EastEnders

Could be they have yet to appoint a new Exec Prod, so John Yorke is 'acting Exec' but not assuming the full role?

John Yorke has made it clear that he's only doing this on a temporary basis whilst the new exec is found. I guess he may be at the helm for a while so the BBC can make a careful choice on who the new exec will be considering the problems had with O'Connor as explained in previous posts in this thread.

isn't the end of years credits on early?

Nope. Tonights episode is the last episode of the year.

Last year the end-of-year credits were shown on the 27th Dec, and two further episodes were shown on 29th and 30th. They don’t always feature on the final episode of the year.

I just hope EastEnders is saved in 2018!

I think it's more than run its course, and if it gets cancelled, it's had an amazing run. There are a few shows on TV currently that are in that position and Eastenders isn't even the most high profile of those, but it is one of the long runners that is struggling to justify its continued existence.

If it was going to be axed based on ratings or quality it would have long gone by now. It's not going anywhere soon, especially with a new set being built.

What is likely to happen this year though is it gets officially overtaken by Emmerdale as the nations 2nd most watched soap. It has only just beaten them this year (think its something like 6.49m to 6.47m from memory) but Emmerdale is the only soap that has bucked the downward trend in the last few years and if that trend continues this year it should overtake EastEnders this year in terms of average annual ratings.

I’m still lost in this gangster plot line. Who are they supposed to be robbing?

EastEnders has been great of late, but this gangster plot line is not only baffling, it is also totally unnecessary. I suspect the NYD ratings for it will be quite low as viewers tend to wander away when gangster storylines dominate.

That said, Mick doing a potential hold up in doggy slippers was inspired and made me chuckle. But, I don't really see the point of this particular story. Like yourself, it's hard to know who they're robbing - and why. And who cares?

And the sudden disappearances of Lauren and Abi. I know they were supposed to be departing or are we still yet to see them depart?

They haven't left yet. It has dragged on though.

The episodes broadcast on Christmas Day and Boxing Day were both set on Christmas Day/Night.

They both ended on great cliffhanger, yet when the episode opened on 27th, it seemed to jump a few days. Tanya had vanished, and there was a sudden focus on different storylines.

To me, the last few episodes have felt very odd, it's as if they'd forgotten about the climax to the weyland and co story, so just slotted it in between the branning sister drama and the robbery.