Behind-the-scenes issues
SOME people put the BAFTA failure down to problems behind the scenes.
There’s no denying that the shock departure of the soap’s executive producer Sean O’Connor last summer will have had some effect – indeed since he left the soap appears to have been undergoing something of a cleansing process, removing almost everything that he touched.
Equally while there were all sorts of rumours about O’Connor’s popularity with the cast and crew, it could be argued that he had a little bad luck of his own.
Kellie Bright’s maternity leave left a big hole in the Linda and Mick Carter dynamic – and it didn’t help that Danny Dyer also had to take some time off to “sort his life aht”. O’Connor’s tenure will also be remembered for one of the worst stunts in soap history – last year’s Bridge Street bus crash.
Viewers complained that it was contrived and unrealistic, and – perhaps as a consequence of the reported last-minute reshoots – it was littered with continuity errors.
Fans openly mocked the show but they had a point.
You can only imagine the effect that would have had on staff morale.
The BBC hierarchy will also have noticed the snowballing criticism and while O’Connor maintains it was his decision to leave many people believe he jumped before he was pushed.
Whatever the reasons, it’s fair to say EastEnders lost the audience during his tenure in terms of numbers and goodwill.