EastEnders
A British soap opera set in the East End of London.
EastEnders is a British soap opera that first aired on BBC One in February 1985, created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland. It takes place in the fictional London borough of Walford, in the East End, and centers on the daily lives of local residents and their families. The show shot to the top of BARB’s television ratings within eight months of its debut and has stayed among the UK’s most-watched series ever since. Four of its episodes rank in the all-time top ten most-watched programmes in Britain, with the 1986 Christmas Day episode holding the number one spot, drawing over 30 million viewers. The series has played a key role in British television drama by addressing controversial or taboo topics and depicting a social reality that had rarely been shown on mainstream UK TV before.
- created_by
- Julia Smith and Tony Holland
- first_broadcast
- February 1985
- network
- BBC One
- setting
- Fictional borough of Walford, East End of London
- filming_location
- BBC Elstree Centre
- notable_families
- Watts, Beales and Fowlers, Mitchells, Brannings, Slaters
Lore & Background
The show was conceived in March 1983 when BBC executives decided BBC One needed a popular twice-weekly drama to attract mass audiences like ITV's Coronation Street. David Reid turned to Julia Smith and Tony Holland, who had worked together on Z-Cars. After the concept was presented on 14 March 1983, Smith and Holland decided to set it in the East End of London, following a report indicating a working-class London neighbourhood would have the most widespread appeal. The working title was East 8, and it was initially to be set in a real street in Hackney, London. Several cities were considered before London was chosen. Research revealed that southerners would accept a northern soap, northerners a southern soap, and those from the Midlands did not mind where it was set. The creators found a real East End spirit in their research, characterized by an inward-looking quality, distrust of strangers and authority figures, and a sense of territory and community summed up as 'Hurt one of us and you hurt us all'.
Reader's Guide
EastEnders has received both praise and criticism for its storylines dealing with difficult themes including violence, rape, murder, and abuse. It was criticized for the 2010 baby swap storyline, which attracted more than 6,000 complaints, as well as for showing too much violence and allegations of national and racial stereotypes. However, it has also been commended for representing real-life issues and spreading awareness on social topics. The cast and crew have received and been nominated for various awards. The show has been filmed at the BBC Elstree Centre since its inception, with an outdoor set open to weather. In 2014, the BBC announced plans to rebuild the set entirely; filming on the new set commenced in January 2022 and was first used on-screen in March 2022, with demolition of the old set starting in November 2022.
Did You Know?
- The show's original working title was East 8, but it was renamed after casting agents mistakenly thought the show was called Estate.
- Co-creator Tony Holland based the Beale and Fowler families on his own family members, including his mother Ethel Holland and her sisters.
- The fictional postcode E20 was created instead of using the real E8 postcode for Hackney.
- Julia Smith came up with the name EastEnders and decided to capitalise the second 'e' because she thought it 'looked ugly written down' and was 'hard to say'.
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