Mitchell Sisters: Pukka Or Poxy?

Would you Adam and Eve it? The Mitchell family are now expanded with the arrival of Ronnie Mitchell (played by Samantha Janus) and Roxy Mitchell (Sir Alan Sugar's niece, Rita Simons). EastEnders has been in the doldrums since losing Kat and Alfie in Christmas 2005. There was a brief injection of adrenaline when the Mitchell bruvvers were all too briefly reunited back in 2006, but since then it's huffed and puffed its way through the BBC schedules like Rik Waller in an egg and spoon race.

If they're going to be saviours of the tired show, the Mitchell sisters need to develop into fully rounded characters (as opposed to made-to-order prototypes) fairly quickly. Two bolshy blonde beauties they may be, but at the moment, it's very hard to watch them without concluding that a gimmick is still a gimmick.

Currently, the jury's out but one thing's clear: it's going to take more than two lookers to fix what's wrong with EastEnders. They will never have the impact of other famous Albert Square duos such as Tiffany and Bianca or Sharon and Michelle, but if they can outlast the Ferreiras, that would be victory of a sort. In our gallery, we look at a few reasons why EastEnders is a shadow of its former self.

• What's your opinion of the Mitchell sisters? Will they make an impact on EastEnders? Share your view on the Talk Telly message board.