In the spirit of honesty I should declare that I consider EastEnders to be the product of a lazy, untalented and unimaginative production team who over rely on cheap violence and tepid re-hashes of past ‘successes’ for their storylines.
Whenever it manages, quite deliberately, to upset some of its diminished audience, the BBC refer to it being an ‘edgy’ and ‘realistic’ drama. In reality it’s far from, any connection with reality is more likely the product of accident than design.
Over Christmas Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) managed to prise the Queen Vic from the ownership of Peggy (Barbara Windsor) and then install himself as landlord without even a reference to the local licensing committee.
Following his plot-by-numbers murder his least able to act daughter has also installed herself as landlord, again with no apparent need to get a license and with the ‘makes no sense other than she’s leaving soon’ capitulation of Peggy.
Dramatic shorthand I can understand but this show long ago left such devices behind and is now merely coasting along on effort-free scripting, proudly ignorant of the facts of life.
It’s too much to hope that BBC drama chief Ben Stephenson’s hit list of long-running dramas will include this tired, insipid show but it’d be nice to see the corporation acknowledge the need for some capable talent on both sides of the camera.