Cost of making eastenders..

[Whisky2014]

I just wondered how much it costs to make Eastenders and after just clicking a few articles on this I have found it to be about £140k per episode...£30 million a year.

Not only that, but the BBC had a £60 Million budget to upgrade the set and they have managed to go £27 million over this bringing it to £87 million and to be completed by 2023, 5 years late.
"MPs heard the set, built in 1984, is “no longer fit for purpose” and the rebuild is “crucial to the future success of EastEnders"

Well, sorry but it's absolute brain rot and if rather it didn't have a future! I'd much rather they made some good quality series. If they put their mind to it, the BBC can make some really good stuff. Why do they insist on shoving this crap down people's throats? Viewing numbers have been decreasing, I assume because of the younger generations being more inclined to watch stuff on Amazon and Netflix etc, so this revamp seems like even more of a waste.

Moaning about the BBC is a bit of a national passtime.

The BBC makes a huge amount exporting programmes and formats overseas. Dr Who, Sherlock - massive earners. Loads of Americans streaming Eastenders and other series on Britbox. Formats like Strictly Come Dancing earn a packet too.

You might not personally enjoy Eastenders but it pulls in big figures. People watch it. When the set was constructed in the early 80s I'm sure they never thought it would be going almost 35 years later.

Paying the licence fee doesn't mean you get personally decide what is and isn't worthy of being broadcast. I never listen to radio one anymore, that doesn't mean I feel entitled to demand it's taken off the airways
No, but I'm not saying get rid of all of BBC one, am I? It would be like me saying get rid of zoe ball on radio 2.
Which I think they should do too actually! Basically, I just think BBC need a bit of a revamp.
I guess I'll just stop using the BBC and cancel my license.

But who actually watches live tv now? You can stream a huge number of documentaries whenever you want on I player.

I think the majority of people watching live TV are like your household OP- older people who’ve been watching EE 20 years and sort of mindlessly switch channels 7pm- 9pm each night watching whatever is on

OP you sound like my Dad. He's been moaning about how Eastenders is "brain rot" and "just people shouting at each other" since 1985. He's spend the last 34 years pretending to read the newspaper and peeking round the edge at the screen.

Personally, I'd ban Escape to the Country, those moany 9.15am programmes with Angela Rippon and that dreadful quiz show I had the misfortune to see last night with yer man out of JLS and his wife. Dreadful. But I don't go around ranting about it as I am wise enough to appreciate that the Beeb is catering to everyone and that obviously means you won't like everything.

Well we generally watch Amazon and Netflix because there's always just shit on BBC, itv etc. I think itll all go soon enough because there is no demand for the current set up.
I do like a series if it's on once a week or something but don't watch much else that's "live". I'm 32

So you want a show watched by millions every week to be taken off the air because when you watched bits of it 20 years ago you didn't think it was great?

I wasn't suggesting that you wanted rid of the whole of BBC One. My point was that there are plenty of elements of the BBC's output that I don't personally enjoy or use. That doesn't mean that I don't recognise that they have value for others.

That said, if you realise that getting rid of a whole channel because you don't like it's output is ridiculous I'm not sure why you can't see that the same is also true of one particular programme.

I'm not going to deny I'm a t.v snob. If anything, that's a good thing.

No, it's not a good thing, it just means you're snobby and judgemental.

You realise people can enjoy soaps, drama series and documentaries don't you?

there is no demand for the current set up. Eh ? Yes there is

DonkeyHohtay haha well they do always seem to be shouting so he has a point!
I agree the escape to the country is shit. This is basically why I'm saying it needs a revamp.

I was referring to the house you grew up in OP you mentioned your mum had been watching it 20
Years

Maybe documentaries covering a wide array of topics.

God, how dull! TV should be a complete mix of things. Much like it is now in fact.

What, a wide array of topics is dull? Rather than horrible people shouting is better? Mhmm

Just because you don't like a type of programme doesn't meanthe. C etc needs a "revamp". It just means you should simply watch something else. Lord knows there's enough choice

Passthecherrycoke no she watched it 20 years ago maybe for a few years.
Think my granny might watch it but apart from that i don't know anyone who does watch it. Maybe it's more an English thing?

What, a wide array of topics is dull?

Yes. Multiple tedious factual documentaries would be dull. There are enough documentaries scattered over the TV channels already.

It's called variety.

Well from other commenters on here it does seem like people are fed up with dross daytime t.v. not just the BBC, the Big 4 probably all do.

It's called variety having a show run 4 times a week for 35 years isn't very varied though is it? Maybe if we had documentaries 4 days a week for 35 years you could see where I'm coming from..

Whisky2014
Where are you from?

Well, it seems like a small handful of people commenting on a single thread on MN don't like a particular programme. Perhaps they'd be better off not wasting their life on daytime TV though....

Unihorn NE scotland

Why is it so expensive? It wouldn't cost anything like that much to build real houses and a pub, so why does it cost £84m to build pretend ones? I wonder if they'd be so extravagant if they didn't have licence funds, but had to rely on making a profit?

having a show run 4 times a week for 35 years isn't very varied though is it?

It is when there are also documentaries, drama, comedy, films, quiz shows... it's not like there is only one single programme on is it?

If Whisky is from Scottish, let's not even get started on the TOTAL DROSS which is the appalling "River City".

If you haven't ever seen it, count yourselves lucky.

Can you name any quiz shows, documentaries, dramas that are shown as much as eastenders and have run for as long as eastenders and are made by the BBC?

But there are documentaries on the BBC in prime time, at least four times a week. In fact there seems be one every night already.

Tonight - Equator from the air BBC2 9pm
Monday - The $10bn Energy Scandal BBC1 9pm, or Thatcher: A Very British Revolution BBC2 9pm
Tuesday - The Planets BBC2 9pm
Wednesday - Crisis in Care BBC1 9pm

Etc etc

If you want variety then why would having a documentary on at 8pm as well as 9pm help?