Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When did EastEnders first air?
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" in 1985, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by executive producer Julia Smith. The first episode of "EastEnders" was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and twenty-three main characters were already created for their first appearance. The first character to be seen was Den Watts, followed by Ali Osman and then Arthur Fowler, all of whom find Reg Cox dying in his flat. Ethel Skinner, Harold Legg and Pauline Fowler appear, after Den alerts them of Reg's death. With Ethel is her pug Willy along with Lou Beale. Saeed and Naima Jeffery are seen working in the local shop whilst Angie Watts is seen in The Queen Victoria, Walford's local pub. Nick Cotton and Sue Osman are next seen, whilst Pete and Kathy Beale work at the fruit and veg stall and Hassan Osman is seen with his parents in the café. Sharon Watts, Ian Beale and Michelle Fowler are next seen and Mark Fowler is seen going into the bookies. Lastly, Roly the dog is seen in the pub when a fight breaks out.
The first season of Witches of East End premiered on October 6, 2013 and concluded on December 15, 2013. It consisted of 10 episodes, each running 40–45 minutes approx. The series is based loosely on the book of the same name 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 10pm, following the fifth season of "Drop Dead Diva", and averaged 1.67 million viewers.
In early 2000, it was announced that a new doctor would arrive in "EastEnders". A few days later it was announced he would be played by Nick Bailey. Bailey was working for an investment bank unloading boxes, when he received the call about auditioning for Anthony. He explained "I was alone in the stockroom when my agent's wife rang and told me I'd got the part. I just jumped up and punched the air, then did a rumba round the room." "EastEnders" marked Bailey's first major television role. Anthony was introduced as the son of B&B owner Audrey Trueman (Corinne Skinner-Carter). He made his first on-screen appearance on 11 December 2000. It was later announced his family would arrive later in the year.
Michelle Fowler (also Holloway) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Susan Tully from the first episode in 1985 until the character's departure in 1995. In December 2016, it was announced Michelle would be returning to the show after 21 years, with actress Jenna Russell taking over the role making her first appearance on 24 December 2016. In her first stint Michelle made some huge mistakes during her time in Albert Square mainly through having a habit of choosing the wrong men and her stubborn nature meant that she rarely accepted help or listened to good advice. Being determined and outspoken, she has never been afraid to defend herself or her beliefs. Since the recast to Russell in 2016, Michelle's storylines have revolved around her having had an illegal relationship with her student, Preston Cooper (Martin Anzor) in America, a love triangle involving her niece Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield), crashing Phil Mitchell car into the local chip shop and being stalked by Tom Bailey (Daniel Casey). Russell's departure from the show was announced in March 2018, and Michelle departed on 17 April 2018.
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).
Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to "EastEnders" on 21 September 2010, following the return of on-screen wife Kat (Jessie Wallace) two episodes previously.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
From 1995–2013, Ashdown was series consultant and lead writer on "EastEnders". He was involved in the creation of the Slater family, and along with other writers, developed the characters around the actors themselves, rather than the other way round. He created the character of Max Branning and was responsible for numerous key episodes such as Ethel Skinner's death, Stacey Slater's bipolar and the "Who Killed Archie?" storyline. In 2010 he wrote the twenty fifth anniversary live episode, ""EastEnders" Live". More recent episodes that he has written include Pat Evans' death, Mandy Salter's second exit, Janine Butcher's temporary exit, the aftermath of David Wicks' return and the Jake Stone and Sadie Young reveal. He returned to "EastEnders" to write the Christmas 2017 episode which saw Tanya Branning return and Abi Branning and Lauren Branning fall from a rooftop. He then returned to write the Christmas 2018 episodes, in which Hayley Slater pushes Alfie Moon down the stairs and he then kidnaps their daughter, Cherry Slater.
Colin and Guido's gay relationship was the cause of much controversy in January 1989 when "EastEnders" aired the first homosexual mouth-to-mouth kiss on British television. The chaste peck on the lips between Colin and Guido resulted in a front page denunciation in "The Sun" newspaper, who described it as "a homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs [...] when millions of children were watching". The kiss was watched by twenty million people and came at a time when Margaret Thatcher's government had set forward a moral agenda that urged a return to traditional family values. "The Sun" printed the assertion that "Furious MPs last night demanded a ban on "EastEnders" as the BBC soap showed two men kissing full on the lips".
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.
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.
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."
Cora Cross is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Ann Mitchell. Cora is the mother of Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) and the grandmother of Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald). Cora initially appeared from 11 to 15 April 2011, and returned as a regular character on 28 July. Cora is described as having "a brash, outspoken attitude and does not care who she offends", deemed "an archetypal East End matriarch" and "Inside Soap" says that Cora is a "brash, loud lady who likes to tell everyone what she thinks and has absolutely no shame."
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.
Witches of East End is an American television series based on the book of the same name by Melissa de la Cruz. The series premiered on Lifetime on October 6, 2013. Set in the fictional seaside town of East End, it follows the lives of a family of witches – Joanna Beauchamp (Julia Ormond) and her two grown-up daughters, Freya Beauchamp (Jenna Dewan Tatum) and Ingrid Beauchamp (Rachel Boston), as well as her sister Wendy Beauchamp (Mädchen Amick).
Abi Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Lorna Fitzgerald. She was introduced by executive producer Kate Harwood on 3 July 2006 as an extension to the Branning family, along with father Max (Jake Wood), mother Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and older sister Lauren Branning (Madeline Duggan/Jacqueline Jossa). Her storylines involve her friendships and relationships with Ben Mitchell (Charlie Jones/Joshua Pascoe/Harry Reid) and Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), her toxic friendship with Babe Smith (Annette Badland), faking a pregnancy so that Ben would not leave her for Paul Coker (Jonny Labey), being a suspect in the murder of Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater), her affair with Lauren's fiancé, Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell), and becoming pregnant by him. In September 2017, it was announced that Fitzgerald and Jossa had been axed by executive consultant John Yorke. Abi's exit storyline involves her and Lauren falling from the roof of The Queen Victoria pub, leading to Abi giving birth prematurely and being confirmed brainstem dead in later episodes. Abi's final scenes aired on 19 January 2018 after her life support is withdrawn. The character's funeral took place on 16 February 2018.
Michelle went on to feature in controversial storylines such as her daughter's kidnapping, a shooting, and a brief liaison with her best friend's ex-husband and her own nemesis Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) — which left her pregnant. This heralded one of the soap's best-kept secrets as Grant never discovered that Michelle had his child. Michelle remained central to the programme for 10 years and became one of the most popular characters of her time. She was written out of it in 1995 when Tully decided to move on. Tully since took up directing, and directed several episodes of "EastEnders".
This episode first aired on BBC's Red Button service on 8 November 2013. Bianca Butcher (Patsy Palmer) is studying to become a beautician in Manchester for six weeks, away from her family in Walford. She meets the charming Terry Spraggan (Terry Alderton) and they fall for each other and eventually start a relationship. The episode led to the eventual introduction of Terry and his family when they returned to Walford with Bianca when the six-week course ended.
Several documentaries have been made about "EastEnders", usually broadcast on BBC Three. Since February 2010, Watch started repeating various "EastEnders" documentaries. Since then, they occasionally show documentaries on Saturdays and Sundays.
Show bosses confirmed on 1 October 2014 that "EastEnders" would air a full 30-minute live episode to celebrate 30 years of "EastEnders" and culminate the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline. It was also confirmed that all other episodes in the week would include live inserts. This was the third time that the show had aired a live episode, the first time being for the 25th anniversary episode, and the second time when Billy Mitchell carried the Olympic flame. Treadwell-Collins stated the live week as being "a fantastic opportunity for "EastEnders" to create a massive national event, and one that will enable us to celebrate 30 years of [the show] in spectacular style." He went on to say that the live inserts allow them to "surprise" the audience. "It is ambitious and exciting, and something I know everyone at "EastEnders" will excel at."
O'Connor's first episode as Executive Producer aired on 11 July 2016. Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. On 23 June 2017, it was announced that O'Connor would be leaving "EastEnders" after a year in the role of executive producer. O'Connor said: "I've had an amazing time at "EastEnders." Working with the editorial staff, cast and crew at Elstree has been an absolute privilege. They are the kindest, most loyal and hard-working team in the business. But my heart lies in feature films and I'm hugely excited as my film projects are now reaching production. I'll enjoy watching "EastEnders" go from strength to strength but will miss everybody enormously. Elstree really is a place where you make friends for life." O'Connor's final episode as Executive Producer aired on 24 November 2017.
The Philadelphia-based Punk band The Dead Milkmen's 1988 album Beelzebubba contains a song called "Bad Party", with the lyrics, "I'm gonna shoot somebody / If they don't stop talking about "EastEnders"." When "Beelzebubba" was released, "EastEnders" aired on WHYY, the Philadelphia PBS station. British rap group Fierce Girl have a song, called "What Makes a Girl Fierce", with a chorus containing the lyrics, "Kat Slater is our sister."