EASTENDERS is 25 years old this coming week and to mark the momentous event there’s an exhibition on this weekend at the Tramshed in Shoreditch and a special live episode of the top-rated soap next Friday, 19 February.


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Love it or hate it, there’s no arguing that EastEnders has had a huge impact on London’s culture; families like the Beals, Fowlers, Mitchells, Slaters and Watts ascending to mythical status and making it seem like everyone in London SHOUTS all the bleedin’ TIME, unless you’re Phil Mitchell, in which case you can whisper instead.

In typical EastEnders argumentative style, there has been a bit of controversy over the lack of a big 25 year birthday party for the cast past and present.

“A lot of people have spent years working on the show and I really thought they’d have got us all together to mark the occasion,” a source told the Daily Star.

“It’s a real shame. The occasion definitely calls for a good old-fashioned East End knees-up.”

Instead, stars like June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton, Cheryl Fergison (Heather Trott) and Charlie G Hawkins (Darren Miller) turned up at the exhibition yesterday.

“EastEnders has been the BBC’s most popular show for a quarter of a century,” said Diederick Santer, EastEnders Executive Producer.

“We’re really excited to be giving fans the chance to come and remind themselves of their favourite dramatic endings through seeing some of the props and costumes from the show’s biggest storylines.”

Hats off to the Beeb, who have made the exhibition free, but the bad news is that all the tickets have already been snapped up. Disappointed fans will have to make their way up to Bradford’s National Media Museum, where the props and costumes from EastEnders 25 are to go on display from 12 February.