EastEnders Production on Eastenders suspended amid coronavirus outbreak

[Englishboy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51943592

Production on the popular BBC soap, Eastenders has been suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of episodes being screened will also reduce from 4 per week to 2 per week to make the existing (already recorded) stockpiled episodes last longer, the broadcaster has announced.

Filming on other popular BBC dramas including Casualty, Holby City and daytime soap, Doctors has also been suspended until further notice.

ITV has not yet announced whether programmes such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale will follow suit.

Australian TV soap Neighbours has already announced it will not film this week as a precaution, after reports suggested a person working on the show had come into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Twice weekly. How nostalgic.

With all these current series going into shutdown, I assume we'll see a lot of repeats. Unless it's going to be wall-to-wall coverage of coronavirus.

 

[Alexis]

Twice weekly. How nostalgic.

With all these current series going into shutdown, I assume we'll see a lot of repeats. Unless it's going to be wall-to-wall coverage of coronavirus.

They should repeat it from when it was actually good. Repeat it from the start again in the dropped episodes time slots.

Actually all the soaps should go back to twice a week. Then maybe they would all improve.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

They should repeat it from when it was actually good. Repeat it from the start again in the dropped episodes time slots.

Actually all the soaps should go back to twice a week. Then maybe they would all improve.

It's aeons since I've watched any UK soap other than fragments of Corrie and Emmerdale here and there when visiting people who watch it. So I don't know about quality, but I do find the quantity off-putting. It's no coincidence that I tailed off watching Corrie and EastEnders around the time each went to three times a week.

I wonder if having a period of two episodes per week might make it more enticing for people who would usually feel too overwhelmed by the commitment.

 

[Alexis]

It's aeons since I've watched any UK soap other than fragments of Corrie and Emmerdale here and there when visiting people who watch it. So I don't know about quality, but I do find the quantity off-putting. It's no coincidence that I tailed off watching Corrie and EastEnders around the time each went to three times a week.

I wonder if having a period of two episodes per week might make it more enticing for people who would usually feel too overwhelmed by the commitment.

I think it would. I also think the storylines would be better all round. They wouldn't have to keep adding more and more and pushing through plot so fast. We'd get more concentrated storylines likely with better acting, dialogue and directing choices. I had been watching some old Corrie clips from the 1970s through to about 1991 on YouTube and the quality is outstanding. I wasn't watching in any kind of order but watched a lot of Bette Lynch scenes and she was really brilliant. I would love to be able to go and watch the show from that period but never had the time or even knew it was being repeated on any of the ITV channels.

I watched some Annie Walker and Elsie Tanner scenes to and they were also amazing. The show now just does not appeal to me. It's so miserable and boring and it doesn't have any stand out character that you gravitate to like the ones I mentioned anymore. Vera and Ivy and even Hilda, all great characters. Great parts for women. They don't seem to have that now. And the long serving female characters that are still there haven't held up in an iconic way. Gayle Platt, Audrey and Rita were really the last of that and they have fizzled out into the background.

The show didn't seem to have planned well for the future and set up any strong feisty divas like they always had in the past. They all seem to be boringly mundane people now. People I don't want to watch.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I also think the storylines would be better all round. They wouldn't have to keep adding more and more and pushing through plot so fast.

I'd love to know how current viewers of the series feel about the pacing over the next few weeks. With one week's worth of episodes now playing out over a fortnight, the pace of the show should - in theory - halve. I'm curious to know if having more space for the events to resonate with the audience makes them more effective.

I had been watching some old Corrie clips from the 1970s through to about 1991 on YouTube and the quality is outstanding. I wasn't watching in any kind of order but watched a lot of Bette Lynch scenes and she was really brilliant. I would love to be able to go and watch the show from that period but never had the time or even knew it was being repeated on any of the ITV channels.

I love Seventies Corrie and Bet Lynch was a revelation in the early Seventies episodes I've seen. If you don't have them already, I'd thoroughly recommend the Network decades box sets. They're random episodes, of course, but you really get a flavour of each era.

 

[Englishboy]

It appears that itv are following suit.

Effective from 30 March the number of Corrie episodes being aired will temporarily reduce to 3 per week with half hour episodes screening on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 pm.

The number of Emmerdale episodes is reduced to 5 per week with 30 minute episodes airing on Monday through to Friday at 7 pm.

Filming continues on both soaps in Manchester and Leeds, but ITV is cutting the number of episodes it airs of each per week to ensure there is no shortage should production have to cease due to the coronavirus.

https://www.atvtoday.co.uk/151810-itv/

 

[Richard Channing]

watched a lot of Bette Lynch scenes and she was really brilliant. I would love to be able to go and watch the show from that period but never had the time or even knew it was being repeated on any of the ITV channels.

Funnily enough I am just in the middle of watching this as I read this thread. It has some very early Bet scenes and charts her evolution on the show as well as telling the story of Julie Goodyear's life.

 

[Alexis]

Funnily enough I am just in the middle of watching this as I read this thread. It has some very early Bet scenes and charts her evolution on the show as well as telling the story of Julie Goodyear's life.

I watched it last week! :laughing: She was really great. Apparently she just couldn't cope with the work load and overturn when the show bumped up it's weekly episode count. Sad that they would loose someone so great for such a reason. These shows need that big personality. They need that larger than life character. When they are gone the show lacks something. You might as well get your drama fix from your own life if it's going to be boring.

 

[Alexis]

Corrie is apparently writing out characters over 70 as a precaution.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Corrie is apparently writing out characters over 70 as a precaution.

At 69, Helen Worth herself only just qualifies to keep filming.​

 

[Barbara Fan]

I would agree with @Alexis and @Mel O'Drama

Last weekend I did a bit of a binge watch of old Corrie - when it was good- episodes C/o You tube and just loved it, I had forgotten just how good 70s and 80s Corrie was at the time with the likes of Stan, Hilda, Bet, Elsie, Annie Walker, Alf and Audrey, Jack and Vera, Mike, Alma and co - top notch acting and I enjoyed Corrie when it was on Mon / wed and then increased to friday

It doesnt need 2 episodes / night and the acting of the cast now in no way compares to those decades. I havent watched it in a long time but dipped in once and thought Maureen Lipman looked like she could be a classic Corrie character, but she is a great actress and acted everyone else off the screen but there isnt the quality or calibre of acting and scriptwriting that there was back then and im not saying that 70s/80s Corrie was perfect it wasnt - and there were still a few duff actors - but the majority made up for that.

Id love to see ITV screen Old Corrie in a after 7pm time slot as i would totally tune in. Im at work for ITV 3 and cant watch later .

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

Twice weekly. How nostalgic.

With all these current series going into shutdown, I assume we'll see a lot of repeats. Unless it's going to be wall-to-wall coverage of coronavirus.

Hollyoaks is still in production and have said that they will continue filming until they are told to stop. But the week after next, they are reducing transmissions from five to three episodes a week. They have said today that they intend to show repeats of old episodes, if they come off air. It is a bit tricky because it is the 25th anniversary in October and they did a flash forward episode at New Year, giving glimpses of what happens on New Year’s Eve at the end of this year, including a mystery character being in a body bag. So the episodes are heading that way.

Corrie is apparently writing out characters over 70 as a precaution.

I was thinking that the only permanent cast member over 70 and currently on Hollyoaks, is Diane Langton. And she appears on and off. Last time in a dream sequence, doing somersaults to “Finally”. Jimmy McKenna has been on the show for almost it’s entire run and he is 66. Joe McGann is 61 and Lysette Anthony is 56. Whereas most of the longer-running cast members (on and off) are in their thirties to early forties. Nick Pickard has been on the show since the beginning and he turns 45 this year. As does Jamie Lomas, who plays loveable dangerous psycho murderer, Warren Fox.

 

[Walford Boy]

It is not good that the commercial channels in the UK are still filming Soaps, The BBC had at least the common sense to take the necessary steps by shutting it's productions down.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

It is not good that the commercial channels in the UK are still filming Soaps, The BBC had at least the common sense to take the necessary steps by shutting it's productions down.

Channel 4 have said that Hollyoaks is following Public Health England advice in order to continue to film safely for the time being, as are Emmerdale and Coronation Street. Hollyoaks has reduced it’s frequency of transmission from five episodes to three and revised it’s shooting schedules. Scenes have been postponed. Actress Sarah Jayne Dunn (Mandy) has said, “We’re in the same boat as everyone else. The current situation is we’re taking everything day by day. Currently we’re just cracking on and getting as much stuff in the can as we can, and then we’ll see. I hope it doesn’t affect anything but everyone’s health and safety is paramount and at the forefront of everything. Everyone’s being very sensible”.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

Coronation Street and Emmerdale have announced today that they both have suspended production.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Effective from 30 March the number of Corrie episodes being aired will temporarily reduce to 3 per week with half hour episodes screening on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 pm.

The number of Emmerdale episodes is reduced to 5 per week with 30 minute episodes airing on Monday through to Friday at 7 pm.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale have announced today that they both have suspended production.

I find the difference in reduced episodes a little curious.

Perhaps ITV is going to utilise the situation to have a big "end of season" cliffhanger for Emmerdale, followed by a summer hiatus. Emmerdale is probably more suited to that kind of thing, whereas it would just feel plain wrong for Corrie to be off the screen for a period of time.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

Filming has now been paused on Hollyoaks. With the reduction in transmission, they are screening older episodes. The statement reads:

“Dear Hollyoaks viewers. It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to pause filming of Hollyoaks.

From Monday 30th March, we will be reducing the number of our weekly new episodes from five down to three, which will air Monday to Wednesday. To make sure we stay on air every week night, fans can look forward to extra special episodes every Thursday and Friday on E4, as we begin a brand new series of 'Hollyoaks Favourites'. Introduced by Kieron Richardson and Jorgie Porter, this series will give viewers a chance to revisit some of our biggest episodes, from weddings, bust-ups, heartbreaks and some of our biggest and best stunts.

We will start the series with Mercedes' fourth wedding, to Dr Browning.

Soaps are an important part of people's lives and we have 25 years of Hollyoaks Favourites to revisit over coming weeks, celebrating the history of the show that you love.

We will remain as present as ever on our social platforms so please keep in touch with us here, stay safe and take care of yourselves. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Love from everyone at Hollyoaks. x”

 

[Walford Boy]

About time.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

About time.

Well, Hollyoaks cameraman Felix Schroer died suddenly after a two-month illness and he suspected that he had coronavirus. Also actor Rory Douglas-Speed (vicar Joel Dexter, son of loveable funny but dangerous psycho murderer Warren Fox) has reported suffering from coronavirus symptoms. He recently had a baby son with his co-star, Nadine Mulkerrin (Cleo McQueen). Rory is a Type 1 diabetic. Former Hollyoaks cast member, Terri Dwyer, announced that she has been suffering from coronavirus.

Hollyoaks is reducing transmission even further to two episodes a week from the 6th April. This week is the last five times a week airing, which has already seen Liam Donovan hosting a Devil’s Dinner Party, culminating in him being murdered by his half-sister, Grace Black, in a set of episodes directed by Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures director , Graeme Harper. Liam had previously forgiven Grace for murdering his pregnant girlfriend and trying to murder his abusive psycho gangster father (played by Barry Cryer’s son Bob, who has just turned up on Coronation Street), who instead was murdered by a serial killer. Glenn memorably shot his own firstborn son dead. Richard Blackwood debuts this week as Felix Westwood, to not only encounter his triplets, two of whom of Felix forced his baby mother to gave away but they were used for a nasty nature/nurture experiment. And he is also the desensitised childhood care home bully of resident bad boy Warren Fox. And Sienna Blake is due to return with the twins that she abducted from their father, Warren Fox, who had previously abducted them, potentially concluding the stolen babies storyline that has been running since 2017.