This Friday, the BBC’s flagship soap opera, EastEnders will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. The residents of Albert Square have given us a fair share of drama, scandal, tearjerkers and happy endings over the past quarter of a century and it still is doing what it is doing best now: Creating the serial drama that we all love so much. On Friday, EastEnders celebrations will be marked with the show’s first ever live episode at 8pm – which will follow the wedding of Ricky and Bianca, plus the revelation of Who Killed Archie Mitchell on Christmas Day last year?
In preparation for Friday’s birthday, I’ve come up with my favourite ten all-time EastEnders moments from the past 25 years.10. Pauline dies on Christmas Day (2006)
The fabulous and late Wendy Richard played Pauline Fowler right from episode 1 on February 19th 1985, all the way through for twenty-one years. Pauline was seen as interference to some, but she only wanted the best for her family and was also a main pillar for the community. By 2006 though, things had turned sour for Walford’s favourite mum, as her suspicions about Sonia Jackson led her to desperate action. Once her son Martin and husband Joe found out that she had lied about dying, Pauline was shut out by her nearest and dearest. Sadly, on a snowy Christmas Day in 2006, she collapsed and passed away peacefully by the bench of her first husband, Arthur. It was a sad end to one of Albert Square’s favourite characters.
9. Jamie dies on Christmas Day (2002)
What is it with a good old tearjerker in the festive season eh? Lovebirds Sonia Jackson and Jamie Mitchell were as happy as anyone could be. Sadly, happy endings in the Square are not a regular theme and as Jamie was preparing to pop the question to Sonia, he was mowed down by Martin Fowler, who was busy texting rather than concentrating on the road. Tragically, Jamie, after some poignant scenes with Sonia passed away from his injuries on Xmas Day 2002 and guilt-stricken, Martin did the next best thing, gets together with Sonia less than a year later!
8. Who shot Phil Mitchell? (2001)
In the spring of 2001, Phil Mitchell was making a load of enemies, but nothing’s new there then! On March 1st, he was gunned down on the steps of his home and only quick reactions from club owner Beppe di Marco saved his life. The hunt was soon on for Phil’s assailant, culminating in an episode in April when the five suspects all got a knock on the door at the same time. It was eventually revealed that Lisa Fowler, Phil’s former flame pulled the trigger because Phil had done the dirty on her with her best friend, Melanie Owen. Some revenge! Over 17million people tuned in to the two episodes.
7. Steve is killed in a high-speed car chase (2002)Phil Mitchell and Steve Owen hated each other’s guts. Neither could stand one another, each attempting to beat one another at their own game. When Phil started losing the plot, Steve and wife Mel, with Lisa in tow made a desperate bid to flee Walford. When a bitter Mark Fowler revealed to Mitchell where Steve was going, trouble loomed. Phil caught up with Steve and cue, a high-speed and wacky car chase. Eventually, Steve lost control and crashed into a motorbike store. With the car alight and about to go up completely, Phil managed to save his daughter, Louise, then made a reluctant attempt to save his enemy. But it was too late for Steve, who was burnt to toast and paid the ultimate price on March 1st 2002, exactly a year on from his wedding anniversary to Mel.
6. Tiffany’s Death (1998)
It’s New Years Eve 1998, and Tiffany Mitchell is in a horrible place. Her husband, Grant had a fling with Tiff’s mum Louise, and now she was scared what her abusing lover would do to their child, Courtney. Unnoticed to everyone in the Queen Vic, Grant sneaked upstairs and took Courtney. Tiff made a desperate plea to Grant and chased after him, only to run into the path of an innocent Frank Butcher, who couldn’t avoid Tiff and knocked her down. Outside the Vic, there was disbelief from Tiff’s best friend Bianca and Peggy, as all they could do was watch poor Tiffany pass away. An unsuccessful music career for actress Martine McCutcheon followed.
5. Kat Confesses All to Zoe (2001)
When teenager Zoe Slater announced her departure from Albert Square to Spain at Lynne’s hen night in August 2001, Kat was not happy and refused to allow her sister to go. Then followed one of those most memorable scenes in EastEnders history as Kat chased after Zoe through the Square. Zoe wouldn’t budge; before Kat revealed the devastating secret that she was Zoe’s mother! Stunned was not the only word that could be described for that revelation. Zoe was devastated and ran away onto the streets for months, whilst Kat tried to commit suicide in the local park. Maybe some things are best being kept secret!
4. Peggy/Frank/Pat Love Triangle (2000)
Frank Butcher was a comedic character, always getting into a spot of bother and in the summer of 2000, he started playing away from wife Peggy, with former wife and old flame, Pat Evans. Their fling started on a holiday week to Spain and continued, even ending up with Frank turning up at Pat’s naked, with just a spinning bow tie around his neck in an absolute comedy classic! On Bonfire Night, Frank and Pat planned to runaway together, but Peggy found out and infront of a packed Queen Vic, read out Frank’s goodbye letter, to the embarrassment of Pat & Frank. Peggy gave both a good old slap, rightly deserved too! Peggy broke down, Pat’s husband Roy chucked her out onto the street, and Frank eventually went away from Walford on his own, leaving Pat devastated.
3. Max & Stacey’s Fling (2007)
It started on Christmas Day 2006 and ended a year later. Cheating Max Branning couldn’t keep his hands off Stacey Slater, so rather than playing peacemaker in Stacey’s crumbling relationship with son Bradley; Max used the bedroom a lot to give Stacey comfort. When it came to the crunch though, Max couldn’t leave wife Tanya and Stacey went back to Bradley, getting married in the process. However, on a filmed camcorder, Stacey and Max shared a farewell kiss, which was captured by Lauren Branning. With Xmas day in full swing, a DVD was unwrapped which saw all of the Branning/Slater family watch the infidelity on television. Heartbreaking and gripping television drama! It started Stacey’s decline into illness and Max was buried alive at one stage by Tanya as revenge. To be honest, things in that family haven’t been the same ever since.
2. Den Issues Angie with Divorce Papers (1986)
The first golden couple of Walford, Den and Angie Watts went through an emotional rollercoaster. In EastEnders most watched-ever episode (over 22million), the nation saw Den give Angie the best Christmas present that any wife could want, divorce papers!! You wouldn’t want to be on the Watts Christmas dinner table, that’s for sure.
1. Sharongate (1994)
For me, EastEnders best ever storyline, which reached a dramatic conclusion. 20million viewers tuned into BBC1 on October 26th 1994 for the revelation of ‘Sharongate.’ In 1991, Sharon Watts had happily married Grant Mitchell, but soon things turned sour between the couple and Sharon then indulged into a two-year on/off affair with Grant’s brother, Phil. Its bad enough doing that, even worse was a drunken Sharon admitted all to best friend Michelle Fowler on a tape recorder, when Michelle was doing a college project on marriages. It wouldn’t be long before Grant found out and sure enough he did, in heartbreaking fashion. After listening to the confession in the car, Grant walked into the Queen Vic, where Phil was celebrating his engagement party with Kathy Beale and motionlessly switched the tapes over, so everyone in the pub overheard Sharon’s secret confession to Michelle with the famous line: “One moment we were looking at one another, and the next, we were ripping each other’s clothes off.” Sharon fled to the States and Phil and Grant had a good old punch-up in the Arches to settle the score. Although he forgave Phil, it scarred Grant for good and wrecked all the trust in the Mitchell brother’s relationships.
25 years of dramatic endings, EastEnders has seen it all and it can go from strength to strength. Former Hollyoaks producer Bryan Kirkwood takes over the running of the show from next week, and if he can manage to do what he did with the Channel 4 soap, then EastEnders could turn out to be the ultimate king of the UK soap operas again, after a very sticky and lean period.
Tune into the live episode on BBC1 on Friday at 8pm, and my prediction is it was Phil who killed Archie Mitchell.
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