In the same period, Emmerdale's viewing figures are said to have witnessed a 22 per cent decline. [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. [34] In 1989, there was a deliberate attempt to increase the lighter, more comic aspects of life in Albert Square. This page explores the viewing history and figures of Emmerdale from 1972 to present day. We are always mindful of the timeslot in which EastEnders is shown and we took great care to signpost this storyline prior to transmission, through on-air continuity and publicity as well as providing a BBC Action Line at the end of the episode which offers advice and support to those affected by the issue". [110], Plans for the show's return to transmission were announced on 12 June 2020. It should be entertaining but it should also be informativethat's part of our unique BBC compact with the audience. EastEnders has always featured a culturally diverse cast which has included black, Asian, Turkish, Polish and Latvian characters. [329][330] In 1993, the two-part story "Dimensions in Time", a charity cross-over with Doctor Who, was shown. Viewing Figures Christmas viewing . [266] On 23 July 2012, a segment of that evening's episode was screened live as Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) carried the Olympic flame around Walford in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics. [202] The issue of illiteracy was highlighted by the characters of middle-aged Keith (David Spinx) and his young son Darren (Charlie G. storyline. The same-day repeat showing on BBC Three attracted an average of 500,000 viewers, while the Sunday omnibus generally attracted 3 million. NOTE: Please do not add content from the BBC iPlayer's early episodes until it has been aired on television, as it is intrusive to our readers who may not have seen the episode on iPlayer. [38] Ferguson was succeeded by both Leonard Lewis and Helen Greaves who initially shared the role as Executive Producer for EastEnders. 1990 was EastEnders' sixth year. [1] EastEnders has been important in the history of British television drama, tackling many subjects that are considered to be controversial or taboo in British culture, and portraying a social life previously unseen on UK mainstream television. [223] In March 2019 there was criticism from a group of MPs about how the BBC handled the redevelopment of the set. [271] The episode was then copied onto D3 video. On one occasion following a scene in an episode broadcast in October 2002, where Phil brutally beat his godson, Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder), 31 complaints came from viewers. Kent said, "John Yorke is a Walford legend and I am thrilled that he will be joining us for a short period to oversee the show and to help us build on Sean's legacy while we recruit a long-term successor. [275] In 2011, it was reported that actors receive a per-episode fee of between 400 and 1,200, and are guaranteed a certain number of episodes per year, perhaps as few as 30 or as many as 100, therefore annual salaries could range from 12,000 to 200,000 depending on the popularity of a character. [246] In 2011, it was reported that eight per cent of the series is filmed on location. National Grid personnel watch the show to know when closing credits begin so they can prepare for the surge, asking for additional power from France if necessary. [220], In May 2016 the rebuild was delayed until 2020 and forecast to cost in excess of 15million,[221] although the main part of the set is scheduled to be able to start filming in May 2019. They suggested the blame lies with the show's trendy-but-dull storylines, such as cosmetic surgery addiction, cannabis oil treatments and online trolling. The viewing figures for 138 episodes are not combined with the omnibus. [7] This was the beginning of a close and continuing association between EastEnders and audience research, which, though commonplace today, was something of a revolution in practice. [10], Once they had decided on their 23 characters, they returned to London for a meeting with the BBC. [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. The BBC responded by stating: "EastEnders has been a pre-watershed BBC One staple for over 37 years and has a rich history of dealing with challenging and difficult issues and Ben's story is one of these. [176] Other examples include Paul Priestly (Mark Thrippleton) and Trevor Short (Phil McDermott),[177] In 1989 especially, characters were brought in who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted. [178] Middle-class characters do occasionally become regulars, but have been less successful and rarely become long-term characters. As noted in the 1994 behind-the-scenes book, EastEnders: The First 10 Years, after filming, tapes were sent to the videotape editor, who then edited the scenes together into an episode. EastEnders has drawn in its lowest ever rating since it first aired 1985, according to reports. 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. [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. [86] Treadwell-Collins left on 6 May[87] and O'Connor's first credited episode was broadcast on 11 July[88] Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. The highest rated episode of EastEnders is the Christmas Day 1986 episode, which attracted a combined 30.15 million viewers who tuned into either the original transmission or the omnibus to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to his wife Angie. He was a racist thug, who often tried to lead other young characters astray. [210] The drains around the set are real so rainwater can naturally flow from the streets. Based on market research by BBC commissioning in 2003, EastEnders is most watched by 60- to 74-year-olds, closely followed by 45- to 59-year-olds. Conversely there are female characters who handle tragedy less well, depicted as eternal victims and endless sufferers, who include Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), Little Mo Mitchell (Kacey Ainsworth), Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff), Lisa Fowler (Lucy Benjamin), Mel Owen (Tamzin Outhwaite) and Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks). [102][103] The soap enjoyed a record-breaking year on the streaming platform in 2019, with viewers requesting to stream or download the show 234 million times, up 10% on 2018. [33] By the end of 1992, Greaves left and Lewis became executive and series producer. saga. The shows lost its sense of humour. [126], The central focus of EastEnders is the fictional Victorian square Albert Square in the fictional London Borough of Walford. legislation came into effect in the UK prohibiting the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities, first on-the-mouth gay kiss in a British soap, 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, ten-month mystery regarding who killed her, several episodes were shot and set in Ireland, Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, List of awards and nominations received by EastEnders, List of most-watched television broadcasts, List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC, List of programmes broadcast by Telefs ireann, List of programmes broadcast by Virgin Media Television (Ireland), List of television programs by episode count, "EastEnders starts filming on troubled new 87 million set", "EastEnders' new-look Albert Square to hit screens next week", "EastEnders set demolished as fans slam 'wasted opportunity', "Market on Honey Lane / Honey Lane (196769)", "EastEnders' Adam Woodyatt: 'As long as I'm still enjoying it I'll stay for another 30 years', "How did you get the view of London used on the opening credits? [54] Harwood stayed at EastEnders for 20 months before being promoted by the BBC. Most of the buildings on Albert Square have no interior filming space, with a few exceptions, and most do not have rears or gardens. Notably, from 1985 to 1988, author and television writer Hugh Miller wrote 17 novels, detailing the lives of many of the show's original characters before 1985, when events on screen took place. ", Don't miss out on the biggest soaps gossip! The sound team also have the capability to access the edited episode, enabling them to dub the sound and create the final version. Finding out about her. Rishi Sunak oversaw wasteful government spending and departmental losses that cost the taxpayer up to 26.8 billion, Labour has said. When they compared the characters they had created, Smith and Holland realised they had created a cross-section of East End residents. 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. Viewing figures peaked at 16.6 million, which was the highest viewed episode in seven years. However, a spokesperson told MailOnline that the show's figures had been impacted by its decision to drop a week's worth of episodes directly onto the iPlayer while the Euros and Olympics were in full swing. In 2021, "UEFA Euro 2020: England vs Denmark" recorded the largest TV viewing audience of the year, with 18.4 million individuals watching the program. An episode of EastEnders Revealed that was commissioned for BBC Three attracted 611,000 viewers. John Yorke returned as a temporary executive consultant. [361] In 2013, the average audience share for an episode was around 30 per cent. Let's take a look at what television captured our imaginations and gained the largest viewing figures in each year of . [388] Roz Laws from the Sunday Mercury called the plot "shocking and ridiculous" and asked "are we really supposed to believe that Kat won't recognise that the baby looks different? 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. We hope that this story will help raise the public's awareness of cot death, which claims 300 babies' lives each year. Channel 5's #DinosaurWithStephenFry held on to a fair amount of its audience, pulling in 0.89M for episode 2; this marks a drop of 28%. They contravened the rules regarding protection of children by appropriate scheduling, appropriate depiction of violence before the 9p.m. watershed and appropriate depiction of potentially offensive content. [131], Walford has the postal district of E20. This led to the introduction of some characters who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted. She quotes endlessly from the Bible and it ridicules religion to some extent. [325], According to Barbara Jurgen who re-wrote the scripts for a Dutch audience he said "The power of the show is undeniable. Call The Midwife: 5.4m 3. [325][326][327] The schedule remained the same as EastEnders twice weekly episodes; however, some notable changes included the programme is now set in Rotterdam rather than London, characters are given Dutch names (Den and Angie became Ger and Ankie) and The Queen Victoria] pub is renamed "Cade Faas". The aftermath episode, which aired on Friday 20, was completely live and explained in detail Lucy's death. We just want to see normal people on occasion, with normal problems.. [211] On each set all the appliances are fully functional such as gas cookers, the laundry washing machines and The Queen Victoria beer pumps. From episode 9573 broadcast on Thursday 12th January 2022 . The most recent BARB figures reported that. It is the 30th anniversary of Eastenders and all the hype is around the live show on Thursday. Its highest ever was 18.6 million in January 1994 because of the plane crash. 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]. [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. [140] The original matriarch was Lou Beale (Anna Wing), though later examples include Mo Harris (Laila Morse),[141] Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement),[142] Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia),[143] Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell),[144] Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth),[145] Jean Slater (Gillian Wright),[146] and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal). Danny Dyer has been a mainstay on EastEnder in recent years, Emmerdale spoilers for next week: April's terror over bully and child kidnap horror, A lack of iconic characters is said to be harming EastEnders' viewing figures, Corrie spoilers: Daisy's tragic past unveiled after medical crisis for Daniel's baby Bertie. [166] Another recurring male character seen in EastEnders is the "loser" or "soft touch", males often comically under the thumb of their female counterparts, which have included Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher),[148] Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen),[168] Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves),[169] Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt)[170] and Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick).[171]. And people laugh. [13], The project had a number of working titlesSquare Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride and East 8. [99] Although, since Yorke and Oates' reigns, opinions towards the storylines have become more favourable, with storylines such as Ruby Allen's (Louisa Lytton) sexual consent, which featured a special episode which "broke new ground"[100] and knife crime, both of which have created "vital" discussions. Question 9: How many viewers watched the Friday 4th June 2010 episode of the popular BBC1 soap series EastEnders? [340] In the spin-off, the Moons visit Ireland where they "search for answers to some very big questions". The expanded set will feature new areas for characters and plot lines . It was decided that he would be a former soldier, as Holland's personal experiences of ex-soldiers were that they had trouble fitting into society after being in the army. EastEnders won the battle with 8.4million viewers (41% share) whilst Coronation Street lagged behind with 7.3million viewers (34% share). During the winter period, filming can take place up to twelve weeks in advance, due to less daylight for outdoor filming sessions. 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. 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). In 2006, EastEnders regularly attracted between 8 and 12 million viewers in official ratings. [351] The following day the show received its lowest ever ratings at that time (6.2million) when ITV scheduled an hour-long episode of Emmerdale against it. EastEnders has not had a brilliant year. Santer also reintroduced past and popular characters to the programme. . During the storyline, DCI Jill Marsden (Sophie Stanton) and DC Wayne Hughes (Jamie Treacher) talk to locals about the case and Hughes accepts a bribe. [110] Jon Sen, the show's executive producer, expressed his excitement at the new series, dubbing it "a unique opportunity to see from the cast themselves just what it is like to be part of EastEnders". [281] The production team now use recycled paper and recycled stationery. [135] In 2016, the Fowlers were revived and merged with the Slaters, with Martin Fowler (James Bye) marrying Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner). [292] The last omnibus on the BBC was shown on 24 April 2015. Holland also created Pauline's unemployed husband Arthur Fowler, their children Mark and Michelle, Pete's wife Kathy and their son Ian. [41] Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. [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. Explore. [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. [341][342], An example of EastEnders' popularity is that after episodes, electricity use in the United Kingdom rises significantly as viewers who have waited for the show to end begin boiling water for tea, a phenomenon known as TV pickup. He told entertainment website Digital Spy, "It's really important that the feel of the week is active and exciting and not too reflective. The BBC responded by saying they had been working that way for some time and it had not affected the quality of the show. EastEnders viewing figures hit a low of 2.9 million on Monday - attracting a smaller audience than quiz show Only Connect. 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. 26 Dec 1986 24/12/1998 EastEnders Grant and. All you need to know about Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright in real life", "EastEnders viewers beg for Martin and Stacey to reconcile as she returns to screens", "EastEnders: 7 reasons the Taylor family went from hated to loved", "EastEnders' Panesar family look unrecognisable in an epic behind-the-scenes snap", "EastEnders spoilers: Beloved resident returns as former star drops huge hint? EastEnders is often filmed on location, away from the studios in Borehamwood. 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