Should eastenders call it a day?

[creativebutterfly]

Was a fan since childhood, in my thirties now. Stopped watching it properly 2 years ago and since then have never really had the urge or curiosity to sit down and watch a recent episode. I do read things about it online but that's about it. It just seems to be woke and rehashing old or dead characters and storylines that have been done to death in other soaps, not to mention £83m on a new set I mean wth! EE was the only soap I watched, the other ones seem just as abysmal.

What are your thoughts? Do you still watch it? What irks you about eastenders or any soap in general?

Haven’t watched it In Years. The last time was when Lucy was killed. Surprised people still watch if I don’t know anyone irl who does

Ok. I’m going to give it another go. It’s a British institution and I spent many years absolutely loving it. Hopefully the MN threads will help 😊

I officially stopped watching when Dennis Rickman died. I made a conscious decision to stop when his storyline ended because the show was taking up too much if my time. Of course that was way back in 2005 so well before streaming on iplayer.
I had always been been a keen viewer right from the start in the 80s and I can still remember some plots that were particularly gripping and characters I really enjoyed.
I tuned in again to watch the live episodes which were fantastic.
When I do see it on TV it does pique my interest and it still looks pretty good. The plots seem intriguing and there are still plenty of characters I recognise so I could give it another go but the DH hates it so it's not a shared viewing choice option for us.
Actually the more I think about it the more I think I should give it a whirl.
Mind you I'm still not over Paul Trueman the Gangster being driven away to be bumped off by rival gangsters! Bring him back!

Why do all the actors on Eastenders constantly grab a HOT tea in a cup with their hands and hug the cup. No one can grab and hold a cup of liquid like they do. And they are constantly hugging a cup. Cannot they not act without having a cup in their hands, never seen a show with all the actors, holding a cup all the time, and pretend there is liquid in it.

Why are all the actors constantly holding a cup. Cannot they not act without having a cup in their hands, pretending it has liquid in it. How can they grab and Hold a cup that is supposed have Hot tea in it.

I stopped watching when Tamwar left. He was so funny.

I think the big 3 soaps have probably all had their day. The storylines are beyond ridiculous. They are stale and overdone.

I must have stopped watching them 20 years ago (not that I ever did watch Emmerdale), but you can hardly avoid all the promotion that goes on, so you kind of feel like you're following some of it.

I am still so annoyed and disappointed that the BBC axed the wonderful Holby City and kept the dire EastEnders!!

I used to sometimes watch it when dirty Den and Angie used to have their famous arguments and really liked the one who chain smoked and carried the weight of the world wearness no wonder with the off the rails grown up son ,
and the female Punk rocker Mary ect

but i think i have moved onto to better things than that

people's viewing patterns have changed broadened with streaming channels netflix ect podcasts .

It's a dated format of contrived predictable dramas real life cost of living of living crisis , i think people are looking for more escapism outlets,
cinema 🎥 watching Disney films on their tablet ect..

I've watched every Episode since it began

Yes many of the plots are crazy. So many come back from the dead

All seem to be related to each other somehow

Many new heads

They all work locally

No one owns a washing machine

Only 3 seem to own a car

They all shop at the tiny costly mini market

But I love it 😁

Waves to @the80sweregreat

We love our threads (even the spoiler which blondes doesn't venture on) 😂

edited blondes for blinds

I like the escapism of it all and the acting isn't that bad really.

I have never watched an episode of Eastenders.

im sure im in the minority here!

I stopped watching years ago, must be more than ten years now, though I did watch Ronnie & Roxy die - I loved Ronnie and so wanted her to have a happy ending.

I did see that Cindy was back and did have a Google about what had been happening, but when you see a brief synopsis of each character's life it's so ridiculous what they're all put through.

(And I never forgave them for what they did to Kat & Alfie - I really wanted them to stay gone and be happy but were brought back to have more misery piled on them and for Alfie to be a complete twat.)

EE is a total load of made up crap. I mean, i don't even know my neighbours surname let alone the amount of detail everyone in the square knows about each other. No to mention the fact that most of them have lived in each others house too. Old and dead characters return. Storyline are so far from reality. I used to watch in the 80s an 90s but stopped about 20 years ago. Total load of balls !

@Blondeshavemorefun
😂 at the washing machine observation. So true and something I shout at the tv every week almost without fail. As if they’d all use that skanky launderette.

on a different note last night’s episode was ridiculous OTT with the scene with Nish and Eve.

At the time it was portrayed as an exciting love story, now it would just be called grooming and abuse.

It was never an exciting love story, I'm early 50s so was a teenager when it started, and even I knew it was not a love story

It's fine not to watch it., it's fine not to enjoy it any more. There is no compulsion to keep watching things just because you always have watched them.

If enough people agree that it's past its sell-by date and stop watching, the BBC will pull the plug.

I think it's the writers who need to dream up more and more different stories that haven't been done before. After 38 years ( 39 in feb next year ) it can't be too easy to put different spins on ' whose the dad ' or whatever
I still enjoy watching it , but most people I know don't and it will never achieve the high ratings it did in 86 with the Christmas divorce papers one ( or whenever that was broadcast)

I no longer watch it. Compared to the other soaps it was refreshing when it first came out; gritty, good drama, acting and storylines.

I stuck with it for years, even after it started to go downhill, and because I knew one of the cast members (long gone now) but it reached peak dreadfulness a couple of years ago. The storylines were dumbed down and ridiculous, many farcical situations which could have been resolved easily with a simple explanation, (so more dumbing down for audiences), govt. information-type storylines featured too often, and even the acting stunk.

They probably should call it a day. I don't know anyone who admits to watching it. At the end I enjoyed critiquing it, as it was so awful, but frankly there are better ways to waste time.

On last nights episode November 29th Canada, Patrick and Yolanda sat in the Launderette after it was closed and the entire time they were in there, a good half of the show, the dryers had clothes in them and they were still spinning all the time, even though it was closed, those clothes would be well and truly dry., not realistic.

@Gollygup there was a very old episode which only consisted of just Dot & Ethel talking in a room at night for the whole episode. Sounds like they have re-made this episode again but with different characters, DROLE

"It was never an exciting love story, I'm early 50s so was a teenager when it started, and even I knew it was not a love story"

Definitely. It was seen as seedy and was kept as a dirty secret for a while. Pauline slapped Den when she found out.

I loved Tam!

I still watch EE and enjoy it, although the storylines are increasingly bonkers.

I think soaps will die a natural death as young people aren’t interested in them. I’m 46 and have been watching since I was a kid <probably a safeguarding issue in today’s money!>. When my generation has gone, who will realistically watch this (fantastic) old tripe? 😆

Yes eastenders should call it a day?