EastEnders
"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 (Wendy Richard) and Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher) travelled to the Southend-on-Sea to find their son Mark, 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.
EastEnders spin-offs
The first "EastEnders" video, released on 22 September 1986, was "EastEnders – The Queen Vic", which looked at the major events in the lives of Angie Watts, Den Watts, Jan Hammond and Michelle Fowler, such as the birth of Michelle's baby, Vicki. The next video "EastEnders – The Den and Angie Years", released in 1994. It included all of Den and Angie's moments such as their second honeymoon. In 1998, "EastEnders – The Mitchells – Naked Truths" was released, which was put together by writers such as Simon Ashdown, Tony Jordan and Christopher Reason. This video looked back at some of the most memorable storylines of Phil, Grant and Peggy Mitchell. This was essentially a two-hander between Phil and Grant, set in The Queen Victoria public house, intercut with flashbacks.