EastEnders and Me
By Mackenzie Lambert Wood
I have been a massive fan of the show since it was first shown in the
U.S. I was living in Dallas, and before it was aired there, my father,
who lived in Virginia at the time, taped it for me.
I was hooked from episode one. I probably still have the first 10
or 12 years of the show on video, and my husband is starting to watch
it from the beginning, which I am thrilled about. He never watched it
when it first aired, but since he married me, he follows the
storylines with me (though possibly without as much dedication as I
do!).
While living in Los Angeles, I had tapes of the show sent to me
from the U.K., so I was kept up to date on the goings-on in Albert
Square. (Thank you for the multi-region VCR, Ed!) So, when I moved
here, I was pretty much on top of the plot lines and settled in to
watching it four nights a week.
The show certainly has changed over the years, which I suppose is
to be expected to a certain extent. What I loved about it was its
realism. People woke up in the mornings without full make-up applied;
when someone cried you would get the occasional runny nose; and people
struggled to pay their bills. (Though how Pauline managed at the
launderette on what she once stated was £1 an hour, I will never
know.) The show went through some dodgy storylines over the years, but
I think that was down to multiple writers, some of whom didn't pay
much attention to character histories…this is one of my big pet
peeves, espcially when a resident of Albert Square acts madly out of
character. (And one of the reasons why I stopped watching another Brit
soap, Emmerdale.) I did really enjoy getting to see the show here, and
knowing that there wasn't a chance of the station moving it to some
graveyard hour or cancelling it altogether.
I say 'did', because for a while there, I wasn't sure I was going
to keep watching the show at all. So many of the old characters are
gone, and many of the new ones just don't inspire the same kind of
interest and loyalty as most of the cast did back in the day. But we
still have Dot, Pat and Ian (love him or hate him, he is still a big
part of the Square), and a lot of the later residents that the public
have come to associate with EastEnders — Peggy, Phil, the Slaters, and
even the Brannings (welcome back, Bianca and her brood!). It seems
that in the
past few months, the storylines are getting back to the grittiness
that was the show's hallmark in the beginning. There are still
characters that I can't muster up any affection or caring for (I won't
divulge any spoilers, but I will say that the extended Mitchell family
falls into that category for me) but it seems the show is back to
tackling real and current subjects that other shows would shy away
from. For those of you who are still getting the show in your area,
you have some great episodes to look forward to.
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