EastEnders 2025

They have all lost a huge amount of viewers, but they have all pretty much stabilised over the last year or two. I think all of them are basically playing to a pretty hardcore fanbase now who watch regardless of quality, and they will all struggle to find any new audience. That's why I think the overnights for EE this week didn't get THAT huge amount of a boost - it probably helped drag in more casual viewers who might otherwise miss the odd episode, but I don't imagine it attracted anyone new. And in some ways all the fuss about the 40th birthday probably only served to make younger people think it's a show for older people.

I don't think any of them will be axed in the next 5 years, but i do think there will be a lot more changes to how they are broadcast, and that the days of big budgets are long gone.
 
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Eastenders seems to still have a reasonable budget, in the way Corrie apparently doesn't. But I guess if you're dependent on advertisers in a declining market you'll struggle maintaining quality, over the show with automatic funding.
 
Eastenders seems to still have a reasonable budget, in the way Corrie apparently doesn't. But I guess if you're dependent on advertisers in a declining market you'll struggle maintaining quality, over the show with automatic funding.

Corrie has a bigger cast and probably more sets? I watch all three and can’t notice Eastenders having a bigger budget than Corrie or Emmerdale? 🤷‍♀️
 
I remember Slave saying something about budget cuts at ITV and they would be doing most scenes in places like The Rovers or on the cobbles or suchlike but that hasn’t happened yet? Every scene is practically on a different set.
 
Corrie has a bigger cast and probably more sets? I watch all three and can’t notice Eastenders having a bigger budget than Corrie or Emmerdale? 🤷‍♀️
I don't watch the other two, but I know folk here have described empty sets (fewer background actors in Rovers for example), as well as big cast departures.

I dunno, I'm just going by what I see here, but with less advertisers, they will naturally suffer.
 
I don't watch the other two, but I know folk here have described empty sets (fewer background actors in Rovers for example), as well as big cast departures.

I dunno, I'm just going by what I see here, but with less advertisers, they will naturally suffer.

Yeah, that was Slave that said that was coming in to play but it hasn’t yet anyway. All soaps are all still very much on an even par.
 
I will say that Eastenders is HEAD AND SHOULDERS above the rest of them in characters and storylines though. None of the other 2 compare BUT they still get more viewers than Eastenders. Even with the BIG 40TH ANNIVERSARY it never managed to pull away massively. Corrie gets around a quarter more viewers than EE now as all soaps have dropped so much but when you look at it’s still a significant advantage.
 
EastEnders is streets ahead. An episode of Corrie is enough to send you into a coma sometimes. There is honestly no direction with Corrie, it feels like a slow death apart from a few characters keeping it going. David, Leanne, Carla, could all be great given the right stuff
 
Is that Alex Walkinshaw?

This last ditch attempt to retain the Fowler name makes me more convinced that it was James Bye's choice to leave rather than the show's

I will be hugely disappointed if the recast comes with a COMPETENT American accent

A strange decision not to just recast Spencer at the same time - it might have done Alfie some good to not be wholly dependent on Kat for connections
 
Apparantly the original Vicki actress was most recently a vice principal at the Pauline Quirke acting academy

And I don't know why I find that so amusing

It's very CELEBDAQ - Pauline Quirke opens a school and appoints Star Spangled Vicki Fowler as the headteacher. I really want to know who else was on the staff roster. Sanjay and Gita as Heads of Pastoral Care?
 
The combination of that clip (how was her accent EVEN WORSE than I remembered?) and the Pauline Quirke revelation have me crying with laughter :D

It was apparently James Bye's decision to leave, according to the press n' socials. Which I do find hard to believe, unless he'd decided to leave acting all together.

I'm happy about the extra Fowler news, though sad it never worked out with the recast Michelle from 10 years ago or whenever. I hope with new Vicki they'll just have her speaking cockney and try to sell it as simply what happens to an accent when an American spends 20 years in Australia.

Alex Walkinshaw was terrible on The Bill, and was (from what I saw) (one episode) terrible on Casualty, so I'm not thrilled at his casting. I agree that a recast Spencer would have made more sense, though maybe that's to come as well.

The little boy with the curtains will leave within two years, but the BBC might get a successful Strictly run out of him at the end of that.
 
I just thought with Grant back, this would be a perfect time to get Michelle and their son Mark to arrive (if Jenna Russell is available for a week or so), there to be the revelation that he has a son, and then at least some kind of setup for Mark to return as a character at some point.
 
Oh, it looks like I forgot. They already know.

Still, it carries on the Fowler legacy, would give a chance for more of a new generation to be in the show. He could easily be friends with Peter, Lauren, Zack, Callum and the Knight girls. Ben is his cousin so that’ll be some connection when Ben eventually gets recast.

BTW, I think I remember Vicki gradually phasing out that American accent as the show went on, and the character never returned to America so I’d imagine they’d have completely scrapped it by now.
 
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BTW, I think I remember Vicki gradually phasing out that American accent as the show went on, and the character never returned to America so I’d imagine they’d have completely scrapped it by now.
It wasn't phased! It was just dropped like a potato one day, the explanation being something like "I just wanted to talk like you all!" :eyes:
 
There is no way they're ever bringing poor Jenna Russell back, they'll definitely prefer to pretend that whole thing never happened

Alex Walkinshaw, whilst terrible, is someone I'm surprised hasn't popped up on Eastenders before. His whole Cockney cheeky chappy shtick cries out Eastenders Market Stall
 
Probably an unpopular opinion but Michelle was a terrible character with Michelle Tully and whoever played her last. I actually don’t think ANY of the Fowlers were that great Pauline and Lou excluded.
 
There is no way they're ever bringing poor Jenna Russell back, they'll definitely prefer to pretend that whole thing never happened

I know she didn’t do very well, mostly because of the ridiculous student/teacher relationship story. Maybe Jenna Russell should stick to stage acting, because she’s very respected and rarely out of work.
 
Oh I agree Jenna Russell, whilst completely miscast, wasn't solely to blame

Reintroducing Michelle as a groomer was never going to end well
 
I do believe James Bye wanted to leave. Him and his wife are really into family vlogging and there’s only so much that the BBC will allow stars to do in terms of #ads and partnerships. I believe that’s also the reason Jacqueline Jossa left the first time. Why do a laborious soap if you can get a handful of £30k+ partnership posts every year?
 
For more info. head to our Facebook page.

??? OK boomer?
Interestingly, I've noticed that the BBC EastEnders account often refers to Facebook, whereas the BBC Press Office account links to the BBC website, although both accounts post at the same time.
 
I know they film things out of order all the time and it’s just what you do as an actor at the end of the day, but I was still somehow really impressed with Lacey Turner’s performance tonight, managing to portray the devastation like she did when it must have been a couple of months before acting out the scenes where Martin actually died.
 
Completely new story/spoiler
So Barney is Zach's son from his and Nic's shag 16 years ago :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :BList: :BList:I was hoping it was joked about in the episode last week in a wink wink jest to cliche obvious storylines in soaps
 
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