EastEnders

Name: EastEnders
Director: Paulette Randall
Genre: Soap, Crime/detective, Drama, Romance
Released: 1985
Cast: Steve McFadden, Perry Fenwick, Rudolph Walker, Scott Maslen, Diane Parish

Save

1985

Soap
Crime/detective

Summary

EastEnders was the brainchild of Julia Smith and Tony Holland, and premiered on BBC One in 1985. Storylines centre on people living and working in the fictional London borough of Walford. The series was originally screened as two half-hour episodes per week. Four episodes have been broadcast each week since August 2001. Within eight months of its launch, it reached number one in the ratings and has remained one of the top-rated programmes on British TV ever since. At the height of its popularity, more than 30 million viewers tuned in on Christmas Day 1986 to see Den Watts hand divorce papers to wife Angie. Large families have always been a strong feature of the long-running soap. The first central family was the Beale and Fowler clan consisting of Pauline Fowler, her husband Arthur, and teenage children Mark and Michelle. Pauline's twin brother Pete Beale, his wife Kathy and their son Ian lived nearby. Lou, Pauline and Pete's domineering mother, resided with Pauline. Strong female characters are central to the programme. Such characters have included Angie Watts, Kathy Mitchell, Sharon Rickman, Pat Evans and Peggy Mitchell. Macho male personalities such as Phil and Grant Mitchell have rubbed shoulders with bad boys including Den Watts and Dennis Rickman and handsome figures such as Simon Wicks and Jamie Mitchell. EastEnders has always featured a culturally diverse cast and never shied away from gritty storylines. For its 25th anniversary in February 2010, a live episode was broadcast where Archie Mitchell's killer was revealed. Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt, is currently the only character to have been in the show from the first episode.

Episode 7246: 23/12/2025

Summary

Once alone in the Vic, Nigel confuses old memories with the present as his dementia symptoms intensify. In his increased state of confusion, he is visited by familiar faces of Christmas past in the form of Pat and Barry Evans as Nigel struggles to decipher his current sense of reality

Review

Johnathon Hughes

The ghost of Christmas past appears to Nigel, but it’s not Jacob Marley’s chains he hears rattling in a deserted Queen Vic — it’s the clatter of a dangling gaudy earring belonging to the legendary Pat Evans. As an increasingly confused Nigel’s dementia symptoms intensify, memories transport him back to the 90s, when Pat was in her prime and propping up the bar. Her stepson Barry also has a hallucinatory cameo — can the pair help Nigel navigate his condition and face the future?

EastEnders stars Pam St Clement and Shaun Williamson reprise their roles, in the same year Anita Dobson returned as Angie Watts in Sharon’s hour of need. Proof that there really are ghosts around every corner of Albert Square.

How to watch

Next showing

There are no live broadcasts scheduled for this show. But it is available via the streaming provider below.

Streaming

BBC iPlayer

Details

Released on

1985-01-01

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Crew

rolenameWriterRichard DavidsonDirectorRichard LynnExecutive producerBen Wadey

Review

Johnathon Hughes

There’s a break from the norm as EastEnders and Emmerdale both deliver special “‘high-concept” episodes. Yolande and Patrick are rightly bestowed the prestigious gift of an EastEnders two-hander, as she finally admits the truth about her horrific sexual assault. It’s simple, emotional and compelling.

Over in Emmerdale, Tom and Belle throw a dinner party. Viewed from the split perspectives of the guests at the table and the hosts in the kitchen, we see the stark difference between public and private behaviour, as toxic Tom’s subtle coercion of his wife escalates. There’s life in the resilient genre yet.