[Amy Jade]

For me, no not really.

It's gotten a little better and some things they have done have really paid off - Ruby being back for instance I love her, great character and I like that they are rebuilding the Beales (BUT BRING BACK OUR JANE!) and I also like Sharon getting a more central role.

However the casting of Ben has been a disaster, he's absolutely terrible and the Halfway storyline feels so shoehorned in to recreate the Robron couple and please its worshippers. Stuart staying around too, he's a rapist and a killer and they expect us to forgive and forget?

[Redway]

Stuart for all his faults is no rapist.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

For me, no not really.

It's gotten a little better and some things they have done have really paid off - Ruby being back for instance I love her, great character and I like that they are rebuilding the Beales (BUT BRING BACK OUR JANE!) and I also like Sharon getting a more central role.

However the casting of Ben has been a disaster, he's absolutely terrible and the Halfway storyline feels so shoehorned in to recreate the Robron couple and please its worshippers. Stuart staying around too, he's a rapist and a killer and they expect us to forgive and forget?

Turns out you were right, about Ben and the state of the show back then. We (some of us) used to like to pretend that 2019 was good because in comparison to 2011-13, 2015-18 and 2020/21 it kinda was, still, but it’s still part of the overall worst era in the show’s history. Nothing from 2016 to 2021 was really that good and people can say that with their chests now-that Clenshaw’s catapulted us into a much better era (2022-present). 2019 was utter garbage.

[Redway]

Ballum, dArkMaRtin and Ben’s human trafficking, Mel’s needless death and Xmas were all notable lowlights of a pretty dodgy year. Some people swear by solo Oates and that 2019 was a great year but it wasn’t. Sean’s return was one of the only genuinely interesting things about that year. As-for the people who predicted how bad Ballum was gonna be, well done. Their fan-base eventually became excruciating and defended the indefensible.

Thank God we’re past the dark days of 2015-21 is all I can say.