Dirty Dens Return a mistake

[alan45]

Dirty Den 'Enders return was 'a mistake'

EastEnders executive producer Diederick Santer has admitted that bringing back Dirty Den five years ago was a mistake that damaged the show.

Leslie Grantham's character was brought back from the dead in 2002, but Santer believes the storyline was too unbelievable and damaged the soap.

He said: "There was a phase in EastEnders when it became too accelerated and a bit unbelievable. The return of Dirty Den in 2002 says it all.
"He was dead. You can't bring him back. It's a Bobby Ewing in the shower moment. It undermined the show and did lasting damage."
Santer, who was hired to help improve ratings for the long-running programme when figures slumped to 3.9 million last year, has also identified the loss of key characters as having a harmful effect.

He said: "Two or three years ago the show lost Shane Richie, Jessie Wallace, Kacey Ainsworth and Letitia Dean. They were the heart of the show.

"It can't be underestimated what a challenge it was to have those characters move at once. I think we're still recovering."

All I have to say is ''At last my view on the totally ridiculous Dead Man Walking storyline has been vindicated'':angel:

[JustJodi]

Not to mention there has been too many character assinations ..I am hoping this new dude can pull east enders out of the rut...:D

[Katy]

THey finally saw what the viewers saw. It was a completly unbelievable storyline.

[Luna]

can anyone say duh!!!!

atleast they are finally admitting it

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Well it was 2003 but thats neither here or there, the point is the dude is right, i just hope he can fix the mess that the show had turned into, i must say though recently it has been better but they still have some work to do.

[bakedbean]

Dont get me wrong i think it was a mistake but the build up and the week in which he returned was good.

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

At the time i was glad he was back, to me he was a legend and it was nice he was back, it's only looking back now i realise how bad the show got after his comeback

[JustJodi]

Well it was 2003 but thats neither here or there, the point is the dude is right, i just hope he can fix the mess that the show had turned into, i must say though recently it has been better but they still have some work to do.

There will always be teething problems with new producers..lets hope he can turn the show around :p

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Well it was 2003 but thats neither here or there, the point is the dude is right, i just hope he can fix the mess that the show had turned into, i must say though recently it has been better but they still have some work to do.

There will always be teething problems with new producers..lets hope he can turn the show around :p

I agree, no one is perfect (some people think they are) there will always be a few things that go wrong but over all i would love for this new bloke to bring back the Eastenders we all loved at one time or another

[Kim]

Definitely duh, lol! It was September 2003; looks like they are even failing to recall when they did what. I thought Den's return had the figures up for a short while. I think it's more Leslie Grantham being exposed for webcam antics in Barbara Windsor's dressing room that ruined the show.

Definitely think that the loss of Jessie Wallace, Shane Richie, Letitia Dean and also Nigel Harman were a big blow to the soap though.

[Chloe O'brien]

It took them five years to admit something that millions of viewers knew already. Although EE has had some good storylines over the last few months and had some good characters such as Stella. However its going to take more than a good few episodes to get back to their peak on what they used to be.

[Florijo]

I doubt it will never be as good as it was - which soap is? Except maybe HO they have all declined.

So far this new producer seems okay. I just wish the BBC would admit that going four times a week have made things worse and go back to three...but they never will.

[Chloe O'brien]

I doubt it will never be as good as it was - which soap is? Except maybe HO they have all declined.

So far this new producer seems okay. I just wish the BBC would admit that going four times a week have made things worse and go back to three...but they never will.

Going back to twice a week would be better. The acting would improve as it would give cast members longer to learn their lines, and the writers could have more time to create better storylines.

[Chris_2k11]

The fact its on 4 nights a week has got nothing to do with it. Hollyoaks is on 5 and still manages to be consistently good.

[Chloe O'brien]

The fact its on 4 nights a week has got nothing to do with it. Hollyoaks is on 5 and still manages to be consistently good.

Yeah but when you consider that a few years ago they were getting over 20 million viewers a night for only being two episodes a week plus the repeat on Sunday does make a difference. Although I tyhink a drop in ratings is mainly due to viewers watching the episodes at different times not just at 7.30pm on a Tuesday and Thursday I don't think it would do any the soaps any harm to cut back on the amount of episodes aired in a week.

[DaVeyWaVey]

The fact its on 4 nights a week has got nothing to do with it. Hollyoaks is on 5 and still manages to be consistently good.

Yeah but when you consider that a few years ago they were getting over 20 million viewers a night for only being two episodes a week plus the repeat on Sunday does make a difference. Although I tyhink a drop in ratings is mainly due to viewers watching the episodes at different times not just at 7.30pm on a Tuesday and Thursday I don't think it would do any the soaps any harm to cut back on the amount of episodes aired in a week.

I do agree with Kath. It's a bit of overkill thinking about how much soap is on each week (even though i'm a big fan). Emmerdale is on 6 nights a week which is absolutely ridiculous! I can imagine the actors being worn out, and the writing team being extremely tight to deadlines and it's not in its best state at the moment in my opinion, so cutting it back to 3 nights, even 2 nights a week would do it a world of good i think.

The same for all the other soaps - Hollyoaks may be fantastic at 5 nights a week at the moment, but imagine how great it would be if it's only on 2 nights a week?! The producers, writers and actors would have more time to invest effort into the show making it even better. I'm sure the viewers would be gripped if it was only on 2 nights a week...then they had to wait until the next week to find out what happened next! I think the interest would increase dramatically! The same counts for Eastenders and Corrie. It'll be good for all the soaps in my opinion and viewers would be able to invest less of their time in watching their favourite tv show (sometimes it's hard to catch up on the soaps because of how much they are on) and they would stop clogging up the schedules.

[Chloe O'brien]

This was one of the main reasons why I stopped watching the soaps 7 years ago because I knew that if I missed an episode mid-week I could catch up at the weekend, now you can catch up whenever you like, you don't even have to watch the soaps now to know who's who and what is happening. I prefer to watch programmes that I don't know how they are going to end. So I can say Holy S**t. If the writers don't want to cut back on the number of episodes shown in a week then they should think about cutting back on the media coverage they give to future storylines and not reveal plots months in advance.

[callummc]

well everyone knows i am glad den came back,i dont think it can be blamed for the state of enders now,i will agree the storyline was far fetched but worth it for the week he returned and the episode with dot and den in the laundrette,it wasnt the actors fault that his other scripts were crap,ie den and zoey-more rfar fetched than his return from the dead,p ersonally coudn't stand cat and alfie,liked sharon and dennis but as brother and sister got fed up with thefar fetched love storys for all 4 of them,moving on to another far fetched storyline which is also boring a far fetched one of mr santers,the return of steven beale,where did a 17 year old boy get the money to fly home from new zealand more important where did he get the money to buy expensive wreaths and a coffins etc,the show at the moment is up and down,and lets not forget enders do far fetched all the time including the return of phill who was looking at a long sentance and just got out,the terrible writing is the shows main problem and you sometimes think they are re using old scripts,enders still needs a lot of work to make it watchable again,and dens return was more entertaining for me than the boring garbage of last year,enders main problem is how they change charectors personalitys overnight,and they have lost the plot on many occaisions with ridiculas storylines,they also drag storylines out for to longand somtimes forget important details,personally i think enders is a casualty of its oiwn early sucsess and if they really miss any charector its pauline fowler who was the backbone of the show and without her its gone further downhill lets face it for years it could have been the mitchell show,or the slater show,the watts show not to mention the boring charectors that have been pushed to the front allways overlooking the likes of dot,patrick,big mo and quite a few more who get dropped for a month of sean slater or shirley or deano etc etc

[Pinkbanana]

well everyone knows i am glad den came back,i dont think it can be blamed for the state of enders now
I think EE is in a lot better state now, than when Den came back from the dead. That was a complete mistake and an insult to the viewer's intelligence.


a far fetched one of mr santers, the return of steven beale,where did a 17 year old boy get the money to fly home from new zealand more important where did he get the money to buy expensive wreaths and a coffins
Yep it was a little OTT, but nevertheless I found it a gripping storyline, and at least Steven had been alive and kicking in New Zealand, and hadnt returned from the dead.


if they really miss any charector its pauline fowler who was the backbone of the show and without her its gone further downhill.
I have to disagree, I think the show is managing just fine without her, the show isnt and shouldnt revolve around just one character. I havent missed her character at all. Plus, EE has introduced some really good characters of late.