History of East Enders - 2010s

2010s

From 4 February 2010, CGI was used in the show for the first time, with the addition of computer-generated trains.

EastEnders celebrated its 25th anniversary on 19 February 2010. Executive producer Diederick Santer came up with several plans to mark the occasion, including the show's first episode to be broadcast live, the second wedding between Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson and the return of Bianca's relatives, mother Carol, and siblings Robbie, Sonia and Billie. He told entertainment website Digital Spy, "It's really important that the feel of the week is active and exciting and not too reflective. There'll be those moments for some of our longer-serving characters that briefly reflect on themselves and how they've changed. The characters don't know that it's the 25th anniversary of anything, so it'd be absurd to contrive too many situations in which they're reflective on the past. The main engine of that week is great stories that'll get people talking. The wedding is the perfect opportunity for us to bring back the much-loved Jackson characters — Carol, Sonia, Robbie and Billie." In the live episode, Bradley Branning was killed off running from the police, only hours after having married Stacey Slater. It was then revealed that she had murdered Archie Mitchell in revenge after he raped her. Viewing figures peaked at 16.6 million, which was the highest viewed episode in seven years. Other events to mark the anniversary were a spin-off DVD, EastEnders, Last Tango in Walford, in which Bianca's daughter Tiffany attempts to track down Carol, and an Internet spin-off, EastEnders: E20.

Diedrick Santer officially left EastEnders in March 2010, and was replaced by Bryan Kirkwood. Kirkwood's first signing was the reintroduction of characters Alfie (Shane Richie) and Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace), and his first new character was Vanessa Gold, played by Zöe Lucker. In April and May 2010, Kirkwood axed eight characters from the show, Charlie Slater (Derek Martin), Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu), Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi), Adam Best (David Proud), Danny Mitchell (Liam Bergin), Liz Turner (Kate Williams), Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny) and Leon Small (Sam Attwater). Kirkwood also recast the roles of Ben Mitchell and Lauren Branning, replacing Charlie Jones with Joshua Pascoe and Madeline Duggan with Jacqueline Jossa respectively. In addition to the axings, actors Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), Tiana Benjamin (Chelsea Fox), Preeya Kalidas (Amira Shah), Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater) and Gillian Wright (Jean Slater) all announced that they would be leaving in 2010. It was subsequently announced that Jean would be returning to the soap just a few months after she left. Windsor's departure left a hole in the show, which Kirkwood decided to fill by bringing back Kat and Alfie, which he said would "herald the new era of EastEnders."

EastEnders started broadcasting in high definition on 25 December 2010. Old sets had to be rebuilt, so The Queen Victoria set was burnt down in a storyline (and in reality) to facilitate this.

In 2011, Kirkwood introduced Eddie Moon (David Essex), the father of Michael Moon's (Steve John Shepherd) and the first main casting of 2011. It was also announced that due to the popularity of character Fatboy (Ricky Norwood), who originally appeared in EastEnders: E20, his family would be extended with the introduction of his father Ashley Chubb.

In November 2011, a storyline showed character Billy Mitchell, played by Perry Fenwick, selected to be a torch bearer for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In reality, Fenwick carried the torch through the setting of Albert Square, with live footage shown in the episode on 23 July 2012. London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: "The announcement is a great addition to the Olympic Torch Relay Route. I'm sure the people of Walford will now start planning their celebrations. Along with people right round the UK, the residents of Albert Square will be getting involved to make this their moment to shine." Fenwick said, "When we first discussed the storyline, my initial thought was that I'll now have to get fit. While this may be a fictional one-off for Billy, it's a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I am thrilled that Walford and Albert Square will be part of this amazing event." BBC director for London 2012, Roger Mosey, said: "I like this, in media terms, that it's the real torch, the real procession going to Walford. It will be live when it goes there and so potentially you can broadcast EastEnders for three or four minutes on the News Channel because the torch being in Albert Square is a news event. I like the idea of the real torch being in a fictional place."