EastEnders in 1987

1987 was *EastEnders'* third year.

## Production

*EastEnders* in 1987 saw a diverse change in production. The show's co-creator and producer, Julia Smith, was appointed to the greater role of series producer and was gifted with a more back seat role with producer's Mike Gibbon and Tony Virgo taking on the challenge of the more extensive heights of the day-to-day making of the bi-weekly.

On-screen, viewers were dominated with the controversial rivalry between Den and Angie Watts with the creator of the new winebar The Dagmar and Angie being appointed as the new manageress, with the year being hosted with several diversions between The Queen Victoria and the new wine bar that would be a potential future for Den and Angie in questionable doubt.

### Changes in storylines

The beginning of 1987 beheld the ongoing story of Arthur Fowler's depression and his misfortunes of stealing the Christmas Club money. The originally intended outcome for Arthur's sentencing was for him to be set free without penalty. However, when *EastEnders* was obstructed by a legal adviser that they were trying to 'soft pedal' the outcome, changes in scripts were made which saw Arthur gain the suspended sentence of twenty-eight days imprisonment.

With the eye-gripping climax of Dirty Den handing his wife Angie the divorce papers on Christmas Day in 1986 as part of an epic two-part special out of the way, the big question on everybody's minds was what to do now with them. It was decided that the forerunner area manager of the brewery Luxford & Copley, James Willmott-Brown, would become a more permanent substitute on the Square and open his very own wine bar - The Dagmar, and Angie would become the manageress. This saw a sturdy rivalry between the two drinking establishments when the two saloons competed in brawling competitions such as the first London in Bloom and a game of five-a-side football.

### Tricky altercations and double-bank *EastEnders*

The arch crew behind *EastEnders* set out an ambitious attempt to make *EastEnders* more contemporary. The most prominent outcome of this complex strive was to include the General Election. However, this big opportunity had many twists and turns to be made successful. It seemed almost absurd to include the election when the date of the election was only due to being announced at the beginning of May, which turned out to be the 11th June, but by that time, *EastEnders* had already filmed their upcoming June episodes. Julia and Tony jacked up a prodigious plan; to cut five minutes of material from each of the four episodes that were included in the two weeks leading up to the election, and replaced them with specially recorded election material which was shot by Julia herself.

Throughout 1987, *EastEnders* included two double-bank periods. There is a practical reason for the inclusion of double-banks; it enables the production of *EastEnders* to stop for a two-week break at Christmas when an extra week's worth of episodes are recorded at the same time as the regular schedule. These extra episodes are often shot on location. For their first double-bank, viewers saw the Ladies Darts Team Match of The Queen Vic set out for a day trip in Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs. However, for the serials second double-bank, it was decided that the episodes were to be shot on the Albert Square lot rather than going out on location. But instead of an ordinary storylined episode, this double-bank saw the residents being gifted with a film crew visiting the area to make a documentary about the so-called yubbification of the East End.

### Complicated sets and a strike from the BBC

Throughout 1987, the BBC suffered defeat from a strike by scene-shifters which had a dominant effect on *EastEnders*. The strike contained friction of non-permanent sets in the studio, which occasionally changed every week, being unable to be altered for nearly two months, meaning over at *EastEnders* scripts had to be forcefully amended on a daily basis.

### Fresh set of cast and opposition for a departure

Throughout the characters of *EastEnders*, 1987 saw the introduction of more vibrant and unique characters that would go on to face controversial storylines. The introduction of the dissimilar mankind Darren Roberts, Rod Norman and Graham Clark were introduced as part of a sudden influx of young men to the Square. However, a man that would go on to have an outstanding effect on *EastEnders*, suffered from more controversy than the others. The man was no other than Frank Butcher played by comedian Mike Reid. His previous profession was a case in point of how questionable and difficult his casting was. The production crew at *EastEnders* felt that casting a comedian in a dramatic role was controversy. As well as having a fresh bunch of male characters, the year also saw the introduction of prominent female characters, one most notably being Donna Ludlow played by Matilda Ziegler. Donna was introduced to the serial as Kathy's mysterious daughter and would go on to have somewhat of a miserable life in the Square. However, the crew were adamant to keep her identity a secret until the following year, and desperate measures were made to achieve this.

Among introductions come departures, and the twelve-month period saw the withdrawals of further original characters. These were Tony Carpenter, who rebased to his origins in Trinidad, Debbie Wilkins, who set out for a new life with DS Terry Rich, and Kelvin Carpenter who went on to study at University. Kelvin's departure received differings. A question in point of why Kelvin didn't attend his farewell party was because Paul J. Medford was already out of contract when the scenes were filmed. Medford's final scenes were lot scenes because the lot recording for each week's episodes normally happened two weeks before the studio recording of the same episodes. This enabled an actor to appear in two weeks worth of episodes 'lot only' at the end of their contract.

## Viewing Figures

The first episode of *EastEnders* in 1987 gained an audience of 28 million, and currently remains as the second-highest viewed episode of all time, being the runner up of the second Christmas episode of 1986 that gained an audience of 30 million. However, all ratings for *EastEnders* was combined with the omnibus repeats; therefore the accurate rating of the episode remains a myth. Throughout the year *EastEnders* carried on to smash the ratings and beat it's rival *Coronation Street* in the top ten.

The average audience for the year was **21.14 million viewers**. The yearly average is currently the highest record for any year of broadcast for the show. The lowest rated episode of the year was Episode 249 broadcast on 2nd July that had an audience of **13.85 million viewers**.

## Awards and nominations

**Variety Club Awards:**

* BBC Personality of The Year: *EastEnders* (Winner)

**Tric Awards:**

* Best TV Theme Music: *EastEnders* (Winner)

**S.O.S. Star Awards:**

* Favourite TV Prorgamme: *EastEnders* (Winner)