GET OUT OF MY PUB! (Eastenders)

Member Name: hainesash

Product:	Eastenders
Date:	05/08/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Something to do in the evening and storylines are interesting

Disadvantages: Storylines can be dragged on

I am not sure that there will be many people out there in the UK that haven't heard of Eastenders, but for those of you who are new to the programme or just want some info here goes:

Eastenders is a popular, long running TV soap that has been on our screens since 1985. Within the first year on air the show gained immense popularity and reached the number one in terms of viewing figures. Eastenders has also received a large number of awards over the years including a number of BAFTA awards and a number of National Television awards.

The series follows the lives of the families living in the fictional London borough Walford in Albert Square. As with all TV soap dramas the characters suffer many emotional stresses such as breakups, deaths, money issues, cheating partners etc but I suppose characters need to be churned to keep people interested. The show started with two main families which were the Beale and the Fowler families, the show since then has had many families arrive and leave the square with big storylines, but the Beale family remain. The programme has featured many controversial storylines throughout the years including paedophilia, homosexuality, teen stabbing and the return of 'dead' character Den Watts (that is all I can remember off the top of my head). With these storylines the show has sparked off a lot of debates and controversy, which has no doubt ended up with many of the storylines peaks being watched by millions.

Although the show comes under fire from many of my friends and in fact many other people for it being very unrealistic and depressing. I do agree that the everyday goings on in the square are not true to many peoples real lives, like pretty much every couple suffering from cheating and I mean how great would it be for your dad to return after his supposed death 14 years previously. However I do think it has tackled many issues and taboos throughout the years such as on screen homosexuality and the issue of homophobia, teenage pregnancy, I am sure there are others. I think these issues are what marginally separate the show from others as it tackles many real life issues.

I am definitely a fan of Eastenders and try to keep up to date with the stories, I tend to find after a few months of watching the show I get a little bored with it and then a week later find myself back to being glued to the sofa. I wouldn't say I am a die hard fan and don't have any of the merchandise (honest!), if I find I have missed an episode I won't waste a Sunday watching the omnibus. I like the fact that the show has always got a main storyline going on which usually lasts a couple of months at least, I guess this is mainly what keeps me coming back for more, along with the annoying cliff hangers that is left at the end of each episode. Along with I would say all television soaps the series suffers a good amount of bad acting, but I would definitely say acting in Eastenders is better than most.

Of course I am sure there are some out there but I don't know many females that don't like the show and would say that it is aimed at the middle to late aged mums. There are a lot of men that enjoy the show but I would say a good percentage of those men watch it because of their partner, myself included. The show is great at being watchable without needing too much attention and you really don't need to watch every episode to understand what is going on.

Eastenders is definitely not for everybody out there and I know a lot of people who really don't like the soap, but it is good at keeping the target audience happy. In my opinion Eastenders is probably the best soap on TV and has been since for as long as I have been watching anyway. If this makes sense the series features a lot of unrealistic storylines yet manages to tackle a lot of real life issues and manages to keep up to date with the world as well. Yes it features some shoddy acting, but it is on for four days of the week and name me a soap that doesn't. It isn't a show I rely on or record if I am going to miss it, but it keeps me entertained for 30 minutes of my evening and has me coming back for more.

It is worth a watch but if you have seen other soaps out there and don't like the unrealistic storylines or bad acting then I would suggest you stay away from Eastenders!

Summary: Pobably one of the best soaps on TV if not the best