Episode 4466 of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' was broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 23 July 2012, between 9pm and 9.30pm. It was written by Matt Evans, directed by Clive Arnold, and executively produced 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 ...

. It included seven minutes of live footage, during which the character of

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

, played by

Perry Fenwick Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998. Career Television Fenwick's first regular television rol ...

, carried the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

as an official torch bearer as part of the official torch relay for the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and

Lola Pearce Lola Pearce (also Pearce-Brown) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Danielle Harold. She was introduced as the granddaughter of Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and Julie Perkins (Cathy Murphy), and an exte ...

, played by Danielle Harold, gave birth to her daughter. The storyline for the episode was announced in November 2011, with the fact that Lola would give birth being reported in July 2012. The episode received positive reviews, with Karen Edwards from ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

'' calling it "special" and praising Harold's performance, and Jane Rackham from the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' calling it "highly topical", though Boyd Hilton from ''Heat'' felt that Billy's torch bearing was a "gimmick" and the whole episode should have been live. It was watched by an average of 7.32 million people on its initial broadcast. It was accompanied by a special, one-off

BBC Red Button BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to cl ...

episode called "Billy's Olympic Nightmare". The episode received an ''

All About Soap ''All About Soap'' was a fortnightly UK magazine founded in October 1999. It was released on Tuesdays. Storylines of the shows it covered were from soap operas shown in the United Kingdom and from Australia, including ''EastEnders'', ''Coronat ...

'' award nomination for Best Episode, under the name "Billy and the Olympic Torch", and a

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 (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...

nomination for "Spectacular Scene of the Year", both in 2013.

Plot

Selected as a torch bearer for the 2012 London Olympics,

(

) is stuck on the London Underground with members of his local football team because someone pulled the emergency stop when an argument broke out. The train starts but police are waiting at the tube station and will not let them through. Billy manages to escape, and frantically tries to get ready for the torch. Meanwhile, Billy's granddaughter,

( Danielle Harold), is in labour in a local fast food restaurant, refusing an ambulance, and refusing to give birth until she knows Billy has carried the torch and can be there. After some delays, Billy is able to carry the torch, watched by his friends and neighbours. He then hears that Lola is in labour, so rushes to the restaurant, where

Cora Cross Cora Cross is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Ann Mitchell. Cora is the mother of Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner), Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) and Ava Hartman ( Claire Perkins) and the grandmother of Lauren ( ...

(

Ann Mitchell Ann Mitchell (born 22 April 1939) is a British stage and television actress. She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series ''Widows'' as well as the sequels '' Widows 2'' and '' She's Out'', all writt ...

) delivers the baby.

Cast

Tameka Empson Tameka Lydia Empson (born 15 April 1977) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared as one of the three protagonists in the hidden-camera comedy sketch show ''3 Non-Blondes''. In 2009, she began portraying the role of Kim Fox in the BBC O ...

Kim Fox Kim Fox (also Fox-Hubbard) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Tameka Empson. She is the half-sister of Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and aunt to Chelsea Fox, Chelsea (Tiana Benjamin/Zaraah Abrahams) and Libby ...

* Danielle Harold as

Rudolph Walker Rudolph Malcolm Walker CBE (born 28 September 1939) is a Trinidadian-British actor, best known for his roles as Bill Reynolds in ''Love Thy Neighbour'' (1972–1976) and Constable Frank Gladstone in '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996), as wel ...

Patrick Trueman Patrick Trueman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Rudolph Walker. He made his first appearance on 13 September 2001. On 7 December 2015, Walker filmed his 1,000th episode as Patrick. For his portrayal of ...

* Joshua Pascoe as Ben Mitchell *

Jamie Borthwick Jamie Simon Borthwick (born 23 June 1994) is an English actor. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Jay Brown in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', in which he has starred since 2006. His role on ''EastEnders'' earned him a British Soap A ...

as Jay Mitchell *

Ricky Norwood Ricky James Norwood (' Saggar; born 26 April 1983) is a British actor from London, known for portraying the role of Fatboy (EastEnders), Fatboy in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2010–2015, 2023) and its online spin-off ''EastEnders: E ...

as Arthur "Fatboy" Chubb *

Aykut Hilmi Aykut Hilmi (born in London, United Kingdom) is a British actor and model. He is best known for starring in numerous West End theatres (such as the Royal Opera House and the Royal National Theatre) and his role in the film '' Mamma Mia!''. Hilmi ...

as Nico Papadopoulos *

Shane Richie Shane Patrick Paul Roche (born 11 March 1964), known as Shane Richie, is an English actor, comedian, presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the character Alfie ...

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 on 21 September 2010, following the return of his on ...

Jamie Foreman Jamie Foreman (born 25 May 1958) is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in ''Layer Cake'' (2004) and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and a ...

as Derek Branning *

Scott Maslen Scott Alexander Maslen (born 25 June 1971) is an English actor and model, best known for his portrayal as DS Phil Hunter in the ITV police drama series ''The Bill'' and Jack Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2007. He also too ...

Jack Branning DI Jack Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Scott Maslen. He made his first appearance on 29 October 2007. He is the youngest child of Jim ( John Bardon) and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham) and the ...

Jake Wood Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is a British actor and podcaster from Westminster, known for his role as Max Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''Only Fools and Horses'' a ...

Max Branning Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006. Wood took a four-month break from the show in 2011 and the character was absent between August and Nov ...

Steve McFadden Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor whose career has spanned three decades. He rose to prominence for his role as longstanding character Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has ...

Phil Mitchell Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother, Grant ( Ross Kemp), sister, Sam ( Danniella Westbrook/ Kim Medca ...

Linda Henry Linda Valiris (''née'' Henry; born 24 August 1959) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Yvonne Atkins in the ITV prison drama series '' Bad Girls'' and Shirley Carter in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. She had previously ...

Shirley Carter Shirley Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Linda Henry. She first appeared on 7 December 2006, during episodes set in Dorset. This is Henry's second role in 'EastEnders', as she previously p ...

* Hetti Bywater as

Lucy Beale Lucy Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. The character was played by Eva Brittin-Snell, Casey Anne Rothery, Melissa Suffield, and Hetti Bywater. Lucy was introduced in December 1993 as the daughter of Ian ( ...

Charlie Brooks Charlene Emma Brooks (born 3 May 1981) is an English actress, best known for her role of Janine Butcher in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Brooks has also performed in British television shows ''The Bill'', ''Wired'' and ''Bleak House'', ...

Janine Butcher Janine Butcher (also Evans, Malloy and Carter) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character is played by Rebecca Michael, Alexia Demetriou and Charlie Brooks respectively. Brooks initially d ...

Jessie Wallace Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She made her acting debut in the television police series ''The Bill'' and rose to prominence for her role as Kat Slater on the BBC so ...

Kat Moon Kat Slater (also Moon and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the ...

* Gillian Wright as Jean Slater *

Chucky Venn Charles Okechukwu O. Venn (born 24 June 1973), formerly known by the stage names Chucky Venice and Chucky Venn, is a British actor, known for his roles as Ray Dixon in ''EastEnders'', Jacob Masters in ''Casualty'', Curtis Alexander in Sky One' ...

as Ray Dixon * Tony Discipline as Tyler Moon * Steve John Shepherd as Michael Moon *

Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in '' Citizen Khan'', Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy ''Still Open All Hours'' and for starring i ...

as Zainab Khan *

Nitin Ganatra Nitin Chandra Ganatra (born 30 June 1967) is a British actor. He is known for portraying Masood Ahmed in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'' (2007–2019), for which he won a British Soap Award. Early life Ganatra was born on 30 June 1967 in Ke ...

as Masood Ahmed *

Jo Joyner Joanne Mary Joyner (born 24 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Mandy Carter in the Channel 4 school drama '' Ackley Bridge''. From 2018, she has starred as Lue ...

as Tanya Cross * Matt Lapinskas as Anthony Moon *

Rita Simons Rita Joanne Simons (born 10 March 1977) is an English actress and singer. After beginning her career as a member of the short-lived girl group Girls@Play, she became best known for portraying the role of Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''Ea ...

Roxy Mitchell Roxy Mitchell (also Slater) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Rita Simons.Himesh Patel as Tamwar Masood * James Forde as

Liam Butcher Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sonny Bottomley for two months in 1998 and 1999, twins Jack and Tom Godolphin from 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to ...

* Danny Brown as

Harry Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...

Diane Parish Diane Carol Richards (born 6 November 1969), known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2006. A graduate of the Royal Academy of D ...

Denise Fox Denise Fox (also Wicks and Johnson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Diane Parish. She made her first appearance on 11 May 2006 and temporarily left ''EastEnders'' in early 2008 to give birth to her se ...

Announcement

In November 2011, storylines show Billy selected as 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, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. At the same time, it was announced that in reality, Fenwick would carry the torch through the fictional setting of

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 ...

, with live footage shown in the second episode on 23 July 2012. London 2012 chairman

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...

said: "The announcement is a great addition to the Olympic Torch Relay Route. I'm sure the people of Walford will now start planning their celebrations. Along with people right round the UK, the residents of Albert Square will be getting involved to make this their moment to shine." Fenwick said, "When we first discussed the storyline, my initial thought was that I'll now have to get fit. While this may be a fictional one-off for Billy, it's a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I am thrilled that Walford and Albert Square will be part of this amazing event." He later added: "I think it's great that ''EastEnders'' has done this storyline, because it would be totally wrong and remiss not to acknowledge the biggest event in our lifetime, which technically—in fictional land—is five minutes up the road from Walford." Roger Mosey, the BBC's director for London 2012, said, "I like this, in media terms, that it's the real torch, the real procession going to Walford. It will be live when it goes there and so potentially you can broadcast ''EastEnders'' for three or four minutes on the News Channel because the torch being in Albert Square is a news event. I like the idea of the real torch being in a fictional place." On 15 July 2012, it was announced that a seven-minute live segment at the end of episode would show Billy taking part in the relay, followed by Lola giving birth to her daughter, while Billy rushes to be there. Harold would become only the second actress to act out a birth during a live episode of a soap opera, following ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

's''

Jennie McAlpine Jennie Elizabeth McAlpine (born 12 February 1984) is an English television actress, comedian and businesswoman. She is known for her roles as Michelle Morley in Emmerdale and Fiz Brown in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street' ...

( Fiz Stape) in the live 50th anniversary episode broadcast in December 2010. An insider from the show stated, "No one has tried anything like this on ''EastEnders'' live before so it is a real challenge to get the emotion of the situation right. It will be the toughest thing Danielle has done in her acting career."

Production

Carl Doran, the creative head of the Torch coverage across the BBC, revealed in a blog on

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

, that the

London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Go ...

(LOCOG) and ''EastEnders'' production team had worked for two years to organise the flame being shown live on ''EastEnders'', saying "We've been looking into the practicalities and many challenges of getting the torch to Walford in time for an ''EastEnders'' slot while it makes a whistle-stop tour through London's 32 boroughs in the final week of the 70-day journey around the UK. We also discussed the idea of trying to record it on tape like a traditional ''EastEnders'' episode as well, but we always wanted it to be as authentic as possible and so it will be the real torch and flame and it will happen live. It's very exciting, and even more so because live broadcasting adds an extra set of challenges to a top drama." Rehearsals for the live section of the episode started on 21 July 2012 and full dress rehearsals on 22 July, though there was some tentative rehearsal time before that when they were also busy filming other episodes. Fenwick said of his rehearsals, "Summer arrives just in time for me to complete my 24th circuit of Albert Square and I'm sweltering. On the plus side, I'm starting to see abs, have buns of steel and the show is looking good too!" He had to check the route for potholes beforehand, as well as making sure he knew his lines, and said he was looking forward to it being over. He was worried about carrying the torch during the live broadcast, as he may have dropped it or it could have gone out. He stated that he, as an actor, was feeling more nervous than his character. Harold said of the rehearsals, "I have known about this live episode for such a long time but all of a sudden it has crept up on us. I am really nervous but now we have started rehearsing, I am feeling equally excited. It will definitely be an experience and I hope Perry runs smoothly!" She also said she was "terrified" of acting out the birth, saying she would prefer to give birth in real life. She said that filming the pre-recorded labour scenes meant she "was knackered after screaming and crying and pretending to push all day." In an interview with

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 initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

, she said that she was "really, really nervous" and that the prospect of acting the birth was "very scary", but added, "I really appreciate that they've given me the opportunity, especially considering that I haven't been here at ''EastEnders'' for that long. It's really nice that they've trusted me with it, so hopefully I'll do it justice! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll go well." To help prepare, she asked several women for advice, including her mother, and was told "It's the worst pain you can ever imagine!" She found it "quite difficult" to imagine what it would be like to act out as she has no children, but had watched

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

show ''

One Born Every Minute ''One Born Every Minute'' is a British observational documentary series which shows activities taking place in the labour ward. The programme ran for eleven series on Channel 4, premiering on 9 February 2010 and airing its final episode on 9 May ...

'' to help, as she did not want to "overdo the scene or make it look really fake." The episode was part of the official torch relay, and Fenwick ran with the real torch protection team dressed as an official torch bearer. The torch made a special detour from London to the ''EastEnders'' set in 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 BBC. The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. Th ...

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

. Fenwick's route saw him carry the torch from the fictional location of Bridge Street, past

The Queen Victoria ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the programme follows the ...

public house and around Albert Square. The majority of the episode was filmed in advance and the whole episode was directed by Clive Arnold, who said, "As the only drama asked to be involved with the Olympic Torch Relay, it is a huge honour for ''EastEnders'' and for everyone involved—a truly once in a lifetime opportunity. I was so excited and thrilled when I was asked to be part of the episode and I know that every member of cast and crew feel exactly the same way." The live scenes used 19 cameras, along with the 31 regular cast members, plus 11 child cast members and at least 450 extras. As the programme switched from pre-recorded to live scenes, Fenwick, in character, winked at the camera and said "Here we go!" Part of the relay was shown on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

"Billy's Olympic Nightmare"

"Billy's Olympic Nightmare" is a one-off spin-off episode of ''EastEnders'', broadcast via the

on 16 July 2012, to tie in with the episode where Billy is a torch bearer. This episode features Billy missing several promotional events. The episode stars comedian

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili (; born 30 September 1965) is a British comedian, actor, and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvane ...

as a cab driver named Hercules, plus athletes

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British Middle-distance running, middle distance Track and field, athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres, 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for ...

Tessa Sanderson Theresa Ione Sanderson (born 14 March 1956) is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's ja ...

Kriss Akabusi Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE (; born 28 November 1958), known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British broadcaster and former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete. His first international successes were with the British 4 × 400 metres re ...

, Mark Foster, newsreader

Sonali Shah Sonali Shah (born 26 July 1980 in Edgware, London) is a British television and radio broadcaster who currently presents Sunday Breakfast on Magic Radio as well as BBC television programme '' Escape to the Country'', ITV's Tonight and has her ...

, and television presenters

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's '' Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wi ...

and

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

as themselves. Perry said of the spin-off, "Filming this was like a dress rehearsal of my worst nightmare! It was strange filming at

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

as again, like Billy, I feel it's my home. I'm over the moon to be carrying the torch through Walford, and working with the likes of Dame Kelly Holmes has made me even more excited to do so!" Fenwick revealed that Djalili improvised some of his lines. Billy is set to carry the Olympic Torch through Walford and has 30 minutes before he has to collect the torch. Billy takes a taxicab to the BBC be interviewed on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

'' but discovers that the other torchbearers have already been interviewed. He is chased out of the studio by a security guard. Billy's next stop is

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

and again he discovers the torchbearers have already left. Billy then goes to

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their ...

and catches up with the other torchbearers but unfortunately Billy has lost his pass and is not allowed in. His taxi driver, Hercules, appears with Billy's pass and he takes part in the celebrations. Billy then wakes up in the hair and beauty salon in Walford and it turns out he was dreaming.

Reception

Pre-broadcast

Jane Rackham from the ''

'' called the episode "highly topical", while Tony Stewart from the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' said: "With London hosting the Games, this is an appropriate and ambitious story for 'East'''Enders'' to tackle", and called both Fenwick and Harold "superb". Boyd Hilton from ''

'' said Billy carrying the Olympic torch was a "gimmick", and said the entire episode should have been live, whilst ''Heat'' Karen Edwards said Harold acting out a live birth would be "amazing", adding, "much respect goes out to Danielle who will be working hard to make the episode a success."

Post-broadcast

Talking about Billy being stuck on the train, the ''Elstree & Borehamwood Times'' wrote: "Viewers sat biting their nails on tenterhooks, waiting to see if he would make it back to Walford in time." Karen Edwards from ''Heat'' called the episode "quite the special night" and said that it was "Not an easy task" for Fenwick. She called his wink "cheeky" and "brilliant", saying it "just showed how real the whole thing was". She added that it was "emotional" to watch, and said that Harold "did the best fake birth screaming we've seen in a long while. ..Pretty impressive work, we're sure you'll agree." Matt Brito from

Comedy Central UK Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and broadcast syndication, syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with ...

said the fact that nothing went wrong in the live broadcast was "boring". Laura Morgan from ''

'' said the live segment was "seamless", saying it deserved a gold medal for "the best thing on TV last night". She said she loved Fenwick's wink to the camera and praised Harold, saying the birth finished off the live segment "perfectly", adding: "Hats off to relative newbie Danielle Harold (aka Lola) for making the birth scenes look so realistic on live TV... That's no mean feat!" She also said it was "the perfect way to kick off the 2012 Olympic Games". After the episode, five of the ten top trending topics on social networking site

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

related to the live event.

Ratings

Overnight ratings showed that the episode was watched by 7.32 million people, a 31% share of the total viewing audience for that time, and the live section peaked at 7.9 million (32.6%). A repeat on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

received overnight ratings of 1.04 million (6.1%). However, this was down on the first episode shown that day, which received 7.59 million viewers, and rival soap opera ''

'', whose two episodes broadcast on ITV that day received overnight ratings of 7.68 million and 7.8 million respectively. Official ratings from the

Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Barb Audiences Ltd (formerly Broadcasters Audience Research Board) is a British organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV (T ...

showed that the episode gained 8.11 million viewers. It was the fourth most-watched programme on BBC One that week and the fifth most-watched programme on UK television that week, beaten by the previous episode of ''EastEnders'', the first episode of ''Coronation Street'' broadcast on that day, and the following Friday's broadcasts of the

2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proc ...

and opening ceremony countdown. The BBC Three repeat officially received 1.1 million viewers.

Award nominations

In February 2013, the episode was nominated for an ''

'' award for Best Episode, under the title "Billy and the Olympic Torch". In April 2013, the episode was nominated for "Spectacular Scene of the Year" at

The British Soap Awards 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. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal and glass and hav ...

, for Billy carrying the torch.

References

External links

* * {{EastEnders 4466 2012 British television episodes 2012 Summer Olympics Fiction set in 2012 Television episodes about human pregnancy Television episodes set in the 2010s