EastEnders 40th anniversary: Do Londoners still watch the soap?

We ask the people of London if they still watch EastEnders

Transcript

00:00Since its debut on February the 19th in 1985, EastEnders has captivated audiences

00:07with its gripping storylines, unforgettable characters and its

00:10portrayal of life in the fictional London borough of Walford. Over the years

00:15the show has brought us some of the most powerful and controversial moments in UK

00:20soap history. From the tragic death of Arthur Fowler to the explosive Who Shot

00:26Phil storyline, EastEnders has never shied away from tackling hard-hitting

00:30and sometimes ridiculous subjects. There is no doubt that EastEnders holds

00:37cultural significance in London and the rest of the UK as well but do Londoners

00:42actually still watch the long-running soap and what are the memories they have

00:47of the show? You know it hasn't played a huge role in my life but yeah you know

00:53it's been around for my whole life basically and I grew up in Scotland so

00:58you know I've come to London. EastEnders is one of the few things I knew

01:03about London, if you can say that it's telling you anything about London. How did it

01:07match up? If you'd seen EastEnders before you came then you came to London.

01:11Is London anything like EastEnders? Not the reality of London that I

01:17kind of found but I think you know maybe that exists somewhere but that's not you

01:21know where I live that's not necessarily how it is but maybe I was a bit scared

01:25of coming to London because of the way it looked in EastEnders. I don't watch it

01:30anymore, I used to watch it when I was a kid. I have memories you know 90s classic

01:36storylines, Phil Mitchell, You're Not My Mother, Yes I Am, all that stuff yeah but

01:42I haven't watched it in years. I don't know actually now that I don't watch it anymore I'm not

01:46sure like where it's got to storylines wise. There's definitely an element of it that

01:51was sort of felt realistic and truthful so I'm sure that's carried through.

01:56Yeah I think so I think definitely gives people a general impression about what

02:00East London is like and I think it you know contributes to like stereotypes

02:04about East London and that certainly like maybe people who don't come to

02:08London have this idea that it's that part of London is is like what they say

02:11in EastEnders or yeah I definitely think it yeah it's contributed to a

02:16national idea of what London is a little bit. I couldn't really comment on like

02:21how the culture you know has changed as a result of EastEnders but I think

02:25EastEnders itself depicts the culture of London almost like the other way around

02:29flipping that around but yeah it would be sad I guess to see it go you know it

02:34is one of those British soaps that represents London obviously from times

02:38past but yeah. And like I say it's one of the kind of reference points for people

02:43who want to kind of know what London's like that surely is like one of the

02:46places that people are going to look to is like that is that is the picture that

02:50gets painted of what London is like especially the East End looks like yeah

02:54is it true I don't know and I'm certainly not I'm not qualified to tell

02:57you as an EastEnder.