Classic Eastenders on the Drama channel

[dingdongdigeridoo]

So, classic Eastenders starts airing on the UKTV Drama channel from tomorrow! Two episodes from noon, and they’ll also be on UKTV catchup.

Use this thread to talk about Den, Angie, Arthur, poodle perms, poor fashion choices and Ethel’s Willy.

Thanks Helena!

Really loving this, as with Classic Coronation St it is just before my memories of the show. Find myself kind of fancying Nasty Nick! And completely love Lou Beale.

As a PP has said it was so much better back then, so much more relatable. With both soaps I feel it was the rise to more episodes that really decreased the quality. I love how Albert Square 1985 is just so poor and dirty compared to now.

You can watch it via the UKTV app.

Sue Tully has been a director for years Shes directed Silent Witness amongst other things.

What i HAVE only just found out via googling is they begged her to come back as Michelle She gave a firm no and the part was recast.

Good God Pete Beale was a sexist prick.

Just started watching it and I'm already hooked! It's a lot more grim than I remember. Only seen a few episodes and there has already been a murder, a mugging and an attempted robbery. Enjoyed seeing Ethel knee Nick Cotton in the balls. Poor Willy was so traumatised that she's currently dragging him around in a trolley.
How young is Sharon. Was funny seeing her rolling around on the launderette floor with Kelvin.
It's very multicultural too, such a contrast to the old episodes of Corrie that I'm watching at the moment.

Does anyone remember a special episode of Eastenders where they went back in time to show Ethel, Lou, Dot etc as young women? I think Lou was either pregnant with or had just given birth to Pauline and Pete.

It definitely wasn't the Dot and Ethel two-hander where they reminisce.

The one I'm thinking of had the normal opening credits and started with a shot of Albert Square which 'blended' to how the square would have been in the 1940s. The episode was possibly shot in black and white, but not sure about that.

I don't think I imagined the whole thing!

was that the one with Mo Slater in broken I never saw it but heard about it

It's not that episode @drwitch, but googling it led me to a Wikipedia artIsle of spin off Eastenders episodes, which led me to this:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CivvyStreet

This must be what I was remembering. Except Dot wasn't in it as she would have been too young to have been useful to the plot.

This is it! Looks like Linda Robson (pre-Birds of a Feather??) had a role.

Yes i remember that.

Just seen Wednesdays where Lou is cuddling Ian and saying soon you will have lots more to worry about. How right she was!

There is some bloody awful acting going on! Shop lady is definitely the worst, but Mary is pretty bad too. It made me laugh seeing the shop man getting drunk on Advocat. Reminded me of 80s xmases.

Was being a chef such a shocking thing for boys in the 80s? It’s funny that Pete and Kathy are quite middle class thanks to his job on the market. Pauline’s house looks so grim and uncomfortable by comparison.

"Just seen Wednesdays where Lou is cuddling Ian and saying soon you will have lots more to worry about. How right she was"

Yeah like when Phil flushed his head down the bog

Oh I've just watched today's episodes. They're quite entertaining.

Mary as the desperate lone mother with a habit is very well put together for its day. Lofty is Eastenders equivalent to Curly. An gie had a smile that could light up the sky and the old battle axe, Lou is brilliant. The young Ian made me smile.

Pure guilty pleasure. I love it.

We can't be far off Dot Cotton appearing!

Sharon was carrying a Jelly Bag ...........a blue one.

Two of my schoolfriends had a black one and a pink one

They usually had to line them with carrier bags

They were a pickpockets wet dream.

Sharon and Angie are my new fashion icons. I loved Angie’s fetish style PVC raincoat and Sharon’s pink fluffy coat. Poor Michelle is so dowdy next to her friend.

I don’t really get why the posh couple are in the show. It feels like they got lost on the way to another soap. Some of the stories on this are kind of weird. Lou is screaming in agony in bed and nobody is going anything. And they don’t seem all that concerned that Mark has been missing for ages now!

Angie's outfits were just amazing

Watched a couple of episodes this week. What a time tunnel it is. As with Classic Corrie and presumably Classic Brookie which must only be a matter of time, it harks back to the days of soaps at least attempting to represent real life and with an emphasis on the social deprivation side rather than the turbo charged hyped up versions of today.

I'm watching last weeks (it was GRIM ) think now those EE houses would be worth in excess of a million !

Got to the bit where Debs is having a go at Andy and Pauline has just collapsed (possibly food poisoning from Ethel ? )

I wasn’t around when eastenders started so I’m enjoying it with fresh eyes and pissing myself at how cringe Sharon was and still is. Were the episodes live back then or pre recorded? There is some dreadful acting though but it seems to add something in a way. I can see why nick got his name.

Bloody hell the racism from Lou.

Lou is such an unpleasant old lady. She’s so horrid to Arthur it’s actually hard to watch!

I wish Ethel was still around, she is lovely. They don’t really have any sweet old people in new EE.

I was thinking that too 70isalimit, a lot of people should have held onto their houses! It’s crazy how different the economy is back then. The ‘yuppies’ of the square are a nurse and a travel agent. Can you imagine people with those jobs trying to survive in London now? And they’re always going on about how Pete has a bob or two made from his market stall empire.

Ooh the episodes with Sue and Ali and baby Hassan.

I always fancied Mehmet (Alis brother) he appeared tonight , still looks good !
He had the most stroppy wife too.