OK, Chryed fans, dry your tears. You knew it was only a matter of time, and I agree, I'm gutted that they're leaving.
As soon as Bryan Kirkwood assigned Christian and Syed a seat at the back of the character-and-storyline bus, it was obvious that they were destined for oblivion. Really, it was only a matter of time.
However intriguing and interesting a couple they were, they were wasted by a sheer lack of integrity from the writing staff and a lack of imagination. Not only that, but I have always been amazed at the level of support this couple received, considering the way they became a couple in the first place.
First of all, I've always been an advocate for a gay presence on EastEnders and not in the token way gays have been presented on the programme, and both Syed and Christian proved that, as characters, gay characters could be as nuanced and as deeply unpleasant as any hetero character.
Of the two, Christian was the more developed, and - at times - he could be equally as likeable as he could be hateful. To begin with, in one of his first scenes with his sister, he let it be known that he was not above entering into a relationship for financial security, which was why he was with his original boyfriend in the first place.
He rivalled Jack in male sluttery, indulging in numerous one night stands.
He openly undermined Ian's parenting of his children, especially Lucy, encouraging her to disobey him and be openly disrespectful and encouraging Jane to join in his ridicule.
Probably the worst thing he ever did was pretend to be Amira's friend whilst seducing her husband behind her back. No, wait ... he stole her baby's DNA for ulterior motives. And yet he took the moral high ground in his treatment of Amira upon her return.
In all fariness, Christian did receive his fair amount of karma for stirring things up. Amira's father's thugs beat him to a pulp (and we all remember Masood callously stepping over Christian's broken body as he lay on the pavement), and when Ben Mitchell accused him of touching him up, Phil Mitchell went on the rampage with a baseball bat against Christian.
Syed, however, was arguably the most underdeveloped character in recent EastEnders' history. Starting out with promise, especially regarding his relationship with his mother and his closeted status, once he was openly gay, he morphed into nothing. He interacted with no one other than Christian and his immediate family. He had no friends.
Whilst we regularly saw Christian making business deals, partying with Roxy, enjoying a laugh with the blokes in the pub, we saw Syed hovering about their flat, with no employment and no friends. He basically became an extension of Christian, a character defined only by his gayness.
Since the past two Executive Producers have shown a proclivity to listen to the tweenie or more shallow end of EastEnder viewer, for some unknown reason, Bryan Kirkwood decided to explore the possibility of a Syed Roxy-type friendship with Tanya. That lasted two episodes - long enough for them to rob Roxy blind and get away with it, and no more was seen of that. In fact, I laughed out loud at some suggestions from the fanboys and girls about the possibility of Syed having a deep and meaningful conversation by way of support for Tanya in her cancer-cold hour of need. As bloody if. Their friendship was a distinct non-starter and proof that it isn't really very smart to listen to the younger or the more shallow end of viewer.
Having said that, Syed and Christian were a prime example of a couple - be they hetero or gay - both of whom were intrinsically selfish and self-centred. Really, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. Neither thought of consulting the other in terms of shared goals. Christian "decided" after spending an afternoon with Amy that he was ready to be a parent; and after Roxy volunteered her services, he decided to proceed with a surrogacy. Without taking into consideration any of Syed's reservations about this, Christian went ahead.
Even after the surrogacy failed, he ploughed ahead talking about adoption, even though Syed protested that he wasn't ready to assume the role of a parent.
However, that changed, once Syed found out that he, actually, was a father. Then, Christian was unsure of his own position, especially regarding the bond Syed shared with Amira as parents of Jasmine.
It would have been interesting if TPTB had invested more time and effort into Chryed, especially their roles in parenting and raising Jasmine. It was almost as if, once they got together, TPTB didn't know what to do with them. Granted, par for the course for most couples these days seems to be the requisite affair, followed by a break-up, usually with one character leaving. Instead, Chryed morphed more and more into the background of things, often not being seen for weeks upon weeks, only to re-emerge in one or two scenes as background characters.
Glorified extras.
I suppose it got to the point that Marc Elliot recognised his character had been taken as far as he could go and decided to leave. John Partridge, on the other hand, was written out by TPTB - considering the fact that Partridge was a gong-getter, he'll most likely be given the distinction of having his axing described as leaving "by mutual consent." The sad truth is that the production team didn't have the imagination or integrity to allow Christian to exist either as a stand-alone character (which is how he was originally introduced) or to introduce another character as a romantic partner for him.
Still, on the plus side, if Lorraine Newman has actually summoned the gumption to axe an actor who's won awards for the show, maybe she'll have gumption enough to call time on Jessie Wallace and the increasingly appalling Kat Moon.
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