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.
Ross James Kemp is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Other roles include Graham Lodsworth in Emmerdale and Detective Inspector Monk in Birds of a Feather. Kemp presented the BAFTA Award-winning documentary television series Ross Kemp on Gangs (2004–2009).
Julie Anne Merkell, known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is an English actress and DJ, known for her roles as Natasha in the children's drama series Grange Hill (1985–1987), and Bianca Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders which earned her the British Soap Award for Best Actress.
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.
Alexander Ferns is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role in EastEnders as Trevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hated soap villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City between 2017 and 2018. For his performance as coal miner Andrei Glukhov in the 2019 miniseries Chernobyl he received a BAFTA Scotland Award.
Danial John Dyer is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in Human Traffic (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in Mean Machine (2001) and as Tommy Johnson in The Football Factory (2004). Following the success of The Football Factory, Dyer was often typecast in "hard man" roles, although it was this image that allowed him to present The Real Football Factories, its spin-off, The Real Football Factories International and Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men. Dyer has also worked in theatre, having appeared in three plays written by Harold Pinter, with whom he had a close friendship.
Patrick Connolly Bergin is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), the title character in Robin Hood, terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in Patriot Games and for playing the villainous Aidan Maguire in the BBC soap EastEnders in 2017–2018.
Christopher Timothy is a British actor and narrator from Bala, Wales. He is known for his roles as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, Mac McGuire in the BBC One daytime soap opera Doctors, and Ted Murray in the BBC One primetime soap opera EastEnders.
Gillian Taylforth is an English actress. She is known for her role as Kathy Beale on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as well as appearing as Jackie Pascoe on ITV's Footballers' Wives (2002–2006) and Sgt. Nikki Wright in ITV's The Bill (2006–2008). She has also appeared in film during her early career, has presented on ITV's Loose Women and appeared as a celebrity contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.
Charlie Clements is an English actor known for the role of Bradley Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from January 2006 to February 2010. He has won several soap and magazine awards for his performance.
John Clarkson Stewart, known as John Altman, is an English actor and singer, perhaps best known for playing Nick Cotton in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was among the show's original cast members appearing in the first episode in February 1985 and appeared on the show on and off as a recurring character. His character was killed off in the 30th anniversary episode of the show which aired in February 2015. Altman has also appeared in several films, television series and stage productions. In 2010, he became the new frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids following the death of former frontman Gary Holton in 1985.
Linda Valiris is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Yvonne Atkins in the ITV prison drama series Bad Girls and Shirley Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She had previously appeared in EastEnders as the original Lorraine Salter, the mother of Mandy Salter, from 1991 to 1992. Her other acting credits include Cracker (1995), Prime Suspect (1997) and Trial & Retribution (1998). She has also appeared in the films Beautiful Thing (1996) and The Business (2005).
Joanne Francis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Pamela Salem. She appears on screen between 16 June 1988 and 3 January 1989, as the Manager of Strokes Wine Bar.
Kellie Denise Bright is an English actress. Her roles include Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for which she won the 2015 British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance, Julie in Ali G Indahouse, Joanna Burrows in The Upper Hand (1990–1996), Cassie Tyler in Bad Girls (2002) and Joan Trotter in Rock & Chips (2010–2011). In 2015, she was the runner-up in the 13th series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing.
Roly is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Roly is an apricot coloured standard poodle, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remained in the show until 19 October 1993.
Nitin Chandra Ganatra is a British actor. He is known for portraying Masood Ahmed in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders (2007–2019), for which he won a British Soap Award.
James Willmott-Brown is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by William Boyde. The character originally appeared in Albert Square from 1986 to 1989, where he established the square's second pub – "The Dagmar" – and instigated a feud with his business rival Den Watts. Willmott-Brown then developed a romantic obsession with his employee Kathy Beale, which sparked the events of the character raping her in 1988.
Martin John Kemp is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in EastEnders.
Bleu Louie Landau is an English actor, known for his role as Dennis Rickman Jnr in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from September 2015 to February 2020. In 2017 he starred in Guy Richie's film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword as the role of Blue alongside Jude Law, David Beckham and Charlie Hunnam. He also appeared in Sky comedy drama Code 404 as Reece.
