At this time of trouble down at the Beeb, it’s surely time to kick them while they’re down and point out how much better Coronation Street is than EastEnders. The problem with EastEnders: it takes itself too bloody seriously.
The point of soaps: you sit down after supper, you really don’t want anything too heavy or too worthy. You want to be entertained. You want some decent plot lines so you can make guesses as to what’s going to happen next, you want a bit of injustice – give the old moral-outrage a bit of a tickle, but nothing too heavy – and you want a few chuckles. With Eastenders the chuckles are virtually non-existent. Jim Branning and Dot used to be amusing, but now they’re just going through the motions.
All that Kray-style East End heaviness with the Mitchells and the Watts: it’s tedious. Alfie Cheeky Cockney Moon – give me a break! Little Mo – thank God she’s gone (for good one hopes).
These actors who can’t make a living outside of EastEnders and end up making much-publicised returns: “Dirty Den” Watts, for Chrissake! The guy can’t act! Being wooden isn’t the same as being hard. And talking of bad acting, daughter Sharon’s not much better. Or Paul Trueman. Or the Ferreira dad. Or Ricky Butcher – another returnee who couldn’t make it anywhere else.
At least with Corrie they have their priorities right: they’re out to entertain you. No preaching on social ills, no long whole-episode tete-a-tetes, and a regular dose of chuckles every episode (well OK, most episodes). And what a cast of characters – Jack and Vera Duckworth, Fred Elliott, Norris, Kirk and Tyrone….
I rest my case.
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