The gangster fixations of EastEnders

Tonight EastEnders decided to have yet another go at passing itself off as gang-based drama, as always seems to be the case the whole affair came across less The Long Good Friday and more Bullseye! (the 1990’s Caine/Moore film, not the Jim Bowen quiz).

If you’re going to try pulling off gangster shenanigans on a telly budget it helps to have a cast of decent actors but, and let’s be honest here, most of the Albert Square residents wouldn’t get seen on prime time TV if it wasn’t for this long past its prime nonsense. If you were casting a new major drama you wouldn’t start your search in the Queen Vic.

One notable exception is the excellent Linda Henry who constantly looks as if she’s having to act down to the ‘talents’ of her cast mates. As anyone who has seen Beautiful Thing knows, Henry can pull off exquisite, nuanced performances but true to form all the EastEnders writers call on her to do is shout and grimace. Her every scene is marred by the knowledge that a genuine talent is going unused, ultimately robbing the audience of a better experience.

Of course the show has long placed too much demand on a cast who lack the talent and experience to pull off the stories but in recent months this has been taken to ludicrous extremes with teenage characters at the centre of improbable plots. Just how do the production team expect viewers to take the show seriously when storylines place a teenage boy in charge of a cab firm?

It’s tempting to think the show in its current state would never get commissioned but if Bonekickers can make it to screen and get promoted as grown-up post-watershed drama nothing can be ruled out.

The show has the feel of a sick dog desperate for someone to put it out of its misery but with the BBC so desperate to push ‘brands’ there’s little chance of anyone making the tough but necessary decision any time soon.

High Aspirations of Hollyoaks

A few weeks ago I wrote of the depressing, low aspirational characters and plots of EastEnders, well over on Channel 4’s Hollyaoks things are markedly different - not only does almost everyone has a job but a high proportion of characters are successful business owners.

But just like in real life not everyone’s life is happy one. For the past 6 months or so teenage mum Amy and wannabe hoodie Ste have been surviving on a combination of child benefit, handouts and robbery.

Mark my words, if this were EastEnders they’d be the most celebrated characters in the show and never struggle for the cash to buy a pint in the Queen Vic but in the otherwise glossy world of Hollyoaks they stand out as self-deluding losers, struggling to cope with the consequences of a string of decisions.

Whilst other characters are finding the loves of their lives, winning starring roles in West End musicals and qualifying as a Police Community Support Officer these two struggle to find the money to load their electric pre-pay meter and share single portions of chips as a main meal.

The message is clear, running away form your nice secure home (at least in Amy’s case - Ste’s stepfather is a pretty brutal thug) to play happy families isn’t a lot of fun when you’re 16 and relying on state handouts. The lesson isn’t shoveled on but it’s there and it’s hard to miss.

The real surprise is that it’s the show which often starts with musical and fantasy sequences which has opted to tell this unglamorous tale and not the show which hides behind the cloak of social realism when defending lazy writing.

EastEnders: Reflecting Or Causing Britain’s Crime Culture?

The decision by EastEnders producers to reflect the growing menace of knife crime has prompted more than 200 complaints according to news reports.

The corporation says it acknowledges “that some viewers could consider this storyline challenging” but promises it “will culminate in the character of Jay doing the right thing.” That’d be a welcome change for this tired and depressing show which reflects only the worst aspects of life in London.

It’s pretty ironic that the show is now trying to reflect London’s gang culture because, and let’s pull no punches here, it’s one of the most prominent causes of the cultural lack of respect and growing violence which politicians and the police are now struggling to reverse.

No single show or media platform is wholly responsible for society’s ills but the relentless wave of gangsters and bullies in EastEnders, who seldom pay a price for the actions and when they do it’s usually a violent one, can send only negative messages to the millions of young people who tune in every week.

Lying, cheating and fighting are the three main hobbies in Albert Square where the only characters seen to prosper do so off the back of violence and intimidation. Part of the problem is that the quality of writing on the show is at an all time low and so it finds itself stuck in a rut, littered with low aspiration characters and little acquaintance with the real world.

Whenever a new character or family are introduced to the show their immediate course of action is to fall out with or make life hard for other characters. When was the last time a family arrived with the intention of being responsible neighbours, had visible jobs and didn’t end up engaging in, or being the victims of, crime, betrayal or infidelity?

It’s telling that Ian Beale, the character who reflects the much under represented entrepreneurial spirit of modern Britain, is the constant subject of ridicule and intimidation. The very character who could provide some semblance of a role model is shown to be the kind of weak loser no teenager would aspire to be.

It’s simply dishonest to claim, as TV types do, that any show which spends two decades showing violence and dishonesty as the path to success has played no part in the problems society currently faces.

If the authorities want to reverse the growing gang culture and reverse the lack of respect which we all see daily on our streets they’ll need to tackle television’s refusal to accept its part in perpetuating them.

EastEnders Actor Mike Reid Dies

It’s been announced that former EastEnders star Mike Reid has died aged 67.

His agent has announced the actor suffered a heart attack at his home in Spain.

Mr Reid played car dealer and publican Frank Butcher who was married to Pat and later Peggy Mitchell. His character first appeared in 1987 and returned to the show in 2005 for his onscreen daughter’s trial.

Pam St Clement , who played his screen wife, Pat, said: “It has come as a terrible shock - somebody larger than life as Mike was in person and character - he seemed indestructible.”

Rising to fame as one of the resident joke-tellers in The Comedians he later had his own BBC 2 comedy show ‘The Mike Reid Show’.

He also featured in a number of live stage appearances which were released on DVD.

Between 1975 and 1977 he hosted the children’s show ‘Runaround’. Earlier this year Mr Reid appeared in ITV’s crime drama The Bill.

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama series said: “Albert Square, and

British television, will be a far poorer place without him.”

Link: EastEnders