New EastEnders boss axes four characters, including Kirsty

(Image credit: Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)

Four stars of EastEnders are lined up for the chop in a shake-up of the cast aimed at boosting the audience.

The BBC One soap will axe characters Kirsty Branning, Carl White, Poppy Meadow and AJ White early next year.

The departures are a result of changes introduced by new executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who has recently recruited Luisa Bradshaw-White and comedian Terry Alderton to EastEnders.

The new boss joined in July after a slump in the ratings.

The outgoing actors Kierston Wareing (Kirsty) Phaldut Hsarma (AJ), Daniel Coonan (Carl) and Rachel Bright (Poppy) will film their final scenes in the coming months.

A spokeswoman for EastEnders said: "We can confirm these actors will be leaving EastEnders. We wish them all the best."

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.