List of EastEnders characters (1985)
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 broadcast on 19 February 1985, and twenty-three main characters were already created for their first appearance. The first character to be seen was Den Watts, followed by Ali Osman and then Arthur Fowler, all of whom find Reg Cox dying in his flat. Ethel Skinner, Harold Legg and Pauline Fowler appear, after Den alerts them of Reg's death. With Ethel is her pug Willy along with Lou Beale. Saeed and Naima Jeffery are seen working in the local shop whilst Angie Watts is seen in The Queen Victoria, Walford's local pub. Nick Cotton and Sue Osman are next seen, whilst Pete and Kathy Beale work at the fruit and veg stall and Hassan Osman is seen with his parents in the café. Sharon Watts, Ian Beale and Michelle Fowler are next seen and Mark Fowler is seen going into the bookies. Lastly, Roly the dog is seen in the pub when a fight breaks out.
EastEnders
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?" However, Smith thought ""Eastenders"" "looked ugly written down" and was "hard to say", so decided to capitalise the second 'e'.