In Television
A charity special crossover between the science fiction television series Doctor Who and EastEnders, Dimensions in Time, was filmed in 1993 for Children in Need and ran in two parts on 26 November and 27 November 1993. It has been proven as non-canon by various references of Doctor Who as fiction in EastEnders, and vice versa. EastEnders has participated in numerous other Children in need and other fundraisers.
Characters have also been spoofed in the successful BBC comedy sketch show, The Real McCoy (1991–1995). EastEnders and its characters were frequently spoofed in the impressionist sketch show Big Impression, starring Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. Big Impression once screened a one-off special, focusing on EastEnders, called Alistair McGowan's BigEnders. The cartoon sketch show 2DTV has also spoofed EastEnders on many occasions.
The character of Pauline Fowler was mentioned in the successful BBC drama This Life in 1997. In one episode of the show two key characters, Anna and Ferdy, watched an episode of EastEnders on television and mocked Pauline's hysterics and her well documented tendency to wear cardigans.
A special episode of A Question of Sport, A Question of EastEnders, was screened in 2000 to mark the show's fifteenth anniversary.
A sketch in a 1995 episode of A Bit Of Fry And Laurie is set in the Fowlers' kitchen, with Fry, Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Clive Mantle parodying the speech and mannerisms of the characters of Pauline Fowler and Pete Beale. The dramatic drums at the end of every episode were parodied by SMTV Live in a Friends spoof entitled Chums. The name EastEnders is spoofed in a series of pornographic films called RearEnders, which also spoof the EastEnders logo.
In the last ever episode of Gimme Gimme Gimme, "Decoy", Linda faked a terminal illness to stop her flatmate, Tom, from moving out. When Tom discovered her lie, Linda defended herself by saying "Well, it worked for Angie Watts!", to which Tom replied "Den and Angie were married!" In this episode, Tom also mentioned throughout the series that he had had a role in EastEnders, as an extra, buying a cagoule from Bianca Jackson's clothes stall. Linda also has a stuffed toy called Carol Jackson.
In the third series of Bo' Selecta!, there was a weekly sketch called 'EastEndings', featuring Ali Osman and Kat Moon.
An episode of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps entitled "War, Hurrgh!" contains references to Peggy and Grant Mitchell, Angie Watts and Pat Butcher. The episode also ended with the same theme music as EastEnders. Another episode, "Speedycruise!" referred to Pauline and Martin Fowler, and the episode "Finger Sniffing" also refers to Peggy. Also, in the episode "When Janet Met Johnny", Donna sings the line "Don't stay in watching EastEnders." Also, in an episode of Pulling, the character of Donna asks "Who am I going to tell when I have an idea for a new plotline in EastEnders?".
In November 2005, Catherine Tate appeared in another sketch for Children In Need. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell, Kacey Ainsworth as Little Mo Mitchell and Lacey Turner as Stacey Slater from EastEnders and Tate as her well-known character Lauren Cooper from The Catherine Tate Show.
Shaun Williamson frequently plays himself in Ricky Gervais's Extras, where he is referred to at all times as "Barry from EastEnders". Derek Martin (Charlie Slater) appeared in episode three in the third series of Little Britain in 2005. The sketch primarily focused around the character Marjorie Dawes telling her Fat Fighters group not to mention the fact that Martin is in EastEnders, then mentioning it herself. In the Comic Relief special of Little Britain, the character Dennis Waterman refers to his "daughter - the one in EastEnders". This is a reference to the real actor Dennis Waterman, who is the father of Hannah Waterman, who played Laura Beale in the show.
In one episode of children's show TMi, featuring an interview with Matt Di Angelo (Deano Wicks) and Belinda Owusu (Libby Fox), host Mark Rhodes dressed up as Pauline Fowler, clutching a stuffed toy dog and grimacing at the camera, for a game.
For Red Nose Day 2007, Aardman Animations created a Creature Comforts style short featuring the dog Wellard, who appeared in various places including Albert Square and outside a pub called The Dirty Den, asking other dogs for charity donations, attempting to sell his offspring and being put in prison.
In the 2007 documentary F*** Off, I'm Ginger, Charlie Clements discussed his character Bradley Branning's geekiness, and the relation to his ginger hair. Pauline and Sonia Fowler were mentioned in the fourth episode of Gavin & Stacey. The fifth episode also referred to Shobu Kapoor by her character name, Gita, and mentioned Pat Butcher.
In The Kevin Bishop Show, Kevin Bishop portrays the actor David Mitchell who arrives in Albert Square as the third Mitchell brother. The sketches include parodies of the characters Peggy Mitchell and Stacey Slater and are filmed in the style of Peep Show, in which David Mitchell stars.
Read more about this topic: East Enders In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“His [O.J. Simpson’s] supporters lined the freeway to cheer him on Friday and commentators talked about his tragedy. Did those people see the photographs of the crime scene and the great blackening pools of blood seeping into the sidewalk? Did battered women watch all this on television and realize more vividly than ever before that their lives were cheap and their pain inconsequential?”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“They [parents] can help the children work out schedules for homework, play, and television that minimize the conflicts involved in what to do first. They can offer moral support and encouragement to persist, to try again, to struggle for understanding and mastery. And they can share a child’s pleasure in mastery and accomplishment. But they must not do the job for the children.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)