British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
Tony Holland
Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Holland was the oldest of ...
which has been broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...
in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, the programme follows the stories of local residents and their families as they go about their daily lives. Within eight months of the show's original launch, it had reached the number one spot in
BARB
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
's television ratings and has consistently remained among the top-rated series in Britain. Four ''EastEnders'' episodes are listed in the all-time top 10 most-watched programmes in the UK, including the number one spot when over 30 million watched the 1986 Christmas Day episode. ''EastEnders'' has been
important
Importance is a property of entities that matter or make a difference. For example, World War II was an important event and Albert Einstein was an important person because of how they affected the world. There are disagreements in the academic li ...
in the history of British television drama, tackling many subjects that are considered to be controversial or
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
in
British culture
British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empire. ...
, and portraying a social life previously unseen on UK mainstream television.
Since co-creator Holland was from a large family in the East End, a theme heavily featured in ''EastEnders'' is strong families and each character is supposed to have their own place in the fictional community. The
Beale
Beale is an English surname. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Dorset (6.3 times the British average), followed by Huntingdonshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Kent and ...
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
s,
Slater
A slater, or slate mason, is a tradesman, tradesperson who covers buildings with slate.
Tools of the trade
The various hand tool, tools of the slater's trade are all drop-forged.
The slater's hammer is forged in one single piece, from crucib ...
s and the
Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
*Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters
*Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful''
*Watts family, six chara ...
are some of the families that have been central to the soap's notable and dramatic storylines. ''EastEnders'' has been filmed at the
BBC Elstree Centre
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...
since its inception, with a set that is outdoors and open to weather. In 2014, the BBC announced plans to rebuild the set entirely. Filming commenced on the new set in January 2022 and it was first used on-screen in March 2022. Demolition on the old set commenced in November 2022.
''EastEnders'' has received both praise and criticism for many of its storylines, which have dealt with difficult themes including violence, rape, murder and abuse. It has been criticised for various storylines, including the 2010 baby swap storyline which attracted over 6,000 complaints, as well as complaints of showing too much violence and allegations of national and racial stereotypes. However, ''EastEnders'' has also been commended for representing real-life issues and spreading awareness on social topics. For this, the cast and crew have received and been nominated for various awards.
History
Conception and preparations for broadcast
In March 1983, under two years before ''EastEnders'' first episode was broadcast, the show was a vague idea in the mind of a handful of BBC executives, who decided that what
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
needed was a popular bi-weekly drama series that would attract the kind of mass audiences that ITV was getting with ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
''. The first people to whom David Reid, then head of series and serials, turned were Julia Smith and
Tony Holland
Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Holland was the oldest of ...
, a well established producer/script editor team who had first worked together on ''
Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...
''. The outline that Reid presented was vague: two episodes a week, 52 weeks a year. After the concept was put to them on 14 March 1983, Smith and Holland then went about putting their ideas down on paper; they decided it would be set in the East End of London.
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
gave Smith unrestricted access to the ''Coronation Street'' production for a month so that she could get a sense how a continuing drama was produced.
There was anxiety at first that the viewing public would not accept a new soap set in the south of England, though research commissioned by lead figures in the BBC revealed that southerners would accept a northern soap, northerners would accept a southern soap and those from the
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
, as Julia Smith herself pointed out, did not mind where it was set as long as it was somewhere else. This was the beginning of a close and continuing association between ''EastEnders'' and audience research, which, though commonplace today, was something of a revolution in practice.
The show's creators were both Londoners, but when they researched Victorian squares, they found massive changes in areas they thought they knew well; however, delving further into the East End of London, they found exactly what they had been searching for: a real East End spirit—an inward-looking quality, a distrust of strangers and authority figures, a sense of territory and community that the creators summed up as "Hurt one of us and you hurt us all".
When developing ''EastEnders'', both Smith and Holland looked at influential models like ''Coronation Street'', but they found that it offered a rather outdated and nostalgic view of working-class life. Only after ''EastEnders'' began, and featured the characters of
Tony Carpenter
Tony Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Oscar James, from 28 February 1985 until 28 May 1987.
Happy-go-lucky Tony tries to carve himself a successful business and steady home for his family, but ...
and
Kelvin Carpenter
Kelvin Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Paul J. Medford from 12 March 1985 to 3 September 1987.
Kelvin is a bright spark and full of initiative. He opens several businesses in Albert Square ...
, did ''Coronation Street'' start to feature black characters, for example. They came to the conclusion that ''Coronation Street'' had grown old with its audience, and that ''EastEnders'' would have to attract a younger, more socially extensive audience, ensuring that it had the longevity to retain it for many years thereafter. They also looked at ''
Brookside Brookside may refer to:
Geography Canada
* Brookside, Edmonton
* Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Brookside, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
* Brookside, Berkshire, England
*Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England
United States
* Brook ...
'' but found there was a lack of central meeting points for the characters, making it difficult for the writers to intertwine different storylines, so ''EastEnders'' was set in
Albert Square
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...
.
A previous UK soap set in an East End market was ATV's ''
Market in Honey Lane
''Market in Honey Lane'' was an ATV British television weekly series, which switched to a twice weekly soap opera format (shown at varying times around the ITV regions) after the first year. It was broadcast between April 1967 and March 1969. ...
''; however, between 1967 and 1969 this show, which graduated from one showing a week to two in three separate series (the latter series being shown in different time slots across the ITV network) was very different in style and approach from ''EastEnders''. The British Film Institute described ''Market in Honey Lane'' thus: "It was not an earth-shaking programme, and certainly not pioneering in any revolutionary ideas in technique and production, but simply proposed itself to the casual viewer as a mildly pleasant affair."
The target launch date was originally January 1985. Smith and Holland had eleven months in which to write, cast and shoot the whole thing; however, in February 1984, they did not even have a title or a place to film. Both Smith and Holland were unhappy about the January 1985 launch date, favouring November or even September 1984 when seasonal audiences would be higher, but the BBC stayed firm, and Smith and Holland had to concede that, with the massive task of getting the Elstree Studios operational, January was the most realistic date; however, this was later to be changed to February.
The project had a number of working titles—''Square Dance'', ''Round the Square'', ''Round the Houses'', ''London Pride'' and ''East 8''. It was the latter that stuck (E8 is the postcode for Hackney) in the early months of creative process; however, the show was renamed after many casting agents mistakenly thought the show was to be called ''Estate'', and the fictional postcode E20 was created, instead of using E8.Julia Smith came up with the name ''Eastenders'' after she and Holland had spent months telephoning theatrical agents and asking "Do you have any real East Enders on your books?" Smith thought "''Eastenders''" "looked ugly written down" and was "hard to say", so decided to capitalise the second "e".
Initial character creation and casting
After they decided on the filming location of
BBC Elstree Centre
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...
in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, Smith and Holland set about creating the 23 characters needed, in just 14 days. They took a holiday in Playa de los Pocillos,
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...
, and started to create the characters. Holland created the Beale and Fowler family, drawing on his own background. His mother, Ethel Holland, was one of four sisters raised in Walthamstow. Her eldest sister, Lou, had married a man named Albert Beale and had two children, named Peter and Pauline. These family members were the basis for
Lou Beale
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, ...
,
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the cr ...
and
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...
. Holland also created Pauline's unemployed husband
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man but made some foolish choices that he always ended up ...
, their children
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
Kathy
Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to:
In sports
*Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer
*Kathy May, American tennis player
*Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball player
...
and their son
Ian
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
. Smith used her personal memories of East End residents she met when researching Victorian squares.
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...
was based on an old woman she met in a pub, with ill-fitting false teeth, and a "face to rival a neon sign", holding a
Yorkshire Terrier
The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.Guinness
Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...
in the other.
Other characters created included Jewish doctor
Harold Legg
Dr. Harold Legg is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Leonard Fenton. Dr. Legg is Walford's original GP. He is widely trusted within the community, and is always on hand to dish out advice. Dr Legg appears as ...
, the Anglo-Cypriot Osman family (
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
Hassan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to:
People
*Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name
*Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...
), black father and son
Tony
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
and
Kelvin Carpenter
Kelvin Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Paul J. Medford from 12 March 1985 to 3 September 1987.
Kelvin is a bright spark and full of initiative. He opens several businesses in Albert Square ...
Naima Jeffery
Naima Jeffery is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Shreela Ghosh from 19 February 1985 to 19 November 1987.
Asian Naima tries to embrace Western culture, but this is not easy since her family constantly try ...
. Jack, Pearl and Tracey Watts were created to bring "flash, trash, and melodrama" to the Square (they were later renamed
Den
Den may refer to:
* Den (room), a small room in a house
* Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth
Media and entertainment
* ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler
* Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...
Sharon
Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname.
In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...
Debbie Wilkins
Debbie "Debs" Wilkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Shirley Cheriton, from 21 March 1985 to 14 May 1987.
Debbie is Walford's first upwardly mobile character. She has an on/off relationship with her ...
were created to show a modern couple with outwardly mobile pretensions, and
Lofty Holloway
George "Lofty" Holloway is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tom Watt. Lofty is one of the serial's near-original characters, making his first appearance in the third episode, which was first broadcast on 26 ...
to show an outsider; someone who did not fit in with other residents. It was decided that he would be a former soldier, as Holland's personal experiences of ex-soldiers were that they had trouble fitting into society after being in the army. When they compared the characters they had created, Smith and Holland realised they had created a cross-section of East End residents. The Beale and Fowler family represented the old families of the East End, who had always been there. The Osmans, Jefferys and Carpenters represented the more modern diverse ethnic community of the East End. Debbie, Andy and Mary represented more modern-day individuals.
Once they had decided on their 23 characters, they returned to London for a meeting with the BBC. Everyone agreed that ''EastEnders'' would be tough, violent on occasion, funny and sharp—set in
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
's Britain—and it would start with a bang (namely the death of
Reg Cox
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1985, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by executive producer Julia Smith. The first episode of ''EastEnders'' was broadcas ...
). They decided that none of their existing characters were wicked enough to have killed Reg, so a 24th character,
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia ...
was added to the line-up. He was a racist thug, who often tried to lead other young characters astray. When all the characters had been created, Smith and Holland set about casting the actors, which also involved the input of lead director Matthew Robinson, who supervised auditions with the other directors at the outset, Vivienne Cozens and Peter Edwards.
Final preparations
Through the next few months, the set was growing rapidly at Elstree, and a composer and designer had been commissioned to create the title sequence.
Simon May
Simon May (born 15 August 1944) is a British composer. He has composed many British television theme tunes, including ''EastEnders'' and ''Howards' Way'', and the music for the 1988 film ''The Dawning''.
Biography
Born in Devizes and a pupi ...
wrote the
theme music
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
and Alan Jeapes created the visuals. The visual images were taken from an aircraft flying over the East End of London at 1000 feet. Approximately 800 photographs were taken and pieced together to create one big image. The credits were later updated when the
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...
was built.
The launch was delayed until February 1985 due to a delay in the chat show ''
Wogan
''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...
'', that was to be a part of the major revamp in BBC1's schedules. Smith was uneasy about the late start as ''EastEnders'' no longer had the winter months to build up a loyal following before the summer ratings lull. The press were invited to Elstree to meet the cast and see the lot, and stories immediately started circulating about the show, about a rivalry with
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
(who were launching their own market-based soap, ''
Albion Market
''Albion Market'' was a British soap opera, set in a covered market in Salford, in the northwest of England. It was intended as a companion to fellow ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', starting at 7:00 pm on Fridays and 7.15 pm on Sundays. Howeve ...
'') and about the private lives of the cast. Anticipation and rumour grew in equal measure until the first transmission at 7p.m. on 19 February 1985. Both Holland and Smith could not watch; they both instead returned to the place where it all began, Albertine's Wine Bar on Wood Lane. The next day, viewing figures were confirmed at 17million. The reviews were largely favourable, although, after three weeks on air, BBC1's early evening share had returned to the pre-''EastEnders'' figure of seven million, though ''EastEnders'' then climbed to highs of up to 23million later on in the year. Following the launch, both group discussions and telephone surveys were conducted to test audience reaction to early episodes.
1980s broadcast history
Press coverage of ''EastEnders'', which was already intense, went into overdrive once the show was broadcast. With public interest so high, the media began investigating the private lives of the show's popular stars. Within days, a scandalous headline appeared – "EASTENDERS STAR IS A KILLER". This referred to
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...
, and his prison sentence for the murder of a taxi driver in an attempted robbery nearly 20 years earlier. This shocking tell-all style set the tone for relations between
Albert Square
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...
and the press for the next 20 years.
The show's first episode attracted some 17million viewers, and it continued to attract high viewing figures from then on. By Christmas 1985, the tabloids could not get enough of the soap. "Exclusives" about ''EastEnders'' storylines and the actors on the show became a staple of tabloid buyers' daily reading.
In 1987 the show featured th first same-sex kiss on a British soap when Colin Russell (
Michael Cashman
Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. H ...
Guido Smith
The following is a list of characters first appearing in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1988, by order of first appearance.
Sufia Karim
Sufia Karim is played by Rani Singh (actress), Rani Singh. Sufia makes her first appearance in Walf ...
(Nicholas Donovan), an episode that was watched by 17 million people.
Writer
Colin Brake
Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC Television, BBC on programmes such as ''Bugs (television programme), Bugs'' and ''EastEnders''. He has also written Doctor Who spin-off ...
suggested that 1989 was a year of big change for ''EastEnders'', both behind the cameras and in front of them. Original production designer, Keith Harris, left the show, and Holland and Smith both decided that the time had come to move on too; their final contribution coinciding with the exit of one of ''EastEnders most successful characters, Den Watts (
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...
). Producer
Mike Gibbon
John Michael Gibbon (born 27 January 1942) is an English television producer and Television director, director.
He directed and produced the BBC televised soap opera, ''EastEnders''. He began directing the programme in 1985 and began producing t ...
was given the task of running the show and he enlisted the most experienced writers to take over the storylining of the programme, including Charlie Humphreys, Jane Hollowood and
Tony McHale
Tony McHale (born Anthony John Wright, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British actor, writer, director and producer, who is known for starring in ''Coronation Street'' and also known as a "stooge" to Jeremy Beadle on ''Game For A Laugh'' ...
.
According to Brake, the departure of two of the soap's most popular characters, Den and Angie Watts (
Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson (born 29 April 1949) is an English stage, film and television actress, and singer. She is best known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Sing ...
), left a void in the programme, which needed to be filled. In addition, several other long-running characters left the show that year including Sue and Ali Osman (
Sandy Ratcliff
Alexandra Ratcliff (2 October 1948 – 7 April 2019) was an English actress, model and counsellor. She made an impression as a model and film actress in the 1970s, but she became known for being one of the original cast members of the BBC soap o ...
and
Nejdet Salih
Nej Adamson (born 23 December 1958), also credited as Nejdet Salih, is a British actor.
Career
Born in London, Adamson is of Turkish Cypriot descent. He played Ali Osman in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', a role he played from the series' i ...
) and their family;
Donna Ludlow
Donna Ludlow is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Matilda Ziegler. She appears between episodes 265 and 437 of ''EastEnders'', originally appearing on screen from 27 August 1987 to 13 April 1989. Donna was sc ...
(
Matilda Ziegler
Matilda Ziegler (born 23 July 1964) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Donna Ludlow in ''EastEnders'', Irma Gobb in ''Mr. Bean'', and Pearl Pratt in ''Lark Rise to Candleford''.
Television and film career
Ziegler's first screen r ...
);
Carmel Jackson
Carmel Jackson (also Roberts) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Judith Jacob from 5 June 1986 to 24 August 1989. Carmel, a health visitor, was initially introduced in a recurring, minor role in 1986, when ...
(
Judith Jacob
Judith Jacob (born 13 December 1961) is a British actress best known for her role as the health visitor Carmel Roberts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role she played from 1986 to 1989.Colin Russell (
Michael Cashman
Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. H ...
). Brake indicated that the production team decided that 1989 was to be a year of change in Walford, commenting, "it was almost as if Walford itself was making a fresh start".
By the end of 1989 ''EastEnders'' had acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson, who had previously been a successful producer on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused on ...
''. Brake suggested that Ferguson was responsible for bringing in a new sense of vitality and creating a programme that was more in touch with the real world than it had been over the previous year.
Changes in the 1990s
A new era began in 1990 with the introduction of
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
(
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...
)—the Mitchell brothers—successful characters who would go on to dominate the soap thereafter. As the new production team cleared the way for new characters and a new direction, all of the characters introduced under Gibbon were axed from the show at the start of the year. Ferguson introduced other characters and was responsible for storylines including HIV, Alzheimer's disease and murder. After a successful revamp of the soap, Ferguson decided to leave ''EastEnders'' in July 1991. Ferguson was succeeded by both
Leonard Lewis
Leonard Jack Lewis (29 November 1927 – 2 December 2005) was a British producer and director. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for BBC's ''EastEnders'' during the early 1990s, though he had success with ma ...
and
Helen Greaves
Helen Greaves is an English television script editor, producer and writer. She was born in Winscombe Somerset and grew up near Wigton in Cumbria and in Oxfordshire.
Greaves studied Drama at Manchester University and she later went on to work a ...
who initially shared the role as Executive Producer for ''EastEnders''. Lewis and Greaves formulated a new regime for ''EastEnders'', giving the writers of the serial more authority in storyline progression, with the script department providing "guidance rather than prescriptive episode storylines". By the end of 1992, Greaves left and Lewis became executive and series producer. He left ''EastEnders'' in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 60 to 90 minutes. Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. Having set up the transition to the new schedule, the first trio of episodes—dubbed The Vic siege—marked Lewis's departure from the programme.
Barbara Emile
Barbara Emile is a British television producer. Emile contributed to the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' for several years. She first started working on the serial as script editor underneath producer Leonard Lewis, and she began producing the progr ...
then became the Executive Producer of ''EastEnders'', remaining with ''EastEnders'' until early 1995. She was succeeded by
Corinne Hollingworth
Corinne Ann Hollingworth (born 25 May 1952) is a British television producer and executive, best known for her contributions to British soap operas, including BBC's ''EastEnders'' and five's ''Family Affairs''. Hollingworth has gained a reputatio ...
.
Hollingworth's contributions to the soap were awarded in 1997 when ''EastEnders'' won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series. Hollingworth shared the award with the next Executive Producer,
Jane Harris Jane Harris may refer to:
* Jane Harris (producer), British television director and producer
* Jane Harris (writer) (born 1961), British writer of fiction and screenplays
* Jane Harris (''Neighbours''), a fictional character in the Australian so ...
.IMDB awards , IMDB. Retrieved 6 May 2007. Harris was responsible for the critically panned Ireland episodes and
Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale (also Williams) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Michelle Collins. She first appeared 10 May 1988 and originally departed on 27 December 1990, before returning as one of the show's central ...
's attempted assassination of
Ian Beale
Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the drama's longest-serving main character and, following the departure of Pauline Fowler ( Wendy Richard) in 2006, became the only one ...
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
. Retrieved 6 May 2007. In 1998 Matthew Robinson was appointed as the Executive Producer of ''EastEnders''. During his reign, ''EastEnders'' won the BAFTA for " Best Soap" in consecutive years 1999 and 2000 and many other awards. Robinson also earned tabloid soubriquet "Axeman of Albert Square" after sacking a large number of characters in one hit, and several more thereafter. In their place, Robinson introduced new long-running characters including Melanie Healy,
Jamie Mitchell
Jamie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder. The character debuted on 9 November 1998 and became one of the show's central protagonists until he was Kill off, killed- ...
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
.
2000s
John Yorke became the Executive Producer of ''EastEnders'' in 2000. Yorke was given the task of introducing the soap's fourth weekly episode. He axed the majority of the Di Marco family, except
Beppe di Marco
Beppe di Marco is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by British actor Michael Greco (actor), Michael Greco. He made his first appearance on 29 January 1998, but was axed by executive producer John Yorke (produce ...
, and helped introduce popular characters such as the
Slater family
The Slater family is an American philanthropic, political, and manufacturing family from England, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut whose members include the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution," Samuel Slater, a prominent ...
. As what
Mal Young
Mal Young (born 26 January 1957) is a British television producer, screenwriter and executive producer.
Career
Mersey TV
Young began his career in graphic design. At age 27 he began working in television, on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brooks ...
described as "two of ''EastEnders most successful years", Yorke was responsible for highly rated storylines such as "
Who Shot Phil?
"Who Shot Phil?" was a storyline of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' which began on 1 March 2001 and climaxed on 5 April 2001.
Background
The storyline centred around one of ''EastEnders longest-running characters, Phil Mitchell (played by Stev ...
",
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...
's death,
Jim Branning
Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011.
Jim was temporarily written out o ...
and
Dot Cotton
Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
's marriage, Trevor Morgan's domestic abuse of his wife
Little Mo Morgan
Maureen "Little Mo" Slater (previously Morgan and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Kacey Ainsworth from 18 September 2000 to 26 May 2006.
Little Mo originally appeared with a turbulent marria ...
, and
Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
's revelation to her daughter
Zoe Slater
Zoe Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Michelle Ryan. She made her first appearance on 18 September 2000. Zoe arrives in Walford along with her father, Charlie (Derek Martin), sisters Kat (Jessi ...
that she was her mother.
In 2002,
Louise Berridge
Louise Berridge is a British historical fiction writer. She was previously a television producer and script editor, her most famous post being the executive producer of BBC's ''EastEnders'' between 2002 to 2004. During her tenure, the long-runni ...
succeeded Yorke as the Executive Producer. During her time at ''EastEnders'', Berridge introduced popular characters such as
Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to ''EastEnders'' on 21 September 2010, following the ...
,
Dennis Rickman
Dennis Rickman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nigel Harman. He made his first appearance on 14 April 2003 at the funeral of his late mother, Paula, before going on to become one of the show's central ...
,
Chrissie Watts
Chrissie Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tracy-Ann Oberman. She first appeared on 29 April 2004 and transpired to be the second wife of the show's "most enduring character", Den Watts (Leslie G ...
,
Jane Beale
Lesley Jane Beale (also Clarke and Collins) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by Laurie Brett. She made her first appearance on 22 June 2004. Brett took maternity leave in 2011 and departed on 19 May.
Sh ...
,
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
and the critically panned Indian
Ferreira family
The Ferreira family are a fictional family from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', that appeared on screen between 2003 and 2005. Created by Tony Jordan and introduced by Louise Berridge as a new Asian family, producers hoped they would become ce ...
.
Berridge was responsible for some ratings success stories, such as Alfie and
Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
's relationship,
Janine Butcher
Janine Carter (also Butcher, Evans and Malloy) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charlie ...
Jamie Mitchell
Jamie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder. The character debuted on 9 November 1998 and became one of the show's central protagonists until he was Kill off, killed- ...
's death storylines and the return of one of the greatest soap icons,
Den Watts
Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den".
Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...
, who had been presumed dead for 14 years. His return in late 2003 was watched by over 16 million viewers, putting ''EastEnders'' back at number one in the rating war with the ''Coronation Street''; however, other storylines, such as one about a kidney transplant involving the Ferreiras, were not well received, and although Den Watts's return proved to be a ratings success, the British press branded the plot unrealistic and felt that it questioned the show's credibility. A severe press backlash followed after Den's actor,
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...
, was outed in an internet sex scandal, which coincided with a swift decline in viewer ratings. The scandal led to Grantham's departure from the soap, but the occasion was used to mark the 20th anniversary of ''EastEnders'', with an episode showing Den's murder at the Queen Vic pub.
On 21 September 2004, Berridge quit as executive producer of ''EastEnders'' following continued criticism of the show.
Kathleen Hutchison
Kathleen Hutchison is a British television producer, whose credits include ''Playing the Field'', '' Holby City'' (of which she was the Series Producer, then Executive Producer for many years) and ''Casualty @ Holby City''.
''EastEnders''
On 21 ...
was swiftly appointed as the Executive Producer of ''EastEnders'', and was tasked with quickly turning the fortunes of the soap. During her time at the soap Hutchison axed multiple characters, and reportedly ordered the rewriting of numerous scripts. Newspapers reported on employee dissatisfaction with Hutchison's tenure at ''EastEnders''. In January 2005, Hutchison left the soap and John Yorke (who by this time, was the BBC Controller of Continuing Drama Series) took total control of the show himself and became acting Executive Producer for a short period, before appointing
Kate Harwood
Kate Harwood is a British television producer. She became managing director of the revived Euston Films in summer 2014.
Early life
Kate graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts in 1981 before becoming an ...
to the role. Harwood stayed at ''EastEnders'' for 20 months before being promoted by the BBC. The highly anticipated return of Ross Kemp as Grant Mitchell in October 2005 proved to be a sudden major ratings success, with the first two episodes consolidating to ratings of 13.21 to 13.34 million viewers.Ross Kemp signs to EastEnders , ''BBC''. URL last accessed on 24 February 2007. On Friday 11 November 2005, ''EastEnders'' was the first British drama to feature a two-minute silence. This episode later went on to win
British Soap Award
The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies given ...
for "Best Single Episode". In October 2006,
Diederick Santer
Diederick Santer (born 3 July 1969) is a British television producer and is best known for his work on the popular BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders'', a post which he assumed on 23 October 2006 and left on 1 March 2010. He was Chief Execu ...
took over as Executive Producer of ''EastEnders''. He introduced several characters to the show, including
ethnic minority
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
and
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
characters to make the show 'feel more 21st Century'. Santer also reintroduced past and popular characters to the programme.
On 2 March 2007, BBC signed a deal with Google to put videos on YouTube. A behind the scenes video of ''EastEnders'', hosted by
Matt Di Angelo
Mario Angelo S Constantinou (born 1 May 1987), professionally known as Matt Di Angelo, is a British actor and singer, best known for his role as Dean Wicks in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He also portrayed Sean Kennedy in the BBC drama s ...
, who played
Deano Wicks
Dean Wicks (known as Deano in his initial stint) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' played by Matt Di Angelo. He made his first appearance on 2 January 2006. It was announced on 18 August 2007 that the characters of ...
on the show, was put on the site the same day, and was followed by another on 6 March 2007. In April 2007, ''EastEnders'' became available to view on
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
and
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
customers. On 21 April 2007, the BBC launched a new advertising campaign using the slogan "There's more to ''EastEnders''". The first television advert showed Dot Branning with a refugee baby,
Tomas Tomas may refer to:
People
* Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name
* Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name
* Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name
* Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...
, whom she took in under the pretence of being her grandson. The second and third featured Stacey Slater and Dawn Swann, respectively. There have also been adverts in magazines and on radio.
In 2009, producers introduced a limit on the number of speaking parts in each episode due to budget cuts, with an average of 16 characters per episode. The decision was criticised by Martin McGrath of Equity, who said: "Trying to produce quality TV on the cheap is doomed to fail." The BBC responded by saying they had been working that way for some time and it had not affected the quality of the show.
2010s
From 4 February 2010, CGI was used in the show for the first time, with the addition of computer-generated trains.
''EastEnders'' celebrated its 25th anniversary on 19 February 2010. Santer came up with several plans to mark the occasion, including the show's first episode to be broadcast live, the second wedding between
Ricky Butcher
Ricky Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running male protagonists to feature in ''EastEnders''. Owen originally left the ro ...
and
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted t ...
and the return of Bianca's relatives, mother
Carol Jackson
Carol Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Lindsey Coulson. The character was introduced in 1993 as the mother of the Jackson family. Coulson decided to quit the role in 1997, but she returned te ...
, and siblings
Robbie Jackson
Robbie Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Dean Gaffney. The character was introduced in 1993, but axed in 2003 by executive producer Louise Berridge. He made brief returns in 2004 and 2010 for two ...
,
Sonia Fowler
Sonia Fowler (also Jackson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on and she departed on She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson fam ...
and
Billie Jackson
Billie Jackson (credited as Billy until 2004) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Devon Anderson from 1993 to 1997, and by Bluey Robinson for a brief return in 2004. The character returned in 2010, along wi ...
. He told entertainment website
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
, "It's really important that the feel of the week is active and exciting and not too reflective. There'll be those moments for some of our longer-serving characters that briefly reflect on themselves and how they've changed. The characters don't know that it's the 25th anniversary of anything, so it'd be absurd to contrive too many situations in which they're reflective on the past. The main engine of that week is great stories that'll get people talking." The live episode featured the death of
Bradley Branning
Bradley Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Charlie Clements. He made his first appearance on screen on 24 January 2006 and last appeared on 22 February 2010 after he was killed off in the show's 2 ...
(
Charlie Clements
Charlie Clements (born 5 June 1987) is an English actor known for the role of Bradley Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from January 2006 to February 2010. He has won several soap and magazine awards for his performance.
Biography ...
) at the conclusion of the "
Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following ...
" storyline, which saw Bradley's wife
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
) reveal that she was the murderer. Viewing figures peaked at 16.6 million, which was the highest viewed episode in seven years. Other events to mark the anniversary were a spin-off DVD, ''EastEnders: Last Tango in Walford'', and an Internet spin-off, ''
EastEnders: E20
''EastEnders: E20'' (sometimes just ''E20'') is a British Internet soap opera, which began airing on 8 January 2010. A spin-off from the established BBC soap ''EastEnders'', it is set in ''EastEnders'' regular setting of Albert Square, a Victori ...
''.
Santer officially left ''EastEnders'' in March 2010, and was replaced by
Bryan Kirkwood
Bryan Kirkwood (born 1976) is a British television producer. He was the producer of the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2006 until 2009, and was the executive producer of the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' from 2010 until 2012. He returned as t ...
. Kirkwood's first signing was the reintroduction of characters
Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to ''EastEnders'' on 21 September 2010, following the ...
(
Shane Richie
Shane Patrick Paul Roche (born 11 March 1964), known as Shane Richie, is a British actor, comedian, television presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the charac ...
) and
Kat Moon
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the seco ...
(
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
), and his first new character was
Vanessa Gold Vanessa may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais
* ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole
* ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...
, played by
Zöe Lucker
Zöe Elizabeth Lucker (born 11 April 1974) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sonya Leach in ''Coronation Street'' Tanya Turner in the ITV drama series, ''Footballers' Wives''; Vanessa Gold in the long-running BBC One soap ope ...
. In April and May 2010, Kirkwood axed eight characters from the show,
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. ...
, which left a hole in the show, which Kirkwood decided to fill by bringing back Kat and Alfie, which he said would "herald the new era of ''EastEnders''." ''EastEnders'' started broadcasting in high definition on 25 December 2010. Old sets had to be rebuilt, so
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Appearance and developmen ...
set was burnt down in a storyline (and in reality) to facilitate this.
In November 2011, a storyline showed character
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
, played by
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell (EastEnders), Billy Mitchell in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998.
Career
Television
...
, selected to be a torch bearer for the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In reality, Fenwick carried the torch through the setting of Albert Square, with live footage shown in the episode on 23 July 2012. This was the second live broadcast of ''EastEnders''. In 2012, Kirkwood chose to leave his role as executive producer and was replaced by
Lorraine Newman
Lorraine Newman (born 1978) is a British scriptwriter, television producer, and the executive producer of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2012 to 2013. Newman, who has worked on ''EastEnders'' for "nearly 20 years", received the role of e ...
. The show lost many of its significant characters during this period. Newman stepped down as executive producer after 16 months in the job in 2013 after the soap was criticised for its boring storylines and its lowest-ever figures pointing at around 4.8 million.
Dominic Treadwell-Collins
Dominic Treadwell-Collins (born 26 August 1977) is a British television producer, known for his work on the soap operas ''Family Affairs'' and ''EastEnders'', creating the ''EastEnders'' spin-off series ''Kat & Alfie: Redwater'' and Executive Pr ...
was appointed as the new executive producer on 19 August 2013 and was credited on 9 December. He axed multiple characters from the show and introduced the extended Carter family. He also introduced a long-running storyline, "
Who Killed Lucy Beale?
"Who Killed Lucy Beale?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It was announced on 21 February 2014 and began on 18 April 2014, when Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was discovered dead on Walford Common from a deliberately inflicte ...
", which peaked during the show's 30th anniversary in 2015 with a week of live episodes. Treadwell-Collins announced his departure from ''EastEnders'' on 18 February 2016.
Sean O'Connor, former ''EastEnders'' series story producer and then-editor on radio soap opera ''
The Archers
''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...
'', was announced to be taking over the role. Treadwell-Collins left on 6 May and O'Connor's first credited episode was broadcast on 11 July Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. Additionally, Oliver Kent was brought in as the Head of Continuing Drama Series for BBC Scripted Studios, meaning that Kent would oversee ''EastEnders'' along with O'Connor. O'Connor's approach to the show was to have a firmer focus on realism, which he said was being "true to ''EastEnders'' DNA and indinga way of capturing what it would be like if Julia Smith and
Tony Holland
Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Holland was the oldest of ...
were making the show now." He said that "''EastEnders'' has always had a distinctly different tone from the other soaps but over time we've diluted our unique selling point. I think we need to be ourselves and go back to the origins of the show and what made it successful in the first place. It should be entertaining but it should also be informative—that's part of our unique BBC compact with the audience. It shouldn't just be a distraction from your own life, it should be an exploration of the life shared by the audience and the characters." O'Connor planned to stay with ''EastEnders'' until the end of 2017, but announced his departure on 23 June 2017 with immediate effect, saying he wanted to concentrate on a career in film. John Yorke returned as a temporary executive consultant. Kent said, "John Yorke is a Walford legend and I am thrilled that he will be joining us for a short period to oversee the show and to help us build on Sean's legacy while we recruit a long-term successor." Yorke initially returned for three months but his contract was later extended.
In July 2018, a special episode was aired as part of a
knife crime
Knife legislation is defined as the legislation, body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, ...
storyline. This episode, which showed the funeral of
Shakil Kazemi
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, or his successor Se ...
(
Shaheen Jafargholi
Shaheen Jafargholi ( fa, شاهین جعفرقلی; born 23 January 1997) is a Welsh actor and singer. In 2009, he finished in seventh place on the ITV competition series ''Britain's Got Talent''. Since then, he has portrayed the roles of Shak ...
) interspersed with real people talking about their true-life experiences of knife crime.
On 8 August 2018, it was announced that
Kate Oates
Kate Oates (born 1979 or 1980) is a British television producer, who was born in Nottingham and graduated from Warwick University. She began her career working as a researcher and editorial assistant for Germaine Greer, before becoming a script ...
, who has previously been a producer on the ITV soap operas ''
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...
'' and ''Coronation Street'', would become Senior Executive Producer of ''EastEnders'', as well of ''
Holby City
''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...
'' and ''
Casualty
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
''. Oates began her role in October, and continued to work with Yorke until the end of the year to "ensure a smooth handover". It was also announced that Oates was looking for an Executive Producer to work under her.
Jon Sen
Jon Sen (born 9 October 1974) is a British television and film director, writer and producer. After working as the executive producer of the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' from 2018 to 2022, Sen began working as the executive producer of the BBC ...
was announced on 10 December 2018 to be taking on the role of executive producer.
In late 2016, popularity and viewership of ''EastEnders'' began to decline, with viewers criticising the storylines during the O'Connor reign, such as the killing of the Mitchell sisters and a storyline centred around the local bin collection. Although, since Yorke and Oates' reigns, opinions towards the storylines have become more favourable, with storylines such as
Ruby Allen
A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...
's (
Louisa Lytton
Louisa Claire Lytton (born 7 February 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Ruby Allen in ''EastEnders'' and Beth Green in ''The Bill''. She also finished fourth in the fourth series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2006 ...
) sexual consent, which featured a special episode which "broke new ground" and knife crime, both of which have created "vital" discussions. The soap won the award for Best Continuing Drama at the
2019 British Academy Television Awards
The 2019 British Academy Television Awards were held on 12 May 2019 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The nominations were announced on 28 March 2019, whilst the nominees for the "Virgin TV’s Must-See Moments" were announced on 27 March 2019 ...
; its first high-profile award since 2016; however, in June 2019, ''EastEnders'' suffered its lowest ever ratings of 2.4 million due to its airing at 7 pm because of the BBC's coverage of the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...
. As of 2019, the soap is one of the most watched series on
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
and averages around 5 million viewers per episode. The soap enjoyed a record-breaking year on the streaming platform in 2019, with viewers requesting to stream or download the show 234 million times, up 10% on 2018. The Christmas Day episode in 2019 became ''EastEnders'' biggest ever episode on BBC iPlayer, with 2.14 million viewer requests.
2020s
In February 2020, ''EastEnders'' celebrated its 35th anniversary with a stunt on the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
leading to the death of
Dennis Rickman Jr
The following are characters who first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' during 2012 listed by order of first appearance. New characters were introduced by Bryan Kirkwood, executive producer. He stepped down from the role in April. ...
(
Bleu Landau
Bleu Louie Landau (born 5 April 2005) is an English actor, known for his role as Dennis Rickman Jnr in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from September 2015 to February 2020. In 2017 he starred in Guy Richie's film ''King Arthur: Legend of the ...
).
It was announced on 18 March 2020 that production had been suspended on ''EastEnders'' and other BBC Studios continuing dramas in light of new government guidelines following the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and that broadcast of the show would be reduced to two 30-minute episodes per week, broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays, respectively. A spokesperson confirmed that the decision was made to reduce transmission so that ''EastEnders'' could remain on-screen for longer. Two months later, Charlotte Moore, the director of content at the BBC, announced plans for a return to production. She confirmed that ''EastEnders'' would return to filming during June 2020 and that there would be a transmission break between episodes filmed before and after production paused. When production recommences, social distancing measures will be utilised and the show's cast will be required to do their own hair and make-up, which is normally done by a make-up artist.
It was announced on 3 June 2020 that ''EastEnders'' would go on a transmission break following the broadcast of episode 6124 on 16 June. A
behind-the-scenes
In film, cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the Filmmaking#Production, production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the E ...
show, ''EastEnders: Secrets From The Square'', will air in the show's place during the transmission break and is hosted by television personality
Stacey Dooley
Stacey Jaclyn Dooley (born 9 March 1987) is an English television presenter, journalist, and media personality. She came to prominence in 2008 when she appeared as a participant on ''Blood, Sweat and T-shirts''. Since then, she has made social ...
. The first episode of the week features exclusive interviews with the show's cast, while the second episode will be a repeat of "iconic" episodes of the show. Beginning on 22 June 2020, Dooley interviews two cast members together in the show's restaurant set while observing social distancing measures. Kate Phillips, the controller of
BBC Entertainment
BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regi ...
, explained that ''EastEnders: Secrets From The Square'' would be the "perfect opportunity to celebrate the show" in the absence of the show.
Jon Sen
Jon Sen (born 9 October 1974) is a British television and film director, writer and producer. After working as the executive producer of the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' from 2018 to 2022, Sen began working as the executive producer of the BBC ...
, the show's
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
, expressed his excitement at the new series, dubbing it "a unique opportunity to see from the cast themselves just what it is like to be part of ''EastEnders''".
Plans for the show's return to transmission were announced on 12 June 2020. It was confirmed that after the transmission break, the show would temporarily broadcast four 20-minute episodes per week, until it can return to its normal output. Sen explained that the challenges in production and filming of the show has led to the show's reduced output, but also stated that the crew had been "trialing techniques, filming methods and new ways of working" to prepare the show for its return. Filming recommenced on 29 June, with episodes airing from 7 September 2020.
On 9 April 2021, following the
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
of
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...
, the episode of ''EastEnders'' that was due to be aired that night was postponed along with the final of ''MasterChef (British TV series), Masterchef''. In May 2021, it was announced that from 14 June 2021, boxsets of episodes would be uploaded to
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
each Monday for three weeks. Executive producer Sen explained that the bi-annual scheduling conflicts that the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup cause to the soap, premiering four episodes on the streaming service would be beneficial for fans of the show who want to watch at their own chosen pace. Sen also confirmed that the episodes will still air on BBC One throughout the week. The release of these boxsets was extended for a further five weeks, due to similar impacts caused by the 2020 Summer Olympics.
On 12 October 2021, it was announced that ''EastEnders'' would partake in a special week-long crossover event involving multiple British soaps to promote the topic of climate change ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. During the week, beginning from 1 November, a social media clip featuring Maria Connor from ''Coronation Street'' was featured on the programme while Cindy Cunningham from ''Hollyoaks'' was also referenced. Similar clips featuring the show's own characters (Bailey Baker and Peter Beale) were featured on ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'' and ''Emmerdale'' during the week.
In November 2021, it was announced that Sen would step down from his role as executive producer, and would be succeeded by former story producer, Chris Clenshaw. Sen's final credited episode as executive producer was broadcast on 10 March 2022 and coincided in a week of episodes that saw the arrest of serial killer Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith). From the week commencing on 7 March 2022, the show has been broadcast every weekday from Monday to Thursday in a 7:30 pm slot, making it the first time in the show's history that the programme will air permanently on Wednesdays. On 2 June 2022, ''EastEnders'' aired an episode celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Charles III, Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Queen Consort, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall guest starred in the episode; it also marked the first executive producer credit for Clenshaw. Clenshaw's first major decision as executive producer was the axing of five series regulars: Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson), Stuart Highway (EastEnders), Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ), Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith), Dana Monroe (Barbara Smith) and Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold). Viewers criticised the decision, feeling that some of the characters had potential to add to the soap.
Setting
The central focus of ''EastEnders'' is the fictional Victorian era, Victorian square
Albert Square
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...
in the fictional Walford, London Borough of Walford. In the show's narrative, Albert Square is a 19th-century street, named after Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert (1819–1861), the husband of Queen Victoria (1819–1901, reigned 1837–1901). Thus, central to Albert Square is
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Appearance and developmen ...
Pub, Public House (also known as The Queen Vic or The Vic). The show's producers based the square's design on Fassett Square in Dalston. There is also a market close to Fassett Square at Ridley Road Market, Ridley Road. The postcode for the area, London E8, E8, was one of the working titles for the series. The name ''Walford'' is both a street in Dalston where Tony Holland lived and a Blend word, blend of Walthamstow and Stratford—the areas of Greater London where the creators were born. Other parts of the Square and set interiors are based on other locations. The railway bridge is based upon one near Television Centre, London, BBC Television Centre which carries the Hammersmith & City line over Wood Lane W12, and the Queen Vic on the former College Park Hotel pub in Willesden at the end of Scrubs Lane at the junction with Harrow Road NW10 just a couple of miles from BBC Television Centre.
Walford East is a fictional London Underground station for Walford, and a tube map that was first seen on air in 1996 showed Walford East between Bow Road tube station, Bow Road and West Ham tube station, West Ham, in the actual location of Bromley-by-Bow tube station, Bromley-by-Bow on the District line, District and Hammersmith & City line, Hammersmith & City lines.
Walford has the Postal code, postal district of E20. It was named as if Walford were part of the actual E postcode area which covers much of east London, the ''E'' standing for ''Eastern''.HMSO, ''The Inner London Letter Post'', (1980) E20 was entirely fictional when it was created, as London East postal districts stopped at E18 at the time. The show's creators opted for E20 instead of E19 as it was thought to sound better.
In March 2011, Royal Mail allocated the E20 postal district to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 2012 Olympic Park. In September 2011, the postcode for Albert Square was revealed in an episode as E20 6PQ.
Characters
''EastEnders'' is built around the idea of relationships and strong families, with each character having a place in the community. This theme encompasses the whole Square, making the entire community a family of sorts, prey to upsets and conflict, but pulling together in times of trouble. Co-creator
Tony Holland
Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Holland was the oldest of ...
was from a large East End family, and such families have typified ''EastEnders''. The first central family was the combination of the Fowler family, consisting of
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...
(Wendy Richard), her husband Arthur Fowler, Arthur (Bill Treacher), and teenage children
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
(David Scarboro/Todd Carty) and Michelle (Susan Tully). Pauline's family, the Beale family, Beales, consisted of Pauline's twin brother
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the cr ...
(Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean), his wife
Kathy
Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to:
In sports
*Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer
*Kathy May, American tennis player
*Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball player
...
(Gillian Taylforth) and their teenage son
Ian
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
(Adam Woodyatt). Pauline and Pete's domineering mother
Lou Beale
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, ...
(Anna Wing) lived with Pauline and her family. Holland drew on the names of his own family for the characters.
The
Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
*Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters
*Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful''
*Watts family, six chara ...
and
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
families have been central to many notable ''EastEnders'' storylines, the show having been dominated by the Watts in the 1980s, with the 1990s focusing on the Mitchells and Butchers. The early 2000s saw a shift in attention towards the newly introduced female Slater family (EastEnders), Slater clan, before a renewal of emphasis upon the restored Watts family beginning in 2003. In 2006, ''EastEnders'' became largely dominated by the Mitchell, Masood and Branning families, though the early 2010s also saw a renewed focus on the Moon and Slater family, and, from 2013 onwards, the Carters. In 2016, the Fowler family, Fowlers were revived and merged with the Slaters, with Martin Fowler (EastEnders), Martin Fowler (James Bye (actor), James Bye) marrying
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
). The late 2010s saw the newly introduced Taylor family become central to the show's main storylines, and in 2019, the first Sikh family, the Panesar', were introduced. Key people involved in the production of ''EastEnders'' have stressed how important the idea of strong families is to the programme.
''EastEnders'' has an emphasis on strong family matriarchs, with examples including
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...
(Wendy Richard) and
Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. ...
(
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.John Yorke, the former BBC's head of drama production, put this down to Tony Holland's "gay sensibility, which showed a love for strong women". The matriarchal role is one that has been seen in various reincarnations since the programme's inception, often depicted as the centre of the family unit. The original matriarch was
Lou Beale
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, ...
(Anna Wing), though later examples include Mo Harris (Laila Morse), Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement), Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia), Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Jean Slater (Gillian Wright), and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal). These characters are often seen as being loud and interfering but most importantly, responsible for the well-being of the family.
The show often includes strong, brassy, long-suffering women who exhibit diva-like behaviour and stoically battle through an array of tragedy and misfortune. Such characters include Angie Watts (
Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson (born 29 April 1949) is an English stage, film and television actress, and singer. She is best known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Sing ...
), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement),
Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. ...
(
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
(
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
), Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). Conversely there are female characters who handle tragedy less well, depicted as eternal victims and endless sufferers, who include Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), Little Mo Mitchell (Kacey Ainsworth), Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), Sue Osman (
Sandy Ratcliff
Alexandra Ratcliff (2 October 1948 – 7 April 2019) was an English actress, model and counsellor. She made an impression as a model and film actress in the 1970s, but she became known for being one of the original cast members of the BBC soap o ...
), Lisa Fowler (Lucy Benjamin), Mel Owen (Tamzin Outhwaite) and Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks). The 'Hooker with a heart of gold, tart with a heart' is another recurring character. Often, their promiscuity masks a hidden vulnerability and a desire to be loved. Such characters have included Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement), Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon) and
Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
(
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
).
A gender balance in the show is maintained via the inclusion of various "macho" male personalities such as
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
(
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...
) and Dan Sullivan (EastEnders), Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass), , "bad boys" such as
Den Watts
Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den".
Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...
(
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...
), Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky), Michael Moon (EastEnders), Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd), Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman) and Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood), and "heartthrobs" such as Simon Wicks (Nick Berry), Joe Wicks (EastEnders), Joe Wicks (Paul Nicholls (actor), Paul Nicholls),
Jamie Mitchell
Jamie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder. The character debuted on 9 November 1998 and became one of the show's central protagonists until he was Kill off, killed- ...
(Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder),
Dennis Rickman
Dennis Rickman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nigel Harman. He made his first appearance on 14 April 2003 at the funeral of his late mother, Paula, before going on to become one of the show's central ...
(Nigel Harman), Joey Branning (David Witts) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami). Another recurring male character type is the smartly dressed businessman, often involved in gang culture and crime and seen as a local authority figure. Examples include Steve Owen (Martin Kemp), Jack Dalton (EastEnders), Jack Dalton (Hywel Bennett), Andy Hunter (EastEnders), Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs), Johnny Allen (EastEnders), Johnny Allen (Billy Murray (actor), Billy Murray) and Derek Branning (Foreman). Following criticism aimed at the show's over-emphasis on "gangsters" in 2005, such characters have been significantly reduced. Another recurring male character seen in ''EastEnders'' is the "loser" or "soft touch", males often comically under the thumb of their female counterparts, which have included
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man but made some foolish choices that he always ended up ...
(Bill Treacher),
Ricky Butcher
Ricky Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running male protagonists to feature in ''EastEnders''. Owen originally left the ro ...
(Sid Owen), Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves),
Lofty Holloway
George "Lofty" Holloway is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tom Watt. Lofty is one of the serial's near-original characters, making his first appearance in the third episode, which was first broadcast on 26 ...
(Tom Watt (actor), Tom Watt) and
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
(
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell (EastEnders), Billy Mitchell in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998.
Career
Television
...
).
Other recurring character types that have appeared throughout the serial are "cheeky-chappies"
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the cr ...
(Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean),
Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to ''EastEnders'' on 21 September 2010, following the ...
(
Shane Richie
Shane Patrick Paul Roche (born 11 March 1964), known as Shane Richie, is a British actor, comedian, television presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the charac ...
), Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami), "lost girls" such as Mary Smith (Linda Davidson),
Donna Ludlow
Donna Ludlow is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Matilda Ziegler. She appears between episodes 265 and 437 of ''EastEnders'', originally appearing on screen from 27 August 1987 to 13 April 1989. Donna was sc ...
(
Matilda Ziegler
Matilda Ziegler (born 23 July 1964) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Donna Ludlow in ''EastEnders'', Irma Gobb in ''Mr. Bean'', and Pearl Pratt in ''Lark Rise to Candleford''.
Television and film career
Ziegler's first screen r ...
), Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton),
Janine Butcher
Janine Carter (also Butcher, Evans and Malloy) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charlie ...
(Charlie Brooks),
Zoe Slater
Zoe Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Michelle Ryan. She made her first appearance on 18 September 2000. Zoe arrives in Walford along with her father, Charlie (Derek Martin), sisters Kat (Jessi ...
(Michelle Ryan), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), and Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis), juvenile delinquency, delinquents such as
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), Bobby Beale (EastEnders), Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington/Clay Milner Russell) and Keegan Baker (Zack Morris (actor), Zack Morris), "villains" such as
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia ...
(John Altman (actor), John Altman), Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns), May Wright (Amanda Drew), Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti), Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb), Dean Wicks (
Matt Di Angelo
Mario Angelo S Constantinou (born 1 May 1987), professionally known as Matt Di Angelo, is a British actor and singer, best known for his role as Dean Wicks in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He also portrayed Sean Kennedy in the BBC drama s ...
), Stuart Highway (EastEnders), Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) and Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), "bitches" such as
Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale (also Williams) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Michelle Collins. She first appeared 10 May 1988 and originally departed on 27 December 1990, before returning as one of the show's central ...
(Michelle Collins),
Janine Butcher
Janine Carter (also Butcher, Evans and Malloy) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charlie ...
(Charlie Brooks), Sam Mitchell (EastEnders), Sam Mitchell (Danniella Westbrook/Kim Medcalf),
Chrissie Watts
Chrissie Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tracy-Ann Oberman. She first appeared on 29 April 2004 and transpired to be the second wife of the show's "most enduring character", Den Watts (Leslie G ...
(Tracy-Ann Oberman), Lucy Beale (Melissa Suffield/Hetti Bywater), Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), Babe Smith (Annette Badland) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), "brawlers" or "fighters" such as
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted t ...
(Patsy Palmer),
Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
(
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
), Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin/Zaraah Abrahams),
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
), Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon) and Karen Taylor (EastEnders), Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley), and cockney "wide boys" or "Opportunism, wheeler dealers" such as Frank Butcher (Mike Reid (actor), Mike Reid),
Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to ''EastEnders'' on 21 September 2010, following the ...
(
Shane Richie
Shane Patrick Paul Roche (born 11 March 1964), known as Shane Richie, is a British actor, comedian, television presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the charac ...
), Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels), Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins), Fatboy (EastEnders), Fatboy (Ricky Norwood), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol).
Over the years ''EastEnders'' has typically featured a number of elderly residents, who are used to show vulnerability, nostalgia, stalwart-like attributes and are sometimes used for comedic purposes. The original elderly residents included
Lou Beale
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, ...
(Anna Wing),
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...
(Gretchen Franklin) and
Dot Cotton
Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
(June Brown). Over the years they have been joined by the likes of Mo Butcher (Edna Doré), Jules Tavernier (EastEnders), Jules Tavernier (Tommy Eytle), Marge Green (Pat Coombs), Nellie Ellis (Elizabeth Kelly),
Jim Branning
Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011.
Jim was temporarily written out o ...
(John Bardon), Charlie Slater (Derek Martin), Mo Harris (Laila Morse), Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker), Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), Les Coker (Roger Sloman), Rose Cotton (EastEnders), Rose Cotton (Polly Perkins), Pam Coker (Lin Blakley), Stan Carter (Timothy West), Babe Smith (Annette Badland), Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas (actress), Ellen Thomas), Sylvie Carter (Linda Marlowe), Ted Murray (Christopher Timothy), Joyce Murray (Maggie Steed), Arshad Ahmed (Madhav Sharma), Mariam Ahmed (Indira Joshi) and Vi Highway (Gwen Taylor). The programme has more recently included a higher number of teenagers and successful young adults in a bid to capture the younger television audience. This has spurred criticism, most notably from the actress Anna Wing, who portrayed
Lou Beale
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, ...
in the show. She commented, "I don't want to be disloyal, but I think you need a few mature people in a soap because they give it backbone and body... if all the main people are young it gets a bit thin and inexperienced. It gets too lightweight."
''EastEnders'' has been known to feature a "comedy double-act", originally demonstrated with the characters of Dot and Ethel, whose friendship was one of the serial's most enduring. Other examples include Paul Priestly (Mark Thrippleton) and Trevor Short (Phil McDermott), In 1989 especially, characters were brought in who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted. Such characters included Julie Cooper (EastEnders), Julie Cooper (Louise Plowright)—a brassy maneater; Marge Green—a batty older lady played by veteran comedy actress Pat Coombs; Trevor Short (Phil McDermott)—the "village idiot"; his friend, northern heartbreaker Paul Priestly (Mark Thrippleton); wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham) and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell (actor), Gary Powell), who became
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the cr ...
's (Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean) sparring partner. The majority of ''EastEnders'' characters are working-class. Middle-class characters do occasionally become regulars, but have been less successful and rarely become long-term characters. In the main, middle-class characters exist as villains, such as James Wilmott-Brown (William Boyde), May Wright (Amanda Drew), Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson), Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti) and Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith) or are used to promote positive liberal influences, such as Colin Russell (
Michael Cashman
Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. H ...
), Rachel Kominski (Jacquetta May) and Derek Harkinson (Ian Lavender).
''EastEnders'' has always featured a culturally diverse cast which has included black people, black, Asian, Turkish people, Turkish, Polish and Latvian characters. "The expansion of minority representation signals a move away from the traditional soap opera format, providing more opportunities for audience identification with the characters and hence a wider appeal". Despite this, the programme has been criticised by the Commission for Racial Equality, who argued in 2002 that ''EastEnders'' was not giving a realistic representation of the East End's "ethnic make-up". They suggested that the average proportion of visible minority faces on ''EastEnders'' was substantially lower than the actual ethnic minority population in East London boroughs, and it, therefore, reflected the East End in the 1960s, not the East End of the 2000s. The programme has since attempted to address these issues. A sari shop was opened and various characters of different ethnicities were introduced throughout 2006 and 2007, including the Fox family, the Ahmeds, and various background artists. This was part of producer
Diederick Santer
Diederick Santer (born 3 July 1969) is a British television producer and is best known for his work on the popular BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders'', a post which he assumed on 23 October 2006 and left on 1 March 2010. He was Chief Execu ...
's plan to "diversify", to make ''EastEnders'' "feel more 21st century". ''EastEnders'' has had varying success with ethnic minority characters. Possibly the least successful were the Indian
Ferreira family
The Ferreira family are a fictional family from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', that appeared on screen between 2003 and 2005. Created by Tony Jordan and introduced by Louise Berridge as a new Asian family, producers hoped they would become ce ...
, who were not well received by critics or viewers and were dismissed as unrealistic by the Asian community in the UK.
''EastEnders'' has been praised for its portrayal of characters with disabilities, including Adam Best (EastEnders), Adam Best (David Proud) (spina bifida), Noah Chambers (Micah Thomas) and Frankie Lewis (Rose Ayling-Ellis) (deaf), Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) and her daughter Stacey Slater, Stacey (
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
Jim Branning
Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011.
Jim was temporarily written out o ...
(John Bardon) (stroke) and List of EastEnders characters (2019)#Dinah Wilson, Dinah Wilson (Anjela Lauren Smith) (multiple sclerosis). The show also features a large number of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters (see list of soap operas with LGBT characters), including Colin Russell (
Michael Cashman
Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. H ...
), Barry Clark (EastEnders), Barry Clark (Gary Hailes), Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford), Tony Hills (Mark Homer),
Sonia Fowler
Sonia Fowler (also Jackson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on and she departed on She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson fam ...
(Natalie Cassidy), Naomi Julien (Petra Letang), Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White), Tosh Mackintosh (Rebecca Scroggs), Christian Clarke (John Partridge (actor), John Partridge), Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), Ben Mitchell (EastEnders), Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid (actor), Harry Reid/Max Bowden), Paul Coker (EastEnders), Paul Coker (Jonny Labey), Iqra Ahmed (Priya Davdra), Ash Panesar (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris), Callum "Halfway" Highway, Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace). Kyle Slater (Riley Carter Millington), a transgender character, was introduced in 2015.
''EastEnders'' has a high cast turnover and characters are regularly changed to facilitate storylines or refresh the format. The show has also become known for the return of characters after they have left the show. Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) returned in August 2012 for her third stint on the show.
Den Watts
Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den".
Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...
(
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...
) returned 14 years after he was believed to have died, a feat repeated by Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) in 2015. Speaking extras, including Tracey (EastEnders), Tracey the barmaid (Jane Slaughter (actress), Jane Slaughter) (who has been in the show since the first episode in 1985), have made appearances throughout the show's duration, without being the focus of any major storylines. The character of
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia ...
(John Altman (actor), John Altman) gained a reputation for making constant exits and returns since the programme's first year until the character died in 2015.
, Gillian Taylforth and Letitia Dean are the only members of the original cast remaining in the show, in their roles of Kathy Beale and Sharon Watts, respectively. Tracey (EastEnders), Tracey is the longest-serving female character in the show, having appeared since 1985, albeit as a minor character.
Storylines
''EastEnders'' programme makers took the decision that the show was to be about "everyday life" in the inner city "today" and regarded it as a "slice of life". Creator/producer Julia Smith declared that "We don't make life, we reflect it". She also said, "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racism, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted Realism (arts), realism". In 2011, the head of BBC drama, John Yorke, said that the real East End had changed significantly since ''EastEnders'' started, and the show no longer truly reflected real life, but that it had an "emotional truthfulness" and was partly "true to the original vision" and partly "adapt[ing] to a changing world", adding that "If it was a show where every house cost a fortune and everyone drove a Lexus, it wouldn't be ''EastEnders''. You have to show shades of that change, but certain things are immutable, I would argue, like The Vic and the market."
In the 1980s, ''EastEnders'' featured "gritty" storylines involving drugs and crime, representing the issues faced by working-class Britain under Thatcherism. Storylines included the cot death of 14-month-old Hassan Osman,
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia ...
's (John Altman (actor), John Altman) homophobia, racism and murder of
Reg Cox
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1985, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by executive producer Julia Smith. The first episode of ''EastEnders'' was broadcas ...
(Johnnie Clayton),
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man but made some foolish choices that he always ended up ...
's (Bill Treacher) unemployment reflecting the recession of the 1980s, the rape of Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) in 1988 by James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) and Michelle Fowler's (Susan Tully) teenage pregnancy. The show also dealt with prostitution, mixed-race relationships, shoplifting, sexism, divorce, domestic violence and mugging. In 1989, the programme came under criticism in the British media for being too depressing, and according to writer
Colin Brake
Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC Television, BBC on programmes such as ''Bugs (television programme), Bugs'' and ''EastEnders''. He has also written Doctor Who spin-off ...
, the programme makers were determined to change this. In 1989, there was a deliberate attempt to increase the lighter, more comic aspects of life in Albert Square. This led to the introduction of some characters who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted. Brake suggested that humour was an important element in ''EastEnders'' storylines during 1989, with a greater amount of slapstick and light comedy than before. He classed 1989's changes as a brave experiment, and suggested that while some found this period of ''EastEnders'' entertaining, many other viewers felt that the comedy stretched the programme's credibility. Although the programme still covered many issues in 1989, such as domestic violence, drugs, rape and racism, Brake reflected that the new emphasis on a more balanced mix between "light and heavy storylines" gave the illusion that the show had lost a "certain edge".
As the show progressed into the 1990s, ''EastEnders'' still featured hard-hitting issues such as Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) revealing he was HIV positive in 1991, the death of his wife Gill Fowler, Gill (Susanna Dawson) from an AIDS-related illness in 1992, murder, adoption, abortion,
Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. ...
's (
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''. and
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
's (
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
) alcoholism and violence towards wife Kathy. mental disorder, Mental health issues were confronted in 1996 when 16-year-old Joe Wicks (EastEnders), Joe Wicks developed schizophrenia following the off-screen death of his sister in a car crash. The long-running storyline of Mark Fowler's HIV was so successful in raising awareness that in 1999, a survey by the National Aids Trust found teenagers got most of their information about HIV from the soap, though one campaigner noted that in some ways the storyline was not reflective of what was happening at the time as the condition was more common among the gay community. Still, heterosexual Mark struggled with various issues connected to his HIV status, including public fears of contamination, a marriage breakdown connected to his inability to have children and the side effects of combination therapies.
In the early 2000s, ''EastEnders'' covered the issue of euthanasia with
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...
's (Gretchen Franklin) death in a pact with her friend
Dot Cotton
Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
(June Brown), the unveiling of
Kat Slater
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
's (
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
) Child sexual abuse, sexual abuse by her uncle Harry Slater (EastEnders), Harry (Michael Elphick) as a child (which led to the birth of her daughter Zoe Slater, Zoe (Michelle Ryan), who had been brought up to believe that Kat was her sister), the domestic abuse of Little Mo Mitchell, Little Mo Morgan (Kacey Ainsworth) by husband Trevor Morgan (EastEnders), Trevor (Alex Ferns) (which involved marital rape and culminated in Trevor's death after he tried to kill Little Mo in a fire), Sonia Fowler, Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) giving birth at the age of 15 and then putting her baby up for adoption, and
Janine Butcher
Janine Carter (also Butcher, Evans and Malloy) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charlie ...
's (Charlie Brooks) prostitution, agoraphobia and drug addiction. The soap also tackled the issue of mental illness and carers of people who have mental conditions, illustrated with mother and daughter Jean Slater, Jean (Gillian Wright) and
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
); Jean has bipolar disorder, and teenage daughter Stacey was her carer (this storyline won a Mental Health Media Award in September 2006Mental Health Media Awards 2006 BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2008.). Stacey went on to struggle with the disorder herself. The issue of Literacy, illiteracy was highlighted by the characters of middle-aged Keith Miller (EastEnders), Keith (David Spinx) and his young son Darren Miller, Darren (Charlie G. Hawkins). ''EastEnders'' has also covered the issue of Down syndrome, as Billy Mitchell (EastEnders), Billy (
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell (EastEnders), Billy Mitchell in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998.
Career
Television
...
) and Honey Mitchell's (Emma Barton) baby, Janet Mitchell (EastEnders), Janet Mitchell (Grace), was born with the condition in 2006. ''EastEnders'' covered child abuse with its storyline involving
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
's (
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
) 11-year-old son Ben Mitchell (EastEnders), Ben (Charlie Jones) and lawyer girlfriend Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson), and child grooming involving the characters Tony King (EastEnders), Tony King (Chris Coghill) as the perpetrator and Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) as the victim.
Aside from this, soap opera staples of youthful romance, jealousy, domestic rivalry, gossip and extramarital affairs are regularly featured, with high-profile storylines occurring several times a year. Whodunits also feature regularly, including the "
Who Shot Phil?
"Who Shot Phil?" was a storyline of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' which began on 1 March 2001 and climaxed on 5 April 2001.
Background
The storyline centred around one of ''EastEnders longest-running characters, Phil Mitchell (played by Stev ...
" story arc in 2001 that attracted over 19 million viewers and was one of the biggest successes in British soap television; the "
Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following ...
" storyline, which was revealed in a special live episode of the show that drew a peak of 17 million viewers; and the "
Who Killed Lucy Beale?
"Who Killed Lucy Beale?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It was announced on 21 February 2014 and began on 18 April 2014, when Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was discovered dead on Walford Common from a deliberately inflicte ...
" saga.
Production
Set
The exterior set for the fictional Albert Square is located in the permanent backlot of the
BBC Elstree Centre
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...
, Borehamwood,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, at , and is outdoors and open to the weather. It was initially built in 1984 with a specification that it should last for at least 15 years at a cost of £750,000. The ''EastEnders'' lot was designed by Keith Harris, who was a senior designer within the production team together with supervising art directors Peter Findley and Gina Parr. The main buildings on the square consisted originally of hollow shells, constructed from marine plywood facades mounted onto steel frames. The lower walls, pavements, etc., were constructed of real brick and tarmac. The set had to be made to look as if it had been standing for years. This was done by a number of means, including chipping the pavements, using chemicals to crack the top layer of the paint work, using varnish to create damp patches underneath the railway bridge, and making garden walls in such a way they appeared to sag. The final touches were added in summer 1984, these included a Telephone booth, telephone box, Utility pole, telegraph pole that was provided by BT Group, British Telecom, Street light, lampposts that were provided by Hertsmere, Hertsmere Borough Council and a number of vehicles parked on the square. On each set all the appliances are fully functional such as gas cookers, the laundry washing machines and
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Appearance and developmen ...
beer pumps.
The walls were intentionally built crooked to give them an aged appearance. The drains around the set are real so rainwater can naturally flow from the streets. The square was built in two phases with only three sides being built, plus Bridge Street, to begin with in 1984, in time to be used for the show's first episode. Then in 1986, Harris added an extension to the set, building the fourth side of Albert Square, and in 1987, Turpin Road began to be featured more, which included buildings such as The Dagmar.
In 1993, George Street was added, and soon after Walford East tube station, Walford East Underground station was built, to create further locations when ''EastEnders'' went from two to three episodes per week. The set was constructed by the BBC in-house construction department under construction manager Mike Hagan. Most of the buildings on Albert Square have no interior filming space, with a few exceptions, and most do not have rears or gardens. Some interior shots are filmed in the actual buildings.
In February 2008, it was reported that the set would transfer to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where a new set would be built as the set was looking "shabby", with its flaws showing up on high-definition television broadcasts; however, by April 2010 a follow-up report confirmed that Albert Square would remain at Elstree Studios for at least another four years, taking the set through its 25th anniversary. The set was consequently rebuilt for high definition on the same site, using mostly real brick with some areas using a new improved plastic brick. Throughout rebuilding filming would still take place, and so scaffolding was often seen on screen during the process, with some storylines written to accommodate the rebuilding, such as the Queen Vic Fire Week, Queen Vic fire.
In 2014, then executive producer
Dominic Treadwell-Collins
Dominic Treadwell-Collins (born 26 August 1977) is a British television producer, known for his work on the soap operas ''Family Affairs'' and ''EastEnders'', creating the ''EastEnders'' spin-off series ''Kat & Alfie: Redwater'' and Executive Pr ...
said that he wanted Albert Square to look like a real-life east London neighbourhood so that the soap would "better reflect the more fashionable areas of east London beloved of young professionals" giving a flavour of the "creeping gentrification" of east London. He added: "It should feel more like London. It's been frozen in aspic for too long." The BBC announced that they would rebuild the ''EastEnders'' set to secure the long-term future of the show, with completion expected to be in 2018. The set will provide a modern, upgraded exterior filming resource for ''EastEnders'', and will copy the appearance of the existing buildings; however, it will be 20 per cent bigger, in order to enable greater editorial ambition and improve working conditions for staff. A temporary set will be created on-site to enable filming to continue while the permanent structure is rebuilt.
In May 2016 the rebuild was delayed until 2020 and forecast to cost in excess of £15 million, although the main part of the set is scheduled to be able to start filming in May 2019. In December 2018, it was revealed that the new set was now planned to cost £59 million but a National Audit Office (United Kingdom), National Audit Office (NAO) report stated that it would actually cost £86.7 million and be completed two-and-a-half years later than planned, in 2023; the NAO concluded that the BBC "could not provide value for money on the project". The NAO's forecast cost is more than the annual combined budget for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, Radio 2. The BBC said the new set would be more suitable for HD filming and better reflect the modern East End of London. In March 2019 there was criticism from a group of MPs about how the BBC handled the redevelopment of the set. In March 2020 during the suspension of filming, the interior sets were used for a new adaptation of ''Talking Heads (British TV series), Talking Heads''. This marked the first time that it had been used for anything other than ''EastEnders''. In January 2022 the new £86.7m exterior set of ''EastEnders'' was officially unveiled by the BBC replacing the original set built in 1984. The new scenes from the new set will first appear from new episodes airing in spring.
Filming
The majority of ''EastEnders'' episodes are filmed at the
BBC Elstree Centre
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...
in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. In January 1987, ''EastEnders'' had three production teams each comprising a director, production manager, production assistant and assistant floor manager. Other permanent staff included the producer's office, script department and designer, meaning between 30 and 35 people would be working full-time on ''EastEnders'', rising to 60 to 70 on filming days. When the number of episodes was increased to four per week, more studio space was needed, so ''Top of the Pops'' was moved from its studio at Elstree to Television Centre, London, BBC Television Centre in April 2001. Episodes are produced in "quartets" of four episodes, each of which starts filming on a Tuesday and takes nine days to record. Each day, between 25 and 30 scenes are recorded. During the filming week, actors can film for as many as eight to twelve episodes. Exterior scenes are filmed on a specially constructed film lot, and interior scenes take place in six studios. The episodes are usually filmed about six to eight weeks in advance of broadcast. During the winter period, filming can take place up to twelve weeks in advance, due to less daylight for outdoor filming sessions. This time difference has been known to cause problems when filming outdoor scenes. On 8 February 2007, heavy snow fell on the set and filming had to be cancelled as the scenes due to be filmed on the day were to be transmitted in April. ''EastEnders'' is normally recorded using four cameras. When a quartet is completed, it is edited by the director, videotape editor and script supervisor. The producer then reviews the edits and decides if anything needs to be re-edited, which the director will do. A week later, sound is added to the episodes and they are technically reviewed, and are ready for transmission if they are deemed of acceptable quality.
Although episodes are predominantly recorded weeks before they are broadcast, occasionally, ''EastEnders'' includes current events in their episodes. In 1987, ''EastEnders'' covered the 1987 United Kingdom general election, general election. Using a plan devised by co-creators Smith and Holland, five minutes of material was cut from four of the pre-recorded episodes preceding the election. These were replaced by specially recorded election material, including representatives from each major party, and a scene recorded on the day after the election reflecting the result, which was broadcast the following Tuesday. The result of the 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010 general election was referenced on 7 May 2010 episode. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, actors filmed short scenes following the tournament's events that were edited into the programme in the following episode. Last-minute scenes have also been recorded to reference the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the World War II, Second World War in 1995, the two-minute silence on Remembrance Day 2005 (2005 also being the year for the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar), Barack Obama's election victory in 2008, the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, the Spending Review#2010 Comprehensive Spending Review, 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review, Andy Murray winning the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Men's Singles at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the birth of Prince George of Wales, Scotland voting no against independence in 2014, and the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Great War.
''EastEnders'' is often filmed on location, away from the studios in Borehamwood. Sometimes an entire quartet is filmed on location, which has a practical function and are the result of ''EastEnders'' making a "double bank", when an extra week's worth of episodes are recorded at the same time as the regular schedule, enabling the production of the programme to stop for a two-week break at Christmas. These episodes often air in late June or early July and again in late October or early November. The first time this happened was in December 1985 when Pauline Fowler, Pauline (Wendy Richard) and
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man but made some foolish choices that he always ended up ...
(Bill Treacher) travelled to the Southend-on-Sea to find their son
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
, who had run away from home. In 1986, ''EastEnders'' filmed overseas for the first time, in Venice, and this was also the first time it was not filmed on videotape, as a union rule at the time prevented producers taking a video crew abroad and a film crew had to be used instead. In 2011, it was reported that eight per cent of the series is filmed on location.
If scenes during a normal week are to be filmed on location, this is done during the normal recording week. Off-set locations that have been used for filming include Clacton (1989), Devon (September 1990),
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
(used for scenes set in Gretna Green in July 1991), Portsmouth (November 1991), Milan (1997), EastEnders episodes in Ireland, Ireland (1997), Amsterdam (December 1999), Brighton (2001) and Portugal (2003). In 2003, filming took place at Loch Fyne Hotel and Leisure Club in Inveraray, The Arkinglass Estate in Cairndow and Grims Dyke Hotel, Harrow Weald, north London, for a week of episodes set in Scotland. The episode shown on 9 April 2007 featured scenes filmed at St Giles Church, Wormshill, St Giles Church and The Blacksmiths Arms public house in Wormshill, the Ringlestone Inn, two miles away and Court Lodge Farm in Stansted, Kent, Stansted, Kent. and the Port of Dover, Kent. .
Other locations have included the court house, a disused office block, Evershed House, and Church of St Peter, St Albans, St Peter's Church, all in St Albans, an abandoned mental facility in Worthing, and a wedding dress shop in Muswell Hill, north London. A week of episodes in 2011 saw filming take place on a beach in Thorpe Bay and a pier in Southend-on-Sea—during which a stuntman was injured when a gust of wind threw him off balance and he fell onto rocks— with other scenes filmed on the Essex coast. In 2012, filming took place in Keynsham, Somerset. In January 2013, on-location filming at Grahame Park in Colindale, north London, was interrupted by at least seven youths who threw a firework at the set and threatened to cut members of the crew. In October 2013, scenes were filmed on a road near London Southend Airport in Essex.
''EastEnders'' has featured seven live broadcasts. For its 25th anniversary in February 2010, a EastEnders Live, live episode was broadcast in which
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
(
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
) was revealed as Archie Mitchell's (Larry Lamb) killer. Turner was told only 30 minutes before the live episode and to maintain suspense, she whispers this revelation to former lover and current father-in-law, Max Branning, in the very final moments of the live show. Many other cast members only found out at the same time as the public, when the episode was broadcast. On 23 July 2012, a segment of Episode 4466, that evening's episode was screened live as
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
(
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell (EastEnders), Billy Mitchell in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998.
Career
Television
...
) carried the Olympic flame around Walford in preparation for the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In February 2015, for the soap's 30th anniversary, EastEnders Live Week, five episodes in a week featured live inserts throughout them. Episodes airing on Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 (which featured an hour long episode and a second episode) all featured at least one live insert. The show revealed that the killer of Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was her younger brother, Bobby Beale (EastEnders), Bobby (Eliot Carrington), during the second episode on Thursday, after a Who Killed Lucy Beale?, ten-month mystery regarding who killed her. In a flashback episode which revisited the night of the murder, Bobby was revealed to have killed his sister. The aftermath episode, which aired on Friday 20, was completely live and explained in detail Lucy's death. Carrington was told he was Lucy's killer on Monday 16, while Laurie Brett (who plays Bobby's adoptive mother, Jane Beale, Jane) was informed in November, due to the character playing a huge role in the cover-up of Lucy's murder. Bywater only discovered Bobby was responsible for Lucy's death on the morning of Thursday, 19 February, several hours before they filmed the scenes revealing Bobby as Lucy's killer.
Post-production
Each episode should run for 27 minutes and 15 seconds; however, if any episode runs over or under then it is the job of post-production to cut or add scenes where appropriate. As noted in the 1994 behind-the-scenes book, ''EastEnders: The First 10 Years'', after filming, tapes were sent to the videotape editor, who then edited the scenes together into an episode. The videotape editor used the director's notes so they knew which scenes the director wanted to appear in a particular episode. The producer might have asked for further changes to be made. The episode was then copied onto D-3 (video), D3 video. The final process was to add the audio which included background noise such as a train or a jukebox music and to check it met the BBC's technical standard for broadcasting.
Since 2010, ''EastEnders'' no longer uses tapes in the recording or editing process. After footage is recorded, the material is sent digitally to the post-production team. The editors then assemble all the scenes recorded for the director to view and note any changes that are needed. The sound team also have the capability to access the edited episode, enabling them to dub the sound and create the final version.
Budgets and costs
According to the book ''How to Study Television'', in 1995 ''EastEnders'' cost the BBC £40,000 per episode on average. A 2012 agreement between the BBC, the Writers' Guild of Great Britain and the Personal Managers' Association set out the pay rate for ''EastEnders'' scripts as £137.70 per minute of transmission time (£4,131 for 30 minutes), which is 85 per cent of the rate for scripts for other BBC television series. The writers would be paid 75 per cent of that fee for any repeats of the episode. In 2011, it was reported that actors receive a per-episode fee of between £400 and £1,200, and are guaranteed a certain number of episodes per year, perhaps as few as 30 or as many as 100, therefore annual salaries could range from £12,000 to £200,000 depending on the popularity of a character. Some actors' salaries were leaked in 2006, revealing that Natalie Cassidy (
Sonia Fowler
Sonia Fowler (also Jackson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on and she departed on She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson fam ...
) was paid £150,000, Cliff Parisi (Minty Peterson) received £220,000,
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. ...
) and
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
(
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
) each received £360,000 and Wendy Richard (
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...
) had a salary of £370,000. In 2017, it was revealed that Danny Dyer (Mick Carter) and Adam Woodyatt (
Ian Beale
Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the drama's longest-serving main character and, following the departure of Pauline Fowler ( Wendy Richard) in 2006, became the only one ...
) were the highest-paid actors in ''EastEnders'', earning between £200,000 and £249,999, followed by Laurie Brett (
Jane Beale
Lesley Jane Beale (also Clarke and Collins) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by Laurie Brett. She made her first appearance on 22 June 2004. Brett took maternity leave in 2011 and departed on 19 May.
Sh ...
), Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts), Tameka Empson (Kim Fox), Linda Henry (Shirley Carter), Scott Maslen (Jack Branning), Diane Parish (Denise Fox), Gillian Taylforth (Kathy Beale) and
Lacey Turner
Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...
(
Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a fe ...
), earning between £150,000 and £199,999.
A 2011 report from the National Audit Office (United Kingdom), National Audit Office (NAO) showed that ''EastEnders'' had an annual budget of £29.9 million. Of that, £2.9 million was spent on scripts and £6.9 million went towards paying actors, extras and chaperones for child actors. According to the NAO, BBC executives approved £500,000 of additional funding for the EastEnders Live, 25th anniversary live episode (19 February 2010). With a total cost of £696,000, the difference was covered from the 2009–2010 series budget for ''EastEnders''. When repeats and omnibus editions are shown, the BBC pays additional fees to cast and scriptwriters and incurs additional editing costs, which in the period 2009–2010, amounted to £5.5million. According to a Radio Times article for 212 episodes it works out at £141,000 per episode or 3.5p per viewer hour.
Sustainability
In 2014, two new studios were built and they were equipped with low-energy lighting which has saved approximately 90,000 kwh per year. A carbon literacy course was run with Heads of Departments of ''EastEnders'' attending and as a result, representatives from each department agreed to meet quarterly to share new sustainability ideas. The paper usage was reduced by 50 per cent across script distribution and other weekly documents and 20 per cent across all other paper usage. The production team now use recycled paper and recycled stationery.
Also changes to working online has also saved transportation cost of distribution 2,500 DVDs per year. Sets, costumes, paste pots and paint are all recycled by the design department. Cars used by the studio are low emission vehicles and the production team take more efficient energy efficient generators out on location. Caterers no longer use polystyrene cups and recycling on location must be provided.
As a result of ''EastEnders'' sustainability, it was awarded Albert Sustainable Production Certification, albert+, an award that recognises the production's commitment to becoming a more eco-friendly television production. The albert+ logo was first shown at the end of the ''EastEnders'' titles for episode 5281 on 9 May 2016.
Scheduling
Broadcast
Since 1985, ''EastEnders'' has remained at the centre of
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's primetime schedule. From 2001 to 2022, it was broadcast at 7:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and 8pm on Monday and Friday. ''EastEnders'' was originally broadcast twice weekly at 7:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 19 February 1985; however, in September 1985 the two episodes were moved to 7:30pm as Michael Grade did not want the soap running in direct competition with ''Emmerdale Farm'', and this remained the same until 7 April 1994. The BBC had originally planned to take advantage of the "summer break" that ''Emmerdale Farm'' usually took to capitalise on ratings, but ITV (TV channel), ITV added extra episodes and repeats so that ''Emmerdale Farm'' was not taken off the air over the summer. Realising the futility of the situation, Grade decided to move the show to the later 7:30pm slot.
''EastEnders'' output then increased to three times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 April 1994 until 2 August 2001.
From 10 August 2001, ''EastEnders'' then added its fourth episode (shown on Fridays). This caused some controversy as the first Friday episode clashed with ''Coronation Street'', which was moved to 8pm to make way for an hour-long episode of rural soap ''Emmerdale''. In this first head-to-head battle, ''EastEnders'' claimed victory over its rival.
In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of ''EastEnders'' on digital channel BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This was to coincide with the relaunch of the channel and helped BBC Three break the one million viewers mark for the first time with 1.03 million who watched to see Mark Fowler's departure. According to the ''EastEnders'' website, there are on average 208 episodes outputted each year.
On 21 February 2022, it was announced that from 7 March 2022, ''EastEnders'' would begin airing from Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm, therefore no longer airing on a Friday. This meant that ''EastEnders'' would clash with ''Emmerdale'', but the producers stated that due to the importance of online streaming figures, they were not concerned about the soaps clashing on the live television guides.
Repeats
The omnibus (broadcast), omnibus edition, a compilation of the week's episodes in a continuous sequence, originally aired on BBC One on Sunday afternoons, until 1 April 2012 when it was changed to a late Friday night or early Saturday morning slot, commencing 6 April 2012, though the exact time differed. It reverted to a weekend daytime slot as from January 2013 on BBC Two. In 2014, the omnibus moved back to around midnight on Friday nights, and in April 2015, the omnibus was axed, following detailed audience research and the introduction of 30-day catch up on
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
and the planning of BBC One#BBC One +1, BBC One +1. The last omnibus on the BBC was shown on 24 April 2015. While W was showing same-day repeats of ''EastEnders'', they also returned the weekend omnibus, starting on 20 February 2016.
From 20 February to 26 May 1995, as part of the programme's 10th Anniversary celebrations, episodes from 1985 were repeated each weekday morning at 10am, starting from episode one. Four specially selected episodes from 1985, 1986 and 1987 were also repeated on BBC1 on Friday evenings at 8pm under the banner "The Unforgettable EastEnders". These included the wedding of Michelle Fowler and
Lofty Holloway
George "Lofty" Holloway is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tom Watt. Lofty is one of the serial's near-original characters, making his first appearance in the third episode, which was first broadcast on 26 ...
, the revelation of the father of Michelle's baby, a two-hander between
Dot Cotton
Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
and
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...
and the 1986 Christmas episode featuring
Den Watts
Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den".
Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...
presenting Angie Watts with divorce papers.
''EastEnders'' was regularly repeated at 10pm on BBC Choice from the channel's launch in 1998, a practice continued by BBC Three for many years until mid-2012 with the repeat moving to 10:30pm. From 25 December 2010 - 29 April 2011 and 31 July 2012 - 13 August 2012 to the show was repeated on BBC HD in a Simulcast with BBC Three. In 2015, the BBC Three repeat moved back to 10pm. In February 2016, the repeat moved to W, the rebranded W (British TV channel), Watch, after BBC Three became an online-only channel. W stopped showing ''EastEnders'' in April 2018. Episodes of ''EastEnders'' are available on-demand through
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
for 30 days after their original screening.
On 1 December 2012, the BBC uploaded the first 54 episodes of ''EastEnders'' to YouTube, and on 23 July 2013 they uploaded a further 14 episodes bringing the total to 68. These have since been taken down. In April 2018, it was announced that Drama (British TV channel), Drama would be showing repeats starting 6 August 2018 during weekdays and they are also available on-demand on the UKTV Play catch-up service for 30 days after the broadcast. In December 2019, Christmas episodes were added to BritBox, Britbox UK.
International
''EastEnders'' is broadcast around the world in many English language, English-speaking countries. New Zealand became the first to broadcast ''EastEnders'' overseas, the first episode being shown on 27 September 1985. This was followed by the Netherlands on 8 December 1986, Australia on 5 January 1987, Norway on 27 April, and Barcelona on 30 June (dubbed into Catalan). On 9 July 1987, it was announced that the show would be aired in the United States on PBS. BBC Worldwide licensed 200 hours of ''EastEnders'' for broadcast in Serbia on Radio Television of Serbia, RTS (dubbed into Serbian language, Serbian); it began airing the first episode in December 1997. The series was broadcast in the United States until BBC America ceased broadcasts of the serial in 2003, amidst fan protests. In June 2004, the satellite television provider Dish Network picked up ''EastEnders'', broadcasting episodes starting at the point where BBC America had ceased broadcasting them, offering the series as a pay-per-view item. Episodes air two months behind the UK schedule. Episodes from prior years are still shown on various PBS stations in the US. Since 7 March 2017, ''EastEnders'' has been available in the United States on demand, 24 hours after it has aired in the United Kingdom via BritBox, a joint venture between BBC and ITV plc, ITV.
The series was screened in Australia by ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC TV from 1987 until 1991. It is aired in Australia on Satellite & Streaming services on BBC UKTV, from Mondays to Thursdays 7:50pm–8:30pm with two advertisement breaks of five minutes each. Episodes are shown roughly one week after their UK broadcast. In New Zealand, it was shown by TVNZ on TVNZ 1 for several years, and then on Prime (New Zealand), Prime each weekday afternoon. It is shown on BBC UKTV from Mondays to Thursdays at 8pm. Episodes are roughly two weeks behind the UK.
''EastEnders'' is shown on
BBC Entertainment
BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regi ...
(formerly BBC Prime) in Europe and in Africa, where it is approximately six episodes behind the UK. It was also shown on BBC Prime in Asia, but when the channel was replaced by BBC Entertainment, it ceased broadcasting the series. In Canada, ''EastEnders'' was shown on BBC Canada until 2010, at which point it was picked up by VisionTV.
In Ireland, ''EastEnders'' was shown on TV3 (Ireland), TV3 from September 1998 until March 2001, when it moved over to RTÉ One, after RTÉ lost to TV3 the rights to air rival soap ''Coronation Street''. Additionally, episodes of ''EastEnders'' are available on-demand through RTÉ Player, RTÉ Online for seven days after their original screening.
International versions
In 1991 the BBC sold the programme's format rights to a Dutch production company IDTV, the programme was renamed ''Het Oude Noorden'' (Translation: Old North). The Dutch version was re-written from already existing ''EastEnders'' scripts. The schedule remained the same as ''EastEnders'' twice weekly episodes; however, some notable changes included the programme is now set in Rotterdam rather than London, characters are given Dutch names (
Den
Den may refer to:
* Den (room), a small room in a house
* Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth
Media and entertainment
* ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler
* Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Appearance and developmen ...
] pub is renamed "Cade Faas".
According to Barbara Jurgen who re-wrote the scripts for a Dutch audience he said "The power of the show is undeniable. The Scripts are full of hard, sharp drama, plus great one-liners which will translate well to Holland." The Dutch version began broadcasting on Omroepvereniging VARA, VARA 13 March 1993 but was cancelled after 20 episodes.
Spin-offs and merchandise
On 26 December 1988, the first ''EastEnders'' "bubble" was shown, titled "CivvyStreet". Since then, "Return of Nick Cotton" (2000), "Ricky & Bianca" (2002), "Dot's Story" (2003), "Perfectly Frank (EastEnders), Perfectly Frank" (2003) and "Pat and Mo" (2004) have all been broadcast, each episode looking into lives of various characters and revealing part of their backstories or lives since leaving ''EastEnders''. In 1993, the two-part story "Dimensions in Time", a charity cross-over with ''Doctor Who'', was shown.
In 1998, ''EastEnders Revealed'' was launched on BBC Choice (now BBC Three). The show takes a look behind the scenes of the ''EastEnders'' and investigates particular places, characters or families within ''EastEnders''. An episode of ''EastEnders Revealed'' that was commissioned for BBC Three attracted 611,000 viewers. As part of the BBC's digital push, ''EastEnders Xtra'' was introduced in 2005. The show was presented by Angellica Bell and was available to digital viewers at 8:30 pm on Monday nights. It was also shown after the Sunday omnibus. The series went behind the scenes of the show and spoke to some of the cast members. A new breed of behind-the-scenes programmes have been broadcast on BBC Three since 1 December 2006. These are all documentaries related to current storylines in ''EastEnders'', in a similar format to ''EastEnders Revealed'', though not using the ''EastEnders Revealed'' name.
In October 2009, a 12-part Internet spin-off series entitled ''
EastEnders: E20
''EastEnders: E20'' (sometimes just ''E20'') is a British Internet soap opera, which began airing on 8 January 2010. A spin-off from the established BBC soap ''EastEnders'', it is set in ''EastEnders'' regular setting of Albert Square, a Victori ...
'' was announced. The series was conceived by executive producer Diederick Santer "as a way of nurturing new, young talent, both on- and off-screen, and exploring the stories of the soaps' anonymous bystanders." ''E20'' features a group of sixth-form characters and targets the "''Hollyoaks'' demographic". It was written by a team of young writers and was shown three times a week on the ''EastEnders'' website from 8 January 2010. A second 10-part series started in September 2010, with twice-weekly episodes available online and an omnibus on BBC Three. A third series of 15 episodes started in September 2011.
''EastEnders'' and rival soap opera ''Coronation Street'' took part in a fictional crossover, crossover episode for Children in Need on 19 November 2010 called "East Street (Children in Need), East Street". On 4 April 2015, ''EastEnders'' confirmed plans for a BBC One series featuring Kat and Alfie Moon. The six-part drama, ''Kat & Alfie: Redwater'', was created by executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins and his team. In the spin-off, the Moons visit Ireland where they "search for answers to some very big questions".
Until its closure, BBC Store released 553 ''EastEnders'' episodes from various years, including the special episode "CivvyStreet", available to buy as digital downloads.
Popularity and viewership
An example of ''EastEnders'' popularity is that after episodes, electricity sector in the United Kingdom, electricity use in the United Kingdom rises significantly as viewers who have waited for the show to end begin boiling water for Tea in the United Kingdom, tea, a phenomenon known as TV pickup. Over five minutes, power demand rises by three GW, the equivalent of 1.5 to 1.75 million kettles. National Grid (Great Britain), National Grid personnel watch the show to know when closing credits begin so they can Control of the National Grid (Great Britain), prepare for the surge, HVDC Cross-Channel, asking for additional power from Electricity sector in France, France if necessary.
Ratings
''EastEnders'' is the BBC's most consistent programme in terms of ratings, and as of 2021, episodes typically receive between 4 and 6 million viewers. ''EastEnders'' two biggest ratings rivals are the ITV (TV channel), ITV soaps ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale''.
The launch show in 1985 attracted 17.35 million viewers. 25 July 1985 was the first time the show's viewership rose to first position in the weekly top 10 shows for
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
. The highest rated episode of ''EastEnders'' is the Christmas Day 1986 episode, which attracted a combined 30.15 million viewers who tuned into either the original transmission or the omnibus to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to his wife Angie. This remains the highest rated episode of a soap in British television history.
In 2001, ''EastEnders'' clashed with ''Coronation Street'' for the first time. ''EastEnders'' won the battle with 8.4 million viewers (41% share) whilst ''Coronation Street'' lagged behind with 7.3 million viewers (34% share). On 21 September 2004,
Louise Berridge
Louise Berridge is a British historical fiction writer. She was previously a television producer and script editor, her most famous post being the executive producer of BBC's ''EastEnders'' between 2002 to 2004. During her tenure, the long-runni ...
, the then executive producer, quit following criticism of the show. The following day the show received its lowest ever ratings at that time (6.2 million) when ITV scheduled an hour-long episode of ''Emmerdale'' against it. ''Emmerdale'' was watched by 8.1 million viewers. The poor ratings motivated the press into reporting viewers were bored with implausible and ill-thought-out storylines. Under new producers, ''EastEnders'' and ''Emmerdale'' continued to clash at times, and ''Emmerdale'' tended to come out on top, giving ''EastEnders'' lower than average ratings. In 2006, ''EastEnders'' regularly attracted between 8 and 12 million viewers in official ratings.EastEnders ratings hit record low , BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2007. ''EastEnders'' received its second lowest ratings on 17 May 2007, when 4.0 million viewers tuned in. This was also the lowest ever audience share, with just 19.6 per cent. This was attributed to a conflicting one-hour special episode of ''Emmerdale'' on ITV1; however, ratings for the 10pm ''EastEnders'' repeat on BBC Three reached an all-time high of 1.4 million; however, there have been times when ''EastEnders'' had higher ratings than ''Emmerdale'' despite the two going head-to-head.
The ratings increased in 2010, thanks to the "
Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following ...
" storyline and second wedding of
Ricky Butcher
Ricky Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running male protagonists to feature in ''EastEnders''. Owen originally left the ro ...
(Sid Owen) and
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted t ...
(Patsy Palmer), and the show's first EastEnders Live, live episode on 19 February 2010. The live-episode averaged 15.6 million viewers, peaking at 16.6 million in the final five minutes of broadcast. In January 2010, the average audience was higher than that of ''Coronation Street'' for the first time in three years. During the 30th anniversary week in which there were live elements and the climax of the
Who Killed Lucy Beale?
"Who Killed Lucy Beale?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It was announced on 21 February 2014 and began on 18 April 2014, when Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was discovered dead on Walford Common from a deliberately inflicte ...
storyline, 10.84 million viewers tuned in for the 30th anniversary episode itself in an hour long special on 19 February 2015 (peaking with 11.9 million). Later on in the same evening, a special flashback episode averaged 10.3 million viewers, and peaked with 11.2 million. The following day, the anniversary week was rounded off with another fully live episode (the second after 2010) with 9.97 million viewers watching the aftermath of the reveal, the Beale family finding out the truth of Lucy's killer and deciding to keep it a secret. In 2013, the average audience share for an episode was around 30 per cent.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the soap, ''EastEnders'' suffered a ratings drop after 2020. Despite once being the highest-rated soap, it dropped to third in the rankings in 2021, behind ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale'', with 4.09 million viewers. BBC's head of drama, Piers Wenger, explained that since the episode duration had been shortened and the airtime frequently suffered changes, it had led to the audience not knowing when to watch it. Digital Spy opined that the ratings drop was accredited to "lacklustre storylines" and thought that storylines on rival soaps were better. Later that year, ''EastEnders'' suffered its lowest rating ever, with 1.7 million viewers watching live. The ''Daily Mirror''s Jamie Roberts felt that viewers had "turned their back" on the soap due to its lack of interesting stories and iconic characters. Ratings expert Stephen Price also noted that the drop is partly due to the rise of streaming services.
Criticism
''EastEnders'' has received both praise and criticism for most of its storylines, which have dealt with difficult themes, such as violence, rape, murder and child abuse.
Morality and violence
Mary Whitehouse, social critic, argued at the time that ''EastEnders'' represented a violation of "family viewing time" and that it undermined the watershed (television), watershed policy. She regarded ''EastEnders'' as a fundamental assault on the family and morality itself. She made reference to representation of family life and emphasis on psychological and emotional violence within the show. She was also critical of language such as "bleeding", "bloody hell", "bastard" and "for Christ's sake"; however, Whitehouse also praised the programme, describing Michelle Fowler's decision not to have an abortion as a "very positive storyline". She also felt that ''EastEnders'' had been cleaned up as a result of her protests, though she later commented that ''EastEnders'' had returned to its old ways. Her criticisms were widely reported in the tabloid press as ammunition in its existing hostility towards the BBC. The stars of ''Coronation Street'' in particular aligned themselves with Mary Whitehouse, gaining headlines such as "STREETS AHEAD! RIVALS LASH SEEDY EASTENDERS" and "CLEAN UP SOAP! Street Star Bill Lashes "Steamy" EastEnders".
''EastEnders'' has been criticised for being too violent, most notably during a domestic violence storyline between Little Mo Mitchell, Little Mo Morgan (Kacey Ainsworth) and her husband Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns). As ''EastEnders'' is shown pre-watershed, there were worries that some scenes in this storyline were too graphic for its audience. Complaints against a scene in which Little Mo's face was pushed in gravy on Christmas Day were upheld by the Broadcasting Standards Council; however, a helpline after this episode attracted over 2000 calls. Erin Pizzey, who became internationally famous for having started one of the first Women's shelter, women's refuges, said that ''EastEnders'' had done more to raise the issue of violence against women in one story than she had done in 25 years. The character of
Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), Grant (Ross Kemp), s ...
(played by
Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
since early 1990) has been criticised on several occasions for glorifying violence and proving a bad role model to children. On one occasion following a scene in an episode broadcast in October 2002, where Phil brutally beat his godson,
Jamie Mitchell
Jamie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder. The character debuted on 9 November 1998 and became one of the show's central protagonists until he was Kill off, killed- ...
(Jack Ryder (actor), Jack Ryder), 31 complaints came from viewers.
In 2003, cast member Shaun Williamson, who was in the final months of his role of Barry Evans (EastEnders), Barry Evans, said that the programme had become much grittier over the past 10 to 15 years, and found it "frightening" that parents let their young children watch.
In 2005, the BBC was accused of anti-religious bias by a House of Lords committee, who cited ''EastEnders'' as an example. Dr. Indarjit Singh, editor of the Sikh Messenger and patron of the World Congress of Faiths, said: "''EastEnders'' Dot Cotton is an example. She quotes endlessly from the Bible and it ridicules religion to some extent." In July 2010, complaints were received following the storyline of Christian minister Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet) committing a number of murders that he believed was his duty to God, claiming that the storyline was offensive to Christians.
In 2008, ''EastEnders'', along with ''Coronation Street'', was criticised by Martin McGuinness, then Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, for "the level of concentration around the pub" and the "antics portrayed in The [...] Queen Vic".
In 2017, viewers complained on Twitter about scenes implying that Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters (actor), Danny Walters) is the father of his 15-year-old sister Bernadette Taylor's (Clair Norris) unborn baby, with the pair agreeing to keep the pregnancy secret from their mother, Karen Taylor (EastEnders), Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley); however, the baby's father is revealed as one of Bernadette's school friends.
Allegations of national and racial stereotypes
In 1997, EastEnders episodes in Ireland, several episodes were shot and set in Ireland, resulting in criticisms for portraying the Irish in a negatively stereotypical way. Ted Barrington, the Irish Ambassador to the UK at the time, described the portrayal of Ireland as an "unrepresentative caricature", stating he was worried by the negative stereotypes and the images of drunkenness, backwardness and isolation. Jana Bennett, the BBC's then director of production, later apologised for the episodes, stating on BBC1's news bulletin: "It is clear that a significant number of viewers have been upset by the recent episodes of ''EastEnders'', and we are very sorry, because the production team and programme makers did not mean to cause any offence." A year later BBC chairman Christopher Bland admitted that as result of the Irish-set EastEnders episodes, the station failed in its pledge to represent all groups accurately and avoid reinforcing prejudice.
In 2008, the show was criticised for stereotyping their Asian and Black characters, by having a black single mother, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and an Asian shopkeeper, Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia). There has been criticism that the programme does not authentically portray the ethnic diversity of the population of East London, with the programme being "twice as white" as the real East End.
Controversial storylines
In 1992, writer David Yallop successfully sued the BBC for £68,000 after it was revealed he had been hired by producer
Mike Gibbon
John Michael Gibbon (born 27 January 1942) is an English television producer and Television director, director.
He directed and produced the BBC televised soap opera, ''EastEnders''. He began directing the programme in 1985 and began producing t ...
in 1989 to pen several controversial storylines in an effort to "slim down" the cast; however, after Gibbon left the programme, executive producers chose not to use Yallop's storylines, which put the BBC in breach of the contract Yallop had signed with them. Unused storylines penned by Yallop, which were revealed in the press during the trial, included the death of
Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale (also Williams) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Michelle Collins. She first appeared 10 May 1988 and originally departed on 27 December 1990, before returning as one of the show's central ...
's (Michelle Collins) infant son Steven Beale, Steven; Karim family, Sufia Karim (Rani Singh) being killed during a shotgun raid at the corner shop;
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...
(Wendy Richard) dying of undiscovered cancer; and an Irish Republican Army, IRA explosion at the Walford community centre, killing
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the cr ...
(Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean) and Diane Butcher (Sophie Lawrence), and leaving Simon Wicks (Nick Berry) paralysed below the waist. A suicide was also planned, but the character this storyline was assigned to was not revealed.
Some storylines have provoked high levels of viewer complaints. In August 2006, a scene involving Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley) and Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) having sex on the floor of Scarlet (EastEnders), Scarlet nightclub, and another scene involving Owen Turner (Lee Ross (actor), Lee Ross) violently attacking Denise Fox (Diane Parish), prompted 129 and 128 complaints, respectively.
In March 2008, scenes showing Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and boyfriend, Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky), burying Tanya's husband Max Branning, Max (Jake Wood) alive, attracted many complaints. The UK communications regulator Ofcom later found that the episodes depicting the storyline were in breach of the 2005 Broadcasting Code. They contravened the rules regarding protection of children by appropriate scheduling, appropriate depiction of violence before the 9 p.m. watershed and appropriate depiction of potentially offensive content. In September 2008, ''EastEnders'' began a grooming and paedophilia storyline involving characters Tony King (EastEnders), Tony King (Chris Coghill), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty),
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted t ...
(Patsy Palmer), Lauren Branning (Madeline Duggan) and Peter Beale (Thomas Law). The storyline attracted over 200 complaints.
In December 2010, Ronnie Mitchell, Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) swapped her newborn baby, who sudden infant death syndrome, died in cot, with Kat Slater, Kat Moon's (
Jessie Wallace
Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...
) living baby. Around 3,400 complaints were received, with viewers branding the storyline "insensitive", "irresponsible" and "desperate". Roz Laws from the ''Sunday Mercury'' called the plot "shocking and ridiculous" and asked "are we really supposed to believe that Kat won't recognise that the baby looks different?" The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) praised the storyline, and its director Joyce Epstein explained, "We are very grateful to ''EastEnders'' for their accurate depiction of the devastating effect that the sudden death of an infant can have on a family. We hope that this story will help raise the public's awareness of cot death, which claims 300 babies' lives each year." By 7 January, that storyline had generated the most complaints in show history: the BBC received about 8,500 complaints, and media regulator Ofcom received 374; however, despite the controversy, ''EastEnders'' pulled in rating highs of 9–10 million throughout the duration of the storyline.
In October 2014, the BBC defended a storyline, after receiving 278 complaints about 6 October 2014 episode where pub landlady Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) was raped by Dean Wicks (
Matt Di Angelo
Mario Angelo S Constantinou (born 1 May 1987), professionally known as Matt Di Angelo, is a British actor and singer, best known for his role as Dean Wicks in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He also portrayed Sean Kennedy in the BBC drama s ...
). On 17 November 2014 it was announced that Ofcom will investigate over the storyline. On 5 January 2015, the investigation was cleared by Ofcom. A spokesman of Ofcom said: "After carefully investigating complaints about this scene, Ofcom found the BBC took appropriate steps to limit offence to viewers. This included a warning before the episode and implying the assault, rather than depicting it. Ofcom also took into account the programme's role in presenting sometimes challenging or distressing social issues."
In 2022, ''EastEnders'' aired their first male rape scene which saw Lewis Butler (Aidan O'Callaghan) rape Ben Mitchell (EastEnders), Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden). The BBC received complaints from viewers who were unhappy with the content in the episode. Viewers felt that the scenes were too violent and graphic for a pre-watershed time slot. The BBC responded by stating: "''EastEnders'' has been a pre-watershed BBC One staple for over 37 years and has a rich history of dealing with challenging and difficult issues and Ben's story is one of these. We have worked closely with organisations and experts in the field to tell this story which we hope will raise awareness of sexual assaults and the issues surrounding them. We are always mindful of the timeslot in which ''EastEnders'' is shown and we took great care to signpost this storyline prior to transmission, through on-air continuity and publicity as well as providing a BBC Action Line at the end of the episode which offers advice and support to those affected by the issue".
Portrayal of certain professions
In 2010, ''EastEnders'' came under criticism from the police for the way that they were portrayed during the "
Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following ...
" storyline. During the storyline, Jill Marsden (EastEnders), DCI Jill Marsden (Sophie Stanton) and Wayne Hughes (EastEnders), DC Wayne Hughes (Jamie Treacher) talk to locals about the case and Hughes accepts a bribe. The police claimed that such scenes were "damaging" to their reputation and added that the character Deanne Cunningham, DC Deanne Cunningham (Zoë Henry) was "irritatingly inaccurate". In response to the criticism, ''EastEnders'' apologised for offending real life detectives and confirmed that they use a police consultant for such storylines.
In October 2012, a storyline involving Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), forced to hand over her baby Lexi Pearce, was criticised by the charity The Who Cares? Trust, who called the storyline an "unhelpful portrayal" and said it had already received calls from members of the public who were "distressed about the ''EastEnders'' scene where a social worker snatches a baby from its mother's arms". The scenes were also condemned by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), calling the BBC "too lazy and arrogant" to correctly portray the child protection process, and saying that the baby was taken "without sufficient grounds to do so". Bridget Robb, acting chief of the BASW, said the storyline provoked "real anger among a profession well used to a less than accurate public and media perception of their jobs .. ''EastEnders'' shabby portrayal of an entire profession has made a tough job even tougher."
Awards and nominations
In popular culture
Since its premiere in 1985, ''EastEnders'' has had a large impact on British popular culture. It has frequently been referred to in many different media, including songs and television programmes.
Further reading
Many books have been written about ''EastEnders''. Notably, from 1985 to 1988, author and television writer Hugh Miller wrote 17 novels, detailing the lives of many of the show's original characters before 1985, when events on screen took place.
Kate Lock also wrote four novels centred on more recent characters; Steve Owen (Martin Kemp), Grant Mitchell (
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...
),
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted t ...
(Patsy Palmer) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon). Lock also wrote a character guide entitled ''Who's Who in EastEnders'' () in 2000, examining main characters from the first 15 years of the show.
Show creators Julia Smith and
Tony Holland
Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Holland was the oldest of ...
also wrote a book about the show in 1987, entitled ''EastEnders: The Inside Story'' (), telling the story of how the show made it to screen. Two special anniversary books have been written about the show; ''EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration'' () by
Colin Brake
Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC Television, BBC on programmes such as ''Bugs (television programme), Bugs'' and ''EastEnders''. He has also written Doctor Who spin-off ...
in 1995 and ''EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square'' () by Rupert Smith in 2005.
See also
* East End of London in popular culture
* List of soap operas
* List of British television programmes
* List of most-watched television broadcasts
* List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC
* List of programmes broadcast by Telefís Éireann
* List of programmes broadcast by Virgin Media Television (Ireland)
* List of programs broadcast by Showcase
* List of LGBT characters in soap operas
* List of television shows set in London
* List of television programs by episode count
* List of television programs by name
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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''EastEnders'' at BBC Studios
''EastEnders'' at BBC Studioworks
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{{Authority control
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1985 British television series debuts
1980s British television soap operas
1990s British television soap operas
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2010s British television soap operas
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BAFTA winners (television series)
BBC television dramas
BBC television soap operas
Television shows shot at BBC Elstree Centre
English-language television shows
Social realism
Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Television series about dysfunctional families
Television shows adapted into novels
Television shows set in London
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