Pint In The Vic, anyone? (Eastenders)

Member Name: cazkins

Product:	Eastenders
Date:	01/10/08 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Varied cast and storylines, interesting & thought-provoking whilst being easily watchable

Disadvantages: Slight flaws in some storylines, especially with time differences

I think some soaps can lack good acting and tangible storylines and still be addictive, because for some unknown reason, I have to get my daily Eastenders fix!

I say daily, but Eastenders is actually Monday (8pm), Tuesday (7.30pm), Thursday (7.30pm) and Friday (8pm) BBC1. Incase you miss the early showing, it's repeated on BBC3 at 10pm. If you can't watch it during the week, you can catch the Omnibus on Sundays at 1.30pm BBC1. But just on the off-chance that you miss all of these recaps, or your TV breaks, don't worry! The producers want you to watch it so badly that you can go to www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders and watch it online, so you have no excuse to miss it.

The cast is quite varied in age, size, race, sexuality and personality which I always think is a good thing. It has had some criticism for rubbing this in your face sometimes but the storylines do help to break the ice on rather delicate issues. The intertwining of lives in Albert Square is quite well done and you usually get to view at least 3 storylines in one 30 minute program. They do ocassionally have their 'special' episodes, for example when one family actually ventures out of the Square, and the camera is stuck on them for the longest and most boring half an hour of your life.

Eastenders is popular for some outrages stories, the most recent being a paedophile who grooms an underage girl by getting to her via her mother. It may be shocking and some may disagree with these types of themes before watershed, but as there's no language or anything too visually outrageous, I think it's a positive step forward for the soap. The intriguing storylines make the program more interesting to watch whilst highlighting important issues, helping us to think and reflect on certain issues that are raised.

Some characters really stand out when you mention the word 'Eastenders', like Phil, Kat, or Bianca. These strong characters have been acted very well, given good stories and reasonable scripts. It's not intellectual viewing, but it's easy to watch and it gives you something to look forward to of an evening, for me at least! It gets a lot of viewers, although it has fluctuated a lot the last few years, but it's still very popular. It's won the Best Soap Award 2008 so it must be doing something to please the viewings. I'm not entirely sure why I'm giving this a 5 and I'm sure a lot of people will argue with that and say it's trashy TV, but for a soap which is supposed to show 'regular' people and be easy to watch, I think it serves it purpose. Because it's generally centred in the one area with a set cast, plus the slightly weaker characters, it has quite a familiar and comfy feel when watching it. I wouldn't say that makes it boring however, there's always something going on in this Square, be it a fire, a murder, rape, burgulary... you name it, it happens!

Summary: I'm ashamed to admit it but I'm hooked!