1999
- Melanie Healy, Steve Owen, Sam Mitchell, Ricky Butcher, Mark Fowler, Mick McFarlene, Janine Butcher and Dr Fonseca: Brighton
They all descended on Brighton for a Halloween ball. Janine was found unconscious on the beach, Mel and Steve slept together but she refused to run away with him, and ex-partners Ricky and Sam had to share a bedroom.
- Steve Owen, Barry Evans, Ricky Butcher, Robbie Jackson, Gianni di Marco, Melanie Healy, Natalie Price, Lisa Fowler, Jackie Owen, Andrea Price in Amsterdam in December.
The girls were celebrating Melanie and Natalie's hen night, whilst the boys celebrated Barry's stag night. Mel acted promiscuously and her attempts to seduce Steve were rebuffed. Meanwhile, Natalie was upset by her mother Andrea's behaviour.
The episode evoked criticism by the Broadcasting Standards Commission for its inclusion of “almost relentless drunken and promiscuous behaviour, sexual innuendo and drug-taking, before the watershed”. The BBC defended the episode, claiming that its content would have “come as no surprise to viewers” and adding that the depiction of this behaviour conformed to an EastEnders tradition - that questionable conduct "only leads to further trouble…One character's quest for drugs led to embarrassment and nausea and a drinking binge led to the calling off of wedding while the prospects for another became bleaker."
Read more about this topic: East Enders Off Set Episodes