For my first blog post, I'm going to talk about something very topical in the world of soaps at the moment: the past. That may seem a little oxymoronic, but here goes.
Yesterday, the UKTV channel Drama started showing EastEnders from the beginning; something which hasn't been done since UK Gold did the same about 20 years ago (forgive me if that date estimation is wrong- I am writing this at 12:17 am, sans glasses). Now, as many are aware, this sort of re-run is very rare and thus a big treat for soap fans. Perhaps the reason it rarely happens is because it goes against the nature of the soap opera genre; one which is grounded in the present and represents real-life issues, people, and is usually set on the day of broadcast. Therefore, for viewers on the 6th August 2018 to take a leap into an episode firmly placed in the world of the 19th of February 1985, such viewing can be jarring. The difference between modern-day soap expectations in comparison to those of the past are immediately clear when considering Drama's re-runs.
For one, Drama is showing two episodes a day. This may not seem much in the contemporary world of bingeing and streaming, but back when EastEnders first started airing, this was its standard weekly output for the first 8 years. It's remarkable to think that, by the end of this week's re-runs, Drama will already have broadcast 5 weeks' worth of material. Compare that to the monstrous six episodes a week that Coronation Street have recently put in place, and it's striking how much television and its audiences' expectations have changed.
Furthermore, watching today's re-runs also demonstrated an interesting contrast between EastEnders in 1985 and 2018. For many years now, EastEnders has had a reputation for broadcasting gritty, miserable, and often blockbuster storylines. However, both 1985 and 2018 seem lacking of these typical soapy traits. Many fans of the show have taken to sharing their thoughts online about how the show currently has no proper storylines and that the episodes are rather bland. And to be quite blunt, the exact same could be said of the first few episodes of the show, too. However, what makes the difference, and what allowed EastEnders to successfully hook in viewers in spite of this, was its sense of direction, community and ensemble. For example, the first couple of episodes already give us a sense of where the show is going: Reg Cox has been murdered, therefore there's a killer on the loose waiting to be found. Pauline is pregnant, therefore there's going to be a baby soon, whether Lou likes it or not. Nick is taunting Ali, therefore he's clearly going to stir up some trouble. Angie rebukes Den's displays of affection, therefore, some marital issues are going to be explored. The list goes on.
Compare that to tonight's present-day episode. For one, I'm struggling to even remember what happened even though I only watched it a few hours ago. Most of the episode was taken up by the Carters fretting about how Stuart broke into the Vic; something which should obviously have consequences/be dramatic. Yet, for some reason he only broke in to leave a post-it note on their kitchen table and the Carters decided to deal with it by escaping to Ramsgate for a quick break.
This constant building-up of a storyline with a potential for juicy, dramatic consequences that are never fulfilled on-screen is a frustrating reality for the show at the moment. So many good stories and characters have either been forgotten about or prematurely axed, and replaced with nonsensical stories which force characterisation and progression out of the window. How many times are we going to see Stuart looking vengeful, but never enacting any actual revenge? How many great returns which are then let down by a lack of stories for once-legendary characters are we going to have to mourn (*cough* Kathy, Sharon, Kat, Mel, Steven *cough*). The show feels tired, tedious, and lacks any sense of direction. Even some of the more drab scenes in 1985's incarnation still have a purpose. For example, Naima and Saaed talk about pease pudding for a solid minute, but it's a scene which is there for a reason; to develop backstory and introduce them to the viewer. Compare that to Ian and Masood back in Spring spending episode upon episode arguing over samosas for supposed comedic effect which fell completely flat.
It's sad. However, the show is not beyond salvation. In fact, it is still enjoyable to a degree as mindless entertainment; it just needs to move up a gear, stop compromising character for story and get some proper, well-developed plots going which advance characters and keep the show exciting throughout the year, not just at Christmas. We saw it back in December with the brilliant episodes featuring the fallout of Max's dastardly actions, which impacted his family as well as the Willmott-Browns and the Kazemis. However, as soon as Christmas was over, this energy was gone. Storylines at the moment aren't involving the characters they should involve. Instead, when Abi dies, Max disappears for weeks. Same goes for Shakil's family after his death. It's just bizarre! One of the main advantages of working on a soap is that you can really explore the consequences of storylines and the aftermaths. For some reason, EastEnders seems to have forgotten that, and thus it's lost its community spirit. So many characters are getting left out of stories they should be involved in and it just doesn't make sense. The stories lose any integrity they might have had and the show loses a core soap trope; the utilisation of an ensemble cast.
Anyway, I'll discuss all that in future posts. For now, back to what I was saying at the beginning... Classic EastEnders is being repeated on Drama. Classic 80s Coronation Street is being aired on ITV3. Perhaps the same will happen with Emmerdale. This could be great for reigniting the public's somewhat dwindling love for the nation's most popular genre.
However, it could also be detrimental. There's no denying it, EastEnders and Coronation Street of the 1980s are strikingly better than today's offerings. The public aren't stupid: they've noticed this, and this renaissance of soap nostalgia could well lead to its demise. And that'd be a damn shame when these soaps are still so redeemable.
I can't speak for the ITV soaps, but for EastEnders, I think it's urgently time for a new Executive Producer. The show has been without one for almost a year. Admittedly, we've have John Yorke filling in as Executive Consultant, but this just isn't good enough. Alright, so Yorke had a fantastic first tenure back in 2000-2002, but the show needs to move on. Enough with the returns, enough of regressing characters and forgetting their recent developments. It's become a trend over the last few years for new EPs to come in, backtrack on their predecessor's work and try to reboot the show to their liking; thus leading to months of dreariness as we wait for new eras to finally begin on screen, and frustration at watching stories suddenly being dropped right before our very eyes. Okay, so many people disliked Sean O'Connor's story about Max's revenge, but it actually had direction and potential, and for it to suddenly be taken away by Yorke or TPTB above him at the Beeb just as it was getting good... Well, disappointing is an understatement.
Soaps are the beating hearts of our television schedules. They cater to all ages and are broadcast during time-slots where nothing else would really work. Imagine if EastEnders were axed and replaced by daily, hour-long instalments of The One Show. Or if ITV scrapped their soaps and created yet more quiz shows. Quite frankly, it doesn't bear thinking about.
Going back to 1985 EastEnders, it's interesting to note that the show was commissioned to shake-up BBC1 in order to compete with the growing giant that was ITV. It was designed to signal a new era for the channel and, with the tender loving care provided by the BBC, it was able to blossom into a behemoth of iconic, brilliant television. If only the BBC would invest as much time, money and love into its number one programme in this day and age. Even in 2015, when the show celebrated its 30th anniversary, the sudden promotion and interest from the BBC really got the nation talking about EastEnders again. This could happen again so easily, if only the BBC would wake up, hire a competent producer and sort out the programme's social media and promotional team. Then, maybe comparing 1985 and 2018's offerings would be less of a cause for misery and more of a cause to celebrate the fact that Julia Smith and Tony Holland's gritty, dramatic, but warm-hearted soap can still be just as good as it was in its heyday.
In conclusion, Drama's re-runs offer both despair and hope. But overall, I'm holding onto hope. I still have faith in this programme and hopefully the recent bout of soap nostalgia and longing for a return to quality writing and story-lining will be a big wake-up call to TPTB at the BBC. We're not asking for a return to stories and characters of the past, rather an end of directionless, sensationalist stories and a return to relatable characters and storylines which reflect modern Britain just as the show did upon its debut way back in 1985. Only time will tell, but, as ever with this show, I'm willing to wait for gratification as, when enough thought and energy is put into it, it's worth the wait.
That's all for today, folks!
-ASIS.
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