Eastenders General News Thread

[Perdita]

EastEnders star Scott Maslen has revealed that he would like his character Jack Branning to marry Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack).

The actor told Inside Soap that he thinks the pair would have a dramatic life together and predicted that they would become a "bickering old couple".

He said: "I'd like him to marry Ronnie. And then I'd like Jack to build a panic room to keep Ronnie in! She's a bit of a bunny boiler. She's not well - she's never dealt with the issues from her past.

"A wedding would be fun because I've never had a soap one. I expect there'll be a lot of drama and a bit of philandering.

"Jack and Ronnie are great together. I reckon they'll be one of those bickering old couples like my nan and granddad."

Speaking of Ronnie's pregnancy, he added: "Something has to go wrong with the pregnancy doesn't it? In fact, I think the viewers would be a little bit offended if it didn't and Jack and Ronnie's life became normal, without problems or trauma.

"I always expect the unexpected for them - to be honest, I'd start to panic if everything was hunky dory."

[Perdita]

BBC soap EastEnders has denied reports that rapper 50 Cent is to make a cameo appearance in the show.

A tabloid newspaper today claims that 50 - real name Curtis Jackson - will film a one-off spot on the drama within the next six months after "weeks of talks" with bosses.

The rumour surfaced after the hip-hop star revealed that he is a fan of Barbara Windsor's iconic character Peggy Mitchell, who bowed out of Albert Square on Friday night.

50 is quoted as saying: "I really wanted Peggy to throw me out of her pub, but I didn't get it organised quick enough and it's too late now.

"I've performed with Eminem and Justin Timberlake, acted with De Niro and Pacino, had a guest spot on The Simpsons - in the US a sign you've made it to the very top - but I can't fulfil my biggest showbiz dream."

Dismissing suggestions that the star will soon be filming at Elstree, an EastEnders spokesperson told DS: "We're flattered he's a fan, but there have been no talks about him appearing in the show."

Reports suggest that 50 became aware of EastEnders after his footballer friend Rio Ferdinand introduced him to the soap.

[Perdita]

ACTRESS Charlie Brooks reckons on-screen hubby Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott, 29) has changed her conniving character's ways.

Charlie, 29, plays serial gold-digger Janine Butcher.

But BBC1 star Charlie said: "It's the first time she doesn't try to make money out of a man."

The Sun

[Perdita]

EASTENDERS' Rita Simons is getting into the spirits of her new role - running her own pub for a BBC Three show.

The actress - whose character Roxy has worked in the Queen Vic for three years - is spending a week at the boozer for the programme, Beyond Walford.

Just like the Vic, it's at the heart of its East End community.

Rita, 33, has been pulling pints, changing barrels and listening to regulars drown their sorrows.

She said: "It's been an insight seeing what it's like to run a real pub.

"I just hope I don't get carried away and start barring people - as Roxy does."

Beyond Walford will air later this year.

The Sun

[Perdita]

Jessie Wallace is loving life back on the Square - but her new slimline figure has posed a couple of problems for the costume department.

The soap star, who returned as tarty Kat Slater on EastEnders last week, said: "I've had to hoist my boobs up because I've none left."

Jessie, who celebrated her 40th birthday yesterday, slimmed down to a size 10 by running three miles a day.



Also in EastEnders

EastEnders boss Bryan Kirkwood plans to make the show happier, we can reveal.

The executive producer is fed up with everyone thinking the show is constantly miserable - so he wants to turn Albert Square into Albert Cheer. Kirkwood intends to make the BBC1 show's characters get on better with one another.

And he's basing his success on the views of cabbies. He told a friend: "I want to get in a taxi and not have the driver say to me, 'I don't watch it because it's too miserable'."

And a source told us: "It's about time something was done to cheer up folk in Walford."

[alan45]

BBC soaps such as EastEnders and Holby City are facing swingeing budget cuts as the National Audit Office examines the Corporation’s books.
Actors’ fees and outdoor filming could be slashed as BBC bosses look for big savings off the £200million drama budget.
The accountants moved into Albert Square at the start of the summer for a six-month investigation and will report to the BBC Trust early next year.

The cutbacks could threaten the very survival of some shows, such as Doctors.
The audit will cover everything from casting to spectacular plot lines, such as the recent fire in the Queen Vic. It will also look at how much time is spent rehearsing and at production schedules. An EastEnders source warned: “It’s going to hit morale.”
Although the BBC Trust will publish the report, individual actors’ fees will be kept secret despite the Government’s wish that the Corporation be more transparent. Soap actors can earn up to £200,000 a year.
A BBC Trust spokesman said: “Talent fees are an editorial decision rather than related to the value-for-money study.”
The National Audit Office said: “The study will examine how well the BBC is managing the cost of producing continuing drama. It will consider how resources are allocated and costs controlled.”
Meanwhile, ITV is spending a rumoured £2million killing off several Coronation Street characters in a tram disaster in a spectacular 50th anniversary episode.

[alan45]

Nina Wadia is used to fans getting hot under the collar over Zainab Masood's homophobic attitude towards gay son Syed.

But it's another kettle of fish entirely when they praise her for it.

Describing the public reaction, Nina told Metro: "I walked past some builders in Southall who told me to the give the characters Syed and Christian a good hiding and teach them a lesson.

"I was shocked they said that. That they thought being homophobic was a good thing."

"They laughed and walked off, which made me feel horrible."

Nina said the response from fans differs "enormously" from the recognition she received from her role in Goodness Gracious Me.

"Some people take soaps very seriously and want to discuss the social issues you're portraying. I don't want to have a political discussion every time I go to the shops." At least they care!

[Siobhan]

BBC soaps such as EastEnders and Holby City are facing swingeing budget cuts as the National Audit Office examines the Corporation’s books.
Actors’ fees and outdoor filming could be slashed as BBC bosses look for big savings off the £200million drama budget.

surely with Babs gone they have saved half of that

[alan45]

surely with Babs gone they have saved half of that

That along with the imminent departure of Beetroot Man should save the BBC a fortune.

[Perdita]

Ofcom has today dismissed a complaint from a mother that EastEnders infringed her privacy by featuring footage of her giving birth.

In episodes of the BBC One soap opera broadcast on May 11 and 12 this year, the Ian Beale character showed his daughter Lucy a DVD featuring footage of one his "employees" giving birth in an attempt to scare her into having an abortion.

The BBC had sourced the footage from an educational film produced by the National Childbirth Trust of a woman, dubbed Ms K by the media regulator, during and after the birth of her son.

However, Ms K submitted a complaint to Ofcom that her and her son's privacy had been "unwarrantably infringed" by the two episodes.

She claimed that her consent had never been sought before the footage was aired, while EastEnders had "trampled" over the birth of her son and permanently ruined her memories of the occasion.

In response, the BBC said that the footage of Ms K giving birth was placed in the public domain by the NCT with her full consent.

The corporation also said that the DVD had been made freely available to "any mum-to-be in the UK" for three years prior to the episodes being broadcast.

Despite acknowledging that the footage of Ms K was of a "very intimate and personal nature", Ofcom decided to dismiss her complaint.

The media regulator noted that her expectations of privacy were "limited by her decision to permit the birth to be filmed by the NCT and disseminated to the public at large".

"Taking into account the fact that the material used in these programmes had been so widely disseminated during the previous three years, and the nature and extent of the material used in the broadcast, Ofcom does not consider that the privacy of either Ms K or her son was unwarrantably infringed in the programmes as broadcast," said the watchdog.

"Accordingly Ofcom has not upheld Ms K's complaint of unwarranted infringement of her privacy, and that of her son, in the broadcast of the programme."