TV News & Review: Veteran Actors Angela Wynter & Rudolph Walker Keep It Real & Deliver The Real Thing In A Groundbreaking Eastenders Two-Hander In The Me Too Era. May 2024

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Storyline Changing The Tune In The Wake of The MeToo Movement Is Music To The Ears

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It Rarely Happens But When It Does You Know Eastenders Have Just Broadcast An Exceptional Episode of The Iconic East London Based Soap Opera.

The End Scene In EastEnders Is An Iconic Moment Known As The Doof’-Doofs’ Moment Because of The Sound of The Powerful Beats As The Theme Tune Kicks In And The Credits Begin To Roll. They Are Usually Cliffhanger Moments Designed To Make Viewers Hungry For The Next Episode. But Every Now & Then, Once In A Blue Moon (or An ‘Alfie’ Moon) The Producers Replace The Theme Tune With A Specially Selected Piece of Popular Music Pertinent To A Super Special Episode They’ve Just Aired. Or They’ll Play A Powerful Piece of Music In The Background At A Poignant Moment As A Certain Scene Is Going On. Adele Once Said That She Knew She’d Really Made It When She Heard One of Her Songs In The Background During An Episode of The Soap.

One of The Soaps Most Touching Music Moments Was When They Played Out The Show With A Wartime Tune Following Ethel Passing Away After She And Her Best Friend Dot – Played By The Late Legendary June Brown – Had Been Reminiscing About Their Friendship & The Good Old Days After The War Ended. It Was A Real Tear-Jerker And A History Eye-Opener.

Another One Was When Tiffany & Grant Mitchell  Were Going Through The Wars In Their Marriage And The Show Played Elton’s ‘What Have I Got To Do To Make You Love Me?’ That One Really Hit The Heartstrings.

This Month On Tuesday May 7th 2024, At The End of The Yolande & Patrick Dramatic Two-Hander They Delivered The Soul Classic By Real Thing ‘You To Me Are Everything’ Instead of The Theme Tune And It Topped What Has To Go Down In EastEnders History as One of Their Best Episodes Ever. Possibly The Best Episode Ever Depending On How Much of A Fan You Are of This Couple, Either Actor or The Storyline For That Matter. Especially If You’re A Professional Involved In Work Related To The Subject Matter.

At A Caribbean Takeover Day At Royal Greenwich Park This Month, Organised By The Caribbean Social Forum (A Social Group For Active Seniors of Which Rudolph Walker Is A Patron, Alongside Former Met Superintendent Leroy Logan, And Shaun Wallace of ITV’s The Chase’) Group Founder & Leader, Pamela Franklin, Durng An Introduction Speech Urged All In Attendance, Including The Public Who Came Along, To Watch The Episode On BBC iPlayer Because It Was Outstanding. And She Was Right.

This Episode Was Artfully And Authentically Written. Culturally Competent. Well Constructed And Crafted (The Two Telephone Calls Were Especially Clever). And Excellently Acted. (We Just Hope The Remaining Members of The Real Thing Receive Those Music Royalties).

What An Emotional Journey! It Was An Emotional Journey Unlike Any We’ve Seen On Any Other Eastenders Episode. These Two British-Caribbean Seniors Started Out Emotionally In One Place And Ended Up Somewhere Totally Different By The End of This Truly Terrific Two-Hander. It Was A Journey Well Travelled Too. They Packed Alot In But It Was Totally Believable, Moving And Emotional. And Ultimately Memorable And Powerful. It Was Undeniably Excellent Drama. Even If Any of The Viewers That Night Were Not Regular Watchers That Episode In And Of Itself Was Just Gripping. And So Relevant To The Times We Are Living In Right Now.

Both Actors Were Clearly Delivering Performances On A Totally Different Level To Normal As The Subject Matter Was Given The Due Care And Attention, Sensitivity, Commitment And Dedication That It Deserved. That It Warrants. That It Needs.

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Authenticity, Humanity, And Common Decency

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The Chemistry Between Angela Wynter #angelawinter And Rudolph Walker @rudolphwalkerfoundation Is Visible For All To See And Simply Undeniable. But Who Knew They Could Raise Their Game Even Higher?

The Writers And Producers It Would Seem. Bless Them All. Amazingly The Current Executive Producer Chris Krenshaw Started Out As A Runner At ITV. Now He’s The Boss On One of The Biggest Shows On BBC Television. How’s That For Inspiration?

We Made A Point of Looking Out To See Who Wrote This Special Episode And Discovered It Was Lauren Klee @kleelauren (Private a/c) With Whom We Were Not Familiar, Even Though It Transpires That She Is One of Eastenders “Core Writers” And Has Been Since 2010. (Suffice To Say Sometimes Soaps Are More Watchable than Others.) Well She Knocked It Out of The Park This Time (…Well, The Square Actually). She Graduated From The BBC Writing Academy In 2010 She Has Written Over 100 Episodes For Eastenders Since Then (As Well As A Number of Other Series For The BBC And Other Broadcasters). She Has Also Co-Written With British-African Writer Dare Aiyegbayo, Who Was Mentored By The Media Group ‘Women In Film And Television’ @wftv_uk

What Is Especially Interesting Is That She Is A Young Caucasion Women Who Wrote This Episode For Two British-Caribbean Seniors. One Male. One Female. The Claim, Often Peddled In Television And Hollywood, Therefore That White People Cannot Relate To Black Stories Is Once Again Proven Untrue. As It Was By The Global Success of The Black Panther In 2018. It’s Not A Colour Issue. It’s A Humanity, Authenticity And Common Decency Issue.

It Brings To Mind The Late Cicely Tyson, The Beloved African-American Actress, Humanitarian And Godmother To Lenny Kravitz @LennyKravitz. She Was Very Particular About The Roles She Undertook As A Matter of Principle With Regard To How Authentically, Respectfully And Caringly They Reflected Her People. She Won An Oscar Nomination In 1973 For Her Role In The 1972 Film ‘Sounder’ And Two Emmy Awards For Best Actress And Best Actress of The Year For Her Role In The TV Series ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’. She Revealed That A Caucasion Woman Told Her That She Never Knew Black People Could Love Each Other Untill She Watched The Film Sounder. This Revealation Highlights The Power & Importance of Diversity In Movies, And By Association The Media, And The Need For Progressive Change In These Areas.

Such Inhumanity Which Black People Have Long Since Been Subjected To By Many Caucasion People Has Real World Consequences. Tyson Proved That Conscious Movie Making Can Help Make Changes In Society. This Episode of EastEnders (Part of A Long Developing Storyline About Sexual Abuse of Older Women, In The Church) Was A Long Time In The Making And Was Handled Immaculately And Proves That Such Writing Is Important In Television Too.

Of Tyson In ‘Sounder’ The New York Times Wrote (Apparently Complimentary, But Also Very Sadly): “ She Passes All of Her Easy Beauty By, To Give Us, At Long Last, Some Sense of The Profound Beauty of Millions of Black Women.”

As For Klee And Eastenders, It Is Also Refreshing To See Older Cast Members Being Given Such Great Acting Challenges And Supreme Screentime In A Way That Respects Their Age, Yet Keeps Their Characters Up-To-Date And In Tune With The Changing Times. As Yolande Says, There Was No Hashtag MeToo In Her Day And Consent Was Not Explained. But Now, Today, She Wants To Fight Back Anyway. British-Trinidadian Walker Is 85 This Year And Celebrating With A Big Birthday Extravaganza Show At A South London Theatre ~ The Broadway, Catford. Jamaican-British Wynter, Who Will No Doubt Be There, Is Virtually Twenty Years His Junior At 67.

Last Year TheOrator.Press Wrote About The Excellent Channel 4 Drama ‘Consent’ Written By  Emma Dennis Edwards, The BBC Documentary ‘Asking For It’ By Emily Atack, And The BBC ‘Incels’ (Involuntary Celibates Who Terrorise  Women) Documentary By Ben Zand. All Were Excellent Productions (One Drama And Two Documentaries). However They All Featured Predominantly Young People. The Drama In Particular Featured School Age Teenagers And The Issue of Consent. Another Element That Is Special About This Standout Eastenders Episode Is That It Was Especially Clever of The Writer To Highlight The Fact That Sexual Harrassment And Assault Happens At The Other End of The Age Spectrum Too. Sadly It’s An Issue We All Need To Be Aware of At All Ages And Stages of Our Life. Young. Middle-Aged. And Senior.

For The Programme To Deal With This Issue In This Respectful, Sensitive And Knowing Way Is Very Bold, Educational And No Doubt Helpful To Many People.

Consideration And Inclusion of The Male Perspective, As A Husband, Helped Make This Episode The Gripping Groundbreaking Power House That It Was

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Particularly Insightful Was Including Patrick’s Perspective As The Husband of Someone Who Has Been Assaulted.

His Initial Response of Wanting To Get Violent With The Assailant Was Understandable And Pretty Standard. But He Listened When Yolande Explained That’s Not What She Wanted. Not Least of All Because It Was Her Own Private Business.
And He Listened And Apologised When She Vehemently Argued That It Was Not For Her To Have Stayed Away From The Predatory Pastor But For Him To Have Stayed “The Hell Away” From Her. They Were Two Really Important Learning Points In Terms of Survivors Being Heard. And Also Not Being Blamed For What Should Be Someone Else’s Shame. And Refusing To Take On That Shame.

Particularly Moving Was Patrick’s Plea To Yolande To Let Him In By Telling Him What Was Wrong With Her As They Are “Connected” And He Hurts When She Hurts And Something Was Clearly Hurting Her. Plus He Looked So Vulnerable When He Was Guessing That She’d “Gotten Bored” of Him or No Longer Loved Him.

Also Handled Skillfully Was The Question of Intimacy Amongst Seniors Generally And After An Assault Specifically. On The Former Yolande Compares What She Thought on The Subject As A Young Woman (It Was “Silly And Undignified”) To What She Feels Having Got Older And Simply Explains That She “Never Felt Any Different Inside” As An Older Woman When It Came To Intimacy. Fair Enough. That’s Simple And Straightforward Enough To Understand. Makes Sense. There’s A Saying The Elders Sometimes Drop When They Want To Let It Be Know They’ve Still Got Get Up & Go That Seems Very Apt Right Now: “I’m May Be Old, But I’m Not Cold!”

In Comparison, Decades Ago (Mid 80s)There Was A Similar Shocking Storyline In The Former Liverpool Soap Opera ‘Brookside’ Starring Sue Johnson And Ricky Tomlinson As Husband And Wife Shelia And Bobby Grant (Pre The Late Caroline Ahern’s Comedy Show ‘The Royale Family’ Were They Starred As Husband And Wife Again). The Assailant Then Was A Cab Driver. That TV Marriage Dramatically Tragically Fell Apart After Sheila Was Understandably Traumatised, Shut Her Husband Out, And Kept Him Shut Out And At Arms Length. He Grew Frustrated, Resentful And Impatient. At The Time Discussing The Matter At All Was Headline News.

The Difference In Writing Now Reflects The Intervening Advent of Girl Power (Don’t Underestimate The Spice Girls Effect.) Mel B MBE Is Now Patron of The Women’s Aid Charity @womens_aid For Instance @officialmelb, The Me Too Movement @metoomvmnt, And The Ongoing Fight Against Misogyny, Including Misogyny Noir. And Also A Recognition That Men Need To Be Included In The Conversation. Not Least To Educate Them. But Also To Hopefully Establish Some Semblence of Alleyship With The Good Guys. And Counter Toxic Masculinity Where Possible. (Coincidentally This Approach, For Similar Reasons, Is Also Recommended By Campaigners And Professionals With Regard To Seeking Support During Menopause, Once Also A Taboo Subject, About Which More Women Are Being More Transparent About And Refusing To Feel Shame).

These Are Different Times And Advocates, Campaigners And Leaders Have Worked Hard To Reach This Stage.

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Seriously Smooth Moves From Scene To Scene, Scenario To Scenario, Table To Sofa, Brought It Home!

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The Clearly Well Measured, Meticulous Movement From Scene To Scene, Scenario To Scenario, Table To Sofa, Was So Smooth And Well Constructed It Was Almost Like Watching A Slick Film Rather Than A Soap Opera. It Was Totally Gripping. So Well Thought Out.
It Was Something of A Wrting And Production Masterclass Especially With Yolande’s Good Friend Elaine Peacock (Excellently Played By Harriet Thorpe @hatdorable) And Her Step-Grandson By Marriage Denzel Danes, Who Respectfully Calls Her ”Auntie” (Up & Coming Star Jaden Ledega @mrjadenladega) Being There Whilst Not Being There With Their Well Placed Phone Calls. (We Love That Patrick’s Getting To Grips With Tech & The Wonders of Bluetooth With The Help of The Family Youngster).

Cooking. Washing Up. Sweeping Up. Taping Up. Moving From The Kitchen Diner To The Bathroom, From The Bathroom Too The Square, From The Square Back To The Kitchen Dinner, To The Kitchen Table, And Then To The Sofa Was Immaculately Done.

Most of All It Was Great Seeing Yolande Portrayed As An Empowered Survivor. She Says She Likes Who She Is And Doesn’t Want To Shrink or Change That. This Was An Ode To Female Empowerment. At Any Age! And For Any Colour.

We Like Her Too. And We’re So Glad She’s Back. We Missed Her When She Left The Series. As For Patrick, Actor Rudolph Walker As Come A Long Long Way From Starring In The 1970s Comedy Love Thy Neighbour In Which He Played A Black Tory Living Next Door To A White Labour Voter. That Series Was Also Very Popular But The Writing Sensitivities Are Worlds Apart And The Eras Very Different. This Was A Time When Black Families Used To Tell Each Other When There Were Black People On Television As It Was Such A Rare Occurence And Meant So Much To The Black Community. Rudolph Walker (CBE) Has Lasted The Distance. And We Salute Him For It. Major Respect Is Due. And Happily He Has It!

He Also Has A Foundation For Young Up And Coming Talent, Is Also A Member of The Windrush Committee Which Guides Government Regards Windrush Sensitivites And Also Is Very Popular With The Palace As Demonstrated When The King And Camilla Queen Consort Honoured The Square With A Visit During The Last Jubilee. Camilla Is In Fact A Patron of A Number of Women’s Support Charities So Maybe She’s Even Seen This Episode Too.

It’s Also A Masterclass In How To Deal With Tough Stuff Wholeheartedly And Authentically, Yet Retain Humanity, Humour And Dignity Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Competence And Respect For The Older Generation. Heaven Knows Many In Authority Still Need To Learn That.

Meanwhile, Happily, Halle Berry @halleberry (Who Gets A Mention As A Possible Contender For Patricks Affections) Is Currently In A Loving Relationship With Van Hunt @vanhunt So No Worries There.

Pathos, Patois, And Patrick And Yolande Are Back Together Again. Amen!

Eastenders Tuesday May 7 2024 Is Currently Available On BBC iPlayer.

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But What About Consistency of Care In Television?

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The Big Mystery Is How Can The Same Show Could Get Other Storylines So Ridiculously Wrong To The Point of Them Being Unwatchable. The Keanu Killing Involving ‘The Six’ Storyline Seems To Have Taken Place In An EastEnders World Where No One Appears To Have Heard Of Criminal Defence Lawyers, The Legal Defence of Self-Defence, Killing In The Defence Others, CCTV, And Basic Forensics, Let Alone Advances In Forensic Science And Forensic Detective Work.

That Storyline Could Have Been So Much Better And The Whole Show Elevated As An Entity If They Actually Cleverly Took Those Fundamental Factors Into Account Law & Order, CSI or Spooks Style – Rather Than Ignoring Them In This High Tech Age of 2024 And Hoping No One Would Notice. It Seems Very Odd That The Writers (Including Klee Who Actually Worked On Spooks) Can Be So Savvy As To Write Such As Great MeToo Story Featuring A Mature Woman, Senior Intimacy, And Seniors Getting To Grips With Bluetooth Technology, But Yet Simultaneously Demonstrate No Apparent Awareness of Proper Modern Day Police Work And Forensics.

As For The Other Five of ‘The Six’Throwing Denise Under The Bus That Was Just Outrageous.

But Her Family Has Been Much Maligned In-Line With Various Stereotypes And Troupes. Denise Herself Has Been Sectioned And Committed To A Mental Health Institution. This After She Was Previously Portrayed As Homeless, Consuming Trash From The Street, And Stealing To Survive. Kim, Her Sister, Has Been Criminalised Through A Traffic Incident. Denzel Danes (Legally Still A Child) Her Partner Howie’s Son Has Been Procuring Drugs (Albeit Steriods For Teenage Body Enhancement In The Midst of His Body Image Crisis @mrjadenladega – Which A Growing Problem For Males In The Social Media Age). And The Local Black Pastor, Who The Lady of The House Worked Alongside As A Church Volunteer, Is A Sexual Predator. Not To Mention Chelsea (Denise’s Daughter) Has A Father Who Is Also A Preacher In Prison.

And As All That Was Not Enough, In A Seperate Black Father And Son Relationship On The Square, By Sleeping With Cindy (His Former Stepmother) – George’s Son – A New Character -Is Technically Portrayed As A Mother-F—-r. In Plain Sight. In 2024!

Writers And TV Producers Have A Responsibility To Reflect The Fact That There Are Black Working Class Families And Black Middle-Class Families That Just Love Each Other, Are Positive People, And Live Normal Yet Interesting, Law-Abidingly Lives. Hearing More About Them Would Be Nice. Just To Balance Things Out And Keep The Incompetent And Pathetic Racial Profiling Down. This Is Important Because Constant Negative Images of Afro-Caribbean People Does Have Real World Consequences. This Is Why Diversity And Inclusion In Media – Including Writers, Those Behind The Cameras, Editors, And Media Consultants – Is Very Important.

We Live In Hope!

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