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.
List of EastEnders characters (1986)
Colin Russell, played by Michael Cashman, is a middle-class yuppie described as an amiable chap with a kind heart who often ends up being used by the less considerate locals. He is Walford's first on-screen gay resident and when his sexuality is eventually revealed it causes shockwaves around the Square. Colin is "EastEnders" first homosexual character. Introduced in August 1986, Colin was one of the more popular characters in the early years of the programme. At first the audience and the residents of Walford were kept in the dark about the fact that Colin was gay. This changed by the end of the year, at which time Colin acquired a young boyfriend named Barry Clark (Gary Hailes). Colin was one of the most controversial characters of his time – mainly because gay-orientated content was still relatively rare on prime-time television during the mid-1980s. Gay characters that existed were usually farcical, camp parodies, created purely for comic relief, such as Mr Humphries in the situation comedy, "Are You Being Served?".