Own the rights?
14 out of 22 people found the following review useful: I cant believe i have to pay for this drivel!, 19 May 2005 Author: MarkNorthernIreland from Belfast
Well, unfortunately this is on our TV's almost every day I think.. As you sit down to your dinner, or relax for a minute, you turn on your TV... and what are u confronted with??? DOT COTTONS decayed face! Its depressing to know that I am FORCED by LAW because i own a TV, to pay the BBC to keep creating this drivel. The actors and actresses, as untalented as they are, must be laughing at their 'tax collector' status. No matter how poor, or how insulting the show is... I (Like everyone else in Britain) will continue to pay the BBC and the producers of the show, simply to avoid a huge fine. Has there ever been an episode when someone hasn't cried? Do these people ever leave this bloody street? After all this time, and not leaving this street, are they all inbred? Is there anywhere else to work other than a bar, and a chip shop? I bet even the cast cant bear to watch it TV.Anyway, i can go on all day about how much i hate it, and others like it. Bottom line is, this is not entertaining, its pure concentrated vermin excrement. The only reason it is still around is because its funded by extortion money.
8 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Deadenders, 30 October 2008 Author: screenman from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
It must say something about the state of our nation that this programme is one of the most popular currently screened. The 'square' is peopled by such a miserable, untrustworthy, amoral, spiteful, unrelentingly dour group of characters as can be imagined. Everyone is stabbing someone in the back, everyone is attempting to commit adultery, everyone is trying to cheat someone. That, or they are being stabbed, cuckolded or swindled. Nobody is cheerful. Nobody laughs. Nobody has a blinding stroke of luck or a really nice day. It's hell, with cockney accents.I suspect this programme must be sponsored by The Samaritans. It's perfect viewing for the depressed. It doesn't cheer them up; what it does do is present a whole community of such terminally despondent sad-arses that viewers are moved to believe their lot really could be worse - they might be living in 'Albert Square'.Apart from the above; as a representation of London's east end, it is pure hokum. The programme-makers have evidently never been across town. The first thing you encounter on the Mile End Road is a colossal mosque. And this pretty-well defines the racial majority of the population. White British Londoners are a dispersed and rapidly diminishing minority. A large advertisement hoarding presently near the Bow Road flyover, and sponsored by Tower Hamlets Health Care boasts that 'Eight out of ten members of the community can now see their doctor more quickly'. Ten healthy, smiling faces beam down at the observer in confirmation. Eight of them are dark-skinned... What's more, I used to work with a bunch of Anglo-Saxon - dare I say 'pukka' - cockneys a few years ago. And I can tell you that a more obnoxiously racist experience I've never had. Each day was like an Oswald Moseley rally. They couldn't pass 5 minutes without denigrating some other race or nationality than their own, and in terms that were repulsive and obscene. 'Fackin' Pakis' and 'fackin' Maceroons' were the small change of conversation. In fact their entire (and extremely limited) stock of adjectives fixated upon sex-organs and their application. Alf Garnett was a paragon of liberal virtue in comparison.Any programme that purported to represent London's native east-end Caucasians in their true nature would be completely unfit for broadcast - even after the 9 o-clock watershed. Imagine a Ku Klux Klan script written by Quentin Tarantino and you'd be somewhere near the mark. But when they weren't being inveterate bigots they were at least extremely cheerful.I don't know how such a soap-opera came to be. This imaginary castaway island of white misery has absolutely no bearing upon real culture whatsoever. And if you're of a comparatively sanguine disposition, it will quickly reduce you to tears of grief. Comparatively ordinary actors pretending to be comparatively ordinary chronic-depressives with cockney accents - what's the point of that?Dull, dreary, unrelentingly disillusional, and ethnically preposterous. The most popular programme of an apparently diseased and dying nation.Avoid it like the plague.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: This show has it up and downs a lot, 4 August 2009 Author: atinder from United Kingdom
I Have always watched Eastender even when people say is really bad, I stick with, I Really like some of the story lines I Really like back 2000, it has great storyline such, Zoe and Kat, Lmo and Trevor, after that show did go down really fast, it last few year it as picked up again, it two year on Xmas day this show 15m people watched it and that has the last Eastender or any other never got that many viewers ago and was one of the biggest successes in British soap television. In 2008/9, Danielle came into show looking for her mum but what didn't know that her mum who is Ronnie Mitchell was told by her dad that she died when she baby. April 1st 2009 it came out in one of most saddest scenes ever made. Ronnie was outstanding in that scenes, it didn't feel like soap, it felt like watching a movie was about 11.5 million viewers saw this happen at the moment highest rated soap of the year EastEnders have tackled a story of child grooming involving the characters Tony King and Whitney Dean as well involving character Lauren Branning at moment show is show talking about Bipolar disorder girl who seem to have from her mum, it great storyline and great acting to.Also In June 2009, Syed begins an affair with gay character Christian Clarke, played by John Partridge, a storyline that will see Syed "torn between his feelings and his faith, The storyline is said to be controversial, as homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam.What clad Easterner take risk of telling story then any other soaps in the UK.Sometimes they do have some very dull boring and silly story lines which i don't like sometimes.My family love Eastender,Not just my family my whole family loves Eastenders Every Xmas we always look forward to Eastenders.
9 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Love, action, drama and a half pint of ale, 28 June 1999 Author: sschwart from Deep in the Heart of Texas
This engaging British series has been a favorite of mine since I was a girl. The families of this fictitious End London borough become familiar faces and names as the show follows generations of the characters thorough their lives. "EE" is more than a working-class soap opera---it's a genuine episodic drama, which is painfully rare here in the US. The storylines arc over months and years instead of days and weeks like American dramas are scheduled. Unlike many American "soap opera-type" series, the majority of episodes are penned by male scriptwriters. The action can be slow-building, but it is engaging. It takes a few viewings to understand who's who and what's what, but with all the websites devoted to this show, the details and characters can be sorted soon enough. Thanks to the advent of cable TV and the BBC America satellite channel, Americans can watch this cozy drama with only a slight lag behind their British counterparts. Grab your favorite ale and some fish and chips and try this show out.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: This is an immensely popular soap opera, and I really like it., 29 July 2009 Author: TheLittleSongbird from United Kingdom
I really admire the fact that EastEnders are dealing with complex issues, such as sexual abuse, and it is one of those shows that once each episode ends, you can't wait for the next episode. The scripts are good, and the acting is commendable, particularly Patsy Palmer as Bianca. The soap opera has also had its fair share of villains like Leslie Grantham's Dirty Den, Billy Murray's Johnny Allen and Larry Lamb's Archie Mitchell. There have also been iconic characters such as Barbara Windsor's Peggy Mitchell and Jessie Wallace's Kat Slater, and there are some talented child actors such as Maisie Smith's Tiffany Dean, who is just hilarious at times. Of course there have been some characters that are not as easy to relate to, I never did quite like Lauren Crace's Danielle Jones, and there have been occasions when I've read that something's exciting is going to happen, and for ages I am like Is it ever going to happen? Despite all this, I really like EastEnders, and try not to miss it. 9/10 Bethany Cox.
9 out of 16 people found the following review useful: A national treasure!, 7 January 2003 Author: Joanna (thinkinfairytales) from England
EastEnders is described by the BBC as a drama and so it should be. There is a strange snobbery concerning soap operas and though EE is on four times a week it is so well-written and performed that I think of it as a drama and not a soap opera.A recent episode, featuring three seperate conversations - Laura/Garry, Kat/Zoe and Ant/Patrick - was absolutely outstanding. It was what EastEnders does best, filling a half hour with some of the best acting and dialogue I have seen on TV, and not many shows could pull off half an hour of just talking and keep it interesting. The show is famous for its 'two-handers' such as Dot and Ethel/Matthew and Steve which were all outstanding.As a scriptwriter I find EastEnders to be consistently excellent and would certainly recommend it as a template for aspiring writers who wish to learn how to write and write it well.A national treasure.
14 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Utterly painful to watch, 28 December 2004 Author: Phil Watts (philwatts@mac.com) from UK
I've never been sure if soaps are supposed to simulate real-life. If they are meant for this purpose, that's got to be the biggest waste of time in history. Why simulate real-life? We can all admit that most of our lives are repetitive and dull, so why would anyone want to watch a simulation of that, played out by people who don't even exist?Eastenders is unconvincing to the extreme. Nobody seems to own a computer, washing machine or car. People seem to buy shares in local businesses within a matter seconds, with someone owning "half the Arches" or "half the Vic". Sam walks around with "the books", which really are books! Most business managers have computers and accountants to do that for them. Those who run stalls on the market like to leave their livelihoods with friends, simply handing over their money pouches. They're the lucky ones - a lot of the cast don't have jobs at all so how they manage to survive in east London is beyond me.The "gangsters" are so unrealistic it's hard to watch. The scripts are terrible, mainly down to watershed restrictions, so the writers cannot include most swear-words and are forced to use words like "moron", "idiot" and "wally" which don't really work on the same scale.Strangely enough, soaps are the shows that are watched the most in the UK, and I don't understand this. Numerous soap magazines are on the shelves, and these tell us what's going to happen in the coming weeks, so nobody really needs to watch at all.I don't understand the concept of soaps, why anyone feels the need to watch and why there are so many.
8 out of 15 people found the following review useful: It's all gone crap., 2 September 2002 Author: mark_s16 from London, England
Eastenders has gone full circle from unmissable in 1985 to totally abysmal now. It's such a bad reflection of the nation this crap tops the ratings.The ideas for plots can consist of nothing more trivial than putting ever characters name in a hat. The first two out (regardless of their sex) will sleep with each other, the 3rd & 4th out will have a fight in the Vic, the 5th one will be arrested, the 6th develop an addiction, 7th get pregnant etc etc.The producers are clever though. The 30 minute show is only actually ever comprised of 3 lines.1) Someone will walk in the Vic & say "What's goin on?" 2) Someone else will stand up say "leave it aht" (out) 3) Then a woman will say "Doan choo come in ere 'n' insult mah fam'ly"That's it. That's every show. Apart from the occasional "Get it sort-id / Is it sort-id?"The show was once a realistic portrayal of East End folk & their way of life. The buffers came off when 1) They extended it from two nights a week & 2) The Slater family turned up. How they attract viewers is beyond me. The Kat character symbolizes everything that's gone wrong with society, treating anyone else like something she's pulled off the bottom of her shoe.The people who vote her the best character, in these polls, must the same as the ones that vote Jamie Redknapp 'Best Sportsman' despite the fact he hasn't played a game for 3 years.What I can never understand is if the show is the pinnacle of British TV why do all the biggest names leave? Ross Kemp, Martin Kemp, the list is endless.How long has the longest couple's marriage lasted, with them being faithful to each other? Yes, people leave, but until the script writers realise that characters, couple can be interesting & likeable without sleeping around the show will continue to deteriorate. An episode last week had 3 separate plots of exactly that. And Zoe & the doctor top even Lofty & 'Shell' as 'Most Unconvincing Couple Ever to appear on TV.'Yes, Eastenders is the most watched show, thats undisputed. But many external factors contribute to that. 19.30 / 20.00 is the perfect time of day to gain the most audience figures, it has an omnibus edition for 2 hours, and more than that, millions of the viewers watch it, out of nothing more than habit, but if they were completely honest to themselves, they would admit that (in 2002, more than ever), it can be absolutely pitiful.
9 out of 17 people found the following review useful: A very good soap, 5 November 2005 Author: walfordqueen
EastEnders was excellent and easily the number 1 soap in the UK from 1985-2002.However 2003-2004 were dark years for the show with pathetic plot lines and lots of backstage problems. (Although even during these couple of dark years the show remained the no.2 soap in the UK)Things have picked up dramatically however and EastEnders is beginning to provide us with first class drama again that made it so well loved in the first place. It's no surprise the ratings are good again with the show sometimes topping Coronation Street.Still consistently the second most watched television show the British has today EastEnders is really proving that it deserves to be where it is and it also deserves to beat Coronation Street on the occasions it does.Whilst other soaps like Corrie and Emmerdale are good (if you like sheep and cows and are over 50), EastEnders is in a different league. It's not just a soap it's a drama and that's why it works so well combining the two different facets. No other soap can be like EastEnders because they just don't have the talent.A first class soap that has entertained from it's inception in 1985 despite it's recent problems. I'm sure EastEnders will go from strength to strength and continue it's quest to get back on top which is where it deserves to be.Kate Harwood and John Yorke I thank you personally for turning my favourite television show around.EastEnders is as much of an institution and national treasure as Coronation Street if not more.
14 out of 27 people found the following review useful: The best and most realistic soap you're not watching, 7 January 2003 Author: Shazzer30 from Florida, USA
BBC America runs an omnibus once a week of this popular British soap opera. If you don't get BBC America, call your cable company and ask about digital cable- it's generally only about 10 bucks more a month than regular cable, and you get more channels. That said, I was hooked from the first time I watched "EastEnders" a little over a year ago. It took a few episodes and a book ("EastEnders Who's Who", available from amazon.com)for me to catch on, but it was worth it. These characters, although sometimes predictable (cheating exes, guy gets fatal brain tumor, etc,)are more realistic than any lame-o American soap- maybe because they don't sport red sequinned dresses and 5 pounds of make-up at 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. There's a chock full of good stuff happening in Albert Square- call you cable operator and get the Beeb if, for nothing else, this fabulous show!
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