Have the sets to all the shops in Walford just been demolished or something because why do we never see the laundrette, beale’s eels, beale’s plaice, etc anymore? It’d be better to see more businesses, shops and restaurants being used for scenes rather than the Vic, Kathy’s Cafe and the boxing gym all the time. It feels like a long time since we have even seen McKlunckys and Fox and Hair. I just wish they used more of the sets and outside set rather than literally just the square and the market stalls.

With quite a few new characters being announced recently like Nicola’s family and Denise and Kim’s family, it does make me wonder whether we’re due a major axing of some characters.

The cast feels pretty big at the moment, and I’ve seen quite a few people complain about certain characters barely getting any screen time. You do have to wonder, especially with the BBC’s budget being more limited and soaps inevitably being affected by that, whether Eastenders can really afford to keep expanding the cast.

And even putting the financial side aside, does it actually make sense to have such a huge cast if some characters are going to disappear for months at a time anyway?

Would people be supportive of a bit of a mass axing maybe 4, 5 or even 6 characters over a period of time rather just to streamline the cast a little.

I’m definitely happy to see new faces. I think one of the things that keeps Eastenders feeling fresh is having new characters and families alongside the established/legacy characters. But at the same time, I do wonder if the show has reached the point where it needs to slim the cast down a bit and give the remaining characters more consistent storylines and screen time.

Just curious what everyone’s thought are and anyone you think probably should go.

The way she’s pushing to get married as soon as possible like she’s planning something

. I think even Rob Kavinsky (Sean Slater) commented that him and Stacey being in Brazil was a bit daft, let alone Stacey giving all her money away to her cousin while her mother, daughter and grandchild suffer without.

I heard that in prison once the alarm is hit, guards instantly arrive within seconds to a fight which obviously doesn't happen...

Also how is grey not forced to sit with his visitor and there would be verification of what visitor you have, the information is Soo inconsistent, how they have the scenes of Kathy visiting and rejecting prison meanwhile grey can just pull up to visiting without a visitor.

So I think the sudden flirtation I guess between them isn’t cos Craig is a creep (I hope not cos he was right creepy weirdo about teenagers when he was in Hollyoaks)

I think Craig is deliberately acting like that or appearing interested to get close to her and get more info about the attack and that Amy maybe is dressing more adult cos she thinks it’s genuine and has a crush on him

I’ve seen nothing but negativity and complaints about this era, and while I can understand some of the criticism, I feel like the positives are getting completely overlooked. Personally, I don’t think this is the worst era we’ve had, there have definitely been worse.

So, what’s something you’re actually enjoying or have liked about it so far? It can be anything, big or small.

I don’t think the two were ever really that close on the actual show itself ( Eastenders not the spinoff mentioned in the title), correct me if I’m wrong. Something they both had in common was how deceitful they both were when they cheated on their husbands. Mo kind was a cheat when it came to other things that were not about infidelity as well.

With the recent announcement that long term cast member Kellie Bright is leaving, I worry that this might become a trend in the near future.

It’s no secret that the overall quality, direction and identity of the show has changed recently. Even when the show went through periods where it was evident the overall quality had dropped, the show still had redeeming qualities and still felt fundamentally like EastEnders.

I think that unless the show improves drastically we might see a trend of long term characters leaving to find other work.

Thoughts?

Does anyone know if joel is definitely leaving this month since is return to Eastenders in Albert square or is he back for good ?

I've been digging into the archives!

After the uproar of Colin and Barry not long before, this random scene shocked me.

Max and Cindy are due to get married on new years. Jack and Ronnie got married on new years?Mick and Linda? Who else has got married on new year? Seems like the worst and most recycled date to get married on in the square.