Shane Richie slams soaps

9 May 2017

Shane Richie thinks television soaps are similar to "fast food".

Shane Richie

The former 'EastEnders' star may have portrayed loveable Alfie Moon in the long-running show from 2002 and 2005 and then again from 2010 until 2016 but he couldn't help putting the boot in while discussing that style of programme recently.

Speaking on his alter ego's relationship with Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace), he said: "Their first kiss took over a year to come. That doesn't happen now in soap, the appetite has become very voracious. It's more like fast food. Back then millions of people tuned in to see Kat and Alfie kiss.

"They waited for something like 14 months just for them to kiss. I think it's the audience, it's not just soap, it's telly in general. I think whether it's reality or game shows, the audience's attention span gets smaller so they want things fast.

"There's a new generation, my boys Shane and Jake, the same with music and lifestyle in general has changed and I think that's reflected in television.

"It's not a bad thing, TV has to keep reinventing itself. You get old people like myself saying it's not like it used to be, but it has to change. Sometimes it changes for the better and sometimes it doesn't."

Although he's not keen on how fast shows move these days, Shane has just reprised his role as Alfie alongside Jessie's Kat for their new spin-off series 'Redwater'.

He explained: "You're hoping to bring the 'EastEnders' audience with you, but also the audience that doesn't watch it - people who watch, for want of a better word, 'high-brow' drama, which I like to think this is. In all the episodes, there is no reference to Walford, and that's quite brave and I think it pays off."

The series will follow Kat and Alfie, who left Albert Square last January to search for Kat's long-lost son after she discovered she gave birth to twins - rather than just to daughter Zoe - when she was 14 years old.

The couple will trace the little boy to Ireland where he was taken after he was born and adopted by an Irish family living in the remote fishing village of Redwater.