It could work, with an actual skilled writer/storyliner.

Extending her original arc - the abuse and the fairytale Alfie stuff was never going to work.

But developing her beyond that was possible. I think she's too much of a mess of characterisation the last few years. The on/off/on/off/on/off thing with Alfie hasn't helped either.

They did the same thing with Mel, no reason why the character shouldn't work, catching up with her 16 years on. But they practically had it that the 16 years offscreen didn't happen and she picked up where 2002 left off. Just stupid writing.

That’s just a symptom of the poor writing quality. Oates and Sen haven’t delivered that much all in all aside from the last week. The continuity’s as bad as it’s been for years.

Oh the further we get into their tenure, the more I hate it. :joker: Really not a fan of a lot of it.

How are you feeling now?

2009 and 2010 always stick out in my head as peak EE for me.

2008 is obviously great to be rewatching on iPlayer. I remember 2007 being good too.

Most of the 10s has been rubbish. 2014 and 2019 would probably be highlights? 2020 and 2017 low points.

I’ve heard great things about 2001 and 2005. Would love to experience them one day.

Still not a fan.

I enjoy the show well enough but it's largely going through the motions.

Like, I enjoy Suki but she's not especially developed. And the Carter's, no matter what storyline they have, seem to end up in the Mick/Linda marriage crisis each and every time.

It's uninspired.

Although, music montage aside, I did quite enjoy Ian's whodunnit.

Correct.

Archie's arc to Phil's groovy Woodstock phase ("Billy...wor I need is crack") is the best EastEnders. You even have Jesus Camp Lucas Johnson getting up to no good in that period.

It's been mostly garbage since Danny Dyer and his throng arrived.

That.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Archie era all in all but there’s no denying that the period circa Stacey bumping him off was a high point for the show.

I reckon it’s only a matter of time before the Beeb pull the plug. The abysmal ratings most be a cause for concern all-round and most of those ex-viewers aren’t going to return. I’ve sat through worse individual years but this time there’s no glimmer of hope.