EastEnders
"EastEnders" is broadcast around the world in many 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 RTS (dubbed into 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.
Colin Russell (EastEnders)
Towards the end of 1988 Colin found new love, with a fellow yuppie — Guido Smith (Nicholas Donovan) — whom he met through his work. Colin's gay relationship was once again the cause of much controversy in January 1989 when "EastEnders" aired the first homosexual mouth-to-mouth kiss on British television. The chaste peck on the lips between Colin and Guido resulted in a front page denunciation in "The Sun" newspaper, who described it as "a homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs... when millions of children were watching". The kiss was watched by twenty million people and came at a time when Margaret Thatcher’s government had set forward a moral agenda that urged a return to traditional family values. "The Sun" printed the assertion that "Furious MPs last night demanded a ban on "EastEnders" as the BBC soap showed two men kissing full on the lips".