Our UK transplanted correspondent suggests:
How to Reinvigorate EastEnders in Four Easy Steps
By Sherry Chiger
Editor's note: The EastEnders we are all watching, courtesy of our local PBS stations, needs no reinvigoration, but it has come to our notice that the current episodes in England lack oomph.
It was interesting to read in a previous issue of the Gazette how many Brits have stopped watching EastEnders. In fact, the newspapers here in the U.K., where I moved from New York in June, tend to be quite disparaging of the programme, comparing it unfavourably with Coronation Street.
Having watched both shows regularly throughout the summer, I can see why. I don't necessarily agree that Corrie is better than EE, but I can understand why so many other people do.
But EE can rise again. Here is my four-point plan for reinvigorating the show:
1) Base the storylines on real life, not life on other TV programmes.
Corrie has a psycho teen – and what do you know, now Walford does too. Corrie recently had a will-they-or-won't-they wedding – as did EE, at the same time. The best EE stories have always been grounded in real life: Den fathering Michelle's baby, Kat admitting that she was Zoe's mum, the Grant-Sharon-Phil triangle. I'm not saying that psycho teens should be verboten – the Joe Wicks storyline was one of my favourites. But that's because it was handled with great attention to authenticity, evolved over time, and featured some wonderful actors. (Though Aaron Sidwell, who's playing Steven Beale, this year's psycho teen, is doing a credible job as well.)
EE's current psycho teen plotline was sprung upon us, featuring a character we haven't had the chance to get to know before he goes ballistic. It seems that this character was written in purely as a plot device, nothing more. Of course, most characters are plot devices in one way or another, but here it's particularly blatant and artless. And the aftermath of his breakdown is ridiculous. Despite having inflicted bodily harm, he's not sectioned (committed for mental health reasons in U.K. parlance) to a hospital, he's provided with no aftercare, and perhaps most unbelievable, hardly anyone in the Square knows exactly what he did during his breakdown except the parties involved. When was the last time anyone in the Square could keep something secret?
2) Enough with the gangsters.
This ties in with my first suggestion about basing storylines on real life. There was a spate of violence in the U.K. this past summer (a spate by U.K. standards – just another summer by New York or L.A. standards). Most of the violence involved teens shooting teens.
Headlines moaned that adults were afraid to venture into city centres at night for fear of meeting up with 'hoodies' — delinquents who favour hooded sweatshirts because the hoods obscure their faces on CCTV footage.
There was much talk about the effectiveness of ASBOs, Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, most commonly associated with out-of-control teens who, after vandalizing shops, drunkenly urinating in public, harassing passers-by, and brawling in the streets, are banned from certain areas.
So who recently ripped up the Vic and terrorised its patrons? No, not some drunken teens. A Firm – all because the leader of this particular bunch of saddos wanted a recent addition to Walford, who had moved to the Square to start afresh, to rejoin the gang. Making matters worse, during their rampage the Firm inadvertently injured a heavily pregnant character, who subsequently went into premature labour. And of course the baby wasn't breathing properly upon delivery, and we were meant to believe that he had died, but apparently that was a bit depressing even for EE, so he was miraculously revived.
Yes, yes, premature labour and senseless violence and retribution are all cornerstones of serial dramas, but I think EE could opt for more realistic, relatable angles that are "ripped from the headlines," to quote another long-running series, Law & Order. Where are the ASBO-flouting hoodies wreaking havoc? Where are the Polish and Bulgarian émigrés and the tensions between them and the Anglo residents, who fear that the newcomers are taking "British jobs from British workers" and straining the health and education systems here? Where are the young Muslims who are becoming too westernised for their parents' liking, which in the most extreme incidences have resulted in so-called honour killings?
While we're at it, where's the cultural diversity? I live in a town in North Devon, one of the more remote and rural counties of the country, and my street is nearly as diverse as the Square. Granted, my family – Jewish-American, with a Chinese-American daughter – is responsible for much of that diversity, but still, you get the point.
3) Use the characters or lose them.
There are some Walford hangers-on who haven't been part of a decent storyline in ages. Which is well and good, except that they aren't given much to do as supporting characters either. Is it because the characters aren't well defined? In that case, define them, or ship them out. Is it because the actors are limited in their dramatic ability? Then ship them out as well.
Pat, Dot, Peggy, Frank, Bianca and Ricky grew richer and more faceted over the years because they were fairly complex and well-rounded characters to begin with and/or because they've been portrayed by fabulous actors. When they left the show, even temporarily, the Square felt a bit unbalanced, at least for a while. I don't know how many of the characters that have been introduced to EE during the past year would have a similar effect.
A number of the younger cast members deserve a chance to test their chops, though. For instance, Melissa Suffield, who plays preteen Lucy (the daughter of Ian and Cindy) did a cracking job with an intriguing storyline this summer and could well be another Susan Tully or Letitia Dean, someone we'd like to watch come of age.
Similarly, Madeline Duggan, who plays another preteen, Lauren Branning, seems talented enough to be tested with a meaty storyline – how about having her develop obsessive-compulsive disorder (a common condition that I've yet to see portrayed well on TV) or begin to question her sexuality?
4) Avoid the cheap laughs.
A relatively new character, Heather, is clearly meant to be nothing more than comic relief. She's overweight, socially inept, in love with a character who is in love with someone else, and saddled with a horrible perm.
Despite the writers, and because of Cheryl Fergison, the actress playing her, Heather has turned out to be one of my new favourites. If the writers would stop treating her as a sight gag, she could well end up being a worthy long-term addition to the Square.
There you have it: My suggestions for shoring up EE so that it becomes the critics' and the public's darling once again. And to the powers-that-be at BBC: If you want to do lunch, give me a call. The publisher of the Walford Gazette will give you my number.
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