‘EastEnders’ showed just how in touch it is by including not one, but two topical news references during Monday night’s episode.
Not only did Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer, drop in a World Cup reference but he also offered up some advice for outgoing Brexit secretary David Davis too.
Monday’s (9 July) episode kicked off with Mick discussing his football strategy for England’s semi-final match against Croatia tomorrow (11 July) with Shirley (Linda Henry).
“I’ll tell you what we wanna do. Stick someone on Modrić early doors. He gets more space than NASA that little mug. And then wait for a corner and boomp, Harry McGuire sticks it right in the net. Ta-ta Croatia. I tell you what, we get in that final, we’ll win it,” he predicts.
He then goes on to name-check David Davis’ resignation and suggested England manager Gareth Southgate (“The only geezer who wears a waistcoat better than me”) as a possible replacement. He then adds: “I did tell you it was coming home, didn’t I?”
Following up his recent attack on David Cameron’s role in Brexit, Dyer’s character said: “I see he’s done the slips [walked off] an’ all, David Davis, this morning. Put Southgate in there!”
When HuffPost put the Southgate ministerial suggestion to No.10, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman replied: “I didn’t get my Zeitgeist tape this morning so I will have to come back to you on that one.”
But the spokesman quickly added that Davis’s replacement, Dominic Raab, was already doing a good job: “We are very happy with the Brexit Secretary we have.”
On Twitter, ‘EastEnders’ fans were impressed with the new topical chat…
It’s not the first time last minute scenes that reflect big current news stories have been hastily filmed for the BBC soap.
Just last week, Mick Carter referenced the World Cup again, once more uttering the line ‘it’s coming home’.
And soap bosses referenced the arrival of Prince Louis in a scene eaturing Linda Carter following the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child.