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.
Home and Away is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, New South Wales, where he noticed locals were complaining about the construction of a foster home and against the idea of foster children from the city living in the area. The soap opera was initially going to be called Refuge, but the name was changed to the "friendlier" title of Home and Away once production began.
Emmerdale is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale, a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Interior scenes have been filmed at the Leeds Studios since its inception. Exterior scenes were first filmed in Arncliffe in Littondale, and the series may have taken its name from Amerdale, an ancient name of Littondale. Exterior scenes were later shot at Esholt, but are now shot at a purpose-built set on the Harewood estate.
Martine Kimberley Sherrie McCutcheon is an English actress and singer. She began appearing in television commercials at an early age and made her television debut in the children's television drama Bluebirds in 1989. In the early 1990s, she had minor success as one third of the pop group Milan, but it was her role as Tiffany Mitchell in the BBC's soap opera EastEnders and her role in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually that brought her stardom. For the former she won the National Television Award, while the latter earned her the Empire and MTV Movie awards. She was written out of EastEnders at the end of 1998 and then embarked on a pop career, this time as a solo artist.
ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a claim now held by its sister service ITV3 both of which are freely available to a majority of households.
Lisa Jane Riley is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. Riley is best known for portraying the role of Mandy Dingle in the long-running ITV soap opera Emmerdale between 1995 and 2001, and from 2019 onwards. She also replaced Jeremy Beadle as the presenter of You've Been Framed! between 1998 and 2002. She was also a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, and a panellist on the ITV daytime series Loose Women.
Tony Jordan is a British television writer. For many years, Jordan was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One soap opera EastEnders. He has written over 250 episodes for the programme since 1989, including the 2008 single-hander "Pretty Baby....". He created the series Hustle, HolbyBlue, City Central, Moving Wallpaper, Echo Beach, The Nativity, The Passing Bells and Dickensian, and co-created Life on Mars and By Any Means.
Jane Danson is an English actress. She is known for her portrayal of Leanne Battersby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, between 1997 and 2000, and from 2004 onwards. Her other television credits include Children's Ward (1995–1997), The Grand (1997) and The Bill (2002–2003). For her role on Coronation Street, Danson won the 2011 British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance.
Antony Cotton is an English actor and comedian, known for portraying the role of Sean Tully in Coronation Street, as well as portraying Alexander Perry in the original Queer as Folk series. In 2007, Cotton hosted his own talk show titled That Antony Cotton Show, which was cancelled after one series. In March 2013, he won Let's Dance for Comic Relief.
Tanya Cross is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jo Joyner. She made her first appearance on 27 June 2006. Joyner left the show temporarily on 25 December 2009 for maternity leave. After a guest appearance, Tanya eventually returned on 27 September 2010. On 1 April 2013, it was announced that Joyner would be departing the role and she made her final appearance on 28 June 2013. Tanya returned in February 2015 for two episodes as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations. She later reprised the role again in 2017 for four episodes, appearing between 25 December 2017 and 16 February 2018.
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, mother Tanya Branning and older sister Lauren Branning. Her storylines involve her friendships and relationships with Ben Mitchell and Jay Brown, her toxic friendship with Babe Smith, faking a pregnancy so that Ben would not leave her for Paul Coker, being a suspect in the murder of Lucy Beale, her affair with Lauren's fiancé, Steven Beale, and falling pregnant by him.
Lorna Katie Fitzgerald is a British actress from Northampton. Her most notable role to date is that of Abi Branning in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. Since leaving EastEnders in January 2018, Fitzgerald has developed her acting career on the stage and in movies.
Laura Greenwood is an English actress and a member of the YoungBlood Theatre Company in 2006.
Lyn Scully is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Janet Andrewartha. The character made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 October 1999, along with her family and remained a prominent feature within the show until late 2006. Andrewartha reprised her role for a brief return in 2008 and then returned permanently in August 2009. Lyn departed again on 26 May 2011, so Andrewartha could pursue new acting opportunities. She reprised the role again in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Edward John Speleers is an English actor and producer. He is known for playing the title role in the 2006 film Eragon, antagonist Stephen Bonnet in the TV series Outlander and Jimmy Kent in the TV series Downton Abbey. He recently appeared as Rhys Montrose in the fourth season of You (2023) and Jack Crusher in the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).
Out of the Blue is an Australian serial drama commissioned by the BBC, and produced by Australia's Southern Star Entertainment. It began screening on BBC One on weekday afternoons on 28 April 2008. The programme attracted lower than desired ratings figures, prompting the broadcaster to shift it to its second channel BBC Two from 19 May 2008. The BBC eventually decided not to commission a second series, and the final episode aired on 29 January 2009. The rights to show the first series in Australia were purchased by Network Ten, while in the UK, Channel 5 has picked up the repeat rights to Out of the Blue, and began airing all 130 episodes on digital sister channel Fiver in February 2009.
Moving Wallpaper is a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–09. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called Echo Beach, each episode of which aired directly after the Moving Wallpaper episode about its production. The second series shifted to the production of a "zombie show" called Renaissance. Ben Miller confirmed in May 2009 on his Twitter account that no further series would be made.
The twelfth series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 20 October 2009. The series deals with the repercussions of the death of ward sister Faye Byrne's son Archie, including the resignation of consultant Connie Beauchamp and the return of former registrar Thandie Abebe-Griffin. It also focuses on staff members' romantic and family lives. F1 Oliver Valentine becomes romantically involved with registrar Jac Naylor and ward sister Daisha Anderson, and his sister Penny embarks on a secret romance with a heart transplant patient. Consultant Linden Cullen is reunited with his estranged daughter Holly, nurse Donna Jackson decides to adopt her half-niece Mia, sister Chrissie Williams gives birth to a son, Daniel, and Faye becomes pregnant by her estranged husband Joseph. The series includes a crossover episode with sister show Casualty and it also has the highest number of episodes to date, as the series contains a small number of episodes which air during the same week.
Kate Oates is a British television producer, who was born in Nottingham and graduated from Warwick University. She began her career working as a researcher and editorial assistant for Germaine Greer, before becoming a script editor for the soap opera Crossroads. In 2003, she joined the radio soap The Archers as a producer, a position which Oates credits as the majority of her training. After resigning from this job, Oates began working on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as a script editor, during which time she assisted with the soap's fortieth anniversary celebrations and worked on British Soap Award-winning storylines. She remained in the position until 2012 when she joined Coronation Street as the assistant producer.
Charles Alexander De Melo is a British actor. From 2017 to 2022, he portrayed the role of Imran Habeeb on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, for which he was nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer.
