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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 16, 2006 5:15:12 GMT
From the Mirror:
14 February 2006
21 YEARS OF EASTENDERS: I'D HAVE QUIT IF BILLY HAD STAYED NASTY
By Nicola Methven Tv Editor
HE is one of EastEnders' most popular characters. Occasionally clownish and a bit of a loser, he is also a born romantic with a kind nature and a big heart. Yet Billy Mitchell wasn't always such a nice guy.
When he first showed up in Albert Square, back in August 1999, Billy was a nasty piece of work. And if he hadn't mended his wicked ways it's doubtful that Perry Fenwick, who plays him, would still be in the soap.
Back before Billy came good, when he was a violent bully towards his young nephew Jamie (Jack Ryder), Perry would be harangued by strangers in the street. And it was all getting too much for the laid-back actor.
"I wouldn't have wanted to stay if Billy had been the way he was at the start," admits Perry, 43, who has just signed a new long-running contract with the show.
"I didn't want to be another Nick Cotton, an out and out baddie, because it leaves you nowhere to go. You need to be a rounded character to fit in with the others. Then you can be a bit naughty, funny sometimes, in love sometimes - it all opens out.
"I'm proud of the way he's changed. I didn't like doing that nasty stuff. I needed and wanted the job, but I knew what would come with it - you can't go anywhere on this show without people telling you what they think.
"In the beginning it was all old ladies having a go at me, and young girls who fancied Jack Ryder. Now it's great - people really like Billy and shout out: "All right, Billy boy, how's it going?"
One person who would have been delighted by this turn of events is Perry's late grandfather, Billy.
"My grandad wanted me to be named after him but my mum and dad were into Perry Como and Perry Mason," he explains.
"He even went as far as offering them some money, but it didn't work, I was called Perry.
"My grandad died in 1989 - I still get choked thinking about him. Now when I walk around, everyone calls me Billy, so he's had his own way really. Whatever I do now I think I'll be called Billy for the rest of my life."
In EastEnders, his character is preparing to become a father for the first time with his fiancee Honey Edwards (Emma Barton).
And in real-life starting a family is also on the cards for Perry, who celebrates his first wedding anniversary with former Coronation Street actress Angela Londsdale this week.
"I'd like a little mini-me - as long as he was better-looking and taller," he laughs.
"If I had a son I'd call him Billy, after my grandad. Even if we had a girl she could called Billie."
He even feels broody when he's working with his onscreen stepson, Freddie.
"When Billy went round to end his relationship with Little Mo, the director told me to ruffle Freddie's hair," says Perry.
"I said, 'See you later, mate', and he just, gave me such a look, as if to say 'Don't go!' It was heartbreaking, it really got to me."
In fact, Perry and Angela, who married after an eight-year courtship, can already hear the patter of tiny feet - they share their north London home with an 11-month-old black Labrador.
Perry may think he's a lot smarter than his onscreen alter-ego, but they both share a romantic streak. When he proposed to Angela, he wrote in pebbles on the beach: "I love you - will you marry me?"
He admits, "I'm a bit of an old romantic. I've made a few gestures in my time which are quite sweet. I like saying, 'This is my wife' - it feels good. Being married is lovely."
He is just as happy at work, too. But 18 months ago it was a different story. The whole cast felt miserable when ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 6.3 million, thanks to some shaky storylines.
"It hurt me, it really did," he sighs.
"It got to be a bit of sport to have a go at EastEnders and obviously that has a knock-on effect.
"You're coming into work, getting a cab, going into a pub and everyone's telling you that it's rubbish and having a pop at it. My dad's a welder but no one goes to him, 'That pipe's crap'. We were still working our nuts off."
He thinks the restructuring by returning boss John Yorke has put the show back on top, and as one of the longest-serving cast members he is in a good position to judge.
"It's mad when I realise that I'm one of the old-timers," says Perry. "I've seen a lot of people come and go over the years.
"I was offered four episodes and here I am, about 800 later. A lot of it was about coincidence and chance. Ross Kemp (Grant) said that he was leaving, and there was a gap in the Mitchell family, so they brought me back to do stuff towards his leaving. After that they offered me a year."
The turning point for Billy's popularity came when viewers learned his nasty streak was a result of him having been abused and bullied while growing up in a children's home.
Since then, Billie has had a fling with evil Janine, married and split up with Little Mo after she gave birth to a rapist's baby, and is now engaged to pregnant barmaid Honey.
"I've had some brilliant stories," says Perry.
"I just ask them to keep it light and shade.
I LOVE the comedy side of Billy but there's a sad side to him, too. He's like a little lost soul who is always beaten up and knocked down but he never gives up. He reminds me of Norman Wisdom."
Perry trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. Prior to EastEnders, he appeared in Inspector Morse, Bergerac and Minder. He originally wanted to be a footballer and had trials with Leyton Orient.
An avid West Ham fan he even has his own chant: "Billy is a Mitchell! Billy is a Mitchell!"
Refreshingly down to earth, you won't hear Perry moaning about the long hours he spends on set.
"I hate it when actors bang on about gruelling schedules," he says. "That's a lie. We do work long hours, but we're not digging a hole in the road. We don't get our hands dirty.
"I know that I've got a lot coming up in the next year and I'm looking forward to it. I'd go if I wasn't being tested as an actor, but I've been lucky and that's never happened.
"EastEnders has given me a lovely life, but in the same way that it has gone well it could all turn bad tomorrow.
"You never rest on your laurels - the moment you do, you've had it."
I didn't want to be an out and out baddie - it leaves you nowhere to go
MITCHELL'S BIRDS
JANINE BUTCHER
JANINE (Charlie Brooks) bedded Billy then dumped him because he was broke. By the time she decided she did like him after all, he only had eyes for Little Mo.
LITTLE MO
SHE was the love of Billy's life. But when Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth) was raped and became pregnant, Billy struggled to stand by her.
HONEY EDWARDS
BILLY can't believe his luck at finding someone as nice as Honey (Emma Barton), but when her dad turns up things aren't so sweet.
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 16, 2006 5:16:50 GMT
From the Mirror:
15 February 2006
THE TWENTY-ONE DERFUL MOMENTS
EASTENDERS has always been the upstart compared to long-running rival Coronation Street. And after 21 years as one of TV's top shows in the audience ratings, it's finally come of age. To celebrate Albert Square's big birthday, instead of a knees-up down the Vic with volauvents laid on by Ian Beale, our telly addict POLLY HUDSON picks her 21 favourite EastEnd moments, in chronological order...
1. WHO'S THE DADDY?
FOR once, ever-moody schoolgirl Michelle had more than a problem skin on her mind in August 1985, - she was up the duff.
After weeks of mystery, the lucky impregnator was revealed to be Den, Michelle's best friend's dad.
Nice.
Peak audience: 18.4million
2. EVERY LOSER... LOSES
LANKY loser Lofty was the nicest guy ever in EastEnders. Sadly, losers finish last. So when he offered to marry Michelle and help bring up Vicky, it had to end in tears. He was jilted at the altar in September 1986. Peak audience: 21.7 million
3. ROCKING ALL OVER THE SQUARE
SKINT Arfur Faaahler was desperate for cash for Michelle's wedding - so he stole the Christmas Club Money (as you do). His subsequent prison spell in October 1986 sent him, frankly, bonkers (ie, he rocked backwards and forwards and didn't shave.) Peak audience: 14.8 million
4. A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, ANGE
DEN and Angie took a romantic trip on the Orient Express - but she got sizzled and confessed to a barman she'd pretended to have six months to live to keep her man. As you do. Den overheard and presented her with divorce papers on Christmas Day in 1986.
Peak audience: 30.15million
5. SPLASH!
DEN had been just a little too dirty for his own good back in February 1989, and the Walford mafia was out to get him.
So, obviously, he took a stroll by the canal - where a gun in a bunch of daffs sent him sleeping with the fishes.
RIP? Don't bet on it. Peak audience: 24million
6. IT'S ALWAYS THE QUIET ONES
THE nation was shocked when in September 1993 loyal family man Arthur Fowler succumbed to temptation. He and Pauline were the Posh and Becks of their time (ish), but he didn't get Rebecca Loos - just posh Mrs Hewitt. Naughty, naughty.
Peak audience: 17.9million
7. SHARON-GATE
IF you're going to have an affair with your violent, psychotic husband's brother, probably best not to confess all to your best mate on tape and then leave it lying around.
Grant played it to the entire pub back in October 1994 - then went looking for Phil...
Peak audience: 18.4million
8. AT LAST!
THERE has never been a character so universally loathed as Ian Beale, especially when he had that weasley moustache.
Back in October 1996 wife Cindy did what anyone in her position would do - hire a hit man. Unfortunately Ian lived, though.
Peak audience: 17.6million
9. BONG! BONG! BYE!
ONE of the most popular characters of her time, Tiffany Mitchell was finally about to escape Grant and start a new life with baby Courtney.
But Frank ran her over on New Year's Eve in 1998 and she died as Big Ben did his business. Boo hoo! Peak audience: 13.46million
10. CAN I GET YOU AN ASHTRAY?
STEVE Owen had finally had enough of obsessed ex, Saskia, in February 1999, so he accidentally bashed her brains in with an ashtray in E20. All captured on CCTV, of course.
He roped in beautiful Matthew Rose as his accomplice and the storyline ran and ran. Somehow he got away with it in the end and everything.
Peak audience: 12.97million
11. BIANCAAAAAAAAA!
THE ginger temptress fell into the arms of Dan Sullivan, her mum Carol's hunky new boyfriend. When Carol - not to mention Bianca's husband Rickaaaay - found out in September 1999, the family was ripped apart. It's TV gold (with the most crying and snot ever captured on film).
Peak audience: 13.1million
12. WEDDING OF THE YEAR
SLIMEBALL Ian Beale tried to blackmail way-out-of his-league Mel into marriage by telling her his daughter had cancer.
She found out and ditched him after the ceremony in December 1999, saying she didn't love him... and never had. Ouch!
Peak audience: 13.4million
13. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR
LOYAL old friend Dot faced a terrible dilemma when terminally ill Ethel begged her to help her die, in September 2000.
But in the end Dot came good with a bottle of pills and Ethel went off to be reunited with her little Willy in heaven.
Peak audience: 11.2million
14. GO ON GEL, PUSH!
POOR Sonia had a bit of a tummy ache back in October 2000... Minutes later the confused teenager discovered she was giving birth when she hadn't even known she was pregnant.
To make matters worse, Big Mo was the midwife.
Peak audience: 13.1million
15. SEE YA, JAMIE
SONIA and Jamie were one of the Square's most unlikely couples... he was fit and she... er... wasn't.
But they planned to marry - until Martin Fowler ran him over on Christmas Eve 2000.
Miraculously, he managed to hang on to life until the hourlong Christmas special the next day - what a present for us all.
Peak audience: 10.4million
16. WHO'D TAKEN THE MITCHELL?
WHEN Phil Mitchell was gunned down on his own doorstep in March 2001, he had so many enemies it was quicker to work out who hadn't done it than who had.
Weeks of Who-Shot-Phil- Mania followed... and it turned out it was girlfriend Lisa who dunnit all along.
Peak audience: 18million
17. MUM'S THE WORD
SLATER "sisters" Zoe and Kat had a huge fight outside the Vic in October 2001 about Zoe going to Spain with "Uncle" Harry.
"Who are you to tell me what to do? You ain't my muvver!" Zoe shrieked. "Oh, yes I am," screamed Kat. Touching.
Peak audience: 13.9million
18. THE IRON LADY
AFTER suffering years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of Evil Trevor, timid Little Mo finally snapped and could take no more.
She reached for the iron and smashed her husband in the face with it on New Year's Eve 2001 - but unfortunately the monster lived to fight (her) another day.
Peak audience: 14.8million
19. GUESS WHO'S BACK?
AILING ratings sent scriptwriters to the Dallas school of It Was All Just a Dream and, 15 years after his murder, Dirty Den was saying "'Ello Princess" to quite a surprised Sharon in September 2003.
He wasn't back for long, though - thanks to second wife Chrissie, Zoe, Sam and that Scotty dog-shaped doorstop
Peak audience: 17million
20. OH ALFIE, YOU'RE SNOW ROMANTIC
EVEN the hardest hearts were melted when Kat and Alfie finally made it down the aisle back in December 2003.
After months of to-ing and fro-ing and her nearly marrying Andy 'unter, they finally said "I do". Alfie even hired a snow machine to fulfil Kat's wedding-day dream. Awww!
Peak audience: 15.2million
21. A LONG WALK ON A SHORT CLIFF
JANINE coincidentally fell in love with Barry just as he thought he had only a short time to live.
She discovered he was totally healthy just after their wedding... so sent him to meet his maker anyway, by pushing him off a cliff in January 2004.
Peak audience: 14.5million
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 16, 2006 9:39:53 GMT
Good interview with Perry Fenwick - he comes across as a nice bloke.
Pretty neat summary of the top storylines, although I hate that Den and Ange Christmas divorce papers episode that is always quoted as the most popular ever: it was crap and all it's subsequent showings have made it even more boring.
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 16, 2006 14:15:31 GMT
Also the ratings have the omnibus added I think. It's definitely overhyped but EE was much bigger then than it is now.
Patsy
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 16, 2006 18:44:22 GMT
It seemed a big deal at the time. I remember the start of EE 21 years ago, talk about make you feel old!!
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 17, 2006 13:14:30 GMT
LOL! I watched the first ep but was so bored I switched it off. Course people forget back then it was on at 7pm - the same as Emmerdale Farm.
Patsy
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Peter
Cellarman
Posts: 276
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Post by Peter on Feb 17, 2006 19:30:27 GMT
I'm only interested in the sotylines, not the ratings they got and all that crap, quality over quantity and all that.
Perry Fenwick does come across well in that interview .
Sharongate will always be my favourite storyline. Okay it was daft 'Shell recording their reminiscing for whatever lamer reason for college/uni but Grant's entence in to the pub and sticking said tape of was great stuff. And the Phil/Grant fight in the archers where Grant leaft Phil bloddied and almost left for dead in the "pit" of the arches - had the wow factor.
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Post by eithne on Feb 17, 2006 22:28:32 GMT
I didn't watch EE back then, but I agree that Sharongate does look better than Den & Angie's Christmas Day episode, from the clips I've seen. It seemed to have a lot more tension, and the idea to have it on a tape was original (at that time anyway!).
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 19, 2006 9:37:41 GMT
Everything with Phil and Grant has tension - that's why they're so tiring/tiresome. Somebody is always going to get threatened and or thumped in a scene with them.
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 22, 2006 11:55:27 GMT
From yesterday's Mirror:
21 February 2006
14 GONE.. A START BUT IT'S NOT ENDER THE ROT
Jim Shelley
THERE are three questions that keep me awake at night. What IS the meaning of life? Is there a God? Why do so many people watch EastEnders?
When ratings slumped to 6.3 million in July 2004 - their lowest level ever - Shelleyvision issued a two-page Walford Report in the Mirror into the decrepit state of what was for years Britain's most popular programme, with advice on how to halt the decline.
Viewer numbers were down by a massive 24 million on the famous 1986 Christmas special, when Den gave Angie her divorce papers.
The show's combination of relentless misery and its obsession with petty criminals seemed destined to ruin it, turning it into The New Brookside.
Now, producers having heeded some of my advice, the show's ratings are on the up. But despite the self-congratulatory tone of its recent 21st-anniversary celebrations it's not quite out of the woods yet.
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
THE big idea about how to get ratings back to how they were in the old days was to bring about the old characters. Ingenious, eh? You can visualise the ideas meeting.
"Hey! I know - let's bring back Phil Mitchell!"
"Let's bring back Grant Mitchell!"
"Let's bring back Peggy Mitchell!"
This was the first prerequisite Shelleyvision's Walford Report had suggested. Like it or not, Phil and Grant are the embodiment of what makes the show great.
The policy has its limits, though. Bringing back Frank Butcher and Ricky was a disaster. Still, as long as they don't bring back Dean Gaffney. Eh?
THE AXEMAN COMETH
TO save the show, a cull was vital. The Shelleyvision recommended hit list was: Andy Hunter, Charlie Slater, Vicki Fowler, Lynne Slater, Gus & Juley, Geordie Kate, Ba-Nana Moon, Dirty Den and the six Ferreiras (plus their sidekicks Tariq and Sasha for good measure. The result: 14out of 17. My invoice is in the post.
Happily, since then the Moons (overacting Alfie, the hapless Spencer and the pointless Danny) were also massacred - although why Jake didn't go with them a mystery.
Personally, I'd have offered Nigel Harman and Jessie Wallace to name their price but no one's going to lament the departure of Vicki, Sam or the ludicrous Lady Macbeth wannabe Chrissie Watts.
Losing Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater), however, left the show curiously lacking in the sexsymbol department - Pat Evans's penchant for pineapple rings notwithstanding.
The biggest fox on the square is now the one that makes the strange howling noises when characters look out of the window at 5am.
This year's cull list is a lot more straightforward. Extended storylines involving Juley (and Ruby) and Gus (and, um, Wellard) have only confirmed how hopeless they are.
Juley, in particular, is a total buffoon - a token black character whom the scriptwriters treat as a streetwise "youth" when he looks like Bill Cosby's dad and behaves like one of the Black and White Minstrels.
With the best two Slater girls gone, it's time for Humpty Dumpty lookalike Charlie Slater, Big Mo and the ineffectual Little Mo to go, too.
Above all, Miller time is up. Sixteen months after their arrival, the Millers are now officially the most miserable family in the history of EastEnders - which is really saying something.
Demi has gone through the obliga tory Instant Overdose that any youngster in EastEnders suffers in the solitary storyline she has been entrusted with.
Darren is just an irksome example of the EastEnders production line of Grubby Street Urchins, while Rosie is a miserable drudge to rank with Michael the market manager's sick wife Susan.
The fact that even Jim Carver from The Bill failed to notice that a large tramp going by the name of Keith is living in the Millers' kitchen, meanwhile, has made East-Enders unwatchable for months on end.
Watching Keith is like watching Frank Gallagher - only written by someone with no understanding of what makes Shameless so brilliant. An American, perhaps.
GIVE YOOF A CHANCE
THE soaps' dependence on younger viewers is such that the Hollyoaksification of Walford has increased.
EastEnders' problem is that out of Stacey Slater, Ruby Allen and Demi, Darren and Mickey Miller, only the excellent Lacey Turner as Stacey has any star quality at all. But expecting her to fill the gap left by Kat and Janine is asking a lot of a teenager who already seems to have more worldly wisdom than Pat Wicks and Gandhi put together. When it comes to younger characters, shows such as Shameless, Emmerdale and Coronation Street wipe the floor with EastEnders.
Just compare the dismal Beale kids with Corrie's Rosie and Sophie Webster or Emmerdale's Daz and Debbie. Add Craig Harris, Sarah and David Platt, Tyrone, Molly, Jason, Leanne and Jamie and Corrie's stock of long-term characters is solid.
Besides the gormless Bradley, the latest long-lost relative to turn up (Dino Wicks) turned out to be (guess what?) another charmless teenage tealeaf whose first contribution was nicking one of the wreaths left for Dennis Rickman. It's like the writers just can't accept that Fagin is gone.
I HAVE A DREAM
WOULDN'T it be nice to imagine a Walford free of the relentless misery that has plagued it for two decades now - where half the characters passing through are not so terminally depressed/depressing that they make miserable old bat Pauline Fowler look like Chantelle?
Emmerdale manages it.
The show also needs an amnesty on murder. Unfortunately, I can't see it. There is a vacancy to cast the next Steve Owen/Jack Dalton/Andy Hunter/Johnny Allen, now that David Essex (!) has apparently turned down the role of local Mr Big.
The stock-in-trade of any soap is romance. But with so many older female characters (Peggy, Pat, Dot, Pauline, Yolande, Bloody Big Mo), together with so many middle-aged frumps (Sonia, Jane, Little Mo, Rosie) and the positively priggish Honey, Ruby and Stacey, it looks as if Dawn is going to be a very busy (tired) gal.
Because they can only pair together the characters they have, they've ended up with utterly absurd "romances" such as Juley &Ruby, Pat & Patrick, and Dennis & Sharon.
FUTURE TENSE
EASTENDERS used to pride itself on being the "edgy" soap. But you can't imagine it creating a gay character that fits in as seamlessly as Sean, or Asian characters as engaging as Dev, Amber and Sunitta. It tried and failed with the Ferreiras.
You can't envisage black characters as solid and natural as Corrie's Nathan, Kelly or Lloyd - who have yet to have a storyline making an issue out of their skin colour between them.
Above all, what EastEnders desperately needs to save itself is a ladykilling Lothario in the vein of David Wicks, Steve Owen, Tricky Dicky or Dan Sullivan, plus a couple of man-eating glamour-pusses like Cindy Beale or Emmerdale's Patsy Kensit.
Unfortunately I don't think even Phil and Grant can achieve that. To paraphrase Dorothy Parker, it looks as if EastEnders is putting all its eggs into two bastards.
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 22, 2006 13:08:25 GMT
Some very good observations - except the one about Bradley being gormless. He's very sharp, but hides it with his good manners.
I'm really only watching it for the Bradley and Stacy scenes at the moment.
No sympathy for Bastard Beale, even if he has lost his mother, he's still a worm.
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Post by michelleandtishfan on Feb 22, 2006 13:08:32 GMT
ive watched Eastenders since 1993 (i was 7) and its the best soap ever
it has its bad plots but its much better then all the other sopals put together and has had some of the best storylines in soap history
includings
dens getting shot in 1989
sharongate
zoe/kat storyline
michelle/den/vicki
angie/den
cindy/ian/wicksey
who shot phil
tiffanys death
nanas death
sharon and dennis wedding
chrissie killing den and framing sam
dens body being found
the mitchells arriving in the square
and lots more
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 22, 2006 15:10:01 GMT
I've watched it on and off over the years but I think this stint is coming up to the longest I've watched ever. Though it remains to be seen if I can take all these weeks' omnibuses in one go when I get home. LOL!
Patsy
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 22, 2006 20:51:28 GMT
I've watched it on and off over the years but I think this stint is coming up to the longest I've watched ever. Though it remains to be seen if I can take all these weeks' omnibuses in one go when I get home. LOL! Patsy It sounds like a lot, but it will only add up to a couple of days viewing in the end, which is no big chore if you're enjoying what you're watching. |
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 23, 2006 2:48:02 GMT
Yes. And after what you've all been saying about Pat and Patrick, I can fast forward those bits. LOL!
Patsy
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Peter
Cellarman
Posts: 276
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Post by Peter on Feb 23, 2006 18:10:42 GMT
From yesterday's Mirror: 21 February 2006 14 GONE.. A START BUT IT'S NOT ENDER THE ROT Jim Shelley THERE are three questions that keep me awake at night. What IS the meaning of life? Is there a God? Why do so many people watch EastEnders? When ratings slumped to 6.3 million in July 2004 - their lowest level ever - Shelleyvision issued a two-page Walford Report in the Mirror into the decrepit state of what was for years Britain's most popular programme, with advice on how to halt the decline. Viewer numbers were down by a massive 24 million on the famous 1986 Christmas special, when Den gave Angie her divorce papers. The show's combination of relentless misery and its obsession with petty criminals seemed destined to ruin it, turning it into The New Brookside. Now, producers having heeded some of my advice, the show's ratings are on the up. But despite the self-congratulatory tone of its recent 21st-anniversary celebrations it's not quite out of the woods yet. THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN THE big idea about how to get ratings back to how they were in the old days was to bring about the old characters. Ingenious, eh? You can visualise the ideas meeting. "Hey! I know - let's bring back Phil Mitchell!" "Let's bring back Grant Mitchell!" "Let's bring back Peggy Mitchell!" This was the first prerequisite Shelleyvision's Walford Report had suggested. Like it or not, Phil and Grant are the embodiment of what makes the show great. The policy has its limits, though. Bringing back Frank Butcher and Ricky was a disaster. Still, as long as they don't bring back Dean Gaffney. Eh? True enough. Agreed on mostly all but i liked nana moon despite the wooden acting and Den could've stayed on. The Moons got overused to quickly instead phasing them in like the Millers. I was glad to see the back of Alfie, he was a good character at first but the depressinf low self-pity alfie after him and Kat split made me want to slit my own wrists. They ruined the character (EE). I'll defend Chrissie as she was essentially a good character but the sudden demise of Den storyline stopped that realistic portrayal and turned the character 2-dimensional. Gus and Juley have always been crap and under-written for which is why they're boring and pointless as they never do anything cos they never get the storylines, when they do, particuilarily Juley is the usual cliche stuff. These two characters derserved the axe the first time, i still can't work out why there there. Big Mo is okay, not great but okay, but Little Mo is another one that deserves to go, tiresomly overused and annoying character who bores people to death with depression. Typical mirror journo though, go for the weight issue, way to go - not. Despite their controversy i think the Millers have worked out well, yes it getting to a depressing family but EastEnders does that to every character, misery is it's middle name. Some great acting with storylines. EastEnders at least goes the middle ground for storylines for the older characters as wekll as the younger characters whilst Corrie neglects it's older residents terribly. And we all know how over used sarah platt is. Gormless, yes, it's too early to say wether it's a good or bad character though having only had a few and ongoing storylines. I'm reserving opinion for now. Indeed EE has gone far too OTT with gangsta/Mr.Big storylines and would be better off not using it as a lead any more. Semi-true. Same can be said for corrie for it's kitchen sink drama. Eastenders have always failed asian and black characters either they don't work and get written out and move away or become token with what they think black/asian characters are. It's always been a fault of EE's, i hope it won't always be and i don't know why it is other than bad writing or no idea of what ethnic families Are actually like. Whilst i agree with them there you can see the favourtism to Corrie in the article once again rather than be onjective. Dev engaging? The same worst over acting cast member on the street making his character hugegly unbareable? Neither Kelley or Nathan are that interesting LLoyd remains to be seen though it's so-so at the moment 50-50. Both soaps are as bad as each other, it's just EE fails them much worse through bad writing for ethnic families and no real idea about them or what to do with them. If they do that though they'll also be like Emmerdale, corrie etc etc etc. A decent ethnic family (London as is the UK is very multicultured) that works would be good, no gangsters or mr-big led characters leading the soap and the sort of writing that's around now is what woul help, a few things anyway. |
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 24, 2006 6:07:24 GMT
Interesting comments you made there, Peter. I totally agree about underusing the older characters in Corrie. Emmerdale and EE give them more to do than simply make up the numbers or club them together for the latest panto storyline they can't be bothered giving someone else. I suppose that's one reason I'm still enjoying EE when normally I'd have gone back off it long before now.
Patsy
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Post by eithne on Feb 24, 2006 21:18:38 GMT
I agree with almost everything you said there Peter (and exhalted you for it!).  I don't agree that Den should have stayed on though, as his murder did lead to a new set of stories which built up the brilliant final episodes involving Zoe, Sam and Chrissie. EE are trying though, with a black lesbian character in Naomi (two boxes filled in the one go!) and a new black mother and daughter arriving in May - played by fairly experienced acteresses. As for the article as a whole, I hate the way Jim Shelly seems so self-rightous. He seems to actually believe that his opinion mattered so much that TPTB at Eastenders decided to make all the changes he suggested. Stupid person! |
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Peter
Cellarman
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Post by Peter on Feb 25, 2006 17:44:22 GMT
Thank-you.
The writer does seem very up his own backside. I didn't know about the new characters in may, let's just hope EE tries to do them justice and not fail so miserbly again like with Paul Trueman, the Ferreiras, etc etc.
Hopefully Gus will be run over by a dustcart and gus will choke on his own bling than suffer tedious non-storylines by the writers who are to blame for two utterly pointless characters at the moment.
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Post by eithne on Feb 26, 2006 20:44:55 GMT
I'd like to see a young Asian couple move into the Square with their young child. The wife would be a nurse maybe, while the husband would take over the nightclub (because I don't want to see another gangster or Mitchell take over that place!!). Their first major storyline would be conflict over having children. The husband would want the wife to have children, but she wouldn't want it.
Unaware to the wife the husband would tamper with her birth control. Overtime more members of their family would turn up, rather than introducing a new family all at once (like the Ferrarea's).
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Peter
Cellarman
Posts: 276
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Post by Peter on Feb 27, 2006 14:08:42 GMT
Or like the Dimarcos.
Sounds good though, i think the last ones i liked go right back to Sanjay and "Haddock faced" Gita Kuppar (Or similiar surname)
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Post by pearly queen on Feb 28, 2006 20:34:41 GMT
The Dimarcos weren't very good, and were dispatched in strange ways.
The Ferrerars were even worse with their 'eccentric' Elvis-loving control-freak father, and their mother who wasn't dead, and their creepy half brother Tariq, and the kidney story, and the big blonde bird with the snake and the mad lonely bird with the cat.......Jesus, what a pile of crap it all was.
Hopefully they don't go so crazy with the next ethnic characters.
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Post by eithne on Mar 2, 2006 19:09:13 GMT
Apparently it would all have been different if the father of the Ferrara's hadn't been emigrated. He would have been murdered instead.
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