EastEnders is a popular British soap opera that has aired on BBC One since 19 February 1985. Several spin-off shows have been made, some of which are episodes that look at the history of some of the characters by flashbacks. Others have been a lead-up for a character's eventual return to the show, and some have followed characters who had departed from the show in an overseas setting. Like off-set episodes, these spin-offs are set outside the usual location of Albert Square. Documentaries have also aired, particularly for the 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversaries of the show looking back at the history of the show's inception, its characters and storylines.
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This episode first aired on 22 December 1988 and was set during the second World War in the period between 1939 to 1945. The episode was written and directed by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. It looked back at the early life of the residents of Albert Square and featured a young Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner and Reg Cox, who was a minor character found dead in the first ever episode of EastEnders in 1985. Holland was most upset to discover that Dot Cotton had been too young during the war to be featured as a useful character and also complained that the major events of the war occurred in the wrong order for effective drama.[1] Lou and Albert Beale were celebrating their marriage in Walford, and planning their happy life together when war was declared. Albert was conscripted into the army, leaving Lou and her three children, Kenny, Harry and Ronnie, behind. Lou's family rallied around including her mother, sister Flo and she also had a gang of friends including young Ethel, dodgy Reg and pub landlords Ray and Lil to keep her company. Lou worried that Albert would not return from war intact, and the episode saw her propositioned by another man in his absence, but she managed to stay faithful and she and Albert were reunited. Ethel's parents were killed by an enemy bomb while she was sheltering with Lou in Walford East tube station. Ethel was also torn between the amorous advances of a GI and her admirer William Skinner.
This episode first aired on 1 October 2000 and was a lead-up to the return of Nick Cotton as a regular character later that year. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Chris Bernard. The episode followed Nick as he has just been released from prison. Fast forward to 10 weeks later and he was living in a squat in North London. He then had a dream where his dead father, Charlie, appeared and warned him that something terrible is about to happen to him. He was told by a black gay couple living in the squat with him that seeing your own dead relatives in your dreams was a bad sign but Nick was not worried. He then decided to meet up with his son Ashley and ex-wife Zoe and went to Zoe's brother Eddie asking about where Zoe lives. He also had some mean-looking thugs, one named Colin on his trail who had a score to settle with him. He met up with Ashley who revealed he and Zoe were living with Zoe's new boyfriend. The thugs discovered Nick's whereabouts and showed up at Zoe's house trying to break in. To escape them Ashley and Nick got into a stolen convertible car and drove off. Zoe pleaded with Ashley not to go with Nick knowing he would be a bad influence but Ashley did not listen. Then just before the end of the episode Nick and Ashley were discussing where to go from here and Nick predictably said "Let's go visit Ma." So they decided to travel around for a bit before their eventual return to Walford.
This two-part episode aired on 13 and 20 May 2002 and was a lead-up to Ricky Butcher's return later that year as a regular character. It was written by Simon Ashdown. The episode saw Ricky reunite with his ex-wife Bianca Jackson and son Liam in Manchester. Bianca had been in Manchester doing an arts degree for the past two and a half years and was struggling to look after Liam.
Ricky discovered she had been working in a nightclub and had stolen money from the manager Vince. Ricky ended up getting caught in the middle of all of this along with his new girlfriend Cassie. After he got Bianca out of trouble, they had a one-night stand during which Bianca conceived their daughter Tiffany. Ricky told Cassie he didn't really love her, he was still in love with Bianca. Cassie managed to manipulate Bianca into thinking that she and Ricky would never be happy together, and Bianca made the difficult decision to leave Liam with Ricky, feeling that he'd be a better parent than she would, and left in a taxi.
This episode first aired on 2 January 2003 and followed Dot Branning to Wales to visit the family she stayed with during World War II. Through a series of flashbacks, we see Dot being evacuated, and her experiences of evacuation. Her Aunty Gwen and Uncle Will featured in the episode.
This episode aired on 13 September 2003 and followed Frank Butcher as he set up a seedy nightclub and a car valeting service in Somerset after returning from Spain where he was last seen in 2002. When Frank is sent a car to valet by the local gangster named Reg Priest, his assistant finds a dead body in the boot. Frank and his club staff try to find a way to avoid the police asking questions and fall foul of Reg so they throw the body into the water over the side of the pier. The episode was written by Tony Jordan.
This episode first aired on 1 April 2004 and revealed what caused the feud between Pat Evans and Mo Harris that still lasts to this day. Pat and Mo meet at the grave of Pat's brother and Mo's husband, Jimmy, and reminisce about old times through a series of flashbacks. Mo's brother, Stan Porter also appeared in the episode.
| EastEnders Revealed | |
|---|---|
Part of the title sequence used for EastEnders Revealed. |
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| Format | Documentary |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes/60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Choice BBC Three BBC One |
| Original run | 20 December 1998 – present |
EastEnders Revealed is a factual entertainment programme that looks back at the storylines, characters and stars of EastEnders. It first aired in 1998 as part of the new BBC digital channel (BBC Choice) line-up. 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 continues to this day. It has been presented by Gail Porter, Harriet Saxton, Jayne Middlemiss, Edith Bowman, Colin Murray, Melanie Sykes and Tracy-Ann Oberman.
The episodes are 30 or 60 minutes in length and, on occasions, have been broadcast on the BBC's flagship channel, BBC One. This is usually after a major storyline has been taking place in EastEnders, for example when Leslie Grantham (Den Watts) returned to the show in 2003, when Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler) left and when Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) left.
| Episode title | Subject(s) of episode | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| "Grant Mitchell Revealed" | Grant Mitchell | 25 October 1999 |
| "Ricky Butcher Revealed" | Ricky Butcher | 20 April 2000 |
| "Frank Butcher Revealed" | Frank Butcher | 2 November 2000 |
| "Sharon Watts Revealed" | Sharon Watts | 19 July 2001 |
| "Dot to Dot" | Dot Branning | 20 August 2001 |
| "Slaters Revealed" | The Slater family | 10 October 2001 |
| "Truemans Revealed" | The Trueman family | 12 November 2001 |
| "Mel Revealed" | Melanie Owen | 3 December 2001 |
| "The Jacksons Revealed" | The Jackson family | 14 January 2002 |
| "Being Peggy Mitchell" | Peggy Mitchell | 11 February 2002 |
| "Trouble Man: A Steve Owen Special" | Steve Owen | 1 March 2002 |
| "The Fowlers" | The Fowler family | 1 April 2002 |
| "Mel Leaving Special" | Mel Owen | 12 April 2002 |
| "Angie And Me" | Angie Watts | 22 April 2002 |
| "Through Kat's Eyes" | Kat Moon | 9 September 2002 |
| "Jamie Mitchell" | Jamie Mitchell | 10 October 2002 |
| "And Sparks Will Fly" | Trevor Morgan | 4 November 2002 |
| "A Year In The Life Of Sam Mitchell" | Sam Mitchell | 17 January 2003 |
| "Mark Fowler" | Mark Fowler | 13 February 2003 |
| "Laura Beale Unwrapped" | Laura Beale | 18 February 2003 |
| "Being Barry Evans" | Barry Evans | 17 March 2003 |
| "The Coming of Age of Sonia Jackson" | Sonia Fowler | 6 May 2003 |
| "Walford's Brat Pack" | Vicki, Gus, Spencer, Kelly, Zoe, Martin | 20 June 2003 |
| "The Dr. Trueman Show" | Anthony Trueman | 11 July 2003 |
| "Dirty Den Returns" | Den Watts | 26 September 2003 |
| "The Life and Crimes of Martin Fowler" | Martin Fowler | 14 October 2003 |
| "In Bed with Garry Hobbs" | Garry Hobbs | 18 November 2003 |
| "Lean, Mean, Deadly Janine" | Janine Evans | 1 January 2004 |
| "Alfie's Story" | Alfie Moon | 2 January 2004 |
| "Blood Feud: The Watts vs. The Mitchells" | The Watts and Mitchell families | 12 February 2004 |
| "The Real Billy Mitchell" | Billy Mitchell | 20 February 2004 |
| "The Rise and Fall of Janine Butcher" | Janine Evans | 26 February 2004 |
| "Natalie Evans" | Natalie Evans | 22 March 2004 |
| "Squaring up to the Ferreiras" | The Ferreira family | 26 March 2004 |
| "The Growing Pains of Spencer Moon" | Spencer Moon | 4 May 2004 |
| "Sonia and Martin - Love Conquers All" | Martin and Sonia Fowler | 11 June 2004 |
| "Kelly Taylor - Working Girl" | Kelly Taylor | 1 July 2004 |
| "The Real Paul Trueman" | Paul Trueman | 23 July 2004 |
| "Sam Mitchell - Happy Ever After?" | Sam Mitchell | 16 September 2004 |
| "The One and Only Dot Cotton" | Dot Branning | 30 September 2004 |
| "Andy Hunter - Hunter's Prey" | Andy Hunter | 9 December 2004 |
| "Little Mo's Big Story" | Little Mo Mitchell | 26 December 2004 |
| "Ian Beale - The Real Deal?" | Ian Beale | 3 February 2005 |
| "The New Moons" | Alfie, Spencer and Nana Moon | 17 February 2005 |
| "The Growing Pains of Zoe Slater" | Zoe Slater | 17 March 2005 |
| "The Curse of the Queen Vic" | The Queen Victoria | 31 March 2005 |
| "The Make-up of Kat Moon" | Kat Moon | 27 May 2005 |
| "Meet the Millers" | The Miller family | 31 May 2005 |
| "Growing up in Walford" | Walford's youths | 14 June 2005 |
| "Jim & Dot - When Opposites Attract" | Jim and Dot Branning | 16 August 2005 |
| "Chrissie Watts: Victim or Villain?" | Chrissie Watts | 22 September 2005 |
| "The Duchess Returns" | Peggy Mitchell | 4 October 2005 |
| "Goodbye, Pauline" | Pauline Fowler | 1 January 2007 |
| "The Secret Mitchell" | Danielle Jones | 3 April 2009 |
| "The Sins of Archie Mitchell"[2] | Archie Mitchell | 26 December 2009 |
| "Whitney's Story"[3] | Whitney Dean | 22 March 2011 |
| EastEnders Xtra | |
|---|---|
Part of the title sequence used for EastEnders Xtra. |
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| Format | Interactive entertainment series |
| Starring | Angellica Bell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 15-20 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBCi |
| Original run | February – May 2005 |
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.
The series ran for ten weeks, featuring ten episodes in total:
EastEnders Family Album was a special documentary which first aired on 13 February 2000 to coincide with the 15th anniversary of EastEnders. Narrated by Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler), the documentary looked back at some of the most memorable storylines and characters in the show and featured interviews with past and present cast members.
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.
A-Z of EastEnders was a documentary broadcast on the twentieth anniversary of EastEnders in 2005 and presented by Jonathan Ross.
Since 1 December 2006, a new breed of behind-the-scenes programmes have been broadcast on BBC Three. These are all documentaries related to current storylines in EastEnders, in a similar format to EastEnders Revealed, though not using the EastEnders Revealed name. The include clips from the series and interviews with the show's cast and crew as well as TV critics such as Sharon Marshall. Documentaries have included:
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.
In 2003, a special was made for Comic Relief named OzEnders which the chararacters did a spoof remake of The Wizard of Oz. In 2005, the characters Peggy Mitchell, Stacey Slater and Little Mo Mitchell appeared alongside Catherine Tate's character Lauren Cooper for a Children in Need sketch. Various EastEnders cast members have also appeared in sketches for Children in Need, performing songs with various themes. In 2007, they sang songs from The Beatles' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, in 2008 they performed songs from West End musicals and in 2009 they performed renditions of classic songs produced by Motown Records. In 2011, they performed songs by Queen and recreated famous scenes from their videos.[20]
EastEnders and rival soap opera Coronation Street took part in a crossover episode for Children in Need on 19 November 2010, called "East Street". The EastEnders cast who took part in the mini-episode were Laurie Brett (Jane Beale), Charlie G. Hawkins (Darren Miller), Kylie Babbington (Jodie Gold), Nina Wadia (Zainab Masood), John Partridge (Christian Clarke),[21] Diane Parish (Denise Johnson), Nitin Ganatra (Masood Ahmed), Jamie Borthwick (Jay Brown), Shane Richie (Alfie Moon), Jessie Wallace (Kat Moon), Ricky Norwood (Fatboy) and Shona McGarty (Whitney Dean).[22]
On 10 August 2001, the BBC threw a gala party at the Television Centre in West London, which was attended by many EastEnders cast members. Part of the event was documented by the hour-long television show EastEnders: It's Your Party, hosted by Jonathan Ross. It featured several interviews with the cast.
Two musical themed Christmas specials, both titled EastEnders Christmas Party, aired on Christmas Eve 2003 and 2004, which had the cast and crew of EastEnders singing, dancing and performing short comedy sketches. Many former cast members also returned for the special episodes.
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.
A special edition of The Weakest Link aired in February 2010 for EastEnders's 25th anniversary and 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.
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