September 8, 20231 yr This surely can’t be good news as much as some soap writers / journalists have made it out to be on socials. I can see it perhaps slogging along to reaching 30 years on air before it’s axed overall. I wonder how it rates on the app itself as the C4 and E4 figures are very much on the low side even in the age of streaming shows at your own pace / pleasure. I used to really love it for a time but it’s fallen so hard lately and it’s just not enjoyable at the moment. The writing is far from how it once was characters seem to just go around in circles (ANOTHER Mercedes affair, Warren constantly angry, James always needing some sort of enemy, Maxine always going through trauma, McQueens always skint). We’ll see how this move shapes the show but the show itself needs to also revamp and have a more realistic approach.
September 9, 20231 yr Ah so the ratings are very similar. Maybe I'll dip back into it during stunt week to see what's occurring
November 10, 20231 yr Following the above news, a further return has been confirmed for Suzanne Ashworth and also Jack and Francine who are Suzanne and Darren's children will appear for the first time, they're 13 now
January 21, 20241 yr Decided to give the whole week a watch today and roll out the omnibus on streaming. I had no idea what's been doing on as I haven't watched it properly for years (think about 2018 was the last time) but recent return announcements peaked my interest. I have to say for a stunt, the car crash scenes were relatively well executed if somewhat rather rushed? Ella dying was a massive shock and it took me a little while to figure out it was her that Ste hit before veering into the roundabout the wrong way round... There was one point when Ste got to the hospital that I thought he wasn't involved at all as he seemed so unfazed by it but I guess he just hadn't realised what he'd caused. I get that he was focused on Leah but how did he not see the crash behind him oop. Theresa, Cleo and Myra returning was also a lovely surprise and I'm surprised they ended up in the car crash and came out unscathed! Cleo just rocking back up like she can have Joel all over again is comical :kink:. I jumped out of my skin when Joel was run over as that was completely unexpected and I'll be surprised if he recovers from that considering how much of a hit it was. The Sienna/Rafe stuff completely washed over me but I'm intrigued about Dilly and how she knows Patrick?? Are Dilly and Sienna supposed to be sisters? Guess we'll find out. I can tell it's been a while since I watched it as the likes of Darren, Nancy, John-Paul etc are definitely older. Says a lot about me as I think Nancy and John Paul are only 3 years older than me in real life :lol: but it was rather comforting seeing them on screen with Mercedes, Warren, Tony. It's certainly nice to see them all still in it and churning away at the storylines. The kids all in their late teens now like Charlie, Ella, Leah, Lucas etc is hard to adjust to as well seeing as it's been so long since I saw them in it. I always thought Ela-May Demircan was fab as Leah as a kid but now she's really grown into the role and I can see such a great actress there! Hannah returning on Friday with Darren's (now teenage!) children is making me want to continue on this path of watching it each week as that's a cliffhanger worth sticking around for. I've seen Rita Simons is joining in a recast role as Joel's mum which is a great opportunity to see her on screen again as I always loved her in EE. Freddie Roscoe is also returning which I wouldn't have ever thought to have happened so it might be worth sticking with. It would seem an Executive Producer change that happened last year was much needed. Lucy Allan returning in 2020 was a choice looking into it just now, she certainly wasn't iconic the first time she did it in 2009 (especially the students in university halls good lord). Hannah Cheers and Angelo Abela seem like a good fit for developing characters in the show hence the returns so I might just see how this plays out.
January 21, 20241 yr Omfg I watched rhe omnibus and it was like an episode of Final Destination?! :rofl: :rofl: Jesus Christ!!!
February 29, 20241 yr Renewed by Channel 4, but will reduce to 3 episodes a week from September. Edited February 29, 20241 yr by Nick Jonas
February 29, 20241 yr It does feel like the show is hanging on by a thread but in a way even though i dont watch the show, i agree with 3 episodes and i think all the soaps would benefit from all only doing 3 episodes as for anyone into all the soaps there is a huge amount of weekly episodes to get through.
March 3, 20241 yr As someone who has recently got back into the show I can understand the change financially but reducing to 3 episodes and only 20 mins each in length will mean drastic changes. It would seem around 135 jobs are at risk as a result of this change which is no small number. It's likely we will have a lot of the cast departed or reduced to recurring roles. Not sure how any of this will transpire on screen but it's quite a big blow despite the good news that the show has been renewed.
March 3, 20241 yr Are the episodws 30 mins at the moment? Even EE episodes are 20/25 mins I agree with Dot - all soaps would benefit from being 3x a week
March 3, 20241 yr As someone who has recently got back into the show I can understand the change financially but reducing to 3 episodes and only 20 mins each in length will mean drastic changes. It would seem around 135 jobs are at risk as a result of this change which is no small number. It's likely we will have a lot of the cast departed or reduced to recurring roles. Not sure how any of this will transpire on screen but it's quite a big blow despite the good news that the show has been renewed. Yeah, that's rhe bad part - ir wilñ feel very streamlined and less "real" with far fewer characters for a village.
March 22, 20241 yr I’m recently back to watching and honestly I think it’s pretty good! I think it could be a good thing to have less episodes though, I find that they hyper focus on a storyline all week and then those characters vanish a bit and you don’t see much of them so the pacing of storylines can be odd. Like you’re getting into a storyline and then it just isn’t seen again for ages. They’ve announced that there will be a one year time jump to explain the cast exits and cuts, which could be interesting! I wonder if they will go for a big refresh and focus on new characters like Kitty and Marie, or will they just strengthen their family units and focus on the Hutchinsons and Osbornes. I feel like a lot of the characters who aren’t in a larger family unit like Lizzie and Dave, Ethan, Zoe, Pearl, Sharon and Liberty do feel underdeveloped or underused so they could easily cut those kind of characters, I just hope they don’t waste the potential of characters like Kitty or Abe, I know they will keep Marie due to Rita Simons being a big name signing.
March 27, 20241 yr I read about the 20 characters been axed, even though i dont watch the show i just feel its going like Brookside in a way that you could see the end coming a good while before it was actually confirmed.
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