I think in order for the show to improve, Kathy needs to be permanently drunk. And, if possible, whispering all her family’s dark secrets to people she just met constantly.

I love how much Habiba and Iqra are being modelled on Ronnie & Roxy

The comparisons were inevitable but I can see them shaking it off not too far down the line.

 

I'm finding myself warming more to Habiba now. I really liked her scene with Bernadette last week. Iqra is still good although I thought that outburst at Ruby was dire.

Charlie Brooks has said Janine won’t return anytime soon.

 

Seriously just chuck all of Danny Dyer’s money at her, please!

I had expected Janine to be one of the returns.

That said, there is so many openings to develop new legendary characters that can serve the show equally as good.

EastEnders needs a new superbitch or bad guy.

 

If only they hadn’t killed Abi. She could stomp around the square hilariously pretending to be Janine.

I wonder what random secret of someone else’s Kathy will spill to the Ahmed sisters in Thursday’s episode :w00t:

Charlie Brooks has said Janine won’t return anytime soon.

 

Seriously just chuck all of Danny Dyer’s money at her, please!

Janine is a fabulous character and there's so much potential in her inevitable return but tbh I don't mind her staying away for a couple more years. I think there will be more impact in seeing her later on and I think there's enough to build on with what we currently have. I'm happy to let her rest a little longer because I know she'll be back some day.

It's much harder to create legendary characters these days as people dont stay in soaps as long as they used to but it would be great for newer characters to grip the viewers like Janine did.Characters need organic development too, hayley is an example of too much too soon as she was shoved in nearly every episode, Karen Taylor is a better example where the character developed more naturally and right now I think she is one of the better all round characters.

I also think they need to add one or two more older characters to the show,Dot for example always works better when interacting with characters who are nearer to her own age.

I really am hopeful Kate Oates can add life to the show and really get good storylines going, there is a fairly decent cast to work with if they can get strong script writers on board and Kate has shown she can really turn characters from been pointless/boring to very interesting in her previous work on corrie and emmerdale.

One thing Kate Oates seems to do is work more with what she has rather than inject solely her own ideas in straight away. We've already been seeing more of Kathy and Sonia which is great so I'm confident that we will see the show more as an ensemble under her run. Similar to how DTC's first year went; it seemed like everyone had their part in the show.

It is important to divide up the airtime so that the show doesn't centrally focus on the same percentage of the cast the whole time.

The Carters last year occupied far too much of the time, i do enjoy the Carters but it was overkill for a long period and Hayley Slater would be in the same category and Stuart.

Kate does appear to be very strong in dividing out fair air time for all the cast.

 

 

The show has definitely felt different the last couple of weeks for the better. Much more of an ensemble feel back! We just need to ramp up with some serious / gripping storylines now...

Apart from the first few weeks of January I have found the show to be largely good since Halloween tbh. I agree that we need some big talking points although I am sure we will get that with Kate Oates. Jean's storyline has been great so far and I'm looking forward to it panning out, especially with Sean returning. There are images of Jean climbing the O2 as part of raising awareness too!

It's definitely getting so much better already, a quick turnaround thankfully! Never underestimate Kate Oates *.*

http://i.imgur.com/23D9K45.jpg

Omg!

Don't understand why professionals always over share their personal experiences; also the impression I got from what the woman said to Ruby was "if you don't go through with pressing charges then they'll do it to someone else" which is totally inappropriate for someone in her position to say.

Not Stuart being used better in the past couple of weeks than he was in the whole of last year.

 

He and Rainie are brilliant.

Not Stuart being used better in the past couple of weeks than he was in the whole of last year.

 

He and Rainie are brilliant.

Yeah I'm loving him and Rainie although I fear she could be a goner somewhere down the line. :ph34r:

 

I don't buy someone as stubborn as Sonia falling for his lies though.

Yeah I'm loving him and Rainie although I fear she could be a goner somewhere down the line. :ph34r:

 

I don't buy someone as stubborn as Sonia falling for his lies though.

 

I was screaming at Sonia literally telling everyone multiple times about Dot’s business tho.