I AM an East Ender, and the thing that I remember from my childhood was the humour, the little fiddles everyone did to get a few bob. Yes, we had the gangsters, etc, but the closeness was there and lots of laughter.
This is the difference between Corrie and EastEnders. Corrie has the humour but it still tackled the issues of the day. Why the BBC has let EastEnders get so full of doom and gloom is beyond me. I have stopped watching it along with many others who say the same: we can be miserable on our own without watching others. Come on BBC, you are the best at most things, get your act together with this soap. Both my children work at the BBC and they say the same.
Jackie Ashley, London EC2
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Too many hours
CAITLIN MORAN is spot on. EastEnders jumped the shark as soon as BBC mandarins decided it would be a good idea to broadcast the show more than twice weekly. In days gone by, more than two episodes in one week guaranteed a juicy plot. Nowadays, with so many hours to fill, the scriptwriters cannot come up with sufficient storylines and rely on incredulous plot twists interspersed with countless episiodes in which little or nothing of note happens. The very point of TV as entertainment is that it should be escapist and interesting. If I want a long-drawn-out story with no point to it, I have my own life to deal with, thank you very much.
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Ali Gascoigne, London SW4
Return to writers
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HAVING read the article by Caitlin Moran I was about to set finger to keyboard when I noticed the short article by Carol Midgley. She has encapsulated nearly everything that I was intending to say about the demise of this soap. EastEnders definitely needs an injection of stronger character portrayals, more humour and not so much morose shallow chat with constant threats of violence. Carol has knocked the nail on the head in suggesting that management gives the soap back to the writers. This country is blessed with some superb scriptwriters, many of whom are smothered and cannot give rein to their true feelings and talent. My family and I are no longer bothered whether or not we miss an episode of EastEnders, but the video recorder is always set to record Corrie if needs be.
David Mitchell, Taunton, Somerset
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IT MAY come as a surprise to some but to many of us EastEnders has always been poorly written, badly performed drivel.
Bob Johnson, Harlow, Essex
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CAITLIN MORAN is right to point out the speeding up of storylines as a major fault in the current EastEnders formula. Viewers like to be rewarded by slow-burning storylines that take years to resolve. When viewers flocked back to EastEnders to see the return of Dirty Den, it was not merely out of a nostalgia, but also to see the recapitu-lation of the theme that had been built up over the years since Den drowned in the canal. His shadow had been cast over the square for years and his return was carefully choreographed and there was a real sense of new potential for the programme.
However this may have been where the bubble burst. The new pace of the programme has meant all that planning has gone to waste. The commitment being demanded of a viewer, who is expected to watch too many nights a week, has been severely tested.
Writing is part of the answer, although sometimes the predilections of a group of, I suspect, mainly young writers conspire to paste characters against the wall. I am thinking particularly of Pauline, played by Wendy Richard, who was given all the confidences of the square and gave the programme qualities which were once the staple of this kind of drama; a central, stable nuclear family, a gateway to a network of battle-hardened female characters: Dot, Ethel, Lou and a marital relationship which owed much to Pinter and Beckett.
A. G. McDowall, London SW6
Melodrama rules
WHY has EastEnders lost its shine?Once upon a time sensitive storylines were handled with just that, sensitiv-ity. The Kathy Beale rape storyline was shocking but ultimately believable and left millions more informed on the issue of rape.
Over the past couple of years, EastEnders has cheapened events such as these by throwing in a rape/abortion/murder whenever the ratings flag. Soaps have a history of handling gritty, taboo subjects in a sensitive, thought-provoking way. EastEnders has forgotten its roots and allowed itself to become a sensationalist melodrama.
Alice Steel, Newcastle upon Tyne
Tables turned
ALL OF the strictures in Caitlin Moran’s article apply to The Bill: ridiculous plots, ludicrous characters, accelerated plot-lines, catastrophes every other week. It is saying something when both Emmerdale and Coronation Street, both of which have had their fair share of ridiculous characters and plot-lines, appear to be trouncing the previously unassailable EastEnders.
Geoff Thorne, London SW1