Former 'EastEnders' star Derek Martin has accused the show's bosses of "trying to turn it into 'Hollyoaks'".
Derek Martin has called for more humour in EastEnders
The 88-year-old star insists there are "so many" younger actors in the BBC One soap nowadays, which he says is similar to the Channel 4 show, and he has called for there to be more humour in 'EastEnders'.
He said: "'Coronation Street' still has strong families but 'EastEnders' seems to have lost that.
"I’ve nothing against youngsters. They’re the future.
"But it’s like the BBC is trying to turn 'EastEnders' into 'Hollyoaks' with so many youngsters, and everyone’s having affairs and beating people up.
"All that doesn’t go on in real life all the time."
Derek has recalled the days of his character Charlie Slater sitting around chatting with Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) and Jim Branning (John Bardon) while drinking beer, and he believes there should be more light-hearted scenes like those in 'EastEnders' nowadays.
He added to The Sun newspaper: "You’ve got to have humour, especially in the depths of COVID, because there’s always something to laugh about in life.
"You used to have Charlie, Patrick Trueman and Jim Branning sitting at the allotments with a few beers, just talking about silly things.
"That’s what happens in real life. You need that on 'EastEnders'."
In July, actor Stephen Fry claimed 'EastEnders' wasn't as "funny" as rival soap 'Coronation Street'.
He said: "The joke about 'EastEnders' is, 'It’s very true to life.'
"But actually where it fails so often, unlike 'Coronation Street', is that it isn’t as funny.
"People are, whatever their situation, usually joking.
"You look at a market in the East End of London or Huddersfield or Edinburgh, there’s usually people joking with each other.
"Even if it’s a cheap silly joke about the weather being lovely when it’s raining, you know, a very basic piece of sarcasm."
Tagged in Stephen Fry Derek Martin