This article or section is incomplete! Despite the slightly lower figure, it still made it to 12th place on Channel 5's weekly chart. They decided that none of their existing characters were wicked enough to have killed Reg, so a 24th character, Nick Cotton was added to the line-up. [40] He left EastEnders in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 60 to 90 minutes. [384], Some storylines have provoked high levels of viewer complaints. Take viewing figures for 14-20 March. Other events to mark the anniversary were a spin-off DVD, EastEnders: Last Tango in Walford , and an Internet spin-off, EastEnders: E20 . in 30th anniversary show in February", "Dominic Treadwell-Collins set to depart as Executive Producer", "EastEnders boss Dominic Treadwell-Collins quits after two and half years", "End of an era! He said that "EastEnders has always had a distinctly different tone from the other soaps but over time we've diluted our unique selling point. The exterior set for the fictional Albert Square is located in the permanent backlot of the BBC Elstree Centre, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, at .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}513932N 01640W / 51.65889N 0.27778W / 51.65889; -0.27778, and is outdoors and open to the weather. [34] Brake suggested that humour was an important element in EastEnders' storylines during 1989, with a greater amount of slapstick and light comedy than before. The aftermath episode, which aired on Friday 20, was completely live and explained in detail Lucy's death. The following episode dropped 600k. The number was similar to the previous year, despite a captive audience, with coronavirus restrictions confining people to their homes. The main engine of that week is great stories that'll get people talking. Most Read. [397], In 2010, EastEnders came under criticism from the police for the way that they were portrayed during the "Who Killed Archie?" Rishi Sunak oversaw wasteful government spending and departmental losses that cost the taxpayer up to 26.8 billion, Labour has said. [344], In 2001, EastEnders clashed with Coronation Street for the first time. This marked the first time that it had been used for anything other than EastEnders. In 2006, EastEnders regularly attracted between 8 and 12 million viewers in official ratings. In a flashback episode which revisited the night of the murder, Bobby was revealed to have killed his sister. "[219] The BBC announced that they would rebuild the EastEnders set[220] to secure the long-term future of the show, with completion expected to be in 2018. [281] A carbon literacy course was run with Heads of Departments of EastEnders attending and as a result, representatives from each department agreed to meet quarterly to share new sustainability ideas. Brake suggested that Ferguson was responsible for bringing in a new sense of vitality and creating a programme that was more in touch with the real world than it had been over the previous year.[34]. [250] In 2003, filming took place at Loch Fyne Hotel and Leisure Club in Inveraray, The Arkinglass Estate in Cairndow and Grims Dyke Hotel, Harrow Weald, north London, for a week of episodes set in Scotland. And former EastEnders and I'm A Celeb star Cliff Parisi, who played Minty Peterson, admitted that the doom and gloom was sometimes too much to handle. Sen explained that the challenges in production and filming of the show has led to the show's reduced output, but also stated that the crew had been "trialing techniques, filming methods and new ways of working" to prepare the show for its return. [17] Holland created the Beale and Fowler family, drawing on his own background. On 21st September 2004, Louise Berridge, the then executive producer, quit following criticism of the show. With public interest so high, the media began investigating the private lives of the show's popular stars. Other events to mark the anniversary were a spin-off DVD, EastEnders: Last Tango in Walford , and an Internet spin-off, EastEnders: E20 . It is shown on BBC UKTV from Mondays to Thursdays at 8pm. EastEnders has received both praise and criticism for many of its storylines, which have dealt with difficult themes including violence, rape, murder and abuse. The launch was delayed until February 1985[27] due to a delay in the chat show Wogan, that was to be a part of the major revamp in BBC1's schedules. [156] Following criticism aimed at the show's over-emphasis on "gangsters" in 2005, such characters have been significantly reduced. Although the Euros have an effect on viewing figures, many now watch what they want when they want on . RIVALS LASH SEEDY EASTENDERS" and "CLEAN UP SOAP! [367] The character of Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden since early 1990) has been criticised on several occasions for glorifying violence and proving a bad role model to children. [230] Episodes are produced in "quartets" of four episodes, each of which starts filming on a Tuesday and takes nine days to record. [105][106], It was announced on 18 March 2020 that production had been suspended on EastEnders and other BBC Studios continuing dramas in light of new government guidelines following the COVID-19 pandemic, and that broadcast of the show would be reduced to two 30-minute episodes per week, broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays, respectively. [35], By the end of 1989 EastEnders had acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson, who had previously been a successful producer on ITV's The Bill. 25 Dec 1986 EastEnders Christmas 1986 Part 2 EastEnders Second of a two-part classic episode that broke the record for British soap viewing. Emmerdale was watched by 8.1million viewers. EastEnders has not hit 6 million in. EastEnders has lost an array of its stars over the past year with the BBC soap's viewing figures dropping below both Emmerdale and Coronation Street. [309] BBC Worldwide licensed 200 hours of EastEnders for broadcast in Serbia on RTS (dubbed into Serbian); it began airing the first episode in December 1997. [7] After the concept was put to them on 14 March 1983, Smith and Holland then went about putting their ideas down on paper; they decided it would be set in the East End of London. He was a racist thug, who often tried to lead other young characters astray. Figures show that on July 31 the London-based soap opera recorded its lowest. This theme encompasses the whole Square, making the entire community a family of sorts, prey to upsets and conflict, but pulling together in times of trouble. [231] When a quartet is completed, it is edited by the director, videotape editor and script supervisor. Here's the full breakdown of what helped the Beeb achieve its best-ever year. In reality, Fenwick carried the torch through the setting of Albert Square, with live footage shown in the episode on 23 July 2012. Bridget Robb, acting chief of the BASW, said the storyline provoked "real anger among a profession well used to a less than accurate public and media perception of their jobs .. EastEnders' shabby portrayal of an entire profession has made a tough job even tougher."[400]. [198] Storylines included the cot death of 14-month-old Hassan Osman, Nick Cotton's (John Altman) homophobia, racism and murder of Reg Cox (Johnnie Clayton),[199] Arthur Fowler's (Bill Treacher) unemployment reflecting the recession of the 1980s, the rape of Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) in 1988 by James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde)[199] and Michelle Fowler's (Susan Tully) teenage pregnancy. This led to the introduction of some characters who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted. The following day, the anniversary week was rounded off with another fully live episode (the second after 2010) with 9.97 million viewers watching the aftermath of the reveal, the Beale family finding out the truth of Lucy's killer and decided to keep it a secret. ", "Is EastEnders the lifeblood of the BBC? Approximately 800 photographs were taken and pieced together to create one big image. EastEnders was originally broadcast twice weekly at 7:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 19 February 1985; however, in September 1985 the two episodes were moved to 7:30pm as Michael Grade did not want the soap running in direct competition with Emmerdale Farm, and this remained the same until 7 April 1994. Complaints against a scene in which Little Mo's face was pushed in gravy on Christmas Day were upheld by the Broadcasting Standards Council; however, a helpline after this episode attracted over 2000 calls. He classed 1989's changes as a brave experiment, and suggested that while some found this period of EastEnders entertaining, many other viewers felt that the comedy stretched the programme's credibility. cake and eat it' as Ofcom figures show many children under 13 use the main . Finding out about her. This was followed in January 1989, less than a year after legislation came into effect in the UK prohibiting the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities, by the first on-the-mouth gay kiss in a British soap when Colin kissed a new character, Guido Smith (Nicholas Donovan), an episode that was watched by 17 million people. The show lost many of its significant characters during this period. Some actors' salaries were leaked in 2006, revealing that Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Fowler) was paid 150,000, Cliff Parisi (Minty Peterson) received 220,000, Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell) and Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell) each received 360,000 and Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler) had a salary of 370,000. [179][180] Despite this, the programme has been criticised by the Commission for Racial Equality, who argued in 2002 that EastEnders was not giving a realistic representation of the East End's "ethnic make-up". Prior to the board's formation, figures were conducted by different means, such as the BBC financing its own audience research, while the ITV companies sub-contracted theirs. [309] This was followed by the Netherlands on 8 December 1986, Australia on 5 January 1987, Norway on 27 April, and Barcelona on 30 June (dubbed into Catalan). He told entertainment website Digital Spy, "It's really important that the feel of the week is active and exciting and not too reflective. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. An average EastEnders episode attracts a total audience share between 35 and 40 per cent. [130], Walford East is a fictional London Underground station for Walford, and a tube map that was first seen on air in 1996 showed Walford East between Bow Road and West Ham, in the actual location of Bromley-by-Bow on the District and Hammersmith & City lines. "[370] In July 2010, complaints were received following the storyline of Christian minister Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet) committing a number of murders that he believed was his duty to God, claiming that the storyline was offensive to Christians. A spokesman of Ofcom said: "After carefully investigating complaints about this scene, Ofcom found the BBC took appropriate steps to limit offence to viewers. Strictly Christmas Countdown: 4.9m 5. 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