Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was Abi Branning introduced on EastEnders?
Lauren Branning is played by Madeline Duggan from 2006 to 2010, and Jacqueline Jossa from 2010 onwards. She is the eldest daughter of Max (Jake Wood) and Tanya (Jo Joyner), the sister of Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald), and half-sister of Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements). Lauren uncovers an affair between her father and Bradley's fiancée, Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner). The affair leads to the breakdown of her parents' marriage, and blaming Max, Lauren runs him over in a car. Lauren has brief relationships with Peter Beale (Thomas Law) and Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), but has a serious relationship with her cousin, Joey Branning (David Witts). However, when Lauren becomes an alcoholic this leads to Joey ending their relationship.
Bentinck posted on Twitter that he was filming his first scenes on 28 February 2013. After his scenes aired, a Manchester solicitor received an increase in calls requesting information about mediation, and welcomed the storyline, saying, "I watched the episode of "EastEnders" when it aired on Tuesday and was really pleased to see that such a high profile show was featuring [mediation]. When couples come to divorce, being offered mediation as an option can make a huge difference to their short and long-term future, especially if children are concerned, as in this storyline. We have seen numerous calls on Wednesday asking about mediation, which can only be a positive thing, especially in the light of the recent cuts to legal aid."
In July 2010, Shepherd's casting as Michael Moon, the cousin of Alfie Moon, in "EastEnders" was announced. He made his first appearance on 1 October 2010. In May 2011, Shepherd was nominated in the Best Soap Newcomer category at the 2011 TV Choice Awards for his portrayal of Michael. In March 2013, Shepherd announced that he would be leaving "EastEnders" later that year. Shepherd's final storyline surrounded Michael's plan to murder his wife Janine Butcher. Michael's last episode was on 1 November 2013, when he was killed by Janine. Shepherd left the show to explore new roles.
On 11 May 2007, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of "EastEnders" as Roxy Mitchell, alongside Samantha Womack who played Roxy's sister Ronnie Mitchell. Of her role, Simons said: "I've always watched "EastEnders" and it's been my dream to become part of the Mitchell family." Simons temporarily departed from "EastEnders" in late 2015 (the character departed from screens from 1 January to 4 May 2016), allowing the actress to take part in a Snow White pantomime at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, over the 2015/16 Christmas and New Year period. In August 2016, it was announced that Simons had quit "EastEnders" along with Samantha Womack and that they would be both departing in an "explosive" storyline in 2017. Her on-screen character Roxy Mitchell drowned in a swimming pool in an episode broadcast on New Year's Day 2017, along with her sister Ronnie.
Kathy Beale (also Mitchell and Sullivan), played by Gillian Taylforth between 1985 and 2000, and then from 2015 onwards, is the mother of Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Though it was never used on screen, in 2010 the BBC website named the character as Kathy Sullivan due to a marriage after she left the show in 2000. Kathy Beale is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in the first episode of "EastEnders" on 19 February 1985. One of the longest-running original characters, Kathy remains in a prominent role, covering issues such as rape and domestic violence until April 1998, when Taylforth quit. A year later, in 1999, Taylforth returned for a temporary stint to aid the departure of actor Ross Kemp who played her brother-in-law Grant Mitchell, and later in December 1999 for the wedding of her screen son Ian. She made her final appearance in January 2000. Despite various rumours of a possible return for Kathy in the press, this did not occur and the character was supposedly killed off-screen in a road accident in late February 2006 in a storyline to facilitate the return of her son Ben to his father Phil (Steve McFadden). In tribute to the character, the soap's café is named "Kathy's". Kathy returned for the 30th anniversary episode in February 2015, when it was revealed that Kathy never died in a surprise showdown with her ex-husband, Phil.
Syed Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Marc Elliott, and first appeared on screen on 21 April 2009. Syed is a British Pakistani and is the eldest son of Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia), and brother of Tamwar (Himesh Patel), Shabnam (Zahra Ahmadi) and Kamil Masood (Arian Chikhlia). Syed's storylines see him fall in love with a man, Christian Clarke (John Partridge), and his eventual acceptance that he is gay. Syed initially marries girlfriend Amira Shah (Preeya Kalidas) but later comes out, and enters a relationship with Christian, despite the pressures of his family and his Muslim faith.
Masood Ahmed is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Nitin Ganatra. The character made his first appearance in episode 3452, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2007. Masood was introduced as part of the Masood family, an Asian-Muslim family gradually introduced across 2007 as part of plans to "diversify" the serial. This marked Ganatra's first role in soap opera and he was "nervous but excited" about joining the serial. His problematic marriage to Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia), who he had previously starred alongside, served as a key storyline for the character throughout his tenure. Early storylines for the character include bankruptcy and struggling to accept his son's, Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), homosexuality. Masood and Ganatra were received positive reception from viewers and critics and has been nominated for several awards.
"EastEnders" is broadcast around the world in many English-speaking countries. New Zealand became the first to broadcast "EastEnders" overseas, the first episode being shown on 27 September 1985. 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). On 9 July 1987, it was announced that the show would be aired in the United States on PBS. BBC Worldwide licensed 200 hours of "EastEnders" for broadcast in Serbia on RTS (dubbed into Serbian); it began airing the first episode in December 1997. The series was broadcast in the United States until BBC America ceased broadcasts of the serial in 2003, amidst fan protests. In June 2004, the satellite television provider Dish Network picked up "EastEnders", broadcasting episodes starting at the point where BBC America had ceased broadcasting them, offering the series as a pay-per-view item. Episodes air two months behind the UK schedule. Episodes from prior years are still shown on various PBS stations in the US. Since 7 March 2017, "EastEnders" has been available in the United States on demand, 24 hours after it has aired in the United Kingdom via BritBox, a joint venture between BBC and ITV.
Natalie Evans (also Price) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Lucy Speed between 18 January 1994 and 10 May 2004. Natalie first appeared in January 1994, depicted initially as an unhappy, insecure teenager; she was among various regular characters brought in to increase the cast following the BBC's decision to increase episode output to 3 per week. She featured most often with the characters Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer); Natalie's affair with Ricky ending his relationship with Bianca was one of the prominent storylines aired in the Winter of 1995. Despite producers offering to extend Speed's contact, she opted to leave the serial in 1995.
In late 1989 "EastEnders" acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson, who took over from Mike Gibbon. Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV's "The Bill" which seemed to be challenging "EastEnders" in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London. Due to his success on "The Bill", Peter Cregeen, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of "EastEnders".
In the latter part of 1989, "EastEnders" acquired a new executive producer named Michael Ferguson, who took over from Mike Gibbon. Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV's "The Bill" – a hard-hitting, gritty and successful police drama, which seemed to be challenging "EastEnders" in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London. Due to his success on "The Bill", Peter Cregeen, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of "EastEnders".
In the latter part of 1989 "EastEnders" acquired a new executive producer named Michael Ferguson, who took over from Mike Gibbon. Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV's "The Bill" – a hard-hitting, gritty and successful police drama, which seemed to be challenging "EastEnders" in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London. Due to his success on "The Bill", Peter Cregeen, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of "EastEnders".
In the latter part of 1989 "EastEnders" acquired a new executive producer named Michael Ferguson, who took over from Mike Gibbon. Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV's "The Bill" — a hard-hitting, gritty and successful police drama, which seemed to be challenging "EastEnders" in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London. Due to his success on "The Bill", Peter Cregeen, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of "EastEnders".
Rita Joanne Simons (born 10 March 1977) is an English actress, singer, and model from London, who is known for playing Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" from 2007 to 2017, when her character was killed off. For her performance on the show Simons received many accolades, including the 2008 National Television Award for Most Popular Newcomer.
Her first television appearance was in an episode of the ITV police drama series "The Bill" in 1999. Wallace is best known for playing the role of Kat Slater in BBC One soap opera "EastEnders" between 2000 and 2005. In Summer 2008, Wallace said she hadn't ruled out a return to "EastEnders". In February 2010 it was announced that Shane Richie was returning to play Alfie Moon, leading to large amounts of speculation as to whether Wallace would also be returning. On 9 February 2010, the BBC confirmed that Jessie would be returning to "EastEnders", reprising her role as Kat Slater. She and Alfie returned to screens in the Autumn of 2010. On 4 April 2015, the BBC announced that Wallace and Richie will depart from the show temporarily to appear in a six-part BBC One drama series, "Redwater". In the series, Kat and Alfie will visit Ireland in the "search for answers to some very big questions". Speaking about the show, Wallace commented: "I have always loved working on "EastEnders" so when I heard of this new drama to take Kat and Alfie outside of Walford, I couldn’t believe our luck. To be exploring the next chapter for Kat as well as working alongside my best mate, Shane, is a dream come true and a huge compliment." However, Wallace and Richie revealed on "This Morning" on 20 January 2016 that Kat and Alfie will not be returning to "EastEnders" after the six-part drama. In December 2017 it was announced that Wallace would reprise the role of Kat from Spring 2018.
Casey Braxton, played by Lincoln Younes, made his first on-screen appearance on 17 February 2011 and departed on 16 September 2014. Casey is the youngest of the Braxton brothers. "The Daily Telegraph" said that Casey is trying to break out of the River Boys mould and that he was kicked out of his last high school. Younes was planning to go to London to travel and to find himself, but after a successful audition for "Home and Away", he decided to cancel his plans to play the part of Casey. He relocated to Sydney for the role. Casey is described as being a "modern day "Rebel Without a Cause"." He has never quite fitted in and he does not know what he wants from life. He has been overshadowed by both of his brothers and he has struggled at school. Casey later begins a relationship with Ruby Buckton (Rebecca Breeds), following her fling with Romeo Smith (Luke Mitchell).
Sarah Platt (also Tilsley and Grimshaw) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera "Coronation Street". She was born on-screen during the episode broadcast on 2 February 1987. She was played by Leah King in 1987 and by Lynsay King from 1987 until 8 October 1999 when King opted to leave to focus on her education. Tina O'Brien took over the role on 31 October 1999; she opted to leave in 2007 and made her final on-screen appearance on 30 December 2007. A number of false rumours about O'Brien returning to the role surfaced during her absence from the serial. In October 2014, it was announced that O'Brien would reprise the role, she returned on screen on 30 March 2015.
The second and final season of Witches of East End premiered on July 6, 2014 and concluded on October 5, 2014. It consisted of 13 episodes, each running 40–45 minutes approx. The series is based loosely on the book of the same by Melissa de la Cruz. The story takes place in East End focusing on a family of witches, led by Joanna Beauchamp (Julia Ormond). This season aired on Sundays at 9pm, followed by the new series "The Lottery", and averaged 1.13 million viewers. On November 4, 2014, Lifetime cancelled "Witches of East End" due to low ratings in the second season.On November 22, 2013, "Witches of East End" was renewed by Lifetime for a 13-episode second season, which premiered on July 6, 2014. Christian Cooke joined this season as a series regular. James Marsters and Bianca Lawson guest starred this season, (Marsters guest starred as Tarkoff, an old friend of Joanna's; while Lawson played Eva, a mysterious woman who has a connection to Killian).
Bethany is introduced in 2000 when the show tackled the controversial subject of teenage pregnancy, using the character of 13-year-old Sarah-Louise Platt, recently recast to 16-year-old Tina O'Brien. The storyline was praised by health minister Yvette Cooper, saying "we need to make sure that young people themselves are aware of just how easy it is to get pregnant and just how hard it is to be a parent, if we are to get teenage pregnancy rates down" and praised Granada TV "on having the courage to include a storyline in Coronation Street about teenage pregnancy."
Kathleen Moon is played by Jessie Wallace. The character originally appeared in the soap opera "EastEnders" from 2000 to 2005, and 2010 to 2016, in which she is usually called "Kat". The series of "Kat and Alfie: Redwater" was created because in "EastEnders", Kat and her husband Alfie (Shane Richie) had their marriage on track and needed more stories, and Kat had been "going round in a cycle of bad self-worth every few years, all down to the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager from her Uncle Harry." It was decided that Kat should be shown as a survivor and move on to the next stage of her life, and she was taken back to "Kathleen", the child she was before she was abused. "Kat & Alfie: Redwater" follows Kat and Alfie as they arrive in the fictional Irish village of Redwater to "search for answers to some very big questions" and put their past behind them. In some of Kat's final "EastEnders" episodes, she discovers that she gave birth to a son, Luke, after she passed out during the birth of her daughter Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan); Luke was adopted by a family in Ireland without Kat knowing he existed. Kat's sister Belinda Peacock (Carli Norris) recalls a time the family (minus Kat) went to Redwater and they conclude that Luke must be there. Treadwell-Collins confirmed that "the discovery that Kat has a secret son will [...] ultimately lead to the Moons realising that the answers to so many questions lie across the sea in Ireland." Director Jesper W. Nielsen said the series is "About how one woman's search for a lost child opens Pandora's box; revealing the terrible lies and secrets in the little village of Redwater". "Redwater" writer Matthew Graham said, "Kathleen Moon is an unwitting bomb in "Redwater" and creating the debris from her explosive arrival is what drew me to this project." He also said: "Everything [Kathleen] does comes out of the fact she doesn't think much of herself. So, her humour and her in-your-face qualities all come out of a place of insecurity. She doesn't think she's good enough. That's what I use when I'm writing Kat."
In January 2012, Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) finds a love note in the charity shop and finds out the book the note was in belongs to Cora. However, Abi sees Rose reading the same note, leaving Abi confused. Cora then discovers the letter Rose is reading and asks why is anybody writing to her, leaving the two ladies to have an argument. When Rose receives more love letters, Dot and Cora rummage through her things to try and discover who the mystery man is. They are horrified when they learn he is serving a life sentence in prison, although Rose seems unfazed by this. Dot then attempts to put a stop to it by writing on Rose's behalf, but reveals her real name and address, not realising that Rose used a false name and a PO Box address.
On 24 April 2018, it was announced that Spearritt would reprise the role for another guest appearance later in 2018. The character's July 2018 return was described as a "comedy plot". A third stint over Christmas 2018 was announced on 4 December 2018.
Abi Branning first appears in the episode broadcast on 29 December 2017. She is the daughter of Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) and Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell).
Albert, played by Huw Parmenter, appears on 18 June. He is a French curate who arrives in Walford with Reverend Stevens (Michael Keating). Dot Cotton (June Brown) asks her step-granddaughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) to show Albert around. Gary Gillatt from "Inside Soap" wrote of Albert: "We were entirely mystified as to the purpose of Albert (pronounced "Al-bear") the French curate in Walford this week. "Ze poverty! Ze vermin! Ze underworld!" he enthused to Abi—so he's clearly a fan of "EastEnders". But what was he for?"
Tramp is a stray dog found by Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald). He first appears on 3 December 2013. The dog wakes up several Albert Square residents in the night by barking, and in the morning, Abi tells her father Max Branning (Jake Wood) that she will deal with the dog. She immediately takes a liking to him and brings him in the house. Max wants him gone, but Abi says she has named him. Max calls him "Tramp" and when Abi's sister Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) arrives, she and Abi convince Max to let them keep the dog. He mates with the Carter family's bulldog, Lady Di, who becomes pregnant. Upset over her break-up with Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), a drunken Abi tries to leave Albert Square, and when Max refuses to take her she decides to drive herself, but runs over Tramp, killing him.
Bernadette Logan, played by Olivia Grant, is a pupil in Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) and Ben Mitchell's (Charlie Jones) school year. She is first seen when she takes part in Dot Branning (June Brown) and Yolande Trueman's (Angela Wynter) 2007 nativity play. Abi is jealous of her as Bernadette is playing Mary. After Abi tries to sabotage Bernadette to gain the role of Mary, she is demoted from narrator to the role of the donkey.