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Post by mcqueen on Jun 21, 2008 14:27:00 GMT
The horror of Eastenders. It seems to be that as soon as you think it cant get any worse they do stuff like the Blitz thing that made cringe so much I had to turn it off.
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fezza
Jane Asher
I discovered at a very early age that if I talk long enough, I can make anything right or wrong
Posts: 208
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Post by fezza on Jun 21, 2008 16:48:22 GMT
The horror of Eastenders. It seems to be that as soon as you think it cant get any worse they do stuff like the Blitz thing that made cringe so much I had to turn it off. So true. I didn't really see why they went to all the effort to bring May back and then under use her so badly before blowing her up. To then dump all this east end blitz spirt shit on top of it was unforgiveable. May and Dawn were both well writen nether were totally good or totally evil. They were flawed, human and therefore interesting. I notice there were 2 writers crdited with that episode, I assume one is responsible for the flag debacle and the other for the good stuff.
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Post by joshjones on Jun 24, 2008 10:14:43 GMT
I know we probably aren't supposed to fancy Masood, but...I sort of do. Zainab was also great throughout the episode, from randomly mentioning Pat's stint as a prostitute to pushing Jase and Dawn through his proposal.
Have they said anything about Chelsea going to rehab? Or does near-instant drug addiction mean near-instant recovery?
I'm glad Max is back, and with a classic ending to the episode no less.
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Post by lostplot on Jun 24, 2008 12:49:20 GMT
I love Zainab and Masood, they make a great couple. Thank God Max is back, an interesting character and an excellent actor.
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Post by Nick on Jun 24, 2008 14:58:16 GMT
More Bernadette, please.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 24, 2008 23:16:25 GMT
Thank God Max is back, an interesting character and an excellent actor. Erm, no. Max is a repulsive character, inside and out.
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Post by lowculture.co.uk on Jun 24, 2008 23:37:06 GMT
Thank God Max is back, an interesting character and an excellent actor. Erm, no. Max is a repulsive character, inside and out. But repulsive doesn't mean not interesting. I think what is easily forgotten about soaps is that there are characters you are not supposed to like. This doesn't make them bad characters.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 25, 2008 0:13:28 GMT
Yes I see what you mean, there are lots of characters who I hate, but love to hate, e.g. Swimbint, or Slabface, or Sylvia, and then there are those like Max who I just don't want to see ever again, no matter how 'interesting' they are.
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Post by lowculture.co.uk on Jun 25, 2008 0:30:40 GMT
What it always comes back to is that soaps are trying to reflect a bit of what their viewers are going through in their daily lives - even if it is just a little bit. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who have met men who are as big a cock as Max - but the point of Max, I guess, is to make the core audience sympathise for the female characters who are unfortunate enough to get caught up in his web of general rubbishness. Where it all goes to shit is when, for example, we're expected to sympathise with Tanya when she buries him alive to punish his repeated infidelity. In reality, she might refuse to suck him off for about a year and only cook him his second-favourite dinners.
NB - this is not a sexist observation, I have reacted similarly.
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Post by joshjones on Jun 25, 2008 8:10:48 GMT
Max can be a shit, but he's also a consistent character. That gives him an edge in the current story because Tanya's stories this year seem more like just wanting to give her stories since they know she's popular. I don't know anything about Jack, other than he looks good topless and he sleeps with the wrong women.
They had the snobbish restaurant manager (I kept waiting for him to get some dessert thrown in his face), they had the hard luck scene with Pat's jewelry, but the scenes still amounted to Bianca letting a child run wild around other customers, bullying another customer she knew was fragile, and then trying to con her way out of paying. I wasn't sure how sorry I was supposed to feel because all I kept thinking was didn't anyone have a phone and couldn't they call someone to drop the money off to them. Hopefully the fight between Stacey and Bianca means they're going to become instant friends by the end of the month, because I'd like to see them become friends.
I'm glad they're finally trying to explain Clare, and we're getting to see more about Zainab. Stacey and Bradley getting closer is good for both characters. I'd forgotten how well they work together.
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Post by Tracy-Ann Oberman on Jun 25, 2008 8:20:17 GMT
I've got a question about the Masoods (who I'm liking more and more). It occurred to me that the husband is called Masood so I checked the Radio Times cast list thinking that he couldn't be called Masood Masood! He was listed as Masood Ahmed with Zainab, Shabnam and Tamwar all having the surname Masood - what's that all about?
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 25, 2008 8:27:02 GMT
Did I imagine this or was Dame Nina Wadia thrwoing sponges at someone in their boxer shorts the other night? Kinky bitch.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 25, 2008 9:56:06 GMT
I've got a question about the Masoods (who I'm liking more and more). It occurred to me that the husband is called Masood so I checked the Radio Times cast list thinking that he couldn't be called Masood Masood! He was listed as Masood Ahmed with Zainab, Shabnam and Tamwar all having the surname Masood - what's that all about? I believe it's the Muslim naming system, which can vary but often the father's first name becomes the surname of the other members of the family.
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Post by Tracy-Ann Oberman on Jun 25, 2008 10:05:13 GMT
Well you learn something new every day! Thanks for the reply, this has been troubling me for some time now... (I really need to get out more).
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Post by lostplot on Jun 25, 2008 12:49:25 GMT
I've got a question about the Masoods (who I'm liking more and more). It occurred to me that the husband is called Masood so I checked the Radio Times cast list thinking that he couldn't be called Masood Masood! He was listed as Masood Ahmed with Zainab, Shabnam and Tamwar all having the surname Masood - what's that all about? In their culture the woman takes the man's first name as her married surname and the children do too. Yes I know Max is a shit but I find it interesting how he manages to justify everything he does, no matter how appalling. Of course, I can understand why some people would like to see the back of him. I found the whole restaurant thing a bit odd as if it were part of another programme altogether. Not sure why, maybe it was the actor playing the waiter who threw me a bit.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 25, 2008 13:06:22 GMT
I just don't like the way Max gets away with everything. He behaves appallingly to Tania and then eventually he gets a fitting reward, being buried alive, which he deserved, but then he gets let off, swans off for a couple of months and then returns and will start acting like a shit again. And Abby can fuck off too, Tania should burry her in the forest.
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 25, 2008 13:58:44 GMT
I think Max could only ever have been an EastEnders character. Its the fact that he isn't vaguely menacing but the writers pump him up to be a bastard of Judas Iscariot propoprtions. He's more like Pontius Pilate if we're talking biblically.
Peggy's the donkey Jesus rode to town on.
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Post by joshjones on Jun 25, 2008 20:27:35 GMT
Yes I know Max is a shit but I find it interesting how he manages to justify everything he does, no matter how appalling. Of course, I can understand why some people would like to see the back of him. Especially when he wears tight suit trousers. Bianca's restaurant scenes almost reminded me of something out of a silent movie. I waited for the quavering music and big, weepy eyes when the family had to give up Pat's ring.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 27, 2008 0:35:15 GMT
Has anyone else noticed that they seem to be actually making Eastenders more realistically multicultural. There are currently 7 black characters (9 if you include that man from the market), and four asians (as well as about 5 gingers and a gay).
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Post by Nick on Jun 27, 2008 9:53:57 GMT
Did Billy and Honey and the kids actually move away from the Square a couple of months ago? How odd. Is Billy still running the vegetable stall? I don't miss them in the slightest but I don't seem to have seen them for aaaaaaaaaages.
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Post by cathybradford on Jun 27, 2008 13:01:08 GMT
Did anyone watch the Eastenders Weakest Link last night?
The whole 'look how great mates we all are and oh what fun' banter was about as genuine as the love life Phil Mitchell achieves. It's saying something when Bobby Davro comes across as one of the more likable contestants.
Though the girl that plays Shabnam was quite lovely and I was rooting for her despite the fact the older cast members were determined to fix it for 'I love everyone' big 'ev to win.
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Chris
Jane Asher
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Posts: 244
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Post by Chris on Jun 27, 2008 13:19:12 GMT
I saw everything from Gemma Bissex getting thrown off onwards (I saw her on some lottery quiz thing where she was thick as mince, so I'm not surprised she went first) and whilst it was all a bit faux-matey it still pales in comparison to the last Eastenders Weakest Link Special, featuring Wendy Richards at her most spectacularly cunty.
It was sad how embarassingly easy the questions were all the way through, just so that the BBC could big up their "Eastenders Stars".
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 27, 2008 21:06:12 GMT
Has anyone else noticed that they seem to be actually making Eastenders more realistically multicultural. There are currently 7 black characters (9 if you include that man from the market), and four asians (as well as about 5 gingers and a gay). Thats all very well and good but I refuse to take EastEnders seriously until they include a family of Jewish characters. East London has thriving community of Jewish people. I refuse to believe that a square such as Albert wouldn't have at least one Jewish person living on it. And don't try and tell me that Felix nob was a Jew- he was so badly stereotyped you could practically see his circumsision.
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Post by Robbing the Dead on Jun 28, 2008 1:21:12 GMT
Has anyone else noticed that they seem to be actually making Eastenders more realistically multicultural. There are currently 7 black characters (9 if you include that man from the market), and four asians (as well as about 5 gingers and a gay). Thats all very well and good but I refuse to take EastEnders seriously until they include a family of Jewish characters. East London has thriving community of Jewish people. I refuse to believe that a square such as Albert wouldn't have at least one Jewish person living on it. And don't try and tell me that Felix nob was a Jew- he was so badly stereotyped you could practically see his circumcision. Actually East London was where most of the Jews who arrived from Eastern Europe arrived in the late 19th early 20th century. They've since moved on nicer places (i.e. the suburbs) / North London (Golder's Green, for example). I don't think this is a much of a Jewish population left in the East End, it's all Bangladeshis nowadays. Back to EastEnders, Max is back and acting like a complete knob as usual. I like how him sleeping with his son's fiancée just before they get married is OK, but Tanya shagging his brother when they weren't even together is the worst thing ever.
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Post by MoondialSlater on Jun 28, 2008 19:52:40 GMT
I don't think this is a much of a Jewish population left in the East End, it's all Bangladeshis nowadays. True of Tower Hamlets & Newham but not in City & Hackney, especially in the Tower Hill area.
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