It’s fashionable, these days, to slag off EastEnders (see 5 reasons to hate it below). One problem with the naysayers’ arguments is that they are looking for realism. Remember Paddington Green? It was a docu-soap narrated by EastEnders stars. But EastEnders is not about realism. Another argument against the show is it’s just too depressing, too like the bad news we are fed. Hang on? I thought for haters it was not real enough? It’s been going for over 30 years, so it must be doing something right. EastEnders was the sixth most watched show Christmas 2018, 5 million viewers, compared to 6.3 million in 2017. Danny Dyer gets a quarter of a million a year for his role on the show and delivered the Alternative Queen’s Speech. The actual Queen, who got the highest ratings this Xmas, gets a tad more, bless her. Mary the Punk and Lofty are returning in 2019. What a crime the naysayers will say. But as John Yorke, Executive Consultant on the show, has put it, Mary and Lofty are huge iconic characters. I can understand the argument EastEnders is just too much, too in your face. But it is drama, darling.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46685728

https://sabotagetimes.com/tv-film/5-reasons-to-hate-eastenders

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/19/bbc-medical-drama-actors-highest-paid-soap-stars/

EastEnders spoilers: First look at Lofty and Mary the Punk returns for tragic death storyline