Ex-EastEnders star Nadia Sawalha has weighed in on the comments made by fellow Albert Square alumni Derek Martin, who hit out at the soaps for being too “miserable”.
Derek, 88, starred as cabbie Charlie Slater on the soap for 15 years before his character's death five years ago - but criticised the long-running show for losing its humour.
“You've got to have humour, especially in the depths of Covid, because there's always something to laugh about in life," he told The Sun.
He added: “You used to have Charlie, Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) and Jim Branning (John Bardon) sitting at the allotments with a few beers, just talking about silly things. That's what happens in real life. You need that on EastEnders.
“EastEnders has been losing viewers for years and it's sad.”
Loose Women’s Nadia, 57, starred on the London-based soap as businesswoman Annie Palmer from 1997 until 1999, when her character sold up her health-club shares, left Walford and moved to New Zealand to be with her father.
While Nadia used to be an “appointment viewer” of Coronation Street with a Cadbury bar in hand, she doesn’t often watch the soaps anymore, unless there is a guest appearing on Loose Women.
She said: “I actually moved away from the soaps not because I didn't want to watch them anymore, but just because life got in the way and once you've been in these things, it's really hard not to go, 'just around the back of that crisp box is a camera'.”
But she maintained that the soaps weren’t “ever about the humour” for her.
She said: “I loved the drama. I loved the drudge. For me, I like it to be miserable, so I can feel a bit better about my own life.
She added, laughing: “I remember once in EastEnders, I had a storyline about the rubbish for about 12 weeks - so it certainly lost its way for that 12 weeks, but that's the way that it goes, because that's like life. You get the ordinary and then you get into the super dramatic.”
Fans of the London-based show have shared concerns about the future of the soap in recent days after it was announced that ITV's rival soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale are set to move time slots in March.
But Derek believes that to have any chance of remaining successful, EastEnders must refocus on key families such as the Slaters, Fowlers and Mitchells.
He continued: " Coronation Street still has strong families but EastEnders seems to have lost that. I’ve nothing against youngsters. They’re the future.
"But it’s like the BBC is trying to turn EastEnders into Hollyoaks with so many youngsters, and everyone’s having affairs and beating people up."
