Back to Square one
Say ‘Wotcha!’ to the beginning of the Enders – only on the DRAMA TV channel
Whether you’ve been hooked on the Albert Square action since day one or are a relative newcomer to the wonders of Walford, you won’t want to miss this midday treat on DRAMA.
The channel is stepping back in time to screen classic EastEnders episodes from the much-loved soap’s infancy. For long-time fans it’s a nostalgic trip down memory lane (via Turpin Road and Bridge Street…). For newer viewers, it’s the most entertaining history lesson you’ve ever had!
So if the first Queen Vic bosses you knew were Kat and Alfie Moon, it’s time to get acquainted with the original battling bartenders, Den and Angie Watts. Thirty million fans watched as the lothario landlord called time on his marriage to fragile Angie, serving her with divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986. As well as rocky romances, soaps have always thrived on whodunnit drama. In 2001 we pondered ‘Who Shot Phil?’, while in 2014 Walford wondered ‘Who Killed Lucy Beale?’.
And just months after we first met the Albert Square residents, Michelle Fowler found out she was pregnant at 16 – but the father’s identity was a mystery.
Catching up with early appearances is a great way to see how our fave characters developed.
Decades before she realised son Nick was a wrong ’un, Dot Cotton could be found in the Vic putting the world to rights. Then there’s Ian Beale. He’s had five marriages now, but we first met him as a gawky teen – with no idea of the love troubles ahead.
We bet all this reminiscing has whetted your appetite for vintage cockney capers. So, as Frank Butcher would tell you, ‘Don’t be a pilchard!’