| "CivvyStreet" | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders episode | |
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Julia Smith |
| Written by | Tony Holland |
| Editing by | Denis Wyatt |
| Production code | LDLK992L [1] |
| Original air date | 26 December 1988 |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
"CivvyStreet" (sometimes written as "Civvy Street") is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders , broadcast on BBC1 on 26 December 1988. The episode is a flashback to World War II and is set at Christmas 1942. The episode was watched by 7 million viewers.
Lou Beale (Karen Meagher) and her husband Albert Beale (Gary Olsen) are celebrating their marriage in Walford, and planning their happy life together when war is declared. Albert is conscripted into the army, leaving Lou and her three children, Kenny Beale, Harry Beale (Aaron Mason) and Ronnie Beale (Chase Marks), behind. Lou's family rally around including her mother (played by Avis Bunnage) and sister Flo (Linda Robson) and her friends including young Ethel (Alison Bettles), dodgy Reg Cox (Marc Tufano) and pub landlords Ray (Robert Putt) and Lil (Frances Cuka) to keep her company. Lou worries that Albert will not return from war intact, and the episode sees her propositioned by Richard (Otto Jarman) in his absence, but she stays faithful and she and Albert are reunited. Ethel's parents are killed by an enemy bomb while she is sheltering with Lou in Walford East tube station. Ethel is also torn between the amorous advances of a GI and her admirer William Skinner (Ian Brimble).
The episode was written by Tony Holland and directed by Julia Smith, who were the creators of EastEnders. [3] Due to EastEnders' high ratings at the time, the producers were asked to make a special Christmas episode. They decided to use the history that had been established for the Beale family and tell a wartime story featuring some of the show's characters. [3] Historical facts were "bent a little", with some events of the period happening in the wrong order, to aid the storyline. [3] "CivvyStreet" was filmed at BBC Elstree Centre, the shooting location for EastEnders. The set was transformed into a 1940s version of Albert Square. [3]
Described as "nostalgic" by the BBC, [4] it looks at the early life of the residents of Albert Square and features a young Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner and Reg Cox, who was a minor character found dead in the first episode of EastEnders in 1985. [5] It is a flashback to World War II, set in Christmas 1942. [2] Holland was disappointed to discover that the character of Dot Cotton would have been too young during the war to be featured as a useful character (she would have been six years old in 1942) and he thought that the major events of the war happened in the wrong order for effective drama. [5] However, Dot featured in her own special episode in 2003, called "Dot's Story", which shows her being evacuated to the countryside during World War II. [6] [7]
Actress Karen Meagher was cast as a young Lou Beale, who struggles to raise her children, after her husband Albert (played by Gary Olsen) is called up. [3] Meagher researched her role by talking to her parents about their wartime experiences.
Alison Bettles plays Lou's "flirty" friend Ethel, who an Inside Soap writer said was "true to the latter-day version" portrayed by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel reads tea leaves and sings to keep up the spirits of those in the air raid shelters. [3] Meanwhile, Reg Cox is seen trading on the black market, and Lou's children and her sister Flo (Linda Robson) also feature. [3] Olsen commented in 1996 on the legacy of the episode in EastEnders, joking that he regularly appears in the show: "I did a special which was set in the war, called Civvy Street, and I played Albert Beale. In it I married Lou. Our wedding photo can be seen on the Fowlers' sideboard. I don't get a penny for it." [8]
According to the Musicians' Union in September 2017, they received royalties for the theme music used in "CivvyStreet" but could not distribute them as the performers were not known to them. [9] As of May 2018 the performers have been located. [10]
Official ratings from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board showed that the episode gained 7 million viewers and achieved 74th place in the British Top 100 programmes for that week. [11] Whilst this spin-off episode did not achieve similar viewership to two episodes of EastEnders that week (19.1 million and 21.1 million), it did gain a higher viewership compared to other popular programmes that week, such as Yes Prime Minister (6.5 million), French and Saunders (6.4 million) and Brookside (6.2 million). [11] [12]
In 1999, Steve Pratt of the Northern Echo said of the episode: "EastEnders went back to Albert Square during the Blitz in a programme called Civvy Street. Young actors took over familiar characters, such as Lou Beale and Ethel, in their younger days during the Second World War. The Queen Vic was just a spit-and-sawdust local, with Ray Sewell and his wife Lil behind the bar. The idea was not a success." [13]
In 2017, Michael Hogan from The Daily Telegraph called "CivvyStreet" an "over-ambitious wartime flashback". [14] Tom Eames from Digital Spy named it one of the "TV origin stories you've probably forgotten even existed". [7]
In December 2016, "CivvyStreet" was released on BBC Store part of the "EastEnders Christmas Classics 2" set but also available individually, [15] [16] [17] and was available until the BBC Store closed on 1 November 2017.
EastEnders is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the programme follows the stories of local residents and their families as they go about their daily lives. Within eight months of the show's original launch, it had reached the number one spot in BARB's television ratings, and has consistently remained among the top-rated series in Britain. Four EastEnders episodes are listed in the all-time top 10 most-watched programmes in the UK, including the number one spot, when over 30 million watched the 1986 Christmas Day episode. 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.
Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is the primary setting for the soap. EastEnders is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work is filmed in nearby Watford, which was chosen for many of the exterior scenes due to its close proximity and the town's name being so similar to Walford. Thus, any stray road signs or advertising boards which are accidentally filmed in the back of shots will appear to read Walford. Locations used in Watford include most interior and exterior church scenes of various churches, the snooker club, the County Court and Magistrates' Courts courtrooms, and the cemetery.
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
Dorothy "Dot" Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled EastEnders: Dot's Story (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in flashbacks. A tragicomic character, Dot was known for her devout Christian faith, gossiping, chain smoking, hypochondria, and motherly attitude to those in need.
The Queen Victoria is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Ethel May Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 EastEnders special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which she is played by Alison Bettles.
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EastEnders; he was based on a member of Holland's family. Pete is featured in the soap for eight years as the local fruit and veg trader of Albert Square; he is a member of the original focal clan in the serial, the Beales and Fowlers. Pete is portrayed as a macho and somewhat insensitive individual who struggles to cope with emotion. Pete was axed from the soap in 1993 and departed in May that year after over eight years on-screen. The character was killed off-screen later that year, following Peter Dean's public criticism of the BBC.
The Beales and the Fowlers are a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. They were the main family for storylines in early episodes of EastEnders, and remained as such ever since. With at least one member of the family having been a member of the cast from the first episode in February 1985, they are the show's longest serving family. The original Beale/Fowler family consisted of matriarch Lou Beale and her children Pete and Pauline, alongside their families including their children Ian, Mark, Michelle and their spouses Kathy Hills and Arthur Fowler. Additionally, several members of the family have been introduced at a later point, including Pauline and Arthur's son Martin who was the first baby to be born into the show in 1985. The family has been headed with a matriarch first seen with Lou, and over the years, Lou's daughter Pauline, Ian's wife Jane Collins and more recently Pete's wife Kathy, have filled this role.
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, after which the character was killed off. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, CivvyStreet, set during the Second World War. She appears in 232 episodes.
Nellie Ellis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Kelly. Nellie is introduced as the interfering relative of Pauline Fowler in 1993 and appears regularly until 1998. She makes a further appearance in 2000 for the funeral of Ethel Skinner. She moves in with the Fowlers in early 1994, and appears to be extremely annoying and interfering. However, she proves useful in getting Michelle Fowler's money back from Frank Butcher, who had unwittingly sold Michelle a stolen Austin Metro, which was subsequently apprehended by the police.
Karen Meagher is an actress born in Rock Ferry, Birkenhead in Cheshire. Her family are originally from North Wales and what is now the Merseyside area.
Willy is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Willy is a Pug, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remains in the show until 14 May 1992.
Alison Bettles is a retired English television actress. She is known for playing Fay Lucas in BBC's Grange Hill for six series (1982–1987).
In 1997, the BBC soap opera EastEnders broadcast three singular transmissions that were filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland. The episodes involved the Fowler and Beale family travelling from London to Ireland to meet their long-lost relatives. The episodes were badly received by viewers and heavily criticised in the media. The BBC was inundated with complaints from angry viewers from Ireland for negative stereotyping, portraying Irish people as "dirty, rude, and drunk". Complaints were made by the Irish Embassy and there were fears that the episodes would have a negative effect on the Irish tourist trade. The BBC was forced to issue an apology for causing offence.
"East Street" is a charity crossover mini-episode between British soap operas Coronation Street and EastEnders. It was broadcast on 19 November 2010 as part of children's charity Children in Need's 2010 telethon on BBC One. Written by Daran Little, it stars several actors from both television shows, and depicts humorous encounters between their characters.
Instead of an EastEnders Christmas special this year, there's Civvy Street, a "nostalgic" (the BBC's own word) look at Albert Square in 1942 written by Tony Holland and featuring the early romances of Ethel and Lou.