When did EastEnders first air?
Watts family
When "EastEnders" began in 1985, the soap focused primarily around the affairs of three families: the Beales, Fowlers, and Watts. However, much of the show's early success stemmed from the drama surrounding the Watts, especially the antics of Den, who as owners of the Queen Vic pub (the show's most prominent set) were usually in the limelight. This prominence, at a time when "EastEnders" was at its most prolific in terms of both the media and audience, meant the Watts became perhaps "EastEnders" most eminent family and the characters known even to those who did not watch the show. Such was their success that producers went ahead with an experimental episode format centring on just Den and Angie, during which Angie lied about having cancer; so successful was the airing that it has since been repeated, and the format expanded to include "three" and "four-handers" (between 3 and 4 characters). Such episodes are highly prestigious and feature only the most popular and prominent characters in the show; thus, all the Watts, aside from Vicki, have featured in such episodes.
List of LGBT characters in soap operas
The show has been at the centre of much controversy regarding its gay characters kissing on-screen. It screened the first mouth-to-mouth gay soap kiss in the UK in 1989, leading some MPs to call for the programme to be banned. "EastEnders"' first regular lesbian characters provided the soap with its first lesbian kiss in 1994, provoking more complaints than any other UK television programme that year. This was followed by a "censored" homosexual kiss in 1996, which infuriated gay activists after the BBC cut the kiss from its original two seconds to a half-second, so they would not "startle" viewers. In 2007, a lesbian kiss prompted 211 complaints to the BBC, and in 2008, a kiss between two gay characters prompted 145 complaints from viewers who were "appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed [...] whilst young children are watching". The BBC released a statement saying: "We approach our portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships. In this instance, Christian is enjoying the first flush of romance and we've shown him being affectionate with his new boyfriend in the same way any couple would.""Emmerdale", previously known as "Emmerdale Farm", is a British soap opera broadcast by ITV, which has aired since October 1972. "Emmerdale" has featured numerous LGBT characters, including the first permanent lesbian character (Zoe Tate) in a British soap opera. It also featured the first civil partnership (between Paul Lambert and Jonny Foster) in a prime time British soap opera in 2008.
Della Alexander
Della and Binnie were the first lesbian couple to be featured in "EastEnders". Their inclusion was an attempt to portray positive examples of homosexual characters. Their lesbian kiss accounted for some 45 percent of viewer complaints to the BBC regarding "EastEnders" in 1994; provoking more complaints than any other television programme that year (according to research published by the Broadcasting Standards Council in 1995). In 2005 their lesbian kiss was featured in E4's "X Rated: Top 20 Most Controversial TV Moments", a documentary examining British TV's most talked about on-screen moments. It was placed at number 11 in the chart and, according to the poll, received an estimated 486 viewer complaints and 180 column inches in the British press. In 1995, bisexual actress Pam St. Clement, who plays Pat Evans, was asked if the lesbian storyline suffered from "seeming to follow the pack rather than lead it". She commented, "I think they realised there was something missing, but having given themselves that brief they didn't know what the fuck to do with it. I think Michael Cashman made Colin Russell so successful because he is a gay man. I'd never argue for somebody having to be a part to do it - you don't have to be a murderer to play Othello - and I think the two young girls [who played Della and Binnie] did what they could, but they couldn't really give the programme any help."
Soap opera
The 1986 Christmas Day episode of "EastEnders" is often referred to as the highest-rated UK soap opera episode ever, with 30.15 million viewers (more than half the population at the time). The figure of 30.15 million was actually a combination of the original broadcast, which had just over 19 million viewers, and the Sunday omnibus edition with 10 million viewers. The combined 30.15 million audience figure makes the aforementioned Christmas Day 1986 episode of "EastEnders" the highest-rated single-channel broadcast in the history of UK television. Overall it ranks third behind the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final (32.3 million viewers) and Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 (32.1 million viewers) which were transmitted on both BBC One and ITV.
List of EastEnders characters (2009)
"EastEnders" is a long-running BBC soap opera from the United Kingdom. This is a list of characters who first appeared on the programme during 2009, listed in order of their first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's executive producer, Diederick Santer.
List of awards and nominations received by EastEnders
At the British Academy Television Awards, "EastEnders" has won the Best Soap or Best Continuing Drama Award eight times, in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2016, with a further eight nominations (2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015), and Best Drama Series once, in 1997. The show has received 21 nominations in the Most Popular Serial Drama category at the National Television Awards, which it has won 12 times. It has also won Best Soap at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards four times, in 2002, 2009, 2010 and 2011, with further nominations in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Carmel Jackson
In July 1984, before "EastEnders" went to air, the show's creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, attended an opening evening at the Anna Scher Theatre School in North London, in order to find actors for roles in their upcoming serial. According to Holland and Smith, Anna Scher's school was unlike many other drama schools, where students were "ironed out", all looking and sounding the same. At Anna Scher's school, students' natural personalities and accents were encouraged, "her students aren't taught how to act, they're helped to dig inside themselves and be." In Holland and Smith's own words, this was "just the sort of non-acting that ["EastEnders"] was looking for".
Della Alexander
Della Alexander is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" played by Michelle Joseph from 1 March 1994 until 16 May 1995. Della is the first lesbian character to be featured on the show.
Bill Treacher
In late 1984, he was the first actor to be cast in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985 as Arthur Fowler, a role he played for the next 11 years. In fact the co-creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, had scripted the character with Treacher in mind. Treacher admitted in 2015 that he was initially reluctant to sign up for the show as it meant long hours and a sizeable commute to his family home in Suffolk but that he relented due to the chance of a steady income. He received much critical acclaim for the role, especially for his portrayal of his character's mental decline and subsequent nervous breakdown. The character also endured a succession of misfortunes, which included two short spells in prison, a persistent struggle with unemployment, his daughter Michelle's pregnancy at the age of 16, his son Mark's diagnosis with HIV, and a midlife crisis where he had an affair which almost broke up his marriage.
Emmerdale
"Emmerdale" was broadcast in Australia for the first time in July 2006, when UKTV began airing the 2006 series with episode 4288. As of April 2016, UKTV episodes are from July 2014, twenty one months behind the UK airings.
Danniella Westbrook
At the age of 16, Westbrook was put forward for a much bigger role in "EastEnders", Sam Mitchell (the younger sister of Phil and Grant). Her audition was successful and her first appearance on EastEnders was aired in July 1990. Despite featuring in some prominent storylines, Westbrook decided to leave the soap in 1993 to take another role. In 1995, the producers at "EastEnders" asked her back to the soap a second time. However, Westbrook was regularly using cocaine and it began to affect her work. Due to her off-screen antics and her poor and tardy attendance on set, the producers of "EastEnders" terminated her contract and she was written out of the soap again in 1996.
Andy O'Brien (EastEnders)
Andy O'Brien is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Ross Davidson. One of the original characters created for the series, Andy made his first appearance one month after the show first broadcast, in the 10th episode on 21 March 1985. Portrayed as altruistic and middle-classed, Andy and his girlfriend Debbie were an attempt to represent gentrification of the East End. Despite Davidson claiming that there had been plans for his character, Andy is the first regular character in "EastEnders" to be killed off. Davidson claimed this was due to an altercation between himself and Executive Producer and show creator, Julia Smith. His death scene aired in August 1986.
List of awards and nominations received by EastEnders
The TV Choice Awards, awarded by "TV Choice" magazine, began in 1997 as the TV Quick Awards. Between 2005 and 2009 they were known as the TV Quick and TV Choice Awards. They are voted for by readers of the magazine.
Diederick Santer
Santer became Executive Producer of "EastEnders" on 23 October 2006, his first episode airing on 5 January 2007, replacing Kate Harwood . He introduced several characters to the show, including ethnic minority and gay characters to make the show 'feel more 21st Century'. Characters he introduced include Zainab Masood, Shabnam Masood, Masood Ahmed, Tamwar Masood, Christian Clarke, Whitney Dean, Tiffany Dean, Ronnie Mitchell, Roxy Mitchell, Archie Mitchell, Jack Branning, Heather Trott, Lucas Johnson, Ryan Malloy and Syed Masood. He also reintroduced a number of previous characters to the programme including Janine Butcher, Bianca Jackson, Steven Beale and Louise Mitchell. He also axed a number of characters including Kevin Wicks, Deano Wicks, Carly Wicks, Mickey Miller, Keith Miller, Honey Mitchell, Yolande Trueman, Garry Hobbs and Dawn Swann. He was also responsible for recasting the role of Bobby Beale
EastEnders Live
On 15 September 2009, the BBC announced plans to broadcast the first ever live episode of "EastEnders", to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. The air date was set for 19 February 2010, with the episode to be broadcast from the BBC's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. "EastEnders" executive producer Diederick Santer initially refrained from discussing the episode's plot, but commented that it would resolve a "big storyline" which would "keep the audience (as well as the cast and crew) guessing until the very last moment." "EastEnders" storylines saw Archie Mitchell, landlord of The Queen Victoria public house murdered on Christmas Day 2009, with many characters considered potential suspects in the crime. Santer confirmed that the killer would be revealed in the live episode, and that their identity would be kept secret until the night of broadcast, even from the cast member playing them. Another aspect of the episode is the remarriage of characters Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen). Santer deemed it the "soap wedding of the year—and perhaps the soap wedding of the decade", commenting that playing the romance against the "thriller" of the "whodunnit" storyline provided a balance he hoped audiences would be "gripped by and satisfied with."
Ali Osman
Ali Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Nejdet Salih. He was a member of the original "EastEnders" cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985. He remained with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his last appearance on 10 October 1989. Ali was scripted as happy-go-lucky, which was in stark contrast to his highly strung wife, Sue (Sandy Ratcliff). Central to his storylines were his penchant for gambling, his tempestuous marriage, and the loss of his son to cot death, which was one of the first controversial storylines covered by the soap. He was created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland, the creators of "EastEnders".
EastEnders
In October 2009, a 12-part Internet spin-off series entitled "" was announced. The series was conceived by executive producer Diederick Santer "as a way of nurturing new, young talent, both on- and off-screen, and exploring the stories of the soaps' anonymous bystanders." "E20" features a group of sixth-form characters and targets the ""Hollyoaks" demographic". It was written by a team of young writers and was shown three times a week on the "EastEnders" website from 8 January 2010. A second 10-part series started in September 2010, with twice-weekly episodes available online and an omnibus on BBC Three. A third series of 15 episodes started in September 2011.
EastEnders
In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of "EastEnders" on digital channel BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This was to coincide with the relaunch of the channel and helped BBC Three break the one million viewers mark for the first time with 1.03 million who watched to see Mark Fowler's departure. According to the "EastEnders" website, there are on average 208 episodes outputted each year.
Danny-Boy Hatchard
On 21 January 2014, Hatchard was cast in the role of Lee Carter in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders". He began filming his first scenes in February. It was announced in 2016 that Hatchard would leave "EastEnders" in 2017.
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".
EastEnders
A new era began in 1990 with the introduction of Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp)—the Mitchell brothers—successful characters who would go on to dominate the soap thereafter. As the new production team cleared the way for new characters and a new direction, all of the characters introduced under Gibbon were axed from the show at the start of the year. Ferguson introduced other characters and was responsible for storylines including HIV, Alzheimer's disease and murder. After a successful revamp of the soap, Ferguson decided to leave "EastEnders" in July 1991. Furguson was succeeded by both Leonard Lewis and Helen Greaves who initially shared the role as Executive Producer for "EastEnders". Lewis and Greaves formulated a new regime for "EastEnders", giving the writers of the serial more authority in storyline progression, with the script department providing "guidance rather than prescriptive episode storylines". By the end of 1992, Greaves left and Lewis became executive and series producer. He left "EastEnders" in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 60 to 90 minutes. Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. Having set up the transition to the new schedule, the first trio of episodes—dubbed The Vic siege—marked Lewis's departure from the programme. Barbara Emile then became the Executive Producer of "EastEnders", remaining with "EastEnders" until early 1995. She was succeeded by Corinne Hollingworth.
Sean O'Connor (producer)
O'Connor's first episode as Executive Producer aired on 11 July 2016. Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. On 23 June 2017, it was announced that O'Connor would be leaving "EastEnders" after a year in the role of executive producer. O'Connor said: "I've had an amazing time at "EastEnders." Working with the editorial staff, cast and crew at Elstree has been an absolute privilege. They are the kindest, most loyal and hard-working team in the business. But my heart lies in feature films and I'm hugely excited as my film projects are now reaching production. I'll enjoy watching "EastEnders" go from strength to strength but will miss everybody enormously. Elstree really is a place where you make friends for life." O'Connor's final episode as Executive Producer aired on 24 November 2017.
EastEnders in popular culture
Since its premiere in 1985, the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" has had a large impact on popular culture.
Barry Clark (EastEnders)
Colin and Barry were two of the most controversial characters of their 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?". Although "EastEnders" was not the first UK, televised soap to include a gay character — Channel 4's "Brookside" had that distinction — the portrayal of an openly gay male — let alone a homosexual relationship — on a prime time, pre-watershed BBC programme was unheard of before Colin and Barry's introduction. The licence-funded BBC held a far greater audience share than the commercially-funded Channel 4, thus public reaction to "EastEnders"' gay characters was much stronger and more widely documented in the British press.
BBC Three
Numerous popular series were either repeated on the channel or have spin-offs created from them. In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of popular BBC soap opera "EastEnders" on BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This programming decision coincided with the relaunch of the channel and helped it break the one million viewers milestone for the first time. An episode of "EastEnders Revealed", which was commissioned for BBC Three and looking behind the scenes of the programme, attracted 611,000 viewers. In 2005, BBC Three commissioned the documentary series "Doctor Who Confidential", which was shown immediately after episodes of the new series of "Doctor Who" had been screened on BBC One. This was followed up in July 2005, when it began to screen repeats of both programmes.
Dot Cotton
An enduring friendship featured in "EastEnders" was the one shared between the characters Dot Cotton and Ethel Skinner (played by Gretchen Franklin), first shown on-screen in 1985 and ending with Ethel's death in 2000, though the characters shared a backstory set prior to 1985 and were scripted as neighbours who grew old together in East London, along with Lou Beale (Anna Wing). "BBC News" has described Dot and Ethel as an "incomparable double-act [...] Occasionally spiky and often hilarious". Dot and Ethel shared few similarities in personality. During an episode that aired in 2008, just under 8 years after Ethel died in the serial, Dot discussed the differences between them: "Ethel was a free spirit, not like me. All bottled up. I remember sitting on the step of the Vic, waiting for me mother. I caught a glimpse of her through the door. Sitting on top of the piano, her legs spread, showing next week's washing and bawling out "Roll Out the Barrel". Just like a navvy. She didn't seem to have a care in the world. I had enough for both of us. I loved Ethel." Critic for "The Guardian", Nancy Banks-Smith, discussed the characters' relationship in 2008, comparing them to the girls written about by Dylan Thomas: "There was always one pretty and pert [Ethel], and always one in glasses [Dot]." Banks-Smith adds that theirs was "a symbiotic relationship in which the pretty one looks even prettier by contrast and the plain one is popular by proxy. Which is not to say it is not a real and enduring friendship."
EastEnders
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EastEnders
"EastEnders" is the BBC's most consistent programme in terms of ratings. It has proved highly popular and Appreciation Indexes reflected this, rising from 55–60 at the launch to 85–95 later on, a figure which was nearly 10 points higher than the average for a British soap opera. Research suggested that people found the characters true to life, the plots believable and, importantly in the face of criticism of the content, people watched as a family and regarded it as viewing for all the family. Based on market research by BBC commissioning in 2003, "EastEnders" is most watched by 60- to 74-year-olds, closely followed by 45- to 59-year-olds. An average "EastEnders" episode attracts a total audience share between 35 and 40 per cent. The same-day repeat showing on BBC Three attracted an average of 500,000 viewers, whilst the Sunday omnibus generally attracted 3 million. "EastEnders" is one of the more popular programmes on British television and while the show's ratings have fallen since its initial surge in popularity and the advent of multichannel digital television, the programme continues to be successful for the BBC. "EastEnders" two main rivals are ITV soaps "Coronation Street" and "Emmerdale".
The launch show in 1985 attracted 17.35 million viewers. 25 July 1985 was the first time the show's viewership rose to first position in the weekly top 10 shows for BBC One. The highest rated episode of "EastEnders" is the Christmas Day 1986 episode, which attracted a combined 30.15 million viewers who tuned into either the original transmission or the omnibus to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to his wife Angie. This remains the highest rated episode of a soap in British television history.
East End of London in popular culture
"EastEnders", a BBC soap opera broadcast since 1985, is set in the fictional London Borough of Walford. The programme is actually filmed at a purpose-built set at the Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, and the paradigms for the show are thought to lie beyond the East End, in Stratford and Walthamstow. In that, the programme does represent the diaspora of East Enders who have moved out of the district, and draws on the themes of family and social integration. The show rarely evidences changes occurring to east London, such as the Docklands development. An earlier programme, "Till Death Us Do Part" (1965–1975) attempted to satirise the stereotypical attitudes of an East Ender, Alf Garnett, played by Warren Mitchell. The locale for this programme has been variously placed in Wapping and West Ham, with the principal character a supporter of West Ham United F.C.. The comedic theme of the programme was the interaction between members of the family, and the inability of the principal character to adapt to the rapid changes in his world. The piece inspired the hit American remake "All in the Family", among others.
Leonard Lewis
In 1990 Lewis began directing for BBC's flagship soap opera, "EastEnders". By the end of 1991 he had been promoted to co-producer along with Helen Greaves, both taking over charge of the show following the departure of executive producer, Michael Ferguson. Lewis and Greaves formulated a new regime for "EastEndrers", giving the writers of the serial more authority in storyline progression, with the script department providing "guidance rather than prescriptive episode storylines". By the end of 1992 Helen Greaves left the serial and Lewis became executive and series producer. Among the notable storylines that aired under Lewis' tenure were, Arthur Fowler's affair with Christine Hewitt, Pat Butcher's drunk-driving accident, the death of Gill Fowler, Sharon Watts's affair with her brother-in-law Phil Mitchell, and the reintroduction of Cindy Beale. Other characters introduced included, David Wicks, Mandy Salter, Richard Cole, Sanjay Kapoor, Christine Hewitt, Nigel Bates, Natalie Price and the Jackson family, while axings included Pete Beale, and some of Tavernier family. Lewis decided to leave "EastEnders" in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 1hr (two episodes), to 1.5hrs (3 episodes). Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. Having set up the transition to the new schedule, the first trio of episodes — dubbed The Vic siege — marked Lewis' departure from the programme. He went on to retire completely in 1995.
Ethel Skinner
Ethel's original character outline states that she was born in 1920. However, during the series this was altered to 1916 and for many years her birthday fell on 19 February. When Ethel came back to Walford to die in 2000, she revealed to Dot that she had lied about her age for many years. She was actually 86, not 85 (the character was aged two years, in a dramatic technique known as SORAS making her birthday fall in 1914). Ethel died on what she claimed was the night of her 86th birthday in September 2000, and although Dot knew very well her birthday was in February, she organised a party at Ethel's request to give her one last 'birthday' before she died. 19 February is also the day that EastEnders was first broadcast.
BBC television drama
Jonathan Powell's attempt to repeat the success of "EastEnders" in 1992, when he had become Controller of BBC One, led to one of the BBC's most notorious and costly failures. "Eldorado" was set in the British expatriate community in Spain, created by the same team of Julia Smith and Tony Holland who had come up with "EastEnders". The costly soap opera, hugely maligned by critics and the victim of a viewer backlash against the massive advertising campaign the BBC had undertaken to promote it, was scrapped by Powell's successor Alan Yentob after less than a year's run, under pressure from the Director-General of the BBC John Birt.
EastEnders: E20
The first series was written by a team of 13 writers from London aged between 17 and 22 who responded to a writing competition and attended a summer school in August 2009 as part of the BBC's new talent initiative, where they created the entire series. The summer school took place over four weeks, with the first two weeks in Theatre Royal Stratford East and the last two at the BBC centre at Elstree Studios. The writers did not know they would be writing a spin-off to "EastEnders" until they arrived. The writers, including Florence Vincent, Alex Oates, Kashman Harris and Emer Kenny, also wrote the ten episodes of series 2. They are from various parts of London, which Sathe said was "brilliant" as they represent different parts of life in London, and they have grown up with the Internet as a native medium. Santer stated that the writers created a new Walford, calling it a "fresh perspective on a British classic." The writers were given a day to travel around East London to listen to people talking to get ideas. Sathe commented: "We created some brilliant scenes from the eavesdropping stuff." After the summer school, the writers were commissioned to write the 12 episodes of series 1. Some of the scripts were allowed by be changed by the actors if they thought lines were not authentic, such as the use of London street slang. Sathe considered the use of slang to be a highlight of the series, calling it her proudest moment. Storylining and character creation for series 2 started in January 2010. The third series used mostly different writers to the first two. Each potential writer had to send in a monologue for a character they would like to see on television and the production team chose their favourites. The writers were then asked to write a scene between their character and one of the established "EastEnders" characters. Following this, the writers were interviewed and the most promising fifteen were selected. Kenny returned as a writer for series 3 and was joined by several of the young "EastEnders" cast members: Arinze Kene (Connor Stanley), Himesh Patel (Tamwar Masood) and Charlie G Hawkins (Darren Miller).
Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who" and the soap opera "EastEnders" that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwich and the "EastEnders" Albert Square set, situated at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. It features several of the "EastEnders" stars of the time. Produced for the "Children in Need" charity, following "Doctor Who"'s hiatus in 1989 this special was the only dramatisation broadcast in celebration of the show's 30th anniversary.
Tony Jordan
He had left school with no qualifications. For his work in "EastEnders", he is particularly known for creating the Slater family along with then producer, John Yorke. Amongst significant episodes he scripted are those featuring the deaths of Arthur Fowler and Ethel Skinner; the "Sharongate" storyline; and more recently Kat's revelation to Zoe that she was her mother, the Andy-Kat-Alfie love triangle, and Dot's monologue. He was the first writer to do "EastEnders" when it began airing three times a week, when the siege at The Queen Victoria took place in 1994. He continued to work on "EastEnders" through a period which saw a reversal in its hitherto declining fortunes, with the programme winning the Most Popular Soap category at the National Television Awards in 2005. He wrote the first two episodes (broadcast on 24 and 25 October 2005) for the return of the characters of Phil and Grant Mitchell, popular characters he had originally helped to create back in 1989.
Pete Beale
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the creators of "EastEnders"; he was based on a member of Holland's family. Pete is featured in the soap for eight years as the local fruit and veg trader of Albert Square; he is a member of the original focal clan in the serial, the Beales and Fowlers. Pete is portrayed as a macho and somewhat insensitive individual who struggles to cope with emotion. Pete was axed from the soap in 1993 and departed in May that year after over eight years on-screen. The character was killed off-screen later that year following Peter Dean's public criticism of the BBC.
Angels (TV series)
Julia Smith enlisted Tony Holland as "Angels" script editor after the show became a twice-weekly soap. Smith and Holland went on to create "EastEnders" in the 1980s. Writers on its first series included Jill Hyem and Anne Valery – who both later co-wrote "Tenko" – and Adele Rose.
EastEnders in popular culture
A charity special crossover between the science fiction television series "Doctor Who" and "EastEnders", "Dimensions in Time", was filmed in 1993 for Children in Need and ran in two parts on 26 November and 27 November 1993. It has been proven as non-canon by various references of "Doctor Who" as fiction in "EastEnders", and vice versa. "EastEnders" has participated in numerous other Children in Need and other fundraisers.
Characters have also been spoofed in the successful BBC comedy sketch show, "The Real McCoy" (1991–1995). "EastEnders" and its characters were frequently spoofed in the impressionist sketch show "Big Impression", starring Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. "Big Impression" once screened a one-off special, focusing on "EastEnders", called "Alistair McGowan's BigEnders". The cartoon sketch show "2DTV" has also spoofed "EastEnders" on many occasions.
EastEnders
On 1 December 2012, the BBC uploaded the first 54 episodes of "EastEnders" to YouTube, and on 23 July 2013 they uploaded a further 14 episodes bringing the total to 68. These have since been taken down.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
EastEnders: Back to Ours is a series which aired on BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button. The first series contains six episodes, made available over the course of 27 January–12 February 2015 as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations. On 18 September 2015, a second run of two episodes was announced, to be shown on 28 September and 2 October 2015. It returned for a third time on 1 January 2016 for a one-off special. It features several cast members, past and present, looking over their greatest moments on the show, in a format similar to "Gogglebox". The first series attracted 2.8 million requests.
Karl Neilson
Neilson's television career began as an assistant director on "EastEnders" all the way back in 1998. Alongside "EastEnders", he was also the assistant director for "Silent Witness". It was then in September 2001 that Neilson appeared officially in the credits as a director, when he directed his first episode of "EastEnders". In 2004, a double episode set in the launderette with Dot Cotton telling Den Watts she had cancer won a TV Moments award, named as 'Best Popular Drama Moment' of 2004.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
"EastEnders: The Whole Truth" was a series of five documentary episodes, three pre-recorded and two live, broadcast every day from 2–6 April 2001, presented by Gaby Roslin. The first three, pre-recorded episodes were broadcast at 12:00pm, whereas the two live episodes were broadcast before the main "EastEnders" shows on those days. "EastEnders: The Whole Truth" examined the "Who Shot Phil?" storyline, including interviews with several cast members. Episode 5 was broadcast before the assailant, Lisa Fowler, was revealed to the public, and episode 6 gauged the reaction the following evening.
Witches of East End (TV series)
"Witches of East End" premiered in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2013 on the second night of the newly formed UK channel, Lifetime UK. The second season premiered on August 25, 2014. In Australia, "Witches of East End" premiered on Eleven on August 4, 2014.
EastEnders
Since 1985, "EastEnders" has remained at the centre of BBC One's primetime schedule. Since 2001, it has been broadcast at 7:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and 8pm on Monday and Friday. "EastEnders" was originally broadcast twice weekly at 7:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 19 February 1985. However, in September 1985 the two episodes were moved to 7:30pm as Michael Grade did not want the soap running in direct competition with "Emmerdale Farm", and this remained the same until 7 April 1994. The BBC had originally planned to take advantage of the 'summer break' that "Emmerdale Farm" usually took to capitalise on ratings, but ITV1 added extra episodes and repeats so that "Emmerdale Farm" was not taken off the air over the summer. Realising the futility of the situation, Grade decided to move the show to the later 7:30pm slot, but to avoid tabloid speculation that it was a "panic move" on the BBC's behalf, they had to "dress up the presentation of that move in such a way as to protect the show" giving "all kinds of reasons" for the move.
List of EastEnders characters (1986)
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" in 1986, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the show's co-creator Julia Smith. The first character to be introduced during the year is John Fisher (Dave Dale), a drag queen hired for The Queen Victoria pub. Jan Hammond (Jane How), the long-term mistress of Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), was introduced in January. March sees the first appearances of The Firm mobster Brad Williams (Jonathan Stratt), Dot Cotton's (June Brown) husband Charlie Cotton (Christopher Hancock) and new brewery area manager James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde). The newborn daughter of Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), Vicki Fowler (Emma Herry), was introduced in May. Judith Jacob and Pam St. Clement made their debuts as health visitor Carmel Jackson and Pat Butcher, the former wife of Pete Beale (Peter Dean), in June. June also sees the beginning of a new storyline, The Banned, which introduces Harry Reynolds (Gareth Potter), Tessa Parker (Josephine Melville) and Eddie Hunter (Simon Henderson). Irene (Katherine Parr), the aunt of Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt), begins appearing from July. Michael Cashman and Donald Tandy joined the cast as middle-class yuppie Colin Russell and army war veteran Tom Clements respectively in August. New general practitioner Jaggat Singh (Amerjit Deu) and Barry Clark (Gary Hailes), a love interest for Colin, make their first appearances in November. Rezaul Kabir (Tanveer Ghani), the cousin of Naima Jeffery (Shreela Ghosh), is introduced in December. Additionally, multiple other characters appear throughout the year.
Colin Russell (EastEnders)
A relationship between Colin and Barry was quickly developed and the residents of Albert Square gossiped in hushed voices about the true nature of their friendship. In 1987 "EastEnders" was responsible for screening the first ever gay kiss in a UK soap opera, much to the outrage of the viewing public. A small kiss on the forehead, given to Barry from Colin, received a record number of complaints from angry viewers. In addition, the right-wing British press reacted with fury. They began a smear campaign, branding the programme 'filth' and, for a while, dubbed the show "EastBenders". There were even questions in parliament about whether it was appropriate to have gay men in a family show when AIDS was sweeping the country.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
There have been three special editions of "The Weakest Link" relating to "EastEnders", on 1 March 2001, 26 June 2008, and in February 2010 for "EastEnders" 25th anniversary, which featured past and present "EastEnders" cast including Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), Larry Lamb (Archie Mitchell) and John Partridge (Christian Clarke). It was won by Laurie Brett, who plays Jane Beale.
EastEnders in Paris
"EastEnders" in Paris" (also known as "EastEnders": Paris Specials") is a three-episode special of the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" that was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 10, 11, and 12 July 1998. The episodes coincided with the real-life events of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with part three being broadcast as a segment within the BBC's coverage of the World Cup itself. It was written by Sarah Harding, directed by John Derek, and executively produced by Matthew Robinson and Mal Young. The special focuses on Barry (Shaun Williamson), Robbie (Dean Gaffney), Huw (Richard Elis) and Lenny (Desune Coleman) finding a way to get to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It also includes Roy (Tony Caunter) and Pat (Pam St Clement) sightseeing in Paris. The episodes received an average viewership of 7.87million in the United Kingdom.
List of awards and nominations received by Emmerdale
Emmerdale is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The show has earned various awards and nominations over the years for its cast performances and storylines.
EastEnders
According to Barbara Jurgen who re-wrote the scripts for a Dutch audience he said "The power of the show is undeniable. The Scripts are full of hard, sharp drama, plus great one-liners which will translate well to Holland." The Dutch version began broadcasting on VARA 13 March 1993 but was cancelled after 20 episodes.
Screening of soap operas in Australia
"Emmerdale" is a British soap opera that began airing on BBC UKTV in July 2006 from episode 4288. It currently airs at 6:20 pm EST each weeknight. In 2006,BBC UKTV Aust. were showing episodes four months behind the UK. "Emmerdale" is a six episodes a week series, but only five a week were being screened. Thus over a period of years since 2006, a time lag of episodes developed.From 16 October 2017 BBC UKTV Aust. commenced screening two episodes nighty from Monday to Friday, as a planned catch up,as episodes being aired in Australia at that time were 2 years behind the UK airings. As of January 2019 episodes being aired are from October 2017.
EastEnders
On 2 March 2007, BBC signed a deal with Google to put videos on YouTube. A behind the scenes video of "EastEnders", hosted by Matt Di Angelo, who played Deano Wicks on the show, was put on the site the same day, and was followed by another on 6 March 2007. In April 2007, "EastEnders" became available to view on mobile phones, via 3G technology, for 3, Vodafone and Orange customers. On 21 April 2007, the BBC launched a new advertising campaign using the slogan "There's more to "EastEnders"". The first television advert showed Dot Branning with a refugee baby, Tomas, whom she took in under the pretence of being her grandson. The second and third featured Stacey Slater and Dawn Swann, respectively. There have also been adverts in magazines and on radio.
EastEnders
Sean O'Connor, former "EastEnders" series story producer and then-editor on radio soap opera "The Archers", was announced to be taking over the role. Treadwell-Collins left on 6 May and O'Connor's first credited episode was broadcast on 11 July Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. Additionally, Oliver Kent was brought in as the Head of Continuing Drama Series for BBC Scripted Studios, meaning that Kent would oversee "EastEnders" along with O'Connor. O'Connor's approach to the show was to have a firmer focus on realism, which he said was being "true to "EastEnders" DNA and [finding] a way of capturing what it would be like if Julia Smith and Tony Holland were making the show now." He said that ""EastEnders" has always had a distinctly different tone from the other soaps but over time we've diluted our unique selling point. I think we need to be ourselves and go back to the origins of the show and what made it successful in the first place. It should be entertaining but it should also be informative—that's part of our unique BBC compact with the audience. It shouldn't just be a distraction from your own life, it should be an exploration of the life shared by the audience and the characters." O'Connor planned to stay with "EastEnders" until the end of 2017, but announced his departure on 23 June 2017 with immediate effect, saying he wanted to concentrate on a career in film. John Yorke returned as a temporary executive consultant. Kent said, "John Yorke is a Walford legend and I am thrilled that he will be joining us for a short period to oversee the show and to help us build on Sean's legacy while we recruit a long-term successor." Yorke initially returned for three months but his contract was later extended.
In July 2018, a special episode was aired as part of a knife crime storyline. This episode, which showed the funeral of Shakil Kazemi (Shaheen Jafargholi) interspersed with real people talking about their true-life experiences of knife crime.
On 8 August 2018, it was announced that Kate Oates, who has previously been a producer on the ITV soap operas "Emmerdale" and "Coronation Street", would become Senior Executive Producer of "EastEnders", as well of "Holby City" and "Casualty". Oates began her role in October, and continued to work with Yorke until the end of the year to "ensure a smooth handover". It was also announced that Oates was looking for an Executive Producer to work under her. Jon Sen was announced on 10 December 2018 to be taking on the role of executive producer.
Emmerdale
By 2000, "Emmerdale" episodes were regularly getting 12 million viewers, and the number of episodes per week was increased from three to five. An ITV talent show, "Soapstars", was held in 2001 to cast the new five-member Calder family; the Calders made their debut on the show in November that year, and all members had left by August 2002. In 2004, "Emmerdale" became the first British soap opera to broadcast six episodes a week. By 2006, Emmerdale was contending with, and at times beating, "EastEnders" in viewership.
Antonia Bird
Bird was named Resident Director at the Royal Court Theatre in 1978. She was appointed Artistic Director of the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs, London's leading venue for new writing. Her first television production was "Submariners" (1983), an adaptation of one of her Royal Court productions which she directed for the BBC. She was recruited by the originators and founding producers of "EastEnders", Julia Smith and Tony Holland, to direct the series in 1985; she directed seventeen episodes, including the series' first two-hander, between the characters Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson).
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?".
EastEnders: E20
EastEnders: E20 (sometimes just E20) is a British Internet soap opera, which began airing on 8 January 2010. A spin-off from the established BBC soap "EastEnders", it is set in "EastEnders" regular setting of Albert Square, a Victorian square in the fictional borough of Walford, in the East End of London. Each series follows a group of teenage characters: Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny), Leon Small (Sam Attwater), Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) and Mercy Olubunmi (Bunmi Mojekwu) in series 1; Asher Levi (Heshima Thompson) and his brother Sol (Tosin Cole), Naz Mehmet (Emaa Hussen), and Stevie Dickinson (Amanda Fairbank-Hynes) in series 2; and Ava Bourne (Sophie Colquhoun), Donnie Lester (Samuell Benta) and Faith Olubunmi (Modupe Adeyeye) in series 3. The show's title comes from Walford's fictional London postcode district, E20. The four characters from series 1 also appear in "EastEnders", as well as Faith from series 3.
Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Michelle Gayle between 5 July 1990 and 21 December 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson. The Taverniers were the first collective black family to join the soap at the same time. Portrayed as an intelligent, independent young woman, Hattie remained in the serial after the departures of many of her screen family, covering issues such as miscarriage and sexual harassment.
EastEnders spin-offs
The first "EastEnders" DVD was "Slaters in Detention", released in November 2003 and also available on VHS. It contained a special comedic episode of "EastEnders" starring the Slater family. It was written by Tony Jordan, who helped devise the characters. It began with the female members of the Slater family dressed up in school uniform for a local disco, and they end up in a police cell where they reflect on the events of their lives, such as Kat revealing that Zoe was her daughter and Little Mo's marriage to Trevor Morgan. It also includes outtakes and an alternative ending to Little Mo's trial.
List of EastEnders characters (1985)
Pauline Fowler played by Wendy Richard between 1985 and 2006 is the wife of Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher). Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer Julia Smith as one of "EastEnders" original characters. She makes her debut in the soap's first episode on 19 February 1985, and remains for twenty-one years and ten months, making her the second longest-running original character, surpassed only by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Pauline was a staple in the UK press during her time in "EastEnders", representative of the symbiosis between Britain's soaps and tabloid newspapers. Widely read tabloids, such as "The Sun" and "Daily Mirror", would routinely publish articles about forthcoming developments in Pauline's storylines. Critical opinion on the character differs. She has been described as a "legend" and a television icon, but was also voted the 35th "most annoying person of 2006" (being the only fictional character to appear on the list). The character is well known even outside the show's viewer-base, and away from the on-screen serial, Pauline has been the subject of television documentaries, behind-the-scenes books, tie-in novels and comedy sketch shows.
Michael Ferguson (director)
Michael Ferguson (born 14 June 1937) is a British script writer, television director and television producer. Ferguson was executive producer of the BBC soap opera, "EastEnders" between 1989 and 1991. He was responsible for the introduction of two of the soap's most popular and long-running characters, Phil and Grant Mitchell, in 1990. He also directed and produced ITV's popular police drama "The Bill", and directed four serials of the BBC's science fiction series "Doctor Who" between 1966 and 1971.
EastEnders spin-offs
"EastEnders" first audio drama, "EastEnders: The Podcast", started on 28 November 2018, consisting of four episodes.
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.
EastEnders Live
"EastEnders Live" is a live episode of the British television soap opera "EastEnders", broadcast on BBC One on 19 February 2010. The episode was commissioned as part of the show's 25th anniversary celebrations, and was the first "EastEnders" episode to be broadcast live. It was the series' 3952nd episode, and was written by Simon Ashdown, directed by Clive Arnold and produced by Diederick Santer. The episode concludes a "whodunnit" storyline "Who Killed Archie?", about the murder of Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb), revealing his killer to be Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner). It also sees the exit of Charlie Clements as Bradley Branning, who dies after falling from the roof of The Queen Victoria public house.
Happy Endings (TV series)
The first season of the show premiered on ABC on April 13, 2011, and concluded on May 25. The premiere aired at a special time at 9:31pm after "Modern Family" and was followed by another episode in the show's regular timeslot at 10pm. The show was originally set to air a single episode each week that followed, but ABC decided to air a fourth episode immediately after the third episode on April 20, 2011, at 10:30pm. On April 29, 2011, it was announced that the show would air two episodes a week for three weeks at 10pm and 10:30pm beginning May 4, 2011.
EastEnders
"EastEnders" was regularly repeated at 10pm on BBC Choice from the channel's launch in 1998, a practice continued by BBC Three for many years until mid-2012 with the repeat moving to 10:30pm. From 25 December 2010 to 29 April 2011 the show was repeated on BBC HD in a Simulcast with BBC Three. In 2015, the BBC Three repeat moved back to 10pm. In February 2016, the repeat moved to W, the rebranded Watch, after BBC Three became an online-only channel. W stopped showing "EastEnders" in April 2018. Episodes of "EastEnders" are available on-demand through BBC iPlayer for 30 days after their original screening.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
EastEnders Xtra was an interactive entertainment series based on "EastEnders". It was first available to viewers in February 2005, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of "EastEnders". Television viewers could watch the show by pressing the red button on their television remote, at 8.30pm on Monday nights. The programme was presented by CBBC presenter Angellica Bell and was approximately 15 to 20 minutes in length. It was primarily aimed at younger fans of "EastEnders". It featured games and interviews with cast members, looked behind the scenes and allowed viewers to take part in quizzes on their mobile phones. The series was produced by Simon Hall. The theme and music used within the show was a rocked up version of the "EastEnders" theme tune.
EastEnders
The launch was delayed until February 1985 due to a delay in the chat show "Wogan", that was to be a part of the major revamp in BBC1's schedules. Smith was uneasy about the late start as "EastEnders" no longer had the winter months to build up a loyal following before the summer ratings lull. The press were invited to Elstree to meet the cast and see the lot, and stories immediately started circulating about the show, about a rivalry with ITV (who were launching their own market-based soap, "Albion Market") and about the private lives of the cast. Anticipation and rumour grew in equal measure until the first transmission at 7p.m. on 19 February 1985. Both Holland and Smith could not watch; they both instead returned to the place where it all began, Albertine's Wine Bar on Wood Lane. The next day, viewing figures were confirmed at 17million. The reviews were largely favourable, although, after three weeks on air, BBC1's early evening share had returned to the pre-"EastEnders" figure of seven million, though "EastEnders" then climbed to highs of up to 23million later on in the year. Following the launch, both group discussions and telephone surveys were conducted to test audience reaction to early episodes. Detailed reactions were taken after six months and since then regular monitoring was conducted.
EastEnders spin-offs
"EastEnders" is a long-running British soap opera that has aired on BBC One since 19 February 1985. Since its inception, several spin-offs have been produced, including books, television documentaries, videos, music singles and an album. During the run up to the first episode of "EastEnders", interest with the public was already high, something which continued afterwards. "EastEnders" proved as successful as was hoped for by the BBC in its first years, so they capitalised on it with a number of products.
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'.
Patrick Trueman
Following the airing of "EastEnders"' first all-black cast episode in the show's history in 2009, the BBC received criticism for not adequately advertising the event. The programme-makers refuted these claims, insisting that the storyline received the same publicity treatment as the soap's other ongoing plots. A spokesperson told media website "Digital Spy": "Everyone at Elstree has been truly shocked and surprised by the attention that an episode with an all-black cast has had, given that we live in such a diverse and multicultural society. [The] episode focuses on Patrick Trueman sharing his experiences of being a young man living in 1950s Britain with the family he lives with (the Foxes) which does mean it is solely an all-black cast on screen. Patrick and the Foxes are an integral part of Albert Square and this is no different from other episodes where we've concentrated on one particular family or storyline in the past." Additionally, the BBC received "183 complaints about the episode's 'unnecessary' content, while some viewers felt aggrieved by the nature of an 'all-black' cast. Some 57 complaints, meanwhile, were logged before it aired." The BBC responded, "It is not unusual for EastEnders to devote a whole episode to a single storyline or set of characters, and this episode was one of these occasions. This was an opportunity to explore in some depth the background and experiences of Patrick Trueman, one of EastEnders' longest-standing and most popular characters. There have been many 'all-white' episodes in the show's 24-year history, and we do not believe there is any reason why an 'all-black' episode should not be included within the series. Some viewers felt it was unnecessary to raise the subject of the Notting Hill race riots. These form part of the character's experience, as well as British history, and we feel it was absolutely legitimate for these characters to discuss them."
Fair City
In 1988, a year before "Fair City" hit the screens, the show was just a vague idea conceived by RTÉ when it decided that it needed an urban soap opera to compete with "Coronation Street" and "EastEnders". RTÉ gave the job of creating this new soap to Margaret Gleeson. A transmission date of September 1989 was decided upon and an initial run of 13 episodes commissioned. Gleeson, known for her work on Tolka Row and The Riordans, was appointed the show's first Executive Producer with Paul Cusack and David McKenna as producers. Tony Holland – co-creator of "EastEnders" – was brought in to give the soap its structure and storylines.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
EastEnders Revealed is a factual entertainment programme that looks back at the storylines, characters and stars of "EastEnders". It first aired in December 1998 as part of the new BBC digital channel (BBC Choice) line-up and last aired to date in March 2012. "EastEnders Revealed" was the only BBC Choice programme to last the entire life of the channel, and was carried over to its replacement BBC Three where it continued until 2012. It has been presented by Gail Porter, Harriet Saxton, Jayne Middlemiss, Edith Bowman, Colin Murray, Melanie Sykes and Tracy-Ann Oberman.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
"Just Another Day" was a six-part documentary series presented John Pitman, that looks at places that are part of the British way of life. The first episode, broadcast on 14 November 1986, goes behind the scenes of "EastEnders".
EastEnders Live Week
"EastEnders" aired two spin-off shows to celebrate thirty years of the show. "Back to Ours" was a bi-weekly online/Red Button series inspired by Gogglebox, in which several cast members watched and reflected upon some of their most well-known scenes. The other programme was titled "30 Years of Cliffhangers", and counted down the characters who had appeared in the most cliffhangers in the show's history, with Phil Mitchell appearing in the most. The Graham Norton Show aired a special "EastEnders" themed episode on 16 February, featuring appearances from past and present cast members. In addition, the programme's first episode was broadcast on BBC Red Button, as was the episode that originally aired on 18 April 2014, which decipted Lucy Beale's death. Following the live episode on 20 February 2015, Zoë Ball, Ore Oduba and Joe Swash presented an aftermath programme called "EastEnders: Backstage Live".
Richard Elis
He trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1996, aged 21 Days before he graduated, Elis was asked to audition for London casting agents and was subsequently cast in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" as the serial's first Welsh character, Huw Edwards. Elis was initially only scripted to appear in three episodes, but the producers liked the portrayal and his contract was extended. Elis remained in the soap for three years, leaving in 1999 as he feared typecasting.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
A one-off special episode of the quiz show "A Question of Sport" called "A Question of EastEnders" was broadcast on BBC One on 15 February 2000 to mark "EastEnders"' 15th anniversary on 19 February 2000. The special was hosted by Gaby Roslin, and had two teams, each led by a team captain; Wendy Richard (who played Pauline Fowler) and Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale). On Richard's team were "Blue Peter" presenter Katy Hill and stand-up comedian Harry Hill. Woodyatt's team consisted of Michelle Collins, who previously played Cindy Beale in "EastEnders", and Jeremy Spake, who became famous for appearing in the television docusoap "Airport". There were eight rounds and Woodyatt's team won with 36 points to Richard's 16.
EastEnders Live Week
Show bosses confirmed on 1 October 2014 that "EastEnders" would air a full 30-minute live episode to celebrate 30 years of "EastEnders" and culminate the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline. It was also confirmed that all other episodes in the week would include live inserts. This was the third time that the show had aired a live episode, the first time being for the 25th anniversary episode, and the second time when Billy Mitchell carried the Olympic flame. Treadwell-Collins stated the live week as being "a fantastic opportunity for "EastEnders" to create a massive national event, and one that will enable us to celebrate 30 years of [the show] in spectacular style." He went on to say that the live inserts allow them to "surprise" the audience. "It is ambitious and exciting, and something I know everyone at "EastEnders" will excel at."
John Altman (actor)
In 1985, he first appeared as Nick Cotton in the new BBC television soap opera "EastEnders", appearing in the very first episode in February that year. He went onto make recurring appearances in the show and has been part of many famous storylines in the show including the murders of Reg Cox (whose body was found in the very first episode) and Eddie Royle, his attempt to kill his own mother Dot by poisoning her and his various feuds with characters like Pete Beale, Den Watts and Mark Fowler. 
His character was also given his own television spin-off episode titled "Return of Nick Cotton" which aired in October 2000. His character was killed off in the episode that aired on 13 February 2015 and made his final appearance as a corpse in the episode that marked the 30th anniversary of the show on 19 February 2015. His body was found in the same way as his victim Reg Cox was found in the very first episode. A year earlier, his character's death had been announced in the show, only for it to emerge within a few months that Nick had faked his own death.
BBC Elstree Centre
When ATV was restructured as Central Independent Television in 1982, one of the conditions of its licence renewal by the governing body of the ITV network, the Independent Broadcasting Authority, was that ATV should vacate any London-based facilities and become more focused on the Midlands, the region of the United Kingdom for which it held the ITV franchise. For the last 18 months of its use as an ITV production studio, they were under the ownership of Central Independent Television as ATV ceased to exist as a company at the end of 31 December 1981. The studios remained in operation by Central up until July 1983 (the final production under Central ownership being a Max Bygraves-era episode of "Family Fortunes"), when its new main production centre in Nottingham was completed. When the BBC bought the Elstree site in 1984 to produce its new soap opera "EastEnders" (first aired on 19 February 1985), it did not purchase the equipment within the building.
East of Eden (miniseries)
East of Eden is a 1981 American television miniseries based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. It aired in three parts on ABC from February 8–11, 1981. It was directed by Harvey Hart from a teleplay by Richard Shapiro, and starred Timothy Bottoms, Jane Seymour (the actress who plays Cathy Ames as a preteen girl wasn't given screen credit and she's still a mystery), Bruce Boxleitner, Soon Tek-Oh, Sam Bottoms, Hart Bochner, Karen Allen and Lloyd Bridges. It runs roughly 382 minutes.
List of EastEnders characters (1985)
Andy O'Brien, played by [[Ross Davidson]], is one of the original characters created for the series. Andy makes his appearance one month after the show first broadcast in March 1985. Portrayed as altruistic and middle-classed, Andy and his partner [[Debbie Wilkins|Debbie]] ([[Shirley Cheriton]]) are an attempt to represent gentrification of the East End. Despite Davidson claiming that there had been plans for his character, Andy became the first regular character in "EastEnders" to be killed off. Davidson claims this was due to an altercation between himself and Executive Producer and show creator, [[Julia Smith]]. His death scene aired in August 1986.
EastEnders
The target launch date was originally January 1985. Smith and Holland had eleven months in which to write, cast and shoot the whole thing. However, in February 1984, they did not even have a title or a place to film. Both Smith and Holland were unhappy about the January 1985 launch date, favouring November or even September 1984 when seasonal audiences would be higher, but the BBC stayed firm, and Smith and Holland had to concede that, with the massive task of getting the Elstree Studios operational, January was the most realistic date. However, this was later to be changed to February.
List of EastEnders characters (1997)
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" in 1997, by order of first appearance. Many were introduced by the show's executive producer, Jane Harris.
CivvyStreet
"CivvyStreet" (sometimes written as "Civvy Street") is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera "EastEnders", broadcast on BBC1 on 26 December 1988. The episode is a flashback to World War II and is set in Christmas 1942. The episode was watched by 7 million viewers.
Ashenden (TV series)
Ashenden is a BBC1's four part TV series based on the spy novel, "", by W. Somerset Maugham, that aired from 17 November to 8 December 1991, directed by Christopher Morahan, with Alex Jennings in the title role, Joss Ackland as Cumming, Ian Bannen as 'R' and Jason Isaacs as Andrew Lehman. Guest actors included Harriet Walter as Giulia Lazzari in the first episode, Alan Bennett as Grantly Caypor in the second, René Auberjonois as John Quincy Harrington in the third, with Elizabeth McGovern as Aileen Sommerville and Alfred Molina as Carmona, the titular character, in the final story. A framing device at the start of each episode shows progressively more of an aged Ashenden living in France in the mid-1960s, reacting adversely to a piece of music on the radio. The final episode – which gives the context to this section – closes with a return to this "future" setting.
Lorraine Newman
In March 2012, it was announced that the then current executive producer of "EastEnders", Bryan Kirkwood was to step down, with "experienced series producer" Newman taking over the role on a temporary basis. Kirkwood said, "I'm delighted to leave the show in the capable hands of Lorraine Newman. Lorraine has been by my side every step of the way for the last two years and knows EastEnders inside out. I wish her and the show every future success". In June 2012, it was announced that Newman would become the full-time executive producer. Newman commented, "It is an absolute honour to be taking on the role of executive producer at "EastEnders" on a permanent basis. I am looking forward to leading a talented creative team, cast and crew into 2013". Yorke said, "Over the last few months, Newman has steered the show through a period of considerable change, and she's done an amazing job positioning the show for one of the most exciting autumns I can remember. With her depth of experience, her passion for the programme and her commitment to talent on-screen and off, she's the perfect person to take "EastEnders" forward". Her first episode aired on 16 July.
Jase Dyer
Jase Dyer is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Stephen Lord between 19 July 2007 to 29 August 2008. The character and his casting was announced on the mid-2007 on June. Lord, in his first role, began filming for "EastEnders" in June 2007 one month before his casting announcement, and made his first episode broadcast on 19 July 2007. The character was introduced and created by Diederick Santer the executive producer of "EastEnders". Beginning in the serial on July as a man in his mid-thirties, Jase arrives as the father of Jay Brown (played by Jamie Borthwick). Jase is also described a love interest for Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) and Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon).
Gary Hailes
In 1987, Hailes' character Barry Clark caused a great deal of controversy after "EastEnders" screened the first male-to-male kiss on a UK, prime time soap. The kiss prompted a multitude of complaints from angry viewers and a hostile backlash from the right wing press. Despite the fact that Hailes is heterosexual, he suffered from severe homophobia because of the homosexual role he played in "EastEnders". He was attacked several times by members of the public who could not separate fact from fiction, which included being assaulted in a supermarket by a disapproving woman and strangled by a man at a petrol station. Even after he left the show he lost a job as a children's television presenter because of the so-called "gay tag".
Bill Treacher
Bill Treacher (born 4 June 1930) is a retired English actor. He is best known for playing Arthur Fowler on the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", for 11 years from 1985 to 1996. He was the first person on the show to be cast.
EastEnders
As a result of "EastEnders" sustainability, it was awarded albert+, an award that recognises the production's commitment to becoming a more eco-friendly television production. The albert+ logo was first shown at the end of the "EastEnders" titles for episode 5281 on 9 May 2016.
David Ashton (actor)
Ashton was one of the early scriptwriters for "EastEnders", the long-running BBC soap opera that first aired in February 1985. He wrote for series two of BBC hospital drama "Casualty", becoming main writer for series three (1987–88). His monologue "Stations" (1988), broadcast as part of the BBC’s Play for One series, provided actor Andrew Keir with "a tour de force solo role" according to The Independent newspaper. Another one-off drama for BBC2 was "The Other Side" (1992), starring Frank Finlay and Richard E. Grant.
Nick Berry
Berry started acting at the age of eight. After attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London he played minor parts on television, film, and stage until his big break playing Simon 'Wicksy' Wicks in the popular BBC soap opera "EastEnders", joining the series shortly after its inception in 1985 and staying until the end of 1990. Berry's character was thought up overnight and had been scheduled to appear later. However, he was introduced to restore the cast balance distorted by the unexpected departure of actor David Scarboro who played the original Mark Fowler. Scarboro's departure meant many of his functions as one of the senior of the young characters would need to be taken over by another character and thus Wicksy was introduced rather sooner than originally planned and Berry was cast with minimal delay. He was quickly hailed as "EastEnders"' top pin-up and during this time was besieged by fan mail from female admirers.
Pam St Clement
In 1986 St Clement was cast in her most notable role to date—Pat Wicks, the troublesome former prostitute and ex-wife of Pete Beale (Peter Dean), in BBC's "EastEnders" (the show's producers wrote that the marriage had taken place more than 20 years before EastEnders was launched). She played the character continuously since her first appearance on 12 June 1986 – just over a year after the show began. St Clement's character was originally brought in on a trial basis for a period of three episodes. However the series' executive-producer, Julia Smith, decided to introduce her as a regular character. St Clement initially had reservations about committing to the role, commenting: "I couldn't envisage how this character, who creates absolute havoc everywhere she goes and is not at home with herself or with anybody else in the Square, could possibly fit in". However she was persuaded to continue by Smith, who said: "'We've only seen one layer of the onion skin—the defensiveness—now we'll start to peel away more and get to the vulnerability that lies behind it'." Pat went on to become one of the soap's longest running characters, appearing in 2,183 episodes.
Day One (Torchwood)
"Day One" was broadcast on Sunday, 22 October 2006 on BBC Three, just after the first episode, "Everything Changes". The second episode received overnight viewing figures of 2.3 million with a 13.8% audience share, holding the majority of the audience from the first episode. Together both episodes received the largest multichannel audience for a UK-originated non-sports programme and the at the time largest audience for BBC Three. The finale figure for the episode was 2.498 million viewers. The record would be held until the broadcast of "EastEnders Live: The Aftermath" on 19 February 2010. The repeat of "Day One" on analogue channel BBC Two on 25 October was seen by 2.8 million with a 13% audience share. "Day One" was given an Appreciation Index of 83.
List of EastEnders television spin-offs
In 1993, a charity special crossover between "EastEnders" and the science fiction television series "Doctor Who" entitled "Dimensions in Time" was made in aid of the charity Children in Need. It ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993 and was filmed on the "EastEnders" set. It featured several of the stars of the programme at the time. Another Children in Need special, "Pudding Lane" was broadcast in a series of five-minute instalments throughout the 26 November 1999 telethon. It relocated the then current "EastEnders" characters to Pudding Lane in 1666, during the events leading to the Great Fire of London.
List of awards and nominations received by EastEnders
"EastEnders" is a British soap opera that has aired on BBC One since 19 February 1985. It has been nominated for a variety of different awards including 19 British Academy Television Awards (nine wins), 13 Royal Television Society Programme Awards (four wins), 24 Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards (15 wins) and 332 British Soap Awards (84 wins). Its first award, for Favourite Programme, was given by the Anna Scher Theatre on 24 January 1986.
Gillian Taylforth
On 19 February 1985, Taylforth appeared as Kathy Beale in the first episode of the BBC's new soap opera "EastEnders". This role earned her huge popularity and public recognition on British television. Taylforth's character was in the show from 1985 until 1998, when she opted to leave. Kathy made 2 guest appearances in 1999 and 2000. During her time on the show, Kathy covered an array of serious issues including rape, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, divorce, alcoholism and meningitis. She became one of the longest running characters to feature in the soap, but eventually quit in 1998. She made a brief return in 1999 to aid the departure of actor Ross Kemp, who played her character's brother-in-law, Grant Mitchell before leaving again on 6 January 2000.
List of awards and nominations received by EastEnders
In the TV Times Awards, which began in 1969 and are awarded by "TV Times" magazine, actress Lacey Turner won Favourite Soap Star in 2008 and 2009 and "EastEnders" received a further three nominations in 2009 including Favourite Soap Star for Barbara Windsor. Turner won and Windsor was nominated again in 2010.
Charlie Slater
Charlie Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Derek Martin. Charlie's first appearance is in the episode first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2000. He is played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001 and Richie Daysh in a 2018 flashback. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the spin-off "". In April 2010, the character was axed among five others by new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of a plan to "breathe new life into the show". The reaction to Charlie's axing was negative with Stuart Heritage from "The Guardian" saying that it "should be a national day of mourning" and Phil Daniels, who had previously played Kevin Wicks, also criticised the axings, stating that Charlie was a "good character". He departed from "EastEnders" on 13 January 2011. Martin returned for a two-episode stint in April; his return saw 10.31 million people watch on 19 April and 8.43 million on 21 April. On 3 November 2013, it was announced that Martin would return again, this time on 24 and 25 December 2013. It was announced in October 2015 that Charlie would make another guest appearance in 2016, appearing in five episodes from 4 to 7 January. It was confirmed that Charlie would die from a heart attack during this stint, making 7 January 2016 the character's final episode.
The Banned (EastEnders)
The Banned are a fictional band in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders". The storyline first aired in 1986 and although it was considered to be a failure on-screen, it nevertheless became a successful part of the serial's extensive merchandising industry that year, as it spawned two hit singles in the UK Music Charts.