©BBC
EastEnders
Mondays & Tuesdays at 6:30pm
View list of upcoming episodes
Since 1985, when it was first broadcast, soap opera EastEnders has been one of Britain's top-rated programs, focusing as it does on the professional and domestic trials and tribulations of several working-class clans in a fictional London borough called Walford. According to the Wikipedia entry on the series, it's been particularly popular for its "gritty" and realistic storylines, which in addition to the usual soap opera fare of affairs, rivalries, and backstabbing, has covered schizophrenia, breast cancer, euthanasia, crib death, agoraphobia, shoplifting, rape, Down Syndrome, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, and illiteracy. The show is known for both raising awareness and stirring controversy and has even polarized British politics — it even caused a stir by shooting some episodes in Ireland in 1997. EastEnders broke away from the traditional soap opera format by casting a culturally diverse cast — reflecting, its producers say, the multi-racial environment of the real life of London's East End — but has received criticism in some sectors for tokenism and racial stereotyping.
If you need to catch up on the characters and storylines, Wikipedia is a great resource. As is the case with most soap operas, most of the actors are primarily known for their roles on EastEnders, but you can find out what else they've done on the Internet Movie Database.
