CivvyStreet

"**CivvyStreet**" (sometimes written as "**Civvy Street**") is a spin-off episode of *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.

The episode was written and directed by the creators of *EastEnders*, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. It looked back at the early life of the residents of Albert Square and featured a young Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner and Reg Cox.

## Plot

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).

## Cast and characters

* Gary Olsen as Albert
* Karen Meagher as Lou
* Avis Bunnage as Lou's mum
* Linda Robson as Flo
* Aaron Mason as Harry
* Chase Marks as Ronnie
* Alison Bettles as Ethel
* Ian Brimble as William
* Otto Jarman as Richard
* Julian Wild as Marty
* Marc Tufano as Reg Cox
* Robert Putt as Ray
* Frances Cuka as Lil

## Production

The episode was written by Tony Holland and directed by Julia Smith, who were the creators of *EastEnders*. 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. Historical facts were "bent a little", with some events of the period happening in the wrong order, to aid the storyline. "CivvyStreet" was filmed at BBC Elstree Centre, the shooting location for *EastEnders*. The set was transformed into a 1940s version of Albert Square.

Described as "nostalgic" by the BBC, 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. It is a flashback to World War II, set in Christmas 1942. 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. 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.

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. 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. Meanwhile, Reg Cox is seen trading on the black market, and Lou's children and her sister Flo (Linda Robson) also feature. 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."

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. As of May 2018 the performers have been located.