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

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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.

19/02/2025

Summary

Hour-long episode. A tragic disaster engulfs Albert Square, leaving lives in peril. Linda is on a mission to help a friend in need, while Denise faces a huge decision

Review

Johnathon Hughes

On this day 40 years ago, Den Watts broke through a locked door to discover Reg Cox looking lifeless in EastEnders’ gritty, groundbreaking first episode. Old Reg later popped his clogs and there have been countless more corpses in the intervening decades, and there could be a few more after the explosive events of this celebratory week, which culminates in two big peaks — tomorrow’s much-anticipated live episode, and tonight’s hour-long edition officially marking the soap’s ruby jubilee.

Several plot strands knit together against the backdrop of a fire at the Vic, which broke out at last night’s doof-doofs. The curse of Honey and Billy’s nuptials has seemingly struck again, with wedding guests trapped in the burning boozer as it starts to crumble. Is that the ghost of Peggy Mitchell you can hear screaming, “Let it burn…”? At the Arches, Grant, Nigel and Linda are in a race against time to save spiralling Phil. And Denise still can’t make up her mind about whether she loves Jack or Ravi, so after this episode viewers will be able to cast their vote and decide which fella she should choose.

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

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Cast

rolenameLinda CarterKellie BrightGrant MitchellRoss KempNigel BatesPaul BradleyPhil MitchellSteve McFaddenDenise FoxDiane Parish

Crew

rolenameWriterBryan KirkwoodDirectorLance KneeshawExecutive producerChris Clenshaw

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.