The state of EastEnders

EastEnders recently got its lowest ever audience share, but is it as bad as people as some people make out, asks Caitlin Moran in The Times.

I watched this week’s quartet of ’Stenders, and it’s really quite good. Honestly. The green shoots of recovery are all over Albert Square. Monday’s episode starts quite badly – Phil Mitchell is called upon to save the life of a drowning child, and does it by wobbling the kid around on the ground in the manner of a dog searching for a treat in its owner’s pocket. But there are all kinds of long-term plot-threads yielding the occasional fleck of pure gold.

Update: In The Guardian, Mark Lawson considers the show's latest trailers.