"[396], In 2022, EastEnders aired their first male rape scene which saw Lewis Butler (Aidan O'Callaghan) rape Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden). ", "EastEnders LGBT domestic abuse plot praised following Tina, Tosh clash", "EastEnders gay kiss: Ben Mitchell actor Harry Reid upset by homophobia", "EastEnders casts transgender actor in transgender role on UK television", "EastEnders' Adam Woodyatt says that Ian Beale may not return", "NSPCC research reveals childcare professional's concerns over rise in emotional abuse", "Who was EastEnders' Tony King? EastEnders is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. [226] In January 2022 the new 86.7m exterior set of EastEnders was officially unveiled by the BBC replacing the original set built in 1984. When they compared the characters they had created, Smith and Holland realised they had created a cross-section of East End residents. Show creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland also wrote a book about the show in 1987, entitled EastEnders: The Inside Story (ISBN978-0-563-20601-9), telling the story of how the show made it to screen. [343], EastEnders is the BBC's most consistent programme in terms of ratings,[139] and as of 2021, episodes typically receive between 4 and 6 million viewers. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End of London. [362], Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the soap, EastEnders suffered a ratings drop after 2020. ", Ethel Skinner's death, Jim Branning and Dot Cotton's marriage, Trevor Morgan's domestic abuse of his wife Little Mo Morgan, and Kat Slater's revelation to her daughter Zoe Slater that she was her mother. [41] 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. Such characters have included Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement), Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon) and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace). [292] The last omnibus on the BBC was shown on 24 April 2015. This was followed in January 1989, less than a year after legislation came into effect in the UK prohibiting the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities, by the first on-the-mouth gay kiss in a British soap when Colin kissed a new character, Guido Smith (Nicholas Donovan), an episode that was watched by 17 million people. From 2001 to 2022, it was broadcast at 7:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and 8pm on Monday and Friday. 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,[59] and was followed by another on 6 March 2007. [399] The scenes were also condemned by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), calling the BBC "too lazy and arrogant" to correctly portray the child protection process, and saying that the baby was taken "without sufficient grounds to do so". The viewing figures for 95 episodes are unknown. In the show's narrative, Albert Square is a 19th-century street, named after Prince Albert (18191861), the husband of Queen Victoria (18191901, reigned 18371901). "[389] The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) praised the storyline, and its director Joyce Epstein explained, "We are very grateful to EastEnders for their accurate depiction of the devastating effect that the sudden death of an infant can have on a family. In February 2016, the repeat moved to W, the rebranded Watch, after BBC Three became an online-only channel. [286] According to the EastEnders website, there are on average 208 episodes outputted each year. [138] Key people involved in the production of EastEnders have stressed how important the idea of strong families is to the programme. He said: Life is tough in the East End. [34] Such characters included Julie Cooper (Louise Plowright)a brassy maneater; Marge Greena batty older lady played by veteran comedy actress Pat Coombs; Trevor Short (Phil McDermott)the "village idiot"; his friend, northern heartbreaker Paul Priestly (Mark Thrippleton); wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham) and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell), who became Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) sparring partner. John Yorke returned as a temporary executive consultant. On the 9th January, it faced FA Cup football and was watched by 3.37m , only 200k behind Emmerdale. storyline, which was revealed in a special live episode of the show that drew a peak of 17 million viewers; and the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" [349] The highest rated episode of EastEnders is the Christmas Day 1986 episode, which attracted a combined 30.15million viewers who tuned into either the original transmission or the omnibus to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to his wife Angie. [101] As of 2019, the soap is one of the most watched series on BBC iPlayer and averages around 5 million viewers per episode. The writers would be paid 75 per cent of that fee for any repeats of the episode. Millions of EastEnders viewers have turned their back on the long-running soap, according to the latest reports. [163] Another recurring male character type is the smartly dressed businessman, often involved in gang culture and crime and seen as a local authority figure. New Zealand became the first to broadcast EastEnders overseas, the first episode being shown on 27 September 1985. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Up to the end of 2001, but excluding 1996 and 1997, the rating was also combined with that of the omnibus (though for 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998, some ratings are not combined, as noted). Thus, central to Albert Square is The Queen Victoria Public House (also known as The Queen Vic or The Vic). ", "Grant Mitchell's 9 greatest EastEnders moments, from Sharongate to kung-fu fighting", "Dirty Den: how the EastEnders bad boy became the biggest soap star of them all", "EastEnders' Steve John Shepherd: Michael Moon is a psychopath", "EastEnders new bad boy Derek - the long-lost villainous brother", "EastEnders bad boy Richard Blackwood reveals surprising secret of Dot Cotton actress June Brown", "EastEnders legend looks unrecognisable after quitting BBC soap 31 years ago", "Ex EastEnders heartthrob Paul Nicholls joins exciting new BBC drama", "EastEnders' Jamie Mitchell actor Jack Ryder says fame at 17 was "tough to cope with", "EastEnders heartthrob Nigel Harman reveals the behind the scenes drama over whether Dennis could punch Phil Mitchell! 28th December 1968 Christmas in the Street - 5,900,000 million homes (15th place) 22nd December 1975 Annie and Betty's Coronation Street Memories - 6,600,000 million homes (5th place) [227], The majority of EastEnders episodes are filmed at the BBC Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. [34], As the show progressed into the 1990s, EastEnders still featured hard-hitting issues such as Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) revealing he was HIV positive[199] in 1991, the death of his wife Gill (Susanna Dawson) from an AIDS-related illness in 1992, murder, adoption, abortion, Peggy Mitchell's (Barbara Windsor) battle with breast cancer,[199] and Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) alcoholism and violence towards wife Kathy. New Zealand became the first international country to broadcast EastEnders overseas, the first episode being shown on 27th September 1985. They suggested the blame lies with the show's trendy-but-dull storylines, such as cosmetic surgery addiction, cannabis oil treatments and online trolling. She was also critical of language such as "bleeding", "bloody hell", "bastard" and "for Christ's sake"; however, Whitehouse also praised the programme, describing Michelle Fowler's decision not to have an abortion as a "very positive storyline". Other recurring character types that have appeared throughout the serial are "cheeky-chappies" Pete Beale (Peter Dean), Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami), "lost girls" such as Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton), Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), and Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis), delinquents such as Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington/Clay Milner Russell) and Keegan Baker (Zack Morris), "villains" such as Nick Cotton (John Altman), Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns), May Wright (Amanda Drew), Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti), Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb), Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) and Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), "bitches" such as Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Sam Mitchell (Danniella Westbrook/Kim Medcalf),[172] Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Lucy Beale (Melissa Suffield/Hetti Bywater), Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), Babe Smith (Annette Badland) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), "brawlers" or "fighters" such as Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin/Zaraah Abrahams), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon) and Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley), and cockney "wide boys" or "wheeler dealers"[10] such as Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels), Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins), Fatboy (Ricky Norwood), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol). [116], On 12 October 2021, it was announced that EastEnders would partake in a special week-long crossover event involving multiple British soaps to promote the topic of climate change ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. [366], EastEnders has been criticised for being too violent, most notably during a domestic violence storyline between Little Mo Morgan (Kacey Ainsworth) and her husband Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns). BBC One EastEnders Down Memory Lane with Matt Di Angelo", Doctor Who episodes coming to your mobile phone, "Get your anoraks on trains are coming! [136] The late 2010s saw the newly introduced Taylor family become central to the show's main storylines,[137] and in 2019, the first Sikh family, the Panesar', were introduced. The table below summaries the chart rankings for EastEnders for each year since 1985. In April 2018, it was announced that Drama would be showing repeats starting 6 August 2018 during weekdays[306] and they are also available on-demand on the UKTV Play catch-up service for 30 days after the broadcast. [284] [234][235] EastEnders is normally recorded using four cameras. [107] A spokesperson confirmed that the decision was made to reduce transmission so that EastEnders could remain on-screen for longer. Debbie, Andy and Mary represented more modern-day individuals. [76] Old sets had to be rebuilt, so The Queen Victoria set was burnt down in a storyline (and in reality) to facilitate this. [315] It is aired in Australia on Satellite & Streaming services on BBC UKTV, from Mondays to Thursdays 7:50pm8:30pm with two advertisement breaks of five minutes each. [127] The show's producers based the square's design on Fassett Square in Dalston. The viewing figures for 52 episodes are not combined with the omnibus. The set had to be made to look as if it had been standing for years. The first episode was watched by 17 million viewers. The storyline, 10.84 million viewers tuned in for the 30th-anniversary episode itself in an hour-long special on 19 February 2015 (peaking with 11.9 million). The Queen's speech: 8.2m 2. [60] In April 2007, EastEnders became available to view on mobile phones, via 3G technology, for 3, Vodafone and Orange customers. "[335] E20 features a group of sixth-form characters and targets the "Hollyoaks demographic". [97] Jon Sen was announced on 10 December 2018 to be taking on the role of executive producer. 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. EastEnders' viewing figures continue to dwindle and Kara believes other shows might have the . "[93] Yorke initially returned for three months but his contract was later extended. The 30-year-old singer and her professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima were victorious after performing a thrilling cha cha, which earned them a perfect score of 40 from the judges. Danny Dyer has opened up about his luxurious 140,000 Heart EastEnders actor Kellie Bright shares game-changing theory on Christmas murder heart.co.uk - Alice Dear Many books have been written about EastEnders. [102][103] The soap enjoyed a record-breaking year on the streaming platform in 2019, with viewers requesting to stream or download the show 234 million times, up 10% on 2018. [50] The scandal led to Grantham's departure from the soap, but the occasion was used to mark the 20th anniversary of EastEnders, with an episode showing Den's murder at the Queen Vic pub. From 25 December 2010 - 29 April 2011 and 31 July 2012 - 13 August 2012 to the show was repeated on BBC HD in a Simulcast with BBC Three. Many people watched this together with friends and family, so the viewing figures were probably even higher than the 24.5 million suggests! Within days, a scandalous headline appeared "EASTENDERS STAR IS A KILLER". [123] From the week commencing on 7 March 2022, the show has been broadcast every weekday from Monday to Thursday in a 7:30 pm slot, making it the first time in the show's history that the programme will air permanently on Wednesdays. It has proved highly popular, and Appreciation Indexes reflected this, rising from 5560 at the launch to 8595 later on, a figure which was nearly 10 points higher than the average for a British soap opera. In their place, Robinson introduced new long-running characters including Melanie Healy, Jamie Mitchell, Lisa Shaw, Steve Owen and Billy Mitchell. Later on in the same evening, a special flashback episode averaged 10.3 million viewers and peaked with 11.2 million. The lowest estimate we received was 7.2 million. 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