EastEnders (1985– )

The everyday lives of the inhabitants of Albert Square in the East-End of London.

Stars:

Steve McFadden, Adam Woodyatt, Pam St. Clement

153 wins & 210 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Steve McFadden	...	Phil (2323 episodes, 1990-2013)
Adam Woodyatt	...	Ian (2258 episodes, 1985-2013)
Pam St. Clement	...	Pat (1811 episodes, 1986-2012)
June Brown	...	Dot (1601 episodes, 1985-2013)
Barbara Windsor	...	Peggy (1548 episodes, 1994-2010)
Wendy Richard	...	Pauline (1527 episodes, 1985-2006)
Perry Fenwick	...	Billy (1212 episodes, 1998-2013)
Sid Owen	...	Ricky (1207 episodes, 1988-2012)
Letitia Dean	...	Sharon (1114 episodes, 1985-2013)
Todd Carty	...	Mark (1080 episodes, 1990-2003)
Ross Kemp	...	Grant (997 episodes, 1990-2006)
Patsy Palmer	...	Bianca (994 episodes, 1993-2013)
Natalie Cassidy	...	Sonia (983 episodes, 1993-2011)

Storyline

A British soap that has been running since 1985, about the lives of people living on Albert Square in the fictitious Walford borough of East London.

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Plot Keywords:

east end | small town | face slap | argument | famous opening theme | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

BBC Online [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1985 (UK)

Also Known As:

East 8

Filming Locations:

Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (1985-1991) Stereo (1991-)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Until 2011, the postal district E20 for Walford was fictitious: the highest "E" code that had been allocated was E18, South Woodford. However in March 2011 it was announced that the Olympic Stadium and surrounding area would be given E20 postcodes by the Royal Mail.

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Goofs

When Nick Cotton returned to the square in October 2008, the tattoo on his neck had disappeared.

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Quotes

[When big Mo was 'Miss Whiplash', Little Mo answers the phone]
Little Mo: You've been a naughty boy?... What did you do?... Oh I'm sure you didn't mean to, you sound ever so sorry.

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Crazy Credits

From 2000 - 2009, a satellite picture of East London was used. With the Millenium Dome added to the picture.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Theme"
by Simon May and Leslie Osborne

User Reviews

Utterly painful to watch

I've never been sure if soaps are supposed to simulate real-life. If they are meant for this purpose, that's got to be the biggest waste of time in history. Why simulate real-life? We can all admit that most of our lives are repetitive and dull, so why would anyone want to watch a simulation of that, played out by people who don't even exist?

Eastenders is unconvincing to the extreme. Nobody seems to own a computer, washing machine or car. People seem to buy shares in local businesses within a matter seconds, with someone owning "half the Arches" or "half the Vic". Sam walks around with "the books", which really are books! Most business managers have computers and accountants to do that for them. Those who run stalls on the market like to leave their livelihoods with friends, simply handing over their money pouches. They're the lucky ones - a lot of the cast don't have jobs at all so how they manage to survive in east London is beyond me.

The "gangsters" are so unrealistic it's hard to watch. The scripts are terrible, mainly down to watershed restrictions, so the writers cannot include most swear-words and are forced to use words like "moron", "idiot" and "wally" which don't really work on the same scale.

Strangely enough, soaps are the shows that are watched the most in the UK, and I don't understand this. Numerous soap magazines are on the shelves, and these tell us what's going to happen in the coming weeks, so nobody really needs to watch at all.

I don't understand the concept of soaps, why anyone feels the need to watch and why there are so many.