The exterior of The Queen Victoria, which was painted red in 1992 but was destroyed by fire in September 2010. |
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| Type | Fictional |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public house |
| Headquarters | 46 Albert Square, Walford, London, E20 6PQ |
| Key people | EastEnders characters |
| Owner(s) | Phil Mitchell |
| Employees | See employees |
The Queen Victoria (often referred to as The Vic or The Queen Vic) is a fictional Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
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In the series' backstory the Square was built around 1860 during the reign of Queen Victoria. Originally the pub was to be called The Balmoral but after the death of Prince Albert it was re-named as a tribute to the mourning Queen. Initially, the pub's exterior was painted brown. This was later changed to a green and cream colour scheme only for Grant Mitchell set fire to the Queen Victoria after which it was painted red. Following another blaze in 2010, the pub was painted to its current colours of red, green and cream.
During the first months of the show, The Queen Victoria had a partition wall down the middle of the bar which separated it into two sections. The smaller section, known as the 'snug', housed a dart board and fruit machines, whilst the larger section, known as the saloon bar, was used primarily as the customer seating area. Den Watts got permission from the brewery to remove the partition in 1985, and hired Tony Carpenter to do the job. In 2007 the pub had its first refurbishment in 15 years and underwent a second refurbishment in late 2010.
In reality the pub exterior shell on the outdoor permanent set was built during 1984 for the new series the following year. The exterior shell was made to look as though it had stood for a hundred years. The internal sets are in a studio separate from the building situated in the Square.
In September 2010, The Queen Victoria was severely damaged by a fire - the second one in less than 20 years - in a storyline created to allow the set to be redesigned for high-definition.[1] It was announced that after the pub is burnt down, Alfie Moon and Kat Moon will run it. A separate set was built on the George Lucas sound stage at Elstree Studios to allow the interior set to be (safely) set alight.
A team of nearly forty-five crew members were involved in the filming of the fire including Make Up, Stunt Team, Fire Safety Officers, Cameras, Lighting, Sound and the Costume department.[2] The exterior scenes took five half days to shoot (as it could only be shot at night) and were shot at the BBC studios in Borehamwood. The interior scenes were shot a week after and took three days to film.
To prepare for the fire, the set was re-created on a specially designed fire stage at Elstree Film Studios which is especially designed and equipped for fire scenes.[2] EastEnders Production Manager Rona McKendrick says "Potentially hazardous scenes like this always require specialist knowledge and we rely on their experience and advice to ensure that everything is achieved as safely as possible. We had a Stunt Team comprising of Lee Sheward, our Stunt Co-ordinator and his team of Stunt Doubles. A Visual FX team designed and executed all the fire sequences and we had specialist Fire Officers providing out of vision fire cover / safety."
Of the fire itself, McKendrick said "Everyone was very sad to see the Vic taken out of Stage One and moved to Elstree Film Studios for the burn, I’ve known the set for 18 years and to see the enormous space it left was as if a piece of history had been removed".[2]
Before "EastEnders" first aired the pub was owned by Gus and Flo Leonard. In 1950 Alf and Polly Barrett took over, and they in turn relinquished control of the Queen Vic to Den and Angie Watts in 1975.
When the series begins in 1985 the pub is still owned by the brewery, Luxford & Copley, and is managed by Den and Angie. Den serves Angie with divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986 but remains at the Vic for another two years. He subsequently passes control to Frank and Pat Butcher. In 1990, just two years into their tenure, Pat and Frank hand over the pub to Eddie Royle. After Eddie is murdered by Nick Cotton the following year, Sharon Watts (the daughter of Den and Angie) buys the freehold of the Queen Vic with the assistance of her husband Grant Mitchell and his brother Phil. Sharon becomes the first licensee of the pub and lives there with Grant and Phil. Grant sets fire to the pub in 1992 in an insurance scam and it is refurbished. After Grant and Sharon's marriage ends, the Queen Vic is sold to Grant's mother Peggy.
Peggy marries Frank Butcher in 1999, who becomes landlord again. When Grant leaves Walford, Peggy's alcoholic son Phil sells his share of the Queen Vic to Dan Sullivan for a mere £5 to spite his domineering mother. However, he subsequently buys back his share and ejects Dan from the pub. After Frank disappears and leaves her penniless, Peggy is forced to sell the pub in early 2001. The new buyer is revealed to be Sharon, in partnership with Steve Owen. Steve has to sell his share to raise ransom money for his wife Mel and Phil buys back part of the Vic. In 2002 Sharon also sells up to Phil and the Queen Vic comes under the control of the Mitchells once more. Peggy appoints Alfie Moon as manager later that year.
In 2004, Den Watts tricks his way back into ownership of the Vic, but within a few months he is killed by his second wife Chrissie. She forges his signature on a deed of transfer and tells customers that he has left Walford, signing the pub over to her. Chrissie plans to escape and sells the pub to Ian Beale but is subsequently arrested for murder. When she confesses to forging his signature, the contract with Ian is nullified and ownership reverts to Sharon, who was listed as Den's heir. Sharon returns the pub to the Peggy and Phil Mitchell.
When Sam Mitchell breaks bail in 2009 the family goes into debt. Phil secures the Vic against a loan from Ian, who is forced to sell it to Peggy's ex-husband Archie. The Mitchells initially continue running the pub but Peggy relents and hands over control to Archie and his fiancée Janine. After Archie is murdered on Christmas Day, his daughter Roxy inherits the Queen Vic. When Roxy tries to sell it on, Peggy objects, and Roxy signs over the pub to her. Later in 2010, Phil develops a drug addiction and is locked in a room in the pub by Peggy. After he escapes, he argues with his mother and sets fire to the pub as an act of revenge. The fire traps him and Stacey Branning along with her baby Lily, but they all manage to escape.
The Queen Vic is destroyed by the fire and Peggy decides to hand it over to Phil and leave Walford. He rents the pub to Alfie Moon and his wife Kat and they oversee its refurbishment in 2010.
| Character | Job role |
|---|---|
| Phil Mitchell | Owner |
| Alfie Moon | Landlord |
| Kat Moon | Landlady |
| Mo Harris | Barmaid |
| Tracey | Barmaid / Caterer |
| Jean Slater | Barmaid / Caterer / Bookkeeper |
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