Ratings based everything is against EastEnders at the moment, its proper recovery stage came into swing just before the World Cup kicked off, the time change doesnt help and its Emmerdale who had a strong year are airing 1 hour episodes against it with a half hour head start and now the common wealth games. Give it time and ratings will be well up and it will be back on its feet as its positioned well at the moment with good storylines, limited spoilers, surprise returnees and SOME strong characters.

It just saddens me that more viewers watched the awfulness of Brian Kirkwood and especially Lorraine Newman's tenures. Particular lowlights include snakegate and coldcuts gate! :drama: Whereas proper drama with good characters, acting, plotlines and twists are doing so badly in the ratings. Poor Dominic Treadwell Collins, he's putting so much into this show to improve it and he's getting nothing back.

I liked most of Brian Kirkwood's stuff - the return of Kat and Alfie, baby swap (as much as it was criticised, I liked it), Whitney's exploitation, Mandy's return etc. It did come with a bit of crap though - Carol and Connor's relationship (ew), Tanya and Max's affair (yawn) and the crazy decision to kill of Pat (!!)

 

Lorraine Newman was just rubbish though and quite embarrassing to watch half the time. The whole "Who Stuck It in Kat?" story was boring, as was Christmas 2012 (although Kirsty's first appearance was very good). Sharon's return was a complete mess, and her relationship with Jack was completely unrealistic, with them planning to get married after knowing each other 5 minutes. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Liam and the gang story and Lauren's drinking, but even those had major down points.

As long as Shirley gets more screentime, everything will be fine.

I liked most of Brian Kirkwood's stuff - the return of Kat and Alfie, baby swap (as much as it was criticised, I liked it), Whitney's exploitation, Mandy's return etc. It did come with a bit of crap though - Carol and Connor's relationship (ew), Tanya and Max's affair (yawn) and the crazy decision to kill of Pat (!!)

 

Lorraine Newman was just rubbish though and quite embarrassing to watch half the time. The whole "Who Stuck It in Kat?" story was boring, as was Christmas 2012 (although Kirsty's first appearance was very good). Sharon's return was a complete mess, and her relationship with Jack was completely unrealistic, with them planning to get married after knowing each other 5 minutes. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Liam and the gang story and Lauren's drinking, but even those had major down points.

 

Brian Kirkwood will never be forgiven after killing off Pat! That's one of the worst decisions in EE history. Along with killing off Kathy Beale off screen and allowing Peggy to leave the fire alive. They should've killed Peggy in the fire - it would've been great to see the affect on Phil since it was his fault. Barbara Windsor also said she didn't want to return again so why not kill her off? But then Pam said she would return to EE in the future so they go and bloody kill Pat off. Such a terrible decision! Pat's absence has been very obvious since her death and has left a massive hole in the show.

 

Lorraine Newman's only good storyline was Lauren's drinking problem. Everything else was awful and definitely the WORST era of EE ever.

Brian Kirkwood will never be forgiven after killing off Pat! That's one of the worst decisions in EE history. Along with killing off Kathy Beale off screen and allowing Peggy to leave the fire alive. They should've killed Peggy in the fire - it would've been great to see the affect on Phil since it was his fault. Barbara Windsor also said she didn't want to return again so why not kill her off? But then Pam said she would return to EE in the future so they go and bloody kill Pat off. Such a terrible decision! Pat's absence has been very obvious since her death and has left a massive hole in the show.

 

Lorraine Newman's only good storyline was Lauren's drinking problem. Everything else was awful and definitely the WORST era of EE ever.

She was killed off so quickly too! I'm sure there was no sign of her dying before December 2011, when she was randomly diagnosed with cancer and then dies on New Year's Day. Really rushed which is pretty much an insult to the character and the actress Pam. Killing Kathy off was perhaps the worst of all decisions in Eastenders. Apparently even the person who decided that regretted it very soon after. To be honest I think off-screen deaths in soaps shouldn't ever happen, unless the actor has died. I wouldn't have had Peggy killed off - like Pat, she is too iconic to be killed off.

 

Some schedule changes for the next two weeks: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/easte...~oKWEHAXahNBhAq

 

Basically EE is on BBC2 the rest of this week and next (no Friday episode next week and an 8pm slot on Tuesday), then back on BBC1 the following week with an hour on Thursday.

Killing of Pat was a terrible decision and her exit was extremely rushed and an insult to the wonderful Pam St Clement. Pam wanted a break, Barbra wanted to leave full stop but they treated it as the opposite. I would have really liked to have had David Wicks and Pat on screen together but all that was taken away by a stupid decision from Brian Kirkwood. Lorraine Newman's was a terrible exec and ruined the show, she really appeared to not have had a clue about the show or its back history,if she did,she decided to forget about it.

 

I would totally agree with killing off characters off screen is a bad decision unless the actor/actress has died in real life. Some of the decisions to kill of characters was wrong,the main three that come to my mind are Tiffany Mitchell, Kathy Beale and Cindy Beale, all three would have came back to the show and all three were excellent diverse characters.

 

I would again agree with the comment about Dominic Treadwell Collins, he is working so hard and putting everything into the show, he knows the show and re-introduction and passing through of characters from the past such as Anthony, Jane, Rannie has been excellent and realistic to the storylines but his hard work is not truly paying off in the ratings. I hope Dominic sticks with the show long term as i believe if he does so it will get EastEnders ratings back up and achieve multiple awards for the show.

I would totally agree with killing off characters off screen is a bad decision unless the actor/actress has died in real life. Some of the decisions to kill of characters was wrong,the main three that come to my mind are Tiffany Mitchell, Kathy Beale and Cindy Beale, all three would have came back to the show and all three were excellent diverse characters.

I think killing off Cindy is the least bad of all the off-screen deaths. In a way it seemed fitting as the whole Cindy-Ian saga had come to a close, and there perhaps wasn't much else they could do with Cindy since all of her time on EE revolved around Ian. It also shaped the characters of Steven, Peter and Lucy - anything involving Steven and Lucy's rebellious teenage stage was all due to Cindy not being in their lives. So that decision seemed to have payed off, although I still really wouldn't advice off-screen deaths. I'm sure Michelle Collins would have been willing to return if she could.

The Cathy decision was truly terrible.

 

I wonder if they could go back on it and pull some Dirty Den style trick?

The Heather Trott death was a horrific decision, which lessened the character of Shirley. With Gary and Minty gone, they were the pairs double act. I now think that Alfie and Terry make a great double act, but Terry is now being forced to leave! Ugh. Although I do love the surprise visits from Kim! I need her back full time ASAP.

The Cathy decision was truly terrible.

 

I wonder if they could go back on it and pull some Dirty Den style trick?

 

That would be imossible as Ian actually identified her body.

That would be imossible as Ian actually identified her body.

 

I know he travelled to South Africa to get Ben, but did he actually identify the body? Either way, they could say it was witness protection and they had to fake her death or something similar.

I know he travelled to South Africa to get Ben, but did he actually identify the body? Either way, they could say it was witness protection and they had to fake her death or something similar.

There has been plans in the past to do something like this. I know Diederick Santer (who took over as exc. producer from Kate Harwood who had killed Kathy off) said he wanted to bring her back but had vowed not to revive characters Dirty Den style. To be honest I don't think any story to bring her back would really work. With Den, pretending to be dead fitted in with his character being involved in dodgy deals and criminal activity and it feels as believable as bringing a character from the 'dead' can be. I think we'll just have to accept that this is one of EE biggest mistakes and hope they never make a mistake like this again.

Although April's idea of witness protection could be somewhat believable. What an unbelievable and tripe decision, still gets iz angry!

 

Check out these articles:

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/easte...~oKXpzFEW9kvdqL

 

http://www.soapsquawk.co.uk/news/kathy-bea...ive.php#results

Edited July 24, 201410 yr by Michael!

Meanwhile, EastEnders was dented badly after being moved to BBC Two to make way for Commonwealth Games coverage, pulling in just 3.92m

Oh.

The Heather Trott death was a horrific decision, which lessened the character of Shirley. With Gary and Minty gone, they were the pairs double act. I now think that Alfie and Terry make a great double act, but Terry is now being forced to leave! Ugh. Although I do love the surprise visits from Kim! I need her back full time ASAP.

 

I again agree, Heather should not have been killed off and Cheryl did not want to leave,in fact she would have stayed for years. I miss Heather and her love for George Michael, Heather and Kim would be hilarious as a double act,so different but both hilarious.

 

Which executive producer was at the helm for Pauline Fowlers exit? That was another horrific exit,the months before he death they turned her so miserable and bitter which was awful and totally understandable why the late Wendy left the show. Had Wendy not left prior to her getting ill i believe she would have a far more fitting exit.

Which executive producer was at the helm for Pauline Fowlers exit? That was another horrific exit,the months before he death they turned her so miserable and bitter which was awful and totally understandable why the late Wendy left the show. Had Wendy not left prior to her getting ill i believe she would have a far more fitting exit.

I think that was Kate Harwood - who had Kathy killed off-screen - and yes I definitely agree that her direction for Pauline was totally out of character. I think the first sign of things going wrong was when they had Pauline remarry, which is something Wendy thought her character would never do.

 

Looking back I think 2006 was a pretty low time for EE - Grant returning again with Carla and Courtney was pretty naff, Sonia's relationship with Naomi was criticised and Natalie thought it was out of character, plus lots of silly storylines for small characters like we saw during Lorraine's run. That said, I'm sure the Bradley and Stacey relationship story was well received and the new Branning family and the Fox family (Denise and co.) were introduced during this time.

Oh.

 

Tonight will probably be its lowest ever rating for definite. That 2006 rating was 3.9m and was only specified to one decimal place. So if it goes below 3.85m it will be a definite lowest all time figure.

The introduction of the Branning Family was a great move that i would to this day stand by, the Bradley and Stacey relationship was excellent as was the Max and Stacey affair and aftermath. Sonia and Naomi storyline did not work,it came across forced and totally out of character as with Pauline Fowler, i would again again her re-marrying was the start of it all going wrong. The Foxes took a long time for me to accept,in fact it was the Lucas storyline that got me interested in them as i detested the Kevin and Denise relationship as i never liked the Kevin character,however, as i say that without him we would not have had Shirley and without Shirley we would not have the magnificent Carter family we have now.

For the first time since returning in 2012, Sharon is properly back! :D She looked a lot prettier with her hair up too.