People waited a year for Kat and Alfie’s first kiss but now soaps are like fast food
Shane Richie on how TV has changed
SHANE Richie reckons soaps are now “like fast food” as everything happens so quickly.
The ex-EastEnders star said a slow-burning screen romance such as the one shared by his character Alfie Moon and wife Kat, played by Jessie Wallace, would not happen now.
Shane said: “Their first kiss took well over a year to come. That doesn’t happen now in soap, the appetite has become very voracious. It’s more like fast food. “Back then millions of people tuned in to see Kat and Alfie kiss.
“They waited for something like 14 months just for them to kiss. I think it’s the audience, it’s not just soap, it’s telly in general.
“I think whether it’s reality or game shows, the audience’s attention span gets smaller so they want things fast. It’s not a bad thing, TV has to keep reinventing itself. You get old people like myself saying it’s not like it used to be, but it has to change.”
Shane is reunited with Jessie in new spin-off drama Redwater. The plot involves the Moon family heading to Ireland to track down Kat’s secret son Luke, who was adopted when she gave birth to him at the age of 14.
When EastEnders visited Ireland in 1997 it caused controversy, depicting locals as rowdy drunks as cattle roamed the streets. Two decades on, Redwater aims to depict a more realistic Ireland.
Shane added: “You’re hoping to bring the EastEnders audience with you, but also the audience that doesn’t watch it. “People who watch, for want of a better word, high-brow drama, which I like to think this is. In all the episodes, there is no reference to Walford, and that’s quite brave and I think it pays off.”
In real life, the pair are “like brother and sister”, according to Jessie, 45. She explained: “We argue, then we won’t talk for a day, and then we’re talking again and he makes me laugh all the time.”
Shane added: “Me and madam? We fall out over all the things anyone who has been together 16 years do. This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones!”
New drama Redwater starts on BBC1 on Thursday, May 18.
Danny Dyer is back in EastEnders next week, and we think he’s going to be more than a bit miffed to discover Lee Ryan’s now running his boozer. First things first, though – Mick Carter has a pressing need to get on with a bit of household admin in the Queen Vic kitchen (as you do when you’ve been absent from your family for weeks).
But at least we now know where he’s been all this time… Specsavers!