Eastenders: BBC’s Response To Viewer Complaints Over Danielle’s Death
Our sites have been going crazy today with literally hundreds of you complaining about last night’s Eastenders episode.
The hour long special featured Peggy Mitchell’s wedding to Archie and ended with Ronnie finding out that Danielle was her daughter just before she was killed by Janine’s car.
Fans of the show haven’t just been bombarding sites and blogs with complaints but they have also launched an online petition asking show bosses to bring Danielle back. However it looks like Danielle’s return does not feature in future plans for the show and in response to the massive viewer response Eastenders executive producer Diederick Santer told the BBC:
“Last night’s EastEnders contained all the elements of a classic soap episode – a wedding, high drama, and tragedy.
“We acknowledge that we didn’t deliver the happy ending that many of the audience may have been hoping for, and that for some people this was upsetting. We hope viewers understand that our aim is to deliver the best drama. That doesn’t always lead to a happy ending.
Archie and Danielle
” EastEnders – like all good drama – contains a balance of storylines, both happy and sad. We’re proud of the episode, the storyline which built up to it, and the way the audience have engaged with it.”
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The main petition is at 12,155 signatures. There are other smaller petitions.
watching future episodes would only be emotionally masochist!
I still can’t believe there is no more Eastenders to watch on TV. I will always change channel immediately should I realize that I inadvertently switched on Eastenders. That program, after Danielle’s death and the reluctance of the BBC to apologize and change the scripts, is bad for self respect feelings and emotions, thus bad for society as a whole.
Just think if the England Football coach, after having lost badly, said that he loved the fans fantastic reaction and keeps staying at his job as if nothing had happened.
What is Santer doing still at the same job ?
What are the guys in charge of him doing now with the huge amount of complaints they received?
The record number of complaint did nothing so far to change the BBC plans regarding the re writing of the script and the employment of new, better qualified and skilled, writer.
utter shame and disgrace
Gavin .I don’t get you ?
He is saying, that santer won’t even apologise for making a mistake. He knows what he has done to upset the fans, and just sits on his butt, and does nothing.
I don’t know whether it is ego, pride or delusion (or possibly all three) but Santer’s reaction or lack there of is really confusing. Doesn’t he care what the fans make of the show?
Do u think they will bring her back ?
No. Too much effort and I don’t think they’ll want to back down.
Right now I’m just hoping for them to admit they screwed up and apologise.
If there is one way that made them bring her back what do you fink that would be ?
T-shirts, signs, protests at the studio and continued petition/complaints.
It worked for Deidre Rashid on Corrie and got her out of prison.
So far I’ve signed the petition, complained to the BBC and boycotted the show. But I feel pretty powerless and think all the effort will be for nothing since they don’t seem to care or listen.
If people keep up with it all and don’t back down, maybe some of the cast will get on our side and there might be a chance. It’s unlikely but I’ll stick with it.
Do you think it will go that far ?
Things seem to be dying down already so I doubt it. Everything rides on the show boycott, complaints and petition.
What can we do to lighten it up ?
No idea. I’m waiting to see what the Eastenders viewing figures are over the coming weeks. If they remain down, that might be enough to achieve something and get a reaction.
Whats the website again ?
http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyTopProgrammesOverview?
Although it hasn’t yet been updated.
Yh i was going to saii there isnt much difference lol
ive boycotted the show since danielles death,complained to the eastenders site,the bbc site,signed every petition i could find,complained to ofcom,complained on the youtube bbc site and the youtube eastenders site and i honestly think that ee will not change it,i wished they would but the way i see it is that the bbc and eastenders doesnt give a shot about its fans or license paying public,ive gone as far as to cancel my tv license as all i paid it for was ee,i think the only real way we will ever get a responce from the bbc or hope to change things is if we can cause them considerable loss,therefore i say if you really want to effect them then write a complaint to the bbc explaining that you are going to cancel your tv license because of eastenders,this is not just about eastenders,what will be next??? if we do not fight this then soon the pubic will have no say in anything!!!
please think deeply about this, Boycott eastenders,complain,threaten to stop paying your license or better still cancel it,DONT GIVE UP PEOPLE,
WE WANT DANIELLE BACK!!!
All we have to do is continue to not watch it. Each day as more viewers stop watching it, hopefully santer will see, that without fans or viewers, there is no show.
Or there is another alternative, take santer hostage and don’t let him go until he apologises and puts danielle back in.
I think it’s too late to do anything though. It’s her funeral today, so unless she’s a zombie who comes up from her grave, I dont think she’s coming back. But we have to keep going. We have to keep signing petitions, complaining and boycotting the show, so hopefully we can at least get an apology.
Anyone seen viewers’ letters in the Radio Times? Corrie has been praised for its delicate portrayal of sensitive issues, whereas letters about Eastenders are quite rightly scathing. There’s a damning letter from the Chief Executive of the adoption agency. I wonder if EE will be fined for this?
i have signed every petition i can find, complained to bbc and not watched EE since the 2nd of april
as i said in early comments, they cant and wont bring her back now.
all i hope is santa and writers get sacked.
even if they did, i still would not watch EE again
Danielle wont be brought back
But there is one thing we can ask for that is do-able
We can at least fight for a door left for danielle to return from what i can see thats the only option left x
I can’t believe they didn’t leave the door open for her, surely they recognised what a talented actress she is.
My grievance is of course the shocking/vile and totally unnecessary death of this character, but more that the writers are so out of touch with the fans. Santer was so arrogant and smug on some EE xtra program. What did they possible hope to achieve, more fans? Praise?
Everyone warmed to that character, to drag it on and then horrifically kill her at the end was just a clear indication that Santer has lost touch with the fans, who make the show in the end. As a tv license payer I am so disgusted about this.
Ok, let her do theater for a while, ok perhaps the writers wanted to move onto other story lines, but firstly to kill her off, and then they way they did it I’m disgusted.
Should have got Danielle to go to Australia and Ronnie cant find her, they still could have had all the doom, gloom, suicidal and depressing scenes of Ronnie, etc etc
As a tv license payer I feel I have the right to make this point and call for Santer to be sacked
Big big mistake losing that character and especially the wonderful actress Lauren Crace
Yep, I totaly agree with you there. If they had kept her in, that would have opened so many doors for the future.
Lauren crace is the most talented actress, she totally rocks. They should have grovelled, got downnon thier knees and beg for her to stay. If santer wanted her to only have a six month contract, then they are all blind idiots! Who would do that!? If I was santer I would give her a permanent contract, and she could have as many holidays off as she liked. I just hope they apriciated everything she did. Maybe it was lauren’s choice to have a 6 month contract, as it was her first tv job, and she just wanted to try it out to see how she got ok, and also get a break from theater. Who knows, maybe if lauren hadn’t gotten the part, maybe danielle would still be alive. Maybe they always were going tonkill daiellle in the first place.
I’m glad lauren got the part, no one could play danielle like she did, I wish her a very happy and sucsessful future, and I hope I see her somewhere else. I’d love to see her in a west end show. She is my favourite actress, and she was the only reason I watched eastenders, (note I used past test, because ever since she died I have not watched it) and I hope she gets leading parts on both stage and set. She is a true idol and inspiration, she is so good with the fans, and well she rocks!
Jess x
I have read Lauren Crace didnt like playing that naive role, so who knows what happened, it will come out in a year.
But she was still under contract and if santer had an ounce of sense he would have left the door open for her.
Lauren Crace will pop up in “the bill” casualty and things like that. I don’t know if I would like seeing her playing a part of a drug addict prostitute, lol, but it would be interesting to see.
Her farther is quite a famous author so I think there’s a fare amount of money there.
yea, I think I would see her in a play sometime if she got a staring role. I do reckon she will end up in Hollywood and could be a mega star, just hopes she keeps her feet on the ground and avoids nasty men!
sack santer, what an idiot, and this point i would even settle for an apology, but santer being an arrogant, power hungry burk, I very much doubt it.
I have not watched since 2nd April and wont again, be interesting to see the view figures over the next few weeks
When will they be updating the view figures anyone no ?
I think we all lost: we viewers and TV License payers have been insulted and literally wasted 8 months watching EE; Santer has lost his reputation for good, irrespective of his unacceptable cocky attitute defending Danielle’e death and the silence from the BBC (apart from the silly template response email sent to all of us complaining on the BBC website), the BBC and the ratings have and will lose relentlessly.
There is only one winner here: Lauren Crace.
Her popularity has skyrocketed to levels she probably wouldn’t have dreamed of. I do not know how many young actress of her age can write her name on google and find tens and tens of thousands of people complaining about her leaving EE and praising her acting skills.
Perhaps ultimately Santer gave her a favour boosting her fame, popularity and enhancing her future earnings potential.
I am happy for her, and wish her all the best!
Having said that she should not have died!!!!!!!!!
Worst thing I have ever seen on the BBC and in television in my life.
Santer, like a lot of you rightly say, should be bloody sacked!
I’m not going to be watching Eastenders in future. The plots have deteriorated in to sensationalist, melodramatic drivel featuring characters who all seem to be mentally disturbed or evil, or both. This plotline dragged on far too long and ended unrealistically. I also found it very offputting that one of the writers commented rather arrogantly that their plans for the character of Ronnie was to have her ‘physically and psychologically disintegrate’. I’m all for tragedies and real drama, but I don’t want to watch a character ‘physically and psychologically disintegrate’ and I don’t think many other people would either.
you should have put a another twist in it something like she dissapears from the coffin or wake up with the locket something 2 the affect if ronnir this eposide touched the hearts of thousands of people why kill danielle thats what i ask?
you should bring a new young teenager in like someone for lauren that would help get through the courts a old friend nfrom where they where before?
yeah i also want 2add i totally agree with them comments they should try someway 2 take danielle back! lauren crace was a fantastic actress it is an absoulate waste of 6months 2 kill her of like that they should make thier best efforts for viewers to get danielle back 4 ronnies sake?
I’m baffled!
I saw EE last night (recorded not watched, I’m no traitor!) and it is now back to the usual ugliness (Phil getting legless and coming on to Shirley – urgh) and ridiculousness (Dotty’s lame impression of Wednesday Adams, Darren and Libby running around like the meddling kids on Scooby Doo, not to mention Tanya falling for Max again even though he had an affair with his son’s wife and Tanya tried to bury him alive!).
I’d been hoping that after the thousands and thousands of complaints they’d have done the decent things: apologised and re-written the episodes. But they obviously have no decency and are arrogantly refusing to admit they were wrong. So the address to complain is http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints, and the address to vote for Corrie in the Soap Awards is http://www.britishsoapawards.tv/. They need to realise they cannot toy with our emotions and get away with it.
Nothing in EE now compares to the beautifully delicate relationship between Danielle and Ronnie. Everyone was touched by this mother and daughter who after a lifteime apart had the chance to make up for that sad time. Our hopes that they would be reconciled after such a tragic separation provided crucial light and optimism in an otherwise dark and depressing programme. The touching moments between them at R&R, the abortion clinic or Ronnie’s flat were the most moving scenes on EE for a long time. If only their relationship had carried on and there were more moments like this, EE would have been unmissable TV. I would have put up with the other nonsense in the show just to watch Ronnielle. But the writers ended this fascinating relationship because they didn’t have the ability or the imagination to develop this delicate situation further.
The writers said they always came back to that ending. That’s because their brains started hurting when they tried to think outside the box (the coffin). They also said Danielle’s death was always part of the plan. Well, they need to research the effects their characters and portrayals are having on the audience and learn to think on their feet. If the credit crunch is hitting them, instead of getting rid of their hard working actors, their lazy writers should be given a pay cut.
I know they’ve nearly hammered the final nail in Danielle’s coffin but if there is any chance we can get her back we should try because EE has lost something very special. The writers should do some work for once and use their imaginations to think how she could come back. So, please join the main facebook group (the one with nearly 59,000 members)http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63259092318 and click on the link to sign the petition. Thanks
EE has gone back to being ugly (Phil getting legless and coming on to Shirley – urgh) and ridiculous (Dotty’s lame impression of Wednesday Adams and Darren and Libby running around like the meddling kids on Scooby Doo).
After the tens of thousands of complaints they should have done the decent things: apologised and re-written the episodes. But they have no decency and are arrogantly refusing to admit they were wrong. Nothing in EE now comes close to the beautifully delicate relationship of Danielle and Ronnie. Our hopes that they would be reconciled after such a tragic separation provided crucial light and optimism in an otherwise dark and depressing programme. The touching moments between them at R&R, the abortion clinic and Ronnie’s flat were the most moving scenes on EE for ages. If their relationship had carried on and there were more such moments, EE would have been unmissable. I would have put up with the other nonsense in the show just to watch Ronnielle. But the writers ended them because they didn’t have the ability or the imagination to develop this delicate relationship further.
The writers said they always came back to that ending. That’s because their brains started hurting when they tried to think outside the box (the coffin). They also said Danielle’s death was always part of the plan. Well, they need to research the effects their characters are having on the audience and learn to think on their feet. If the credit crunch is hitting them, instead of getting rid of their hard working actors, their lazy writers should be given a pay cut.
I know they’ve nearly hammered the final nail in Danielle’s coffin but if there’s any chance we can get her back we should try because EE has lost something special.
Also, yesterday, Stacey said there’s no wonder Danielle moved away from Telford. Something else we can use to complain about the idiot writers?
I completely agree with you Mark.
I wish there were more things we could do. Frankly though, I think we’ve all done enough. I’m still seeing angry letters appearing in magazines and other mentions elsewhere. That alone shows the mistake they have made.
You’d think that the petitions and other complaints would be enough to make them see sense and take action but the way they have pretty much completely ignored the outcry is possibly the worst part of all of this. I’m not watching the show anymore, unless they bring Danielle back or just get rid of Santer and his brain dead writers.
Why get ride of Danielle and yet keep bloody pointless stupid characters like Heather and Dotty. The production team are really a joke.
Everyone complain to OFCOME about the Telford remark. People on other blogs are and it may force an apology!
mark do you live in telford?
i think that killing Danielle was the wrong thing to do. The writers drageed it on for too long and then killed her off. it was a waste of storyline. i think the only way to make it right is to find out that Danielle wasn’t Ronnie’s daughter and bring someone else in. That way the Eastenders crew might get more viewers and less complaints.
I agree and pledge to never watch eastenders again sack diedrick santer the sick sadist he is making peoples lifes hell.
I would actually scream my head off if danielle wakes up in the middle of her funeral like “what the hell’s going on!?!” that would make my year.
What they could do is show viewers that the coffin is empty, then the empty coffin is buried and everyone thinks she has gone for good, but then when her foster father walks into his house and sees danielle sitting on a chair eating a cream egg Easter egg. But it has to me a cream egg. Not a mini egg, a cream egg.
But yeah I know lauren will go far. No one gas talent like that at her age ( I think she is 22). I’m abig fan and hope to see her in many hit tv shows
Good luck lauren!! (not that u need it!)
we still going strong, havent been on here for a few days!
If we keep boycotting there WILL be a huge problem so please carry on everyone!!!
They cant ever bring her back at least we want to see santer sacked the EGO MANIAC untalented twit!!!
I WONT EVER WATCH AGAIN And either have any of my friends, bugger all to see unless you have a dodgy fetish for misery and doom and gloom what a load of old shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Viewing figures out for the week ending 5th of April, already shows a drop in Fridays viewing figures after the Thursdays Death of Danielle. Can be seen here:
http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyTopProgrammesOverview?
The week after which should come out next Wenesday should be interesting, this would be the viewing figures for last week.
Really hope the figures are arround 5 million and stay like that. That would give the producers more pressure and gives us a three pronged attacked, 1) Complaints, 2) Petition and 3) Viewing figures down.
Keep the pressure up everyone…… don’t watch, better still if you know anyone that has one of the special boxes that are used to calculate viewing figures, encourage them to stop watching.
Find more people to sign the petition and complain, complain, complain, we must not let the momentum slip. Bring back Daniella from the dead, it was all just a dream.
How about this?
Danielle’s body has to be exhumed for evidence but when they open the coffin it’s not her body. Archie returns in summer and at the end of an episode, we see him holding Danielle captive. Turns out that after Ronnie and Andy left the morgue, Archie went to see the body to apologise to Danielle. Whilst he was there, he discovered Danielle had a pulse but had body paralysis and was mistakenly pronounced dead. So, Archie put a similar looking dead girl in Danielle’s place in the morgue. He then kidnapped Danielle and is now holding her captive to keep her from Ronnie. However, it all comes out and mother and daughter are happily reunited – if only for a while just to satisfy fans. A bit far fetched I know but it’s better than it all being a dream. Plus, they’d win back 93% of their fans!