EastEnders has received both praise and criticism for most of its storylines, which have dealt with difficult themes, such as violence, rape, murder and child abuse. This marked the first time that it had been used for anything other than EastEnders. Episodes 1 - 38 are single showings only. In March 2011, Royal Mail allocated the E20 postal district to the 2012 Olympic Park. [156] Following criticism aimed at the show's over-emphasis on "gangsters" in 2005, such characters have been significantly reduced. Therefore the first episode of EastEnders was watched by 13 million people which equates to 17.35 million people. Since then, "Return of Nick Cotton" (2000), "Ricky & Bianca" (2002), "Dot's Story" (2003), "Perfectly Frank" (2003) and "Pat and Mo" (2004) have all been broadcast, each episode looking into lives of various characters and revealing part of their backstories or lives since leaving EastEnders. [329][330] In 1993, the two-part story "Dimensions in Time", a charity cross-over with Doctor Who, was shown. Two special anniversary books have been written about the show; EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration (ISBN978-0-563-37057-4) by Colin Brakein 1995 and EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square (ISBN978-0-563-52165-5) by Rupert Smith in 2005. [15], After they decided on the filming location of BBC Elstree Centre in south Hertfordshire, Smith and Holland set about creating the 23 characters needed, in just 14 days. Viewing figures. The first episode of the week features exclusive interviews with the show's cast, while the second episode will be a repeat of "iconic" episodes of the show. It has proved highly popular, and Appreciation Indexes reflected this, rising from 5560 at the launch to 8595 later on, a figure which was nearly 10 points higher than the average for a British soap opera. All you need to know about Leo's dad and Whitney's abuser", "Sets too shabby for latest TVs force EastEnders out of town", "High-definition television forces BBC to fix sets", "EastEnders announces plans to build new exterior set at Elstree", "BBC's new EastEnders set delayed until 2020", "EastEnders' new and improved set won't be ready until 2020", "BBC's new EastEnders set over budget by 27m, watchdog finds", "EastEnders filming will begin again next month but with major changes for cast", "EastEnders starts filming on troubled new 87m Albert Square sets", "Revamped "Top of the Pops" returns to old home after a decade in exile", "Let it snow airports and schools closed", "EXCLUSIVE: "EastEnders" to reference election result", "EastEnders film last-minute scene to mark Michael Jackson's death for Friday's episode", "Exclusive: "EastEnders" to reference spending review", "EastEnders to reference Andy Murray Wimbledon victory", "The BBC's management of the costs of producing continuing drama", EastEnders Vixens: The Rise and Fall of Stella, "Streaker storms EastEnders film set in St Albans", "Pics: Ronnie shops for a wedding dress in 'Enders? [399] The scenes were also condemned by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), calling the BBC "too lazy and arrogant" to correctly portray the child protection process, and saying that the baby was taken "without sufficient grounds to do so". EastEnders boss Dominic Treadwell-Collins shares emotional pictures from his last day", "EastEnders date revealed for new boss's first episode", "Casualty boss Oliver Kent is now in charge of EastEnders", "Spoilers EastEnders boss first interview on show changes and future", "EastEnders confirms producer Sean O'Connor is leaving the soap effective immediately", "EastEnders executive producer leaves programme after one year BBC News", "EastEnders boss John Yorke extends contract with the soap again", "Eastenders viewers moved as soap breaks format to raise awareness of knife crime", "EastEnders confirms new boss as Kate Oates takes over from John Yorke in top job", "EastEnders is searching for a new executive producer to work with Kate Oates", "Why EastEnders has broken new ground with Ruby Allen's consent episode", "EastEnders, Coronation Street and The X Factor decline is driving down TV viewing figures", "EastEnders is ratings success on BBC iPlayer", "EastEnders has best year ever on BBC iPlayer", "EastEnders bosses reveal how actor reacted to shock death storyline", "Why is Bleu Landau leaving EastEnders as Dennis dies? [222] In December 2018, it was revealed that the new set was now planned to cost 59million but a National Audit Office (NAO) report stated that it would actually cost 86.7million and be completed two-and-a-half years later than planned, in 2023; the NAO concluded that the BBC "could not provide value for money on the project". He was a racist thug, who often tried to lead other young characters astray. 25 Dec 1986 EastEnders Christmas 1986 Part 2 EastEnders Second of a two-part classic episode that broke the record for British soap viewing. . Sometimes I just want to see Dot Cotton moaning that the price of biscuits has gone up 10p. During her time at the soap Hutchison axed multiple characters, and reportedly ordered the rewriting of numerous scripts. [352] Under new producers, EastEnders and Emmerdale continued to clash at times, and Emmerdale tended to come out on top, giving EastEnders lower than average ratings. An average EastEnders episode attracts a total audience share between 35 and 40 per cent. Maya with The Circle co-presenter Alice Levine. It is the 30th anniversary of Eastenders and all the hype is around the live show on Thursday. storyline and second wedding of Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), and the show's first live episode on 19 February 2010. ", "EastEnders Dot Cotton filming in Thorpe Bay", "EastEnders stunt actor smashes head while filming Ryan Malloy horror fall", "Live ep for "EastEnders" 25th anniversary", "EastEnders: The Olympic flame comes to Walford! Three episodes of EastEnders have crossed 3m in the overnights this year, two of these didn't face Emmerdale (1/1, 9/1) and the other benefitted from the Dragon's Den and Apprentice's return (5/1). [315] It is aired in Australia on Satellite & Streaming services on BBC UKTV, from Mondays to Thursdays 7:50pm8:30pm with two advertisement breaks of five minutes each. The top 50 programmes on TV based on the size of their total viewing audience over the week (including live, VOSDAL, time-shifted and total audience viewing figures). [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). [344], The launch show in 1985 attracted 17.35million viewers. Jack, Pearl and Tracey Watts were created to bring "flash, trash, and melodrama" to the Square (they were later renamed Den, Angie and Sharon). [126], The central focus of EastEnders is the fictional Victorian square Albert Square in the fictional London Borough of Walford. EastEnders Christmas Day special is reported to have only pulled in pulled in 2.9 million viewers, which was less than Emmerdale and Coronation Street. The Dutch version was re-written from already existing EastEnders scripts. [34] Although the programme still covered many issues in 1989, such as domestic violence, drugs, rape and racism, Brake reflected that the new emphasis on a more balanced mix between "light and heavy storylines" gave the illusion that the show had lost a "certain edge". [230] Episodes are produced in "quartets" of four episodes, each of which starts filming on a Tuesday and takes nine days to record. When Danny joined, EastEnders was pulling in up to eight million viewers an episode, but in the past year those figures have dropped to 2.5 million. [4] Demolition on the old set commenced in November 2022.[5]. 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! ", "The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television", "BBC EastEnders: EastEnders Omnibus has moved", "EastEnders repeat where will it be shown when BBC3 goes off air? This was attributed to a conflicting one-hour special episode of Emmerdale on ITV1; however, ratings for the 10pm EastEnders repeat on BBC Three reached an all-time high of 1.4million; however, there have been times when EastEnders had higher ratings than Emmerdale despite the two going head-to-head. When Danny joined, EastEnders was pulling in up to eight million viewers an episode, but in the past year those figures have dropped to 2.5 million. [8], There was anxiety at first that the viewing public would not accept a new soap set in the south of England, though research commissioned by lead figures in the BBC revealed that southerners would accept a northern soap, northerners would accept a southern soap and those from the Midlands, as Julia Smith herself pointed out, did not mind where it was set as long as it was somewhere else. [263] In January 2013, on-location filming at Grahame Park in Colindale, north London, was interrupted by at least seven youths who threw a firework at the set and threatened to cut members of the crew. [247] According to a Radio Times article for 212 episodes it works out at 141,000 per episode or 3.5p per viewer hour. [148] Such characters include Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement), Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). The BBC responded by saying they had been working that way for some time and it had not affected the quality of the show. 14 million in April 1993. EastEnders has had varying success with ethnic minority characters. He added: "It should feel more like London. The police claimed that such scenes were "damaging" to their reputation and added that the character DC Deanne Cunningham (Zo Henry) was "irritatingly inaccurate". According to The Sun, the figures are more worrying for producers as rivals such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale are regularly attracting over four million viewers. The BBC1 soap is in crisis after drawing the lowest ever viewing figures in its history, scraping in with just 1.7 million viewers on July 31. Episodes from prior years are still shown on various PBS stations in the US. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! 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]. Sometimes an entire quartet is filmed on location, which has a practical function and are the result of EastEnders making a "double bank", when an extra week's worth of episodes are recorded at the same time as the regular schedule, enabling the production of the programme to stop for a two-week break at Christmas. [131], Walford has the postal district of E20. The BBC did not use meter readings but instead used audience questionnaires based on the memory of the sample they chose. The show takes a look behind the scenes of the EastEnders and investigates particular places, characters or families within EastEnders. Newspapers reported on employee dissatisfaction with Hutchison's tenure at EastEnders. They suggested the blame lies with the show's trendy-but-dull storylines, such as cosmetic surgery addiction, cannabis oil treatments and online trolling. [193] Tracey is the longest-serving female character in the show, having appeared since 1985, albeit as a minor character. Danny Dyer has opened up about his luxurious 140,000 Heart EastEnders actor Kellie Bright shares game-changing theory on Christmas murder heart.co.uk - Alice Dear [272], Since 2010, EastEnders no longer uses tapes in the recording or editing process. The first episode was watched by 17 million viewers. [104], In February 2020, EastEnders celebrated its 35th anniversary with a stunt on the River Thames leading to the death of Dennis Rickman Jr (Bleu Landau). The viewing figures for 52 episodes are not combined with the omnibus. Rishi Sunak oversaw wasteful government spending and departmental losses that cost the taxpayer up to 26.8 billion, Labour has said. [225] In March 2020 during the suspension of filming, the interior sets were used for a new adaptation of Talking Heads. Over the years Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale has attracted high audience figures. [203] EastEnders covered child abuse with its storyline involving Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) 11-year-old son Ben (Charlie Jones) and lawyer girlfriend Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson),[204][205] and child grooming involving the characters Tony King (Chris Coghill) as the perpetrator and Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) as the victim.[206]. We have a very wide range of content - there's a strong 80s focus with trivia on EastEnders and Grange Hill, but you can also find articles on popular contemporary TV programmes such as Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. Under new producers, EastEnders and Emmerdale continued to clash at times, and Emmerdale tended to come out on top, giving EastEnders lower than average ratings. "[68] The live episode featured the death of Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements) at the conclusion of the "Who Killed Archie?" [361] In 2013, the average audience share for an episode was around 30 per cent. Peggy Mitchell death: Eastenders suicide was watched by 41% of UK TV viewing audience. [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. [276], In 2014, two new studios were built and they were equipped with low-energy lighting which has saved approximately 90,000 kwh per year. Viewing figures peaked at 16.6million, which was the highest viewed episode in seven years. [117][118] During the week, beginning from 1 November, a social media clip featuring Maria Connor from Coronation Street was featured on the programme while Cindy Cunningham from Hollyoaks was also referenced. The live-episode averaged 15.6 million viewers, peaking at 16.6 million in the final five minutes of the broadcast. [207] It was initially built in 1984 with a specification that it should last for at least 15 years at a cost of 750,000. [133] E20 was entirely fictional when it was created, as London East postal districts stopped at E18 at the time. Corrie's audience figures have dropped by 19 per cent in the past four years while EastEnders has fallen almost double this by around 37 per cent. Something went wrong, please try again later. [227], The majority of EastEnders episodes are filmed at the BBC Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. [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. [325], According to Barbara Jurgen who re-wrote the scripts for a Dutch audience he said "The power of the show is undeniable. In March 1983, under two years before EastEnders' first episode was broadcast, the show was a vague idea in the mind of a handful of BBC executives, who decided that what BBC One needed was a popular bi-weekly drama series that would attract the kind of mass audiences that ITV was getting with Coronation Street. Coronation Street began in 1960 so why did the the BBC wait so long to broadcast a soap opera. [303] Episodes of EastEnders are available on-demand through BBC iPlayer for 30 days after their original screening. [296][297][298][299], EastEnders was regularly repeated at 10pm on BBC Choice from the channel's launch in 1998, a practice continued by BBC Three for many years until mid-2012 with the repeat moving to 10:30pm. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. In 2007, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale averaged 8.7 million viewers between them, but by 2017 this had dropped to 6.9 million. Robinson also earned tabloid soubriquet "Axeman of Albert Square" after sacking a large number of characters in one hit, and several more thereafter. [349] The highest rated episode of EastEnders is the Christmas Day 1986 episode, which attracted a combined 30.15million viewers who tuned into either the original transmission or the omnibus to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to his wife Angie. [58] In October 2006, Diederick Santer took over as Executive Producer of EastEnders. [115] The release of these boxsets was extended for a further five weeks, due to similar impacts caused by the 2020 Summer Olympics. A sari shop was opened and various characters of different ethnicities were introduced throughout 2006 and 2007, including the Fox family, the Ahmeds, and various background artists. [31], In 1987 the show featured the first same-sex kiss on a British soap, when Colin Russell (Michael Cashman) kissed boyfriend Barry Clarke on the forehead. "[389] The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) praised the storyline, and its director Joyce Epstein explained, "We are very grateful to EastEnders for their accurate depiction of the devastating effect that the sudden death of an infant can have on a family. The most-watched TV show was the penultimate episode of The Apprentice on BBC One, which had 6.7 million viewers, 2.1 million of whom watched not live, but on . Aside from this, soap opera staples of youthful romance, jealousy, domestic rivalry, gossip and extramarital affairs are regularly featured, with high-profile storylines occurring several times a year. [89] Additionally, Oliver Kent was brought in as the Head of Continuing Drama Series for BBC Scripted Studios, meaning that Kent would oversee EastEnders along with O'Connor. 25th July 1985 was the first time the show's viewership rose to the first position in the weekly top 10 shows for BBC One. [54] Harwood stayed at EastEnders for 20 months before being promoted by the BBC. EastEnders had its best ever year of viewing on Player in 2022, the BBC has confirmed. TAM/AGB used meter readings and published the data as millions of homes viewing. "The expansion of minority representation signals a move away from the traditional soap opera format, providing more opportunities for audience identification with the characters and hence a wider appeal". The same-day repeat showing on BBC Three attracted an average of 500,000 viewers, while the Sunday omnibus generally attracted 3 million. The effect of the football has become clear in EastEnders' latest viewing figures as last week an episode of the show pulled in just 1.9million viewers. Eastenders suicide was watched by 17 million viewers, peaking at 16.6 million in the show classic eastenders viewing figures by year that the. November 2022. [ 5 ] [ 133 ] E20 was entirely fictional when it created! 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Meter readings and published the data as millions of homes viewing the show have been significantly.... The Dutch version was re-written from already existing EastEnders scripts five minutes of the show during the suspension of,... Audience questionnaires based on the memory of the EastEnders and all the hype is around the live show Thursday!
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