‘Cor, stinks in ‘ere, dunnit?’
Who’d have thought when they heard that now iconic opening line from Den Watts that EastEnders would still be going strong four decades later?
The hugely popular staple and UK institution is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary in style, with its usual mix of massive twists, explosive stunts and huge reveals.
And what a journey it has been. Whether you watch or not, names like Ian Beale, Peggy Mitchell and Pat Butcher are ingrained in British culture, and say ‘you ain’t my muvva’ to anyone, and they will know exactly how to respond.
EastEnders landed on our screens in 1985 to take a slice of the soap opera scene, taking inspiration from the community aspect of Coronation Street and the kitchen sink grittiness of Brookside (RIP).
Before long, it was making headlines with groundbreaking moments such as the UK’s first TV gay kiss, exploration of issues such as domestic violence, drug abuse and HIV, all while tapping in to the spirit of the folk of the East End.
Granted, it has got a lot more soap-ified since then, introducing heightened moments such as ferry crashes, explosions every other year and several affairs revealed by recorded devices. Seriously, have a snoop around a room before discussing your sordid sex scandals, it will save you a lot of grief.
With year-on-year ratings having increased of late and online viewings on iPlayer proving a huge success, EastEnders has entered into another of its new eras, striving to develop with the climate of streaming combined with event TV.
And with another live episode to come, everyone will be talking about it, to coin a promotional phrase from the show itself.
Happy birthday EastEnders, I will raise a glass to you – before then sloshing it in someone’s face and kicking them outta my pub.
The key couples
Den and Angie
They may be as toxic as they come, but there’s no denying the iconic status of this couple of carnage. With their divorce papers moment becoming EastEnders’ most watched scene, they are part of the history and fabric of soap. Despite spending most of their time hating one another’s guts, they were nothing short of captivating to watch
Kat and Alfie
The king and queen of the will they/won’t they (sit down, Ross and Rachel), Alfie and Kat are still dancing around their love to this day. It goes to show that, with fans still yearning for a reunion, Kat and her ‘man in the Moon’ have a chemistry like no other, and their Christmas wedding day (and race around London for a condom) remain fondly in the minds of their legions of fans.
Pat and Frank
The epitome of a charming, East End wideboy, Frank had a way with words, schemes – and women. But there was always just one soulmate for him – Pat Butcher. Their wedding knees-up was so very Cockney and, even when they split, they managed to later have an affair which earned them some of EastEnders’ most stinging slaps from Peggy Mitchell. Fireworks from the outset!
Stacey and Bradley
It was a match that shouldn’t work but it somehow did. Feisty, outgoing Stacey Slater and shy, retiring and nerdy Bradley Branning had an interesting and loveable bond, made that more special due to how long he yearned for someone he assumed out of his reach. Their rollercoaster romance ended with one of the show’s most tragic deaths, and even Martin Fowler doesn’t quite come close enough to Stacey’s enduring soulmate.
Mick and Linda
Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright lit up the screen with their playful chemistry; this was a couple who were genuinely in love from start to finish and one of the few pairings in the show that were never really split up – until he was swallowed by the ocean that is. Mick would have done anything for his ‘L’ and no matter what was thrown at them, they got through it together.
The most memorable villains
Nick Cotton
The original East End bad boy, there was nothing that killer Nick wouldn’t stoop to – even poisoning his own ‘ma’ Dot. Infuriatingly, Dot always defended her son, who literally got away with murder. But poetically, it was eventually the beloved OAP who brought about his end after a deeply menacing tenure spanning countless sinister comebacks.
Janine Butcher
The definition of the soap genre coined term ‘superbitch’, Janine destroyed the lives of anyone she could get her claws into. Her lowest moments went from seducing broken Ian Beale and then blackmailing him, through to pushing beloved Barry Evans over a cliff and sobbing afterwards that she wished he’d worn slip-on shoes. With acerbic putdowns aplenty, you couldn’t help but love to hate her.
Cindy Beale
A true Walford minx, Cindy spent years being downtrodden by selfish husband Ian, but she came back fighting via a torrid affair with David Wicks. Trying to get away from Ian, she arranged an attempted assassination and took the kids abroad. Her recent return from the dead has proved that she’s as bad as ever, with her antics earning her a snow shovel to the face.
Trevor Morgan
Has there been a soap villain quite as terrifying as Trevor? Played highly believably by Alex Ferns, Little Mo’s abusive husband had a nation united in fury as he subjected her to a harrowing ordeal. For a long time he was Britain’s most hated man and for very good reason. It took an iron to the head and a blazing fire to finally erase him from Walford but few are remembered with quite as much fear as Trevor.
Archie Mitchell
The king of conniving, it was clear from the outset that Archie had sinister motives. But his true nature was darker than anyone could have ever imagined, as it became known that he raped his own daughter Ronnie from the age of 13. The sickening villain later went on to attack Stacey, which led her to murder him – and not a tear was shed.
The most game-changing moments
UK’s first televised gay kiss
The first gay kiss on UK TV was shared in 1987 between Barry and Colin, which disgustingly led to an abysmal outcry from various corners not ready to embrace LGBTQ+ communities. It was a pivotal moment and, since then, soaps have long championed gay couples and LGBTQ+ issues.
Exploration of HIV
From Dot Cotton’s ignorant comments towards Barry and then a long-term storyline involving Mark Fowler living a normal life with HIV, EastEnders set out to challenge the attitudes and misconceptions of the disease, something which was rare for TV at the time. In an age where those with HIV were demonised by some, it was refreshingly brave for EastEnders to go all out and tackle the issue head-on.
The show’s first gay Muslim character
Struggles with coming out were not a new concept in soap by the time we met Syed Masood in the early 2000s, but his relationship with Christian Clarke had the additional facet of his battle with his religious values. Eventually it led to a wedding day and a happy ever after following years of Syed’s struggles with his own identity and his mum Zainab’s negative feelings towards his sexuality.
One character episode
Two-handed episodes were a staple of EastEnders, and always a treat but the show created soap’s first ever single-character episode and one which earned June Brown a Bafta nomination. Following the death of husband Jim, we saw Dot Branning record messages and monologues to him and the moving edition proved that, with superb writing and acting, anything is possible with soap.
Soap’s first successful lesbian wedding
Quite unbelievably, 2025 was the year of soap’s first ever successful lesbian wedding, which boggles the mind. For a genre which is so behind LGBTQ+ storylines, it has been a big miss that the only UK soap lesbian weddings have ended with jiltings or death. Suki Panesar and Eve Unwin broke the curse this very year, providing another first, even if overdue, for EastEnders. 40 years on, it’s still making history!
The most iconic storylines
Sharongate
Attempts to replicate the moment have been made, but nothing quite matches that scene in the Queen Vic, when Grant Mitchell played a tape exposing wife Sharon and bruv Phil’s infidelity to a hushed pub. It was unknown at that time for a storyline to earn a -gate suffix, but it was one of the most talked about water-cooler moments in the show’s history for good reason. That tension could be cut with a knife.
You Ain’t My Muvva
YES I AM! When we talk about iconic UK TV scenes, this has to be near the top. The Slater family were put on the map by the shocking twist that sisters Kat and Zoe were actually mother and daughter. Fans had been in on the secret for months so when it all exploded to the surface, it was unbeatable TV.
Who shot Phil?
Phil Mitchell was prone to making many an enemy, and few mysteries got the nation talking quite like his shooting. Well, his first shooting anyway. From the build-up of his showdowns with many enemies, to the moment he was gunned down on his doorstep, Phil’s attack drama spanned months of intriguing twists eventually unmasking ex Lisa Fowler as the culprit.
Ethel’s death
A common complaint in soap right now is the over-focus on younger characters and the storyline which saw Dot help her best friend Ethel Skinner to die is proof that sometimes, the older generation show the newbies how it’s done. In a moving and tender two-hander, we saw Dot defeat her inner turmoil to say a sad goodbye to her beloved pal. And a nation wept buckets.
Who killed Lucy Beale?
With a huge promotional campaign behind it, over a year of twists and more suspects than you could shake a stick at, the mystery of Lucy Beale’s death captured the UK in a way that soap rarely did in the modern era. Everyone had their theories and, many years after the big reveal of her brother Bobby as the murderer, the repercussions of the story are still being felt.
