FROM the moment EastEnders first aired on February 19, 1985, millions have been gripped by the ups and downs of Walford’s residents.
There have been 51 births, 91 weddings, 100 deaths — of which a staggering 21 were on-screen murders — as well as more than 80 funerals in Albert Square during the past 35 years.
Storylines such as Den Watts serving long-suffering wife Angie divorce papers, the whodunnit of who shot Phil Mitchell, and Bianca and Ricky’s wedding have kept Brits tuning in to 6,064 episodes and counting.
Groundbreaking stories based on real-life issues such as domestic violence, alcoholism, abortion, rape, cot death, mental health, autism and the first on-screen gay kiss were also aired.
The very first show saw 17.35million viewers tune in to see Arthur Fowler, Ali Osman and Den Watts find pensioner Reg Cox at death’s door.
Back then there were only four TV channels in the UK and streaming services such as Netflix did not exist.
The new soap launched with 23 characters and three core families — the Fowlers, Watts and Beales.
Ian Beale is the only original cast member who has been continuously on the show.
On Christmas Day 1986, 30.15million viewers watched Dirty Den hand over divorce papers to Angie.
It remains the highest-rated episode of a soap in British television history.
So what keeps us tuning in? Here we reveal some of the soap’s best bits.
MICHELLE Fowler’s pregnancy at 16 was shocking for the mid-Eighties – and even more so when it was revealed that Dirty Den was the dad.
Sonia Jackson had Martin Fowler’s baby at 15, and didn’t even realise she was expecting.
The show received a record number of complaints in 2011 over a harrowing cot death storyline.
Ronnie swapped her dead baby with Kat Moon’s little boy Tommy.
A total of 51 tots have arrived on the soap. The last was Peggy Taylor, born on December 6 last year.
WITH 100 deaths in 35 years, Albert Square is arguably one of the most lethal places to live in Britain.
More people have died outside The Queen Vic than anywhere else in Walford.
In 2014, Lucy Beale died when her 12-year-old brother Bobby hit her with a jewellery box.
He was later sentenced to three years in jail.
And 20 years ago millions of viewers were moved when Ethel Skinner asked her best friend Dot Cotton to help her end her life when she was diagnosed with cancer.
THERE have been 91 wedding days in Walford – and on the first one in 1986 the couple did not even tie the knot.
Michelle Fowler jilted hapless barman Lofty Holloway at the altar because she could not get over Dirty Den Watts, the secret father of her child.
And Albert Square nuptials can also be deadly events.
In 2018 Ronnie Mitchell died on her wedding day after trying to rescue her sister Roxy who had drowned in the hotel pool.
It’s not uncommon for the residents of EastEnders to marry the same person twice. Ian Beale married Jane Collins in 2007 and 2015. Ricky Butcher got hitched to Bianca in 1997.
Their second wedding happened during the show’s first live episode on February 19, 2010, which pulled in 16.6million viewers.
Their daughter Tiffany and former bad boy Keegan Baker tied the knot last year.
The young couple seem to have a happy marriage – but this is East- Enders, so it could all go wrong.
IN true soap style, death and EastEnders go hand in hand.
The Grim Reaper has been working overtime in Albert Square during the past 35 years, with Walford cemetery a particularly busy place.
There have been 85 funerals there, including that of Lou Beale’s husband Albert, who died 20 years before the show started.
Recently, Lucy Beale, Ronnie Branning, Roxy Mitchell and Hunter Owen have been buried at the cemetery.
With statistics like that you have to wonder who’s next.
ONE of the show’s greatest sibling feuds was between Phil Mitchell and his brother Grant over Sharon.
Grant discovered wife Sharon’s affair with his brother – and in revenge, her taped confession was played to the entire Queen Vic.
The longest-standing female fall-out was between Stacey Slater and Janine Butcher, who scrapped from 2009 to 2014 after Stacey began an affair with Janine’s husband Ryan Malloy.
Stacey was later framed for stabbing Janine and left Walford.
THE course of true love has never run smoothly in Walford.
Millions were gripped by the furious rows between Angie (Anita Dobson) and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).
He had a roving eye – and she hit the bottle to cope. Angie eventually left Den in 1988 and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2002.
Angie’s daughter Sharon (Letitia Dean) has had her fair share of romantic ups and downs with Phil Mitchell over the years.
Currently the pair are warring as Sharon has cheated with Keanu Taylor and is carrying his baby.
THE soap has won awards for covering gritty, real-life topics.
In the early years of the show, John Altman’s portrayal of junkie Nick Cotton showed the horrors of heroin addiction while Mark Fowler’s HIV storyline broke taboos.
Yuppie Colin Russell kissed his gay lover Guido Smith in 1989, marking a TV first.
More recently, in court Ruby Allen recounted her rape ordeal to bring her attackers to justice.
And one of last year’s most hard-hitting storylines covered the mental heath battles of Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter.
TO date there have been 21 on-screen murders on the soap, meaning a higher than national average early mortality rate for the EastEnders.
The most prolific female killer is Janine Butcher, who since her first appearance in 1989 has bumped off three husbands including hapless Barry Evans, who she pushed off a cliff in 2004.
Acid-tongued Pauline Fowler met a sticky end on Christmas Day 2006 when she suffered a haemorrhage after being hit over the head by a frying pan wielded by her second husband, Joe Macer.
She staggered to the Square’s Christmas tree, collapsed – and never woke up.
ROBBIE Williams popped into the Queen Vic in 1995 to make a call on its payphone.
He is not the only pop star who has been on the soap. S Club 7’s Hannah Spearritt played Kandice Taylor in 2018 and musician Goldie took on the role of gangster Angel Hudson from 2001 to 2002.
Amanda Holden played a market trader for a month in 1994.
And viewers saw Boris Johnson chat to Peggy Mitchell in the Vic when he was London Mayor.
Other celebs who have turned up in Walford include David Walliams, Nick Grimshaw and Rustie Lee.
THE EastEnders love their dogs. Dirty Den was often seen walking his poodle Roly – then the best-known mutt in Britain, appearing on screen from the soap’s start in 1985.
Ethel Skinner was rarely without her pug Willy, and then there was fan favourite Wellard. Robbie Jackson’s dog was in the show for 14 years, and one of his most memorable storylines was biting Ian Beale.
In 2010 Syd Chambers’ collie Sugar witnessed Lucas burying Owen Turner’s body – which meant she was done away with, of course.
Cats, birds, rabbits, fish and even a pig have also featured on screen.
Most recently, in January last year, Hunter Owen shot his stepdad Ray Kelly.
After Ray was exposed as a bigamist at his wedding to Mel Owen, he then tried to strangle her with her veil.
Ray was finished off by Hunter, who then buried his body in the woods.
