Former Echo Beach star Christian Cooke has admitted that he is glad that the ITV soap opera was cancelled after only one series.

Cooke, 22, played Brae Marrack on the ITV1 show last year, but much prefers his charcter Luke Rutherford in new ITV drama Demons.

“Things are going great now and the attention is unbelievable,” Cooke told the Daily Star. “I’m glad I’m not doing Echo Beach any more because it was s**t!

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ITV1 comedy, Moving Wallpaper is to return for a second series, but without its soap counterpart, Echo Beach.

The shows were launched together early this year but received mixed reviews and falling ratings. Moving Wallpaper was the show set around the making of the soap, Echo Beach, which starred Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon.

“We think it will work better in a new format,” said an ITV spokeswoman.

Echo Beach actress, Martine McCutcheon has admitted that her role on the ITV soap left her feeling depressed.

“I have to admit I didn’t read the reviews,” Martine, 31, told the News of the World. “I felt depressed because I was playing a character who’d let herself go, and that state of mind affected me. I could feel myself getting down.

“One night, I decided to go out clubbing with the crew. Jason [Donovan] and I were the oldest there and I put on my skinny jeans, jewellery and make-up. Read more & comment »

As I have always fancied (*blush*) Jason Donovan, I am going to bore you this afternoon with three clips from Jason Donovan on ITV’s This Morning today. Watch him talk music, Echo Beach and much more…..

Enjoy!

Dan waits anxiously for the results of the paternity test which will prove whether Jimmy is his son. Mark is smug when the phone call comes confirming that Jimmy is his son after all.

Jimmy visits Abi to explain his outburst. Dan tells him that he will not get in the way of his and Abi’s relationship but she doesn’t know anything about the paternity test and that is the way he wants to keep it. Abi is still upset with Jimmy and asks him to leave but doesn’t have the courage to tell him that she slept with Charlie. Shortly after, Grace reveals to Abi that she saw everything.

Jackie is angry with Ian when he suggests they move to live on a Scottish island. Narinder’s brother arrives at the Wrecker’s Arms and reveals to Ivy the true reason why his sister is in Polnarren. Read more & comment »

ITV have revealed that it intends to commission a second series of Moving Wallpaper, it’s Friday night behind-the-scenes sitcom.

But it’s not such good news for Echo Beach, the actual soap affiliated with the comedy. A Source told The Sun:

“Moving Wallpaper is returning. We made the call to Kudos Productions on Saturday after reading TV Biz. But we’re not sure what will happen to Echo Beach. It will either have a few episodes or run on the internet.”

I have watched most episodes of most shows, and like many others I much preferred Moving Wallpaper. I loved Jonathan Pope’s cutting wit, coupled with his absolute stupidity. Echo Beach should have been brilliant. It had a cast containing some very seasoned and talented actors, the involvement of Jason Donovan, Martine McCutcheon and Johnny Briggs should have guaranteed it more success than it acheived. Read more & comment »

Martine McCutcheon lived up to her diva reputation this week whilst on the set of new ITV soap, Echo Beach.

Celebrity photographer, Nicky Johnston, had travelled hundreds of miles to organise a publicity photo shoot for the cast of the show, on set in Cornwall. But Martine refused to leave her caravan because it was ‘too cold’!

Awwwww poor baby!

A secret mole caught Martine McCutcheon cosying up to one of her female co-stars on the set of Echo Beach. From these pictures it looks like Martine is well and truly going for it! Could Martine be trying to discover her Perfect Moment with a woman?

Before you get too excited, it’s not a real expose, but part of ‘The Mole’, a series of twelve ‘fly-on-the-wall’ style stand-alone shorts featuring the stars of its sister shows Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach on ITV1 including: Jason Donovan, Hugo Speer, Martine McCutcheon and Susie Amy. Each clip is secretly shot behind the scenes using a handheld camera by the insider who is out to cause trouble. Read more & comment »

The Marracks prepare for the opening party of the surf shop café, determined to give their family venture a celebratory beginning. Mark and Susan decide whether to go while Grace has already dressed up for the occasion and is upset when Ian rejects her advances.

Concerns about the future of the caravan park hang over Ian when Fin says he’s considering Mark’s offer. The news that Jackie has taken the job at the surf shop café further upsets Ian. A romantic dinner together appeases his concerns. Read more & comment »

On tonights Echo Beach:

Susan fears what Mark will do in his continued determination to see the back of Dan. Paying local youths to set fire to his van, Mark revels in reminding the Marracks that they are still unwelcome in Polnarren. A furious Dan confronts Mark with the truth about the boat accident – that he always suspected he had taken the blame for Mark’s mistake – but is told to stay away from buried secrets in case he discovers something he’d prefer had been kept in the past.

Susan finds a friend in new resident Angela Cole. She confides her worries to Angela in The Wrecker’s Arms, but their brief heart to heart ends abruptly when both Mark and Dan enter the pub. Mark forces Susan to tell Dan that she never loved him, which leaves Dan confused and hurt. Read more & comment »

Former Eastenders actress, Martine McCutcheon has revealed that she had serious doubts about accepting her role in new ITV soap, Echo Beach when it was first offered to her.

Martine plays an unhappily married, repressed, millionaire housewife in Echo Beach.

“I didn’t understand the concept of the show very well,” Martine told the Daily Record. “I also wondered why they wanted me to play this repressed, woman in her mid 40s – 10 years older than me.”

However, Martine quickly changed her mind when she discovered that Tony Marchant, who created her EastEnders character Tiffany, had written the scripts for both Echo Beach and its sister show, Moving Wallpaper. Read more & comment »

Jason Donovan has revealed that he is very happy with his role in new ITV soap opera, Echo Beach, as it is ‘very him.’

Speaking to the Daily Record Jason said:

“It’s the beach, it’s me, it’s surfing, it’s blonde hair and blue eyes. It’s very me.

“I’m nearly 40. I look back with fond memories. There’s not a day when I can escape those references to Neighbours or Kylie but why would I want to? I’m proud of all that. Life’s short, f****** enjoy it. I think you should never start taking yourself too seriously.”

Echo Beach will run alongside behind the scenes comedy, Moving Wallpaper.

He said: “I read Echo Beach and thought, ‘yeah’ and then I read Moving Wallpaper and thought, ‘this is for me’. They work very well together but can stand up on their own. It’s a potent mix. Read more & comment »

“The concept of Moving Wallpaper really made Echo Beach very attractive to me. I haven’t been on British television as an actor for a long time and I was looking to try and explore that avenue. But it’s difficult to cast an Australian, someone who has worn a technicolor dream coat, and sung a few hit singles in their time, or for people to get over the image of the Neighbours boy. I managed to manipulate that better in Australia but it’s tough to cast me as anything other than, say, an Australian in Casualty… I certainly wouldn’t cast me as a Geordie. It needed something like this to break the mould, so it seemed like the perfect vehicle. And to take the mickey out of yourself, as we all do in Moving Wallpaper, is healthy. When I read Echo Beach I liked it and when I read Moving Wallpaper, I rang my agent straight away. It just sounded really, really good fun. Read more & comment »

This is an interview with Martine McCutcheon on her new ITV1 show, Echo Beach.

“Susan is a very unhappily married woman who has played everything pretty safe in her life. She’s quite repressed and she’s got all these emotions in her head waiting to explode. But there was only ever one man who could make her head explode, and that was Daniel Marrack. He comes back and a repressed woman about to explode is sight to see.

“Susan is quite an integral character really – she’s the main reason why all the problems happen. When Mark, Daniel and Susan were younger they were very close. They were like the three musketeers. However, as they got older Daniel and Mark naturally developed feelings for Susan. Daniel’s a lot more laid back and so treated her more like a friend while not realising his true feelings, whereas Mark acted on his straight away. Unfortunately Susan doesn’t think Daniel would ever want to be with her, so she marries Mark and has an affair with Daniel, the consequences of which are catastrophic. Read more & comment »

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are about to change the face of British television forever… welcome to Echo Beach,’’ Jonathan Pope, Producer

Jonathan Pope is a man on a mission. That mission is to make the most talked about post-watershed soap opera in Britain. But when your boss hates you, the writers despair of you and the entire cast and crew think you’re a prat, that mission is bound to be a fraught one.

ITV is proud to announce two interlinking shows from the makers of Life On Mars, Spooks and Hustle. Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon return to their soap roots to play the parts of ex-lovers in Echo Beach. Ben Miller plays the hapless producer desperate to make the soap a success in a behind-the-scenes comedy Moving Wallpaper.

Both 12 part series, from the award-winning Kudos, will run together on ITV1.

In Echo Beach, Hugo Speer (Bleak House, The Full Monty) plays Mark Penwarden, who will stop at nothing to run his wife Susan’s (McCutcheon) ex-lover Daniel Marrack (Donovan) out of Polnarren, with Johnny Briggs (Coronation Street) as long term resident Fin Morgan. Read more & comment »