By If you're a reader of Yahoo!'s soap previews (and why wouldn't you be? They're fabulously written) you may have noticed a recent trend in the comments section. Yahoo! users are not overly fond of 'EastEnders's recent addition Derek Branning, played by Jamie Foreman.
Do you hate this man? It's EastEnders' Derek Branning
Derek joined the soap in autumn 2011 as a tough gangster type who wants to take over the Square. But Yahoo! users would prefer he took hold of another job entirely. For example, Sarah says: "The character is so unpleasant. Even a villain usually has some redeeming features but Derek is just so unbelievable. I fast forward when he is in a scene. Others have stopped watching it altogether after many years of being fans of the programme."
Others join in. Lots of them. Nanny Jo60 adds: "What a revolting character Derek Branning is. Get rid of him, he is ruining 'EastEnders'. Too much violence at the wrong time of day."
Valerie E continues: "I've been a fan for years but since Derek arrived I barely watch. Why do they need to introduce people that are so abusive and horrible?"
So we began to wonder if Derek Branning is, in fact, the least popular and therefore most hated soap character ever.
It's easy to see why we can develop a healthy hatred of soap characters – they're beamed into our living rooms five days a week delivering bizarre dialogue and snogging people they're patently not suited for. We know them and we feel we've earned the right to dislike them. But why do we dislike Derek so much? It seems to be his violence, his unlikely gangland status (why would he want Phil's garage?) and just his attitude that gets people's goats.
While we're here - a couple of important points to clarify:First, we don't reckon people love to hate Derek because he's such a nasty villain. He is actually disliked. People loved to hate 'Corrie's Richard Hillman but Derek is more like EastEnders's Keith Miller in whose honour "I hate Keith Miller" Facebook groups were set up - not because he was a villain but because his character was annoying . We're talking about that here, characters who are just plain awful and not evil.
Secondly, this isn't really about the actors. Soap actors generally do an amazing job in not much time. And for the record, I reckon Jamie Foreman, though funny looking, is pretty good. This is about their characters.
He'll always be Sinbad off Brookside to us... Coronation Street's MortonsWant to make viewers really angry soap producers? Then how about foisting entire families on them all at once, that should do the trick. (Even families who are now much-loved like 'EastEnders' Slaters or Corrie's Battersbys took time for people to warm to) Remember 'EastEnders's Ferreira family? They arrived in 2003, had a boring plotline about a kidney transplant and then left in 2005. No one liked them. Even worse were the kebab shop Mortons from 'Corrie' who joined in 2007 and most got the boot a few months later. So lacking in appeal, it's hard to remember a single thing about them.
But worst of all was the ‘Soapstars’ family on 'Emmerdale'. The ITV talent competition winners won three-month contracts in 2002, despite threats of a strike from actors union Equity. They needn't have worried, the Calder family lasted a few weeks and are the benchmark for bad families on soaps. They remain a terrible blight on the Dale's fine history.
But how about individuals? Who is the worst soap character ever? A quick ask around Yahoo! towers left me with a shortlist of thousands. With so many to choose from, I tried to find inspiration from a quick Yahoo! search of ‘Worst Soap Character’. It brings up a bewildering number of candidates being slagged off on messageboards all over the world.
There are those who target the young and beautiful: Zoe Slater. Rosie Webster, Callum Monks and there's certainly not a lot of love for Elize Du Toit's turn as the posh Izzy Davies on 'Hollyoaks'. There are people ranting about characters you would think it would be sacrilegious to slag off - Bet Lynch, for Heaven's sake. Bet Lynch! "After she came back she became extremely Widow Twankey," scrawls one internet commenter (he's right, but still).
Of course, there are the huge number of viewer complaints about Michelle Collins's accent when she joined ‘Corrie’ (though she seems to have won everyone round). And for more official dislike, Cain Dingle is even slagged off on his own Wikipedia page for being too unrealistic.
However, for all the unusual dislikes and torrents of froth from internet haters, it's fair to say that not one of these came close to the amount of anger - and in such a short space of time – as that caused by Derek Branning.
But what can we conclude from this – apart from the fact that families should be introduced gradually? Is Derek Branning the worst character in soap history? My personal feeling is actually that if so many people hate him, he must be doing something right. There's a thin line between love and hate. Of course, it comes down to what you personally think.
And anyway, he's nowhere near as annoying as Sonia Jackson. That trumpet was so unfunny. Mind you, Marlon on 'Emmerdale's constant whining gets on my nerves. Oh, but he was nowhere near as bad as Ashley from 'Corrie'.
This one could run and run...
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