‘EastEnders’ moves for share of N.Z. ratings

Press, 1 August 1986, Page 19

‘EastEnders’ moves for share of N.Z. ratings

For the 8.8. C. the success of the “East Enders came as a welcome morale booster. After a year in which the corporation stumbled from one crisis to another the news that “East Enders had toppled “Coronation Street” from its customary number one spot on the British ratings was more than welcome.

The topical series about London’s East End has yet to make the same impact in New Zealand, however. TVNZ has attributed this to its Friday evening screening slot, a time when many New Zealanders are enjoying latenight shopping. With its spring season beginning on Monday TVNZ has de-

cided to move “East Enders from Fridays and televise 30-minute episodes on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. on One. It took British audiences six months to accept East Enders as its new favourite. From the outset it was criticised, especially by those whose memories of that fabled area of London were much rosier than the reality of today. The East End has changed and with that change has come the facing up to issues of today’s London — racism, drugs, violence, and a host of other topics that television drama either steers away

from altogether, or treats with kid gloves. v The producer, Julia Smith, boasts that “EastEnders” does neither. “We are trying to tell it like it is.” , ’ Much of the series’ success can also be attributed to the doings of the man the British press has dubbed “Dirty Den,” the landlord of the Queen Vic pub, Den Watts. The East End’s answer to J.R., Den has been on the fiddle all his life, either buying in cheap booze when the brewery’s not looking or selling goods of questionable. origin on the side. Even in his personal life, Den’s always selling someone short — mostly his wife, Angie.