convincing couple since J-Lo and Ben Affleck in Gigli. Their creepy relationship hums like Den's remains. It's hard to believe that 1) their neighbours would throw them a street party, 2) they couldafford a big wedding with gazebos and bubbly, or 3) a register office would open just for them on Bank Holiday Monday. Charlie only uses the allotment to kip. Why would he have a a pickaxe there? What does he use it for? Bursting Big Mo's boils? What else does he keep in that shed? A JCB? A nuclear warhead? Or just a vat of creosote for Kat to bathe in?

Why were Chrissie's flight tickets biked to the Vic? When does that happen? Special delivery post would have done.

AND as for Sam, why not tell Plod the troof from the off rather than dig herself into a deeper hole than the one Den was in?

Or better still why not just grass up Chrissie with an anonymous phone call? With Lost, we're prepared to suspend disbelief, but EastEnders prides itself on its gritty realism.

And the reality is: It never rings true.

-HOW long will Dennis and Sharon stay happy? In Walford, marriage is an 18-month commitment, but I'd give them ten, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...

-JUST as well they didn't marry in a church. They're brother and sister. All the guests would have been on one side

[alan45]

Whilst most would agree that there was a vast improvemnt in the writing this week and EE was a lot better than of late there were so many plot holes that it became laughably unrealistic.

[CrazyLea]

lol i like the reveiws. they may put eastenders down but they are funny lol

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

I like EE.. will always suppor it but can admit it when there are hilarious storylines which make no sense and are absoloutly rubbish!!

[pops110874]

Gary Bushell on EE

HIGH drama on EastEnders as soppy Sam Mitchell dug up Den's moldering corpse with a pickaxe.

She reached the body in as little time as it took Miss Piggy to marry her Kermit.

So we can only assume that either a) writer Sarah Phelps has never swung a pickaxe against concrete in her life, or b) the workmen who laid that floor are due a visit from Rogue Traders.

The strange case of the wedding day stiff galvanised the Walford Old Bill into action. They spoke to Fat Pat, Stinky Miller, Plain Jane, Alfie, Ian, Martin, Mo...

The only person they didn't try to interview was Johnny Allen, the friendly neighbourhood gangster/killer...who's vanished.

Soap police are never much cop, but this lot make Ian Blair seem competent.

They had Sam at the station as their chief suspect in a murder case but they didn't think to seal off her flat and immediately search it.

Then they talked to her for three whole days without realising that she is too thick to mastermind a meringue, let alone a murder.

In fairness, this week's scripts had energy, even some wit. They brought in decent viewing figures and laid the foundations for the return of the mighty Mitchells. But it's all smoke and mirrors. Sharon and Dennis are the least convincing couple since J-Lo and Ben Affleck in Gigli. Their creepy relationship hums like Den's remains. It's hard to believe that 1) their neighbours would throw them a street party, 2) they couldafford a big wedding with gazebos and bubbly, or 3) a register office would open just for them on Bank Holiday Monday. Charlie only uses the allotment to kip. Why would he have a a pickaxe there? What does he use it for? Bursting Big Mo's boils? What else does he keep in that shed? A JCB? A nuclear warhead? Or just a vat of creosote for Kat to bathe in?

Why were Chrissie's flight tickets biked to the Vic? When does that happen? Special delivery post would have done.

AND as for Sam, why not tell Plod the troof from the off rather than dig herself into a deeper hole than the one Den was in?

Or better still why not just grass up Chrissie with an anonymous phone call? With Lost, we're prepared to suspend disbelief, but EastEnders prides itself on its gritty realism.

And the reality is: It never rings true.

-HOW long will Dennis and Sharon stay happy? In Walford, marriage is an 18-month commitment, but I'd give them ten, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...

-JUST as well they didn't marry in a church. They're brother and sister. All the guests would have been on one side

Ok as much as I love ee - i can agree with most points in this review

Actually thought it was quite funny, especially - "Then they talked to her for three whole days without realising that she is too thick to mastermind a meringue, let alone a murder." :rotfl:

The stories are getting better but the plot holes are kind of immense :rolleyes:

[Abi]

I love critics. It was really true what he said. They can hardly expect us to even half beleive that such a story could be true. I always thought that soaps were meant to reflect true life. Obvioulsy i was wrong...

[hayley]

Yep! i dont think it got bad anyway! But if i think about then maybe sometimes it was a bit boring like the ferraras (not sure on speeling!) were rubbish, they could have done a lot more with them!

[Johnny Allen]

I thought last weeks epsiodes were a real step up, better than it has been for some time, had some real good acting, drama and humour, the banter between Dot and Pauline was hilarious:
Pauline: the police have taken my dog
Dot: Theyv'e arrested Betty?

Eastenders can never get it right in some people's eyes. It did derserve critism before but last week was great.

[JustJodi]

I thought last weeks epsiodes were a real step up, better than it has been for some time, had some real good acting, drama and humour, the banter between Dot and Pauline was hilarious:
Pauline: the police have taken my dog
Dot: Theyv'e arrested Betty?

Eastenders can never get it right in some people's eyes. It did derserve critism before but last week was great.

I agree that EE has given us some real rubbish .. but last week really was great.. Hopefully we will contiune seeing some good stuff from the EE writers,, and as for the criticism they will get it from the viewers right here if they deserve it...:readtheru