EastEnders
EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, which was first broadcast on February 19, 1985.
Setting
It is set in and around the fictional Albert Square, ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. Much of the action revolves around the market, and the nearby public house, the Queen Victoria.
The Queen Vic, as it is known to its customers, is the primary meeting place for the show's characters and is the site of many of the show's major storylines. The first known landlord, Dirty Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham), endured an acrimonious divorce from his wife Angie, only to be shot and presumed killed until his return in 2003. A subsequent landlady Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) emerged as a leading character in the 1990s, enduring breast cancer and coping with the on-going problems of her adult sons Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp).
Walford has a fictional London postal district, London E20, and a fictional tube station, Walford East, which is located on the Eastenders tube map in the position normally occupied by the real Bromley-by-Bow tube station.
It is actually filmed at Borehamwood to the north-west of London.
Popularity
EastEnders is one of the more popular programmes on British television and used to regularly attract between 15 and 20 million viewers. Its main rival for ratings is usually Coronation Street on rival station ITV. In order to maximise ratings the BBC and ITV are usually careful to avoid scheduling clashes between their flagship soaps.
On 20 September, 2004 Louise Berridge, the then executive producer of the show quit following massive criticism of the show. The following day the show received its lowest ever ratings (6.2 million) when it went head-to-head against Emmerdale, ITV's usually less-popular soap, which was watched by 8.1 million. A few weeks later the producers announced a major shake-up of the cast with the highly-criticised Ferreira family, first seen in June 2003, set to leave at the beginning of 2005.
Cast
Present
- Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo)
- James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler)
- John Bardon (Jim Branning)
- Gary Beadle (Paul Trueman)
- Hilda Braid (Nana Moon)
- Laurie Brett (Jane Collins)
- June Brown (Dot Branning)
- Natalie Cassidy (Sonya Jackson)
- Ameet Chana (Adi Ferreira)
- Stephen Churchett (Marcus Christie)
- Gerry Cowper (Rosie Miller)
- Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts)
- Nabil Elouahabi (Tariq Larousi)
- Perry Fenwick (Billy Mitchell)
- Mohammed George (Gus Smith)
- Ricky Groves (Gary Hobbs)
- Jill Halfpenny (Kate Mitchell)
- Nigel Harman (Den Watts jnr.)
- Charlie G. Hawkins (Darren Miller)
- Michael Higgs (Andy Hunter)
- Raji James (Ash Ferreira)
- Scarlett Johnson (Vicky Fowler)
- Joseph Kpobie (Juley Smith)
- Leanne Lakey (Belinda Peacock)
- Ian Lavender (Derek Harkinson)
- Derek Martin (Charlie Slater)
- Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell)
- Kim Medcalf (Sam Mitchell)
- Laila Morse (Mo Harris)
- Steve Nicholson (Gavin Sharp)
- Tracy-Ann Oberman (Chrissie Watts)
- Tara Lynne O'Neill (Joanne Ryan)
- Ray Panthaki (Ronny Ferreira)
- Cliff Parisi (Rick 'Minty' Peterson)
- Christopher Parker (Spencer Moon)
- Clifford Price (Angel)
- Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler)
- Shane Richie (Alfie Moon)
- Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater)
- Pam St Clement (Pat Evans)
- Edward Savage (Steven Beale)
- Pooja Shah (Kareena Ferreira)
- David Spinx (Keith Miller)
- Sophie Stanton (DCI Marsden)
- Joe Swash (Mickey Miller)
- Shana Swash (Demi Miller)
- Jemma Walker (Sasha Perkins)
- Rudolph Walker (Patrick Trueman)
- Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale)
- Angela Wynter (Yolande Trueman)
Past
- Jessie Wallace (Kat Slater)
- Hannah Waterman (Laura Beale)
- Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell)
- Dalip Tahil (Dan Ferreira)
- Doug Allen (Nathan Williams)
- Nicholas Bailey (Anthony Trueman)
- Lucy Benjamin (Lisa Fowler)
- Hywel Bennett (Jack Dalton)
- Charlie Brooks (Janine Butcher)
- Dean Gaffney (Robbie Jackson)
- Michael Greco (Beppe de Marco)
- Brooke Kinsella (Kelly Taylor)
- Elaine Lordan (Lynne Hobbs)
- Ashvin Luximon (Asif Malik)
- Colm O. Maonlai (Tom Banks)
- Robyn Moore (Shirley Benson)
- Judi Shekoni (Precious)
- Bindya Solanki (Nina Mistry)
- Lucy Speed (Natalie Evans)
- Joe Absolom (Matthew Rose)
- John Altman (Nick Cotton)
- Howard Anthony (Alan Jackson)
- Nick Berry (Simon Wicks)
- Leila Birch (Teresa di Marco)
- Paul Bradley (Nigel Bates)
- Corrine Skinner Carter (Audrey Trueman)
- Todd Carty (Mark Fowler)
- Michael Cashman (Colin Russell)
- Tony Caunter (Roy Evans)
- Desune Coleman (Lenny Wallace)
- Michelle Collins (Cindy Beale)
- Lindsay Coulson (Carol Jackson)
- Peter Dean (Pete Beale)
- Daniela Denby-Ashe (Sarah Hills)
- Anita Dobson (Angie Watts)
- Craig Fairbrass (Dan Sullivan)
- Leonard Fenton (Dr Legg)
- Alex Ferns (Trevor Morgan)
- Frankie Fitzgerald (Ashley Cotton)
- Gretchen Franklin (Ethel Skinner)
- Michael French (David Wicks)
- Michelle Gayle (Hattie Tavernier)
- Leslie Grantham (Den Watts snr.)
- Carol Harrison (Louise Raymond)
- Mark Homer (Tony Hills)
- Louise Jameson (Rosa di Marco)
- Martin Kemp (Steve Owen)
- Ross Kemp (Grant Mitchell)
- Sophie Lawrence (Diane Butcher)
- Andrew Lynford (Simon Raymond)
- Martine McCutcheon (Tiffany Mitchell)
- Michael Melia (Eddie Royle)
- Jimi Mistry (Fred Fonseca)
- Tamzin Outhwaite (Melanie Owen)
- Sid Owen (Ricky Butcher)
- Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson/Butcher)
- Caroline Paterson (Ruth Fowler)
- Mike Reid (Frank Butcher)
- Gavin Richards (Terry Raymond)
- Jack Ryder (Jamie Mitchell)
- Nadia Sawalha (Annie Palmer)
- David Scarboro (Mark Fowler)
- Gillian Taylforth (Kathy Beale/Mitchell)
- Roberta Taylor (Irene Raymond)
- Bill Treacher (Arthur Fowler)
- Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler)
- Daniella Westbrook (Sam Mitchell)
- Shaun Williamson (Barry Evans)
- Anna Wing (Lou Beale)
External links
- BBC: EastEnders, official site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/)
- BBC: Backstage with the Eastenders (http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/backstage/station_popup_1.html)
- Underground Eastenders fan website (http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/walford.html)