EastEnders better twice a week, says former scriptwriter

EastEnders is in "the doldrums" because it is on TV too often, according to its former chief scriptwriter.

Tony Jordan said standards at the BBC soap have gone downhill.

Jordan worked on the show for 18 years before quitting in February.

EastEnders is currently broadcast four times a week and bosses are considering adding an extra episode.

But Jordan told The Stage: "Was it a better show when it was twice a week? Absolutely - without a shadow of a doubt.

"The reason for that is because they were shooting just an hour's worth of television and had time to spend on each individual episode.

"If you are producing two-and-a-half hours a week television, it's basically a movie a week, and some things suffer.

"EastEnders is going through the doldrums a little but lately, but the one thing about EastEnders is it will always come back because there's a great team of people working on it."

Jordan is now working on new BBC1 police show Holby Blue, which stars ex-EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth.