Why is EastEnders’ hyped-up “Autumn Launch” flopping?

Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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Last night’s episode scored less than 2.4M on overnights. The fire episode itself failed to scrape 3M. What is going on? How can a “big week” which was promoted and immediately followed the return of one of EE’s most beloved characters not able to hit 3 million? Of course consolidated ratings may eventually add a million (which would still leave it less that 4M), but why is EastEnders incapable of being relevant enough to make the public want to tune in live, even during its so-called spectacular and unmissable Autumn launch?
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  •  JMK JMK Posts: 17,758
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    Last night’s episode was up against an hour long Emmerdale.
  • Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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    edited 17/09/21 - 10:51 #3
    JMK wrote: »
    Last night’s episode was up against an hour long Emmerdale.

    Ok? EastEnders literally burned down Phil Mitchell’s house with Janine Butcher trapped inside a few nights ago. On paper, that should be unmissable. But the aftermath is not even touching Emmerdale during a pretty low-key period? It’s getting beat by Channel 5?
  • mw0390mw0390 Posts: 23,110
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    1) who called it spectacular and unmissable? Sure Janine’s return was promoted, but the fire was always said to be a small part of the 2 weeks

    2) as was said above, yesterday’s episode was up against Emmerdale so was always going to be lower

    3) I think the last 2 weeks have been fantastic, people get fixated on ratings and will deem any episodes that are low rated as failures
  • valdvald Posts: 46,057
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    Why do people ask questions that no one on here can possibly answer ? I enjoy it, and while it's on I'll watch it. If it was taken off air then so be it...shows come and go, trends come and go. There's nothing new about that.
  • Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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    mw0390 wrote: »
    1) who called it spectacular and unmissable? Sure Janine’s return was promoted, but the fire was always said to be a small part of the 2 weeks

    2) as was said above, yesterday’s episode was up against Emmerdale so was always going to be lower

    3) I think the last 2 weeks have been fantastic, people get fixated on ratings and will deem any episodes that are low rated as failures

    It’s been a failure in a lot more aspects than just ratings. Last night’s episode, for example, was one of the worst written episodes I think I’ve ever seen if EastEnders. Plus the fire and it’s aftermath we’re done in 1 episode.
  • mw0390mw0390 Posts: 23,110
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    Enders85 wrote: »
    mw0390 wrote: »
    1) who called it spectacular and unmissable? Sure Janine’s return was promoted, but the fire was always said to be a small part of the 2 weeks

    2) as was said above, yesterday’s episode was up against Emmerdale so was always going to be lower

    3) I think the last 2 weeks have been fantastic, people get fixated on ratings and will deem any episodes that are low rated as failures

    It’s been a failure in a lot more aspects than just ratings. Last night’s episode, for example, was one of the worst written episodes I think I’ve ever seen if EastEnders. Plus the fire and it’s aftermath we’re done in 1 episode.

    In your opinion, I thought last night was an excellent episode

    And as I’ve already said, who hyped the fire, the show didn’t and the media certainly didn’t, in fact the metro even said 2 weeks ago that the fire wasn’t the big central story of the 2 weeks, it didn’t need to be
  • BertypopBertypop Posts: 4,222
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    I don't think they've hyped Janine's return or the fire at all. There has been promotion for the show in general, but no specific call to action for people to watch a specific episode where such and such event is going to happen.

    All they've done is remind people that the show exists.
  • bass55bass55 Posts: 18,319
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    edited 17/09/21 - 11:36 #9
    They need to make quality more consistent throughout the year rather than focusing on "blockbuster weeks" in the autumn and over Christmas and then letting the quality slide for the rest of the year.

    It's become an EE tradition to follow up a week of brilliant episodes with weeks of mind-numbing shite that a five year old could have written. They can't afford to make mistakes like this when viewers aren't willing to give them the benefit of the doubt any more.

    A case in point: I didn't watch EastEnders for six months but tuned back in to see Janine's return episodes, and they were pretty decent. But I haven't bothered with the last two episodes because I just know it'll fall back into the same old predictable nonsense again.
  • billy1808billy1808 Posts: 4,750
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    vald wrote: »
    Why do people ask questions that no one on here can possibly answer ? I enjoy it, and while it's on I'll watch it. If it was taken off air then so be it...shows come and go, trends come and go. There's nothing new about that.

    To envoke discussion around it? The idea may be unthinkable for an online forum, but no one is looking for a cast iron answer . The OP is clearly asking for thoughts on why EE is still struggling.
  • Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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    billy1808 wrote: »
    vald wrote: »
    Why do people ask questions that no one on here can possibly answer ? I enjoy it, and while it's on I'll watch it. If it was taken off air then so be it...shows come and go, trends come and go. There's nothing new about that.

    To envoke discussion around it? The idea may be unthinkable for an online forum, but no one is looking for a cast iron answer . The OP is clearly asking for thoughts on why EE is still struggling.

    Thank you.
  • MaxcidentMaxcident Posts: 7,270
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    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.
  • valdvald Posts: 46,057
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    billy1808 wrote: »
    vald wrote: »
    Why do people ask questions that no one on here can possibly answer ? I enjoy it, and while it's on I'll watch it. If it was taken off air then so be it...shows come and go, trends come and go. There's nothing new about that.

    To envoke discussion around it? The idea may be unthinkable for an online forum, but no one is looking for a cast iron answer . The OP is clearly asking for thoughts on why EE is still struggling.

    And you'll get the same circular arguments you get every time someone starts an identical thread.😴
  • ChristmasAngelChristmasAngel Posts: 1,074
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    The bottom line is fewer people watch the show now.

    Obviously some still do, myself included, but I know of numerous family members, friends and colleagues I used to discuss episodes with who now tell me they stopped watching (usually because it got so bad or words to that effect).

    Obviously there’s also a lot more choice of what to watch now too so I can’t see the show ever regaining as many viewers as it once had.
  • solostarsolostar Posts: 9,505
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    Enders85 wrote: »
    JMK wrote: »
    Last night’s episode was up against an hour long Emmerdale.

    Ok? EastEnders literally burned down Phil Mitchell’s house with Janine Butcher trapped inside a few nights ago. On paper, that should be unmissable. But the aftermath is not even touching Emmerdale during a pretty low-key period? It’s getting beat by Channel 5?

    It will be axed in the next few months I think for a later stage. It just cannot keep up with ED or CS which are going from strength to strength.
  • SegaGamerSegaGamer Posts: 29,069
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    Maybe their quick ratings grabber episodes just aren't working anymore. This is what happens when your show is in a terrible state.

    I have said it many times now, I don't think Eastenders can be saved at this point. Even if they did try and fix everything now, I'm not confident of it ever recovering.
  • Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    The Slater fire 2014 on Sharon’s hen night and its brilliant aftermath was much better than the episodes this week, for example. Simple, character-rooted, community-heavy brilliance. No CGI flames or Florence and The Machine soundtracks are needed. This set of excellent episodes were then followed by weeks containing the buildup to the wedding, the wedding itself, Shirley shooting Phil, and Dean raping Linda. It absolutely washes this autumn so far. But we’ll see how the rest of the month pans out.

    The Seige in 2019 (despite not being my thing) was also far, far better than this year’s Autumn launch. Even the Who Shot Stuart week in 2018 was better.

    The thing is, although all your points look excellent on paper, the execution has been dire.

  • mw0390mw0390 Posts: 23,110
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    Enders85 wrote: »
    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    The Slater fire 2014 on Sharon’s hen night and its brilliant aftermath was much better than the episodes this week, for example. Simple, character-rooted, community-heavy brilliance. No CGI flames or Florence and The Machine soundtracks are needed. This set of excellent episodes were then followed by weeks containing the buildup to the wedding, the wedding itself, Shirley shooting Phil, and Dean raping Linda. It absolutely washes this autumn so far. But we’ll see how the rest of the month pans out.

    The Seige in 2019 (despite not being my thing) was also far, far better than this year’s Autumn launch. Even the Who Shot Stuart week in 2018 was better.

    The thing is, although all your points look excellent on paper, the execution has been dire.

    Valid points, but The Slater fire in 2014 and the siege in 2019 were the focal points of their storylines and the episodes as a whole, the fire this week wasn’t, and was never marketed as such, as said previously it was said a few weeks ago that the fire was just one part of the 2 weeks, hence why it was never actually promoted by the show, at least not in terms of an actual promo
  • tivtiv Posts: 2,212
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    Spectaculars in all soaps usually turn out to be spectacular failures and they should stop it.
  • MaxcidentMaxcident Posts: 7,270
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    Enders85 wrote: »
    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    The Slater fire 2014 on Sharon’s hen night and its brilliant aftermath was much better than the episodes this week, for example. Simple, character-rooted, community-heavy brilliance. No CGI flames or Florence and The Machine soundtracks are needed. This set of excellent episodes were then followed by weeks containing the buildup to the wedding, the wedding itself, Shirley shooting Phil, and Dean raping Linda. It absolutely washes this autumn so far. But we’ll see how the rest of the month pans out.

    The Seige in 2019 (despite not being my thing) was also far, far better than this year’s Autumn launch. Even the Who Shot Stuart week in 2018 was better.

    The thing is, although all your points look excellent on paper, the execution has been dire.

    If we’re talking about character-led stories then I’d argue the fire in 2014, the siege in 2019, and Who Shot Stuart in 2018, were all big spectacles that saw characters sacrificed to the shrine of stunts, whereas that didn’t happen this year.

    In my opinion, the fire utterly ruined Alfie’s character, and he never recovered, all so, we could see a mildly impressive stunt. The siege was so plot-driven. We had Hunter escape prison off-screen just so he could put characters in mortal peril on a wedding day, which is hardly an original idea in soapland, only for him to die, despite being a legacy character to Steve Owen. The Who Shot Stuart stuff, was dire, as it was only to stir up publicity for EE with it being the next whodunnit after Lucy, and my god did it flop, with everyone seemingly forgetting what Stuart had done, and how he attempted to rape Linda shortly afterwards.

    This week, was rather character-led. The stunt wasn’t the main focus of the week, and simply made up one component of Janine’s return. The fact that the stunt was also visually impressive, despite being a character-led event also gives it extra points, especially seeing as it was the best-looking spectacle on the list.
  • mw0390mw0390 Posts: 23,110
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    Maxcident wrote: »
    Enders85 wrote: »
    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    The Slater fire 2014 on Sharon’s hen night and its brilliant aftermath was much better than the episodes this week, for example. Simple, character-rooted, community-heavy brilliance. No CGI flames or Florence and The Machine soundtracks are needed. This set of excellent episodes were then followed by weeks containing the buildup to the wedding, the wedding itself, Shirley shooting Phil, and Dean raping Linda. It absolutely washes this autumn so far. But we’ll see how the rest of the month pans out.

    The Seige in 2019 (despite not being my thing) was also far, far better than this year’s Autumn launch. Even the Who Shot Stuart week in 2018 was better.

    The thing is, although all your points look excellent on paper, the execution has been dire.

    If we’re talking about character-led stories then I’d argue the fire in 2014, the siege in 2019, and Who Shot Stuart in 2018, were all big spectacles that saw characters sacrificed to the shrine of stunts, whereas that didn’t happen this year.

    In my opinion, the fire utterly ruined Alfie’s character, and he never recovered, all so, we could see a mildly impressive stunt. The siege was so plot-driven. We had Hunter escape prison off-screen just so he could put characters in mortal peril on a wedding day, which is hardly an original idea in soapland, only for him to die, despite being a legacy character to Steve Owen. The Who Shot Stuart stuff, was dire, as it was only to stir up publicity for EE with it being the next whodunnit after Lucy, and my god did it flop, with everyone seemingly forgetting what Stuart had done, and how he attempted to rape Linda shortly afterwards.

    This week, was rather character-led. The stunt wasn’t the main focus of the week, and simply made up one component of Janine’s return. The fact that the stunt was also visually impressive, despite being a character-led event also gives it extra points, especially seeing as it was the best-looking spectacle on the list.

    Couldn’t agree with this post enough, excatly how I feel
  • SoapFan789SoapFan789 Posts: 2,181
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    edited 17/09/21 - 14:50 #22
    People don’t watch it anymore really, they were getting 6-8 million views 3/4 years ago, now they’re struggling to get 4 million which is just awful.
  • Vinnie_WrightVinnie_Wright Posts: 16,449
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    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    I think that's part of the problem. These are all box-ticking moments in what is "supposed" to help ratings, rather than natural drama. People aren't going to tune into pre-fab material that is just thrown onto the screen with no quality and no consequences.
  • solostarsolostar Posts: 9,505
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    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    I think that's part of the problem. These are all box-ticking moments in what is "supposed" to help ratings, rather than natural drama. People aren't going to tune into pre-fab material that is just thrown onto the screen with no quality and no consequences.

    The fallout from the fire is some of the worst fallout stuff I've ever seen in a soap. It's so boring and it's like the fire didn't happen. So poor after what was a good Monday episode. It makes you think, what was the point? To be fair, Kate Oates weakness on ED during 13-15 was not much fallout from big moments.
  • Enders85Enders85 Posts: 659
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    edited 17/09/21 - 15:30 #25
    Maxcident wrote: »
    Enders85 wrote: »
    Maxcident wrote: »
    To be fair, if the past two weeks is being criticised despite the show bringing a fan favourite back, having classic slanging matches in the Vic and in the square, as well as, a fire, a feud, a druglord getting her comeuppance, and much more, then the show really can’t win with its viewers. It’s been no different and if not better than most of its other Autumn launch weeks. It was probably on par with the one which centred around Callum and Whitney’s wedding, and the siege, and was streets ahead of the awful who shot Stuart saga.

    The Slater fire 2014 on Sharon’s hen night and its brilliant aftermath was much better than the episodes this week, for example. Simple, character-rooted, community-heavy brilliance. No CGI flames or Florence and The Machine soundtracks are needed. This set of excellent episodes were then followed by weeks containing the buildup to the wedding, the wedding itself, Shirley shooting Phil, and Dean raping Linda. It absolutely washes this autumn so far. But we’ll see how the rest of the month pans out.

    The Seige in 2019 (despite not being my thing) was also far, far better than this year’s Autumn launch. Even the Who Shot Stuart week in 2018 was better.

    The thing is, although all your points look excellent on paper, the execution has been dire.

    If we’re talking about character-led stories then I’d argue the fire in 2014, the siege in 2019, and Who Shot Stuart in 2018, were all big spectacles that saw characters sacrificed to the shrine of stunts, whereas that didn’t happen this year.

    In my opinion, the fire utterly ruined Alfie’s character, and he never recovered, all so, we could see a mildly impressive stunt. The siege was so plot-driven. We had Hunter escape prison off-screen just so he could put characters in mortal peril on a wedding day, which is hardly an original idea in soapland, only for him to die, despite being a legacy character to Steve Owen. The Who Shot Stuart stuff, was dire, as it was only to stir up publicity for EE with it being the next whodunnit after Lucy, and my god did it flop, with everyone seemingly forgetting what Stuart had done, and how he attempted to rape Linda shortly afterwards.

    This week, was rather character-led. The stunt wasn’t the main focus of the week, and simply made up one component of Janine’s return. The fact that the stunt was also visually impressive, despite being a character-led event also gives it extra points, especially seeing as it was the best-looking spectacle on the list.

    Don’t get me wrong, I really didn’t enjoy anything about the siege week in 2019 at all apart from the returns (although the fact Bianca was back and her return was more focused on getting hammered with Kat and starting off the terrible Leo story instead of finding out about her young daughter’s rape was absurd). Sacrificing Hunter (and then Mel a few months later) was awful. In fact, I enjoyed the Siege week so little that it put me off the show for a couple of weeks (the fact that it was Ben of all people who got shot after months of heavy screen time was the moment I totally gave up on the character). All I said about the week was that it was of a somewhat higher quality than this week.

    Same goes for 2018’s Who Shot Stuart? It was far from brilliant , not even great. But it was decently entertaining for what it was and the atmosphere of the week of episodes was decent (I actually somewhat enjoyed Autumn 2018. There was nothing spectacular happening but there was something happening after a terrible summer and it felt like the show was starting to pick up a bit. It was fairly watchable.)

    I disagree with you about 2014. I think the arson story was perfectly pitched and the seeds of it were sown in January of that year after Kat and Alfie were kicked out of the Vic and he resorted to selling old, ugly Christmas tat on his stall weeks after the new year. We watched Kat and Alfie lose everything until he got so desperate he came to the decision to set his home on fire for the insurance money. The fallout was fantastic with the square rallying round to donate whatever they could spare, and it really felt like old EE. Shane Richie also gave some of his best ever performances. I’d argue that Alfie’s character was more than redeemable and only became properly assassinated during his brief 2018 stint.

    The thing I enjoyed so much about DTC’s first year was the obvious “substance over style” approach, and his emphasis on the importance of aftermath over the actual event. The stunt itself wasn’t great, but it was far more entertaining and captivating watching the square of people standing outside waiting and hoping and praying that one of their own would survive. Little things like Roxy (Alfie’s old flame and love rival of Kat) screaming at Alfie not to put himself in danger and shouting for Kat with her arms around Mo, was so much more enjoyable and heart wrenching than watching a serial killer/rapist waddling out of a house going up in CGI flames next to his enemy whilst “Shake it Out” blasted on in the background after a child dangled out of the window of the house for minutes whilst a square of hopeless goons watched on and offered verbal support to him instead of helping him down. The 2014 fire worked because it was authentically ‘EastEnders’. No tacky, budget-blowing CGI flames were needed to keep viewers intrigued. It was all about the human emotion of the community’s reaction.

    The 2014 fire at Slater’s also laid the groundwork for Nick Cotton’s final scenes in the week before Live Week and facilitated the clever callback to the first ever scene of the first ever episode of EastEnders. Whatever you think of DTC, the quality of the planning of his first year was excellent.
  • DarkstarrheartDarkstarrheart Posts: 2,682
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    I think it may pick up slightly (briefly) when Sean Slater returns) ;)
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