Existing Media Texts - Eastenders

Eastenders

Eastenders was introduced to the nation on the 19^th of February 1985. The soap opera was created to compete against already established popular soaps such as

Coronation Street

, Emmerdale Farm and Brookside.  The program was first created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland, a popular duo who had previously worked together on a popular nursing drama, Angels – they wanted to create a popular soap to rival the other channels that represented a realistic view of living in a tight southern community. The program has developed massively since its fist episode, with episodes rising from two half hours a week to four and a diverse range of characters and storylines. The program is set in the imaginary ‘Walford’ and based around the working class of a small community near London and targets an audience of any age and race.

The main forums on Eastenders have remained the same since the beginning of the show with the owners changing as time progresses. The Queen Vic, the Café and the ever-changing nightclub currently named ‘R&R’ have been a few of the main settings for some of the shows storylines. Other common settings are the market place, the laundrette, the shop currently owned the Patrick Truman, the chip shop currently owned by Ian Beale and the allotments. 

Eastenders has dealt with many controversial issues throughout its year such as HIV, child abuse, domestic violence, murder, drug use, rape, abortion, disabilities, paedophilia, kid-napping and homosexuality. However, the soap has also raised awareness for the more serious issues it deals with such as HIV, a storyline that featured Mark Fowler and educated many teenagers across the country.  

Eastenders has won a grand total of 237 awards so far and has been nominated for over 550. The program has won a range of television awards by various award companies and shows along different awards such as The Ethnic Multicultural Award for TV Actor won by the character Patrick Truman played by Rudolph Walker, The Royal Association for Disability Rights award for Doing Media Differently and Mental Health Media Awards for Making a Difference won by the character Stacey Slater played by Lacey Turner.