EastEnders merchandise
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EastEnders merchandise refers to products relating to the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders that have been available for purchase.
During the run up to the first episode of EastEnders in 1985, 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 unsurprisingly the BBC capitalised on it with a number of products.
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[edit] Annuals and books
[edit] Videos and DVDs
The first EastEnders video was that of EastEnders - The Queen Vic, it looked at the major events in the lives of Angie, Den, Jan and Michelle Fowler, such as the birth of Michelle's baby, Vicki.
The next wasn't until 1994 with EastEnders - The Den and Angie Years, which 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.
To celebrate 15 years of EastEnders, a special video, simply called 15 Years of EastEnders, was released. The video included some of the highlights of 15 years in Albert Square: Den serving Angie with divorce papers, Grant finding out about Sharon and Phil's affair, Tiffany's death and funeral, Carol Jackson confronting her daughter Bianca over her relationship with Dan Sullivan and more.
The Slaters in Detention (November 2003) was the first EastEnders DVD, but was also available on VHS. It contained a special comedic episode of EastEnders, starring the Slater family, and 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; they end up being sent to a police cell and it is there that they begin to reflect on the events of their lives. Events that viewers themselves have witnessed on television, such as Kat revealing that Zoe was her daughter and Little Mo's marriage to Trevor.
[edit] Records and CDs
The EastEnders theme tune was released on record in 1986 featuring the orchestra of the themes creator, Simon May.
The tune was later turned into a song, titled "Anyone Can Fall in Love". The lyrics were created by Don Black, and it was recorded in 1986 by EastEnders star Anita Dobson, known as Angie Watts in the show. It reached number four in the UK Singles Chart, and Anita appeared on Top of the pops.
Two songs from the show were released as singles. "Every Loser Wins" by Nick Berry (Simon Wicks) reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. "Something Outa Nothing" by Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts) and Paul Medford (Kelvin Carpenter) reached number 12. Both songs were featured in a storyline where the characters formed a band called The Banned.
In 1999, BBC Music in Association with Telstar released a single with performances by Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell) and Mike Reid (Frank Butcher). They came together to release the song "The More I See You", based on their in soap wedding.
[edit] Other items
One of the first products was a BBC EastEnders Knitting Collection pattern book which was released exclusively to high street store Woolworths in 1986. It contains many of EastEnders' characters at the time wearing the patterns shown in the book.
In 1988, a board game titled EastEnders The Game was released based on the characters and setting of the show. This game has since been reproduced throughout the years.
Since then there has also been items such as an EastEnders fridge magnet featuring The Queen Vic and a hand painted ceramic teapot based on The Queen Vic, which was designed by Anne Rowe.
There has also been EastEnders the arcade game, which was published by Macsen Software in 1987. The game was available for the ZX Spectrum 48K.
In November 2006, a wall calendar for 2007 was released, featuring pictures of the cast dressed as characters from William Shakespeare's plays, in aid of Children in Need.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ "http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/rtcal07&bklist=icat,3,,217 Radio Times/Eastenders Children in Need calendar 2007]", BBC. URL last accessed 2006-11-20
