EastEnders (series)

EastEnders is a British television soap opera produced by the BBC. Created by Doctor Who directing and acting alumni, Julia Smith and Tony Holland, the series centres on the residence of Albert Square, in the fictional London borough of Walford, and their daily lives and struggles that reflect many real world issues. The series has been a staple of BBC One's weeknight schedules since its launch in 1985, earning its status as a British television institution with the help of its iconic characters and storylines.

Being a BBC series, it should come as no surprise that its connections with Doctor Who are plentiful, both on screen and behind the scenes.

Crossovers
The first official crossover between EastEnders and Doctor Who came in the 1991 Brief Encounter short story, Mistaken Identity, originally published in DWM 176. The story sees Gustave Lytton visit a pub near Walford Station, non-explicitly implied to be The Queen Victoria, where he notices that the barman, Den Watts, bears a strong resemblance to Kiston, this being a metafictional reference to Kiston and Den both being played by the same actor, Leslie Grantham.

Arguably the most notorious crossover between the two shows is the 1993 televised Children in Need charity special, Dimensions in Time. In this, the nominal 30th anniversary special of Doctor Who, traps the Doctor in a time loop localised within Walford, where he cycles through his various (still living) incarnations and companions. The special sees the appearances of many EastEnders characters from the time, including Sanjay and Gita Kapoor (Deepak Verma and Shobu Kapoor), Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard), Kathy and Ian Beale (Gillian Taylforth and Adam Woodyatt), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Pat and Frank Butcher (Pam St. Clement and Mike Reid), Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton), and Phil and Grant Mitchell (Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp). A more metafictional crossover occurred for a short scene in Army of Ghosts. During the new "ghost" craze sweeping the planet, the Tenth Doctor flicks through television channels until coming to an episode of EastEnders in which Peggy Mitchell (with Barbara Windsor reprising her role) is behind the bar at the Queen Victoria telling a supposed ghostly manifestation of the deceased Den Watts to "get out of [her] pub!" The story of this completely fictional episode appears to be a humorous nod to Den's two on screen deaths, in which the character was infamously resurrected in 2004 after seemingly being killed off fifteen years earlier, before being killed off permanently the following year. Coincidentally, Den's killer in the show, his second wife, was played by Tracy-Ann Oberman, who made her debut in this very episode as Yvonne Hartman.

Two more crossovers occurred in 2011, the first of which was early in the year, during the opening National Television Awards sketch, Dermot and the Doctor. In the sketch, the Eleventh Doctor brings the TARDIS to various times and places as he struggles to get Dermot O'Leary to the awards ceremony. One of the places they end up is outside the laundrette on Albert Square, where Dot Cotton (played by June Brown) is smoking, and she tells Dermot that the Doctor is a frequent visitor to her laundrette. A second crossover, though more ambiguous in its status as a crossover with EastEnders specifically, happened as part of that year's BBC One Christmas ident, Consider Yourself One Of Us... The ident sees various BBC stars indulging in a Christmas party whilst belting out the titular song. Appearing among the various stars are Doctor Who's then-current stars Matt Smith, Karen Gillan (potentially in character as the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond, respectively), and a Cyberman, and four stars from the soap, specifically Ricky Norwood, Shona McGarty, Shane Richie, and June Brown. Although none of the stars are necessarily playing their respective soap characters here, it is clear they are appearing in the ident as a promotion for the show, regardless.

Dot Cotton appears once again in BBC One's 2015 Christmas ident, Sprout Boy meets a Galaxy of Stars, as one of several BBC characters having Christmas dinner with Sprout Boy and the Twelfth Doctor.

References in the DWU
The 1994 novel, First Frontier, made a nod to the aforementioned Dimensions in Time through a claim by the Seventh Doctor that he once had a dream in which all his old enemies chased him around the EastEnders set.

The 2001 novel, Instruments of Darkness, revealed that the Sixth Doctor's 2000-hailing companion, Evelyn Smythe, had been using her foreknowledge of 1990s EastEnders storylines to get some extra cash by betting on the correct outcomes.

In the 2005 novel, The Monsters Inside, following her year away from modern day Earth, Rose Tyler caught with the episodes of the show that she missed during that time. The Ninth Doctor, who was forced to watch along with her, later used a piece of his general knowledge of the show to his advantage, when Rose is tested by Lazlee Flowers on tangential warp offset, he subtly gave Rose the answer (45), by telling her to think of the address of Pauline, Martin, and Sonia Fowler, which was 45 Albert Square at the time.

In the 2006 episode, The Impossible Planet, the Tenth Doctor expresses his belief that one of the most unluckiest phrases that one could utter was, "This is going to be the best Christmas Walford has ever had", a reference to the show's typically, notoriously depressing Christmas specials.

In the 2008 The Sarah Jane Adventures serial, The Mark of the Berserker, whilst under the influence of the Berserker pendant, Haresh Chandra obeys his daughter's command to [pretend to be] "Bianca off EastEnders", in which he screams the names of Ricky Butcher, Whitney Dean, and Pat Butcher in her trademark style.

In the 2018 audio story, The Siege of Big Ben, saw Jackie Tyler learn that the show did not exist on Pete's World, to her disappointment.

References to the DWU on EastEnders
An episode broadcast on 15 February 2008 was particularly noteworthy for featuring a Doctor Who convention as a backdrop to one of its storylines; accompanies her estranged husband, and avid Doctor Who fan,  to the event, in hopes of a reconciliation with him. The event features explicit appearances of multiple Doctor Who elements in a fictional context, such as convention-goers dressed as past Doctors and Cybermen, props such as monster and alien costumes on display (such as those of the Daleks, the Ood, and more), a main entrance to the venue being through a TARDIS prop - complete with wheezing noises - and the theme tune also being audible. In one scene, Bradley tells Stacey about the TV serial, The Invasion, in which he mentions the "classic TV moment" of the Cybermen emerging from their cocoons, and the fact that it was the first incomplete serial to be released with full animated reconstructions of the missing episodes.

In an episode broadcast on 27 April 2010, and  discuss the recent outing of, during which Ricky mentions "the one from Doctor Who. The big yank, the gay one [who is] into all the musicals", prompting a surprised Charlie to remark "Gays in Doctor Who?! Wouldn't have happened in my day". Derek Martin, who played Charlie, worked as a stuntman on classic Who, making the line a possible in-joke.

In an episode broadcast on 24 October 2022, after Finlay and Felix Baker move in with and Whitney Dean, Chelsea is taken aback by how many boxes the pair have brought with them, considering they previously lived in a cramped flat with their uncle Mitch and the Taylors, prompting Chelsea to ask Mitch, flippantly, if their flat is "the TARDIS".

In an episode broadcast on 20 January 2023, Stacey Slater recalls when she aborted Bradley Branning's baby back in 2006, remarking that the child would have been 16 years old now, "A little mini Bradley, excited about the new Doctor Who".

Crew
Doctor Who's connections to EastEnders are so great that they stretch right back to the two minds who created the soap, Julia Smith and Tony Holland; Smith directed the 1960s television serials, The Smugglers, and The Underwater Menace, being the second ever female director of a Who serial for the former.

Holland, meanwhile, acted on screen in The Savages, playing the Third Assistant.

David Ashton, who played Kendron in Timelash, was one of the show's earliest writers, writing for various storylines throughout the 1980s.

Colin Brake, a writer of various DWU novels, wrote for the series from 1992 to 1995.

Prolific Doctor Who pundit Andrew Collins wrote for the show from 2000 to 2002.

Michael Begley, who acted on screen as Mulligan in The Curse of the Black Spot and "All Ears" Alan Hogan in Fugitive of the Judoon, wrote for the show from 2010 to 2013, and then again from 2019 to 2020. He also had a minor on screen role in a 2013 episode, as a market inspector.

Johnny Candon, who wrote the Missy audio story, War Seed, was a writer for the series from 2018 to 2020.

Actors who appeared in crossovers
Among the EastEnders actors to appear as their characters in Dimensions in Time, Letitia Dean, Gillian Taylforth, and Steve McFadden are the only three who still appear in the show today, as Sharon Watts, Kathy Beale, and Phil Mitchell, respectively.

Shobu Kapoor, who appeared in Dimensions as her EastEnders character, Gita Kapoor, later appeared as the scared woman in Journey's End, and then as the voice of Sai Chopra in the Big Finish audio, Vortex Ice.

Before taking up his iconic EastEnders role as Frank Butcher, who he also played in Dimensions in Time, Mike Reid previously had a trio of uncredited roles in The Myth Makers, The Massacre, and The War Machines.

Ron Tarr, who appeared in an unused scene of Dimensions in Time as Walford resident Big Ron, also had an earlier, uncredited role as a slave in Destiny of the Daleks.

June Brown had already appeared in Doctor Who as Lady Eleanor, in The Time Warrior, before taking up her long-serving role as EastEnders stalwart Dot Cotton (later Branning) early in the show's run, a role she later played briefly in Dermot and the Doctor, and her likeness of which was used in Sprout Boy meets a Galaxy of Stars.

By the time Ricky Norwood appeared as an interview subject for The Ultimate Guide, he was already best known for playing on the soap, a role for which he appeared to promote in Consider Yourself One Of Us...

Two other actors to appear in Consider Yourself also continue to appear in the series; Shona McGarty continues to appear as Whitney Dean, while Shane Richie still appears for multiple stints as.

1980s
Before playing Captain Kathryn McDonnell in 42, and voicing Winnie Tyler in the Big Finish audio, Damaged Goods, one of Michelle Collins' most famous roles was, the gold-digging former wife of , a role she first played in 1988.

1990s
Adele Silva appeared for three episodes in 1991, as Beth. Coincidentally, Silva's Doctor Who character, Squeak, would later be established in the 2020 novel, At Childhood's End, as having become a famous actress, with a role on EastEnders being among her gigs.

Lindsey Coulson, who played for various periods from 1993 to 2015, played Val Cane in Midnight.

2000s
The first year of the new millennium saw the introduction of what would go on to be one of the show's most beloved families, the Slaters. Among this predominantly female family was, the role that launched the career of Michelle Ryan (Lady Christina de Souza of Planet of the Dead). The family patriarch,, was played by Derek Martin, a reoccurring stuntman in classic Doctor Who.

In 2001, Gary Beadle, who later played Paul Langer in the Sarah Jane serial, The Mark of the Berserker, joined the soap as. He was joined months later by his adoptive father,, played by Rudolph Walker, who had previously appeared as Harper in The War Games.

In 2003, David Walliams, who previously voiced Quincy Flowers and Ned Cotton in Big Finish's Phantasmagoria, and later played Gibbis in The God Complex, appeared for two episodes as Ray Collins, the man who officiated and 's wedding.

In 2004, Daniel Anthony, who went on to play Clyde Langer in The Sarah Jane Adventures, appeared for a weeks worth of episodes as teenage runaway,, in a storyline that saw him acting opposite his future on-screen father, Gary Beadle.

Just before playing Yvonne Hartman in Army of Ghosts and other following media, Tracy-Ann Oberman played from 2004 to 2005.

Lee Ross, who later played the boatswain in The Curse of the Black Spot, joined the soap in 2006 as.

Lynda Baron, a reoccurring talent in televised Doctor Who, appeared at various points from 2006 to 2016 as.

Don Gilet joined the cast as the murderous in 2008, just four months after playing Lance Bennett in The Runaway Bride.

The Masood family were also introduced in 2008, with three of their four initial members consisting of Nina Wadia as, Zahra Ahmadi as , and Himesh Patel as. Wadia and Ahmadi would both go on to appear on televised Doctor Who as, respectively, Dr Ramsden in The Eleventh Hour, and Missy in Nightmare in Silver, while Patel would voice three characters for Big Finish audios; Dendry in Day of the Vashta Nerada, and Ayrton Valencia and the Engineer in The Lifeboat and the Deathboat.

In 2009, Meryl Fernandes, who played a female student in The Poison Sky, joined the show as.

2010s
In 2010, whilst continuing to play Haresh Chandra in the remainder of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Ace Bhatti joined the EastEnders cast as the villainous, father of the aforementioned Afia, and the abusive first husband of Zainab Masood.

An online spin-off series,, ran from 2010 to 2011, which featured Tosin Cole (Thirteenth Doctor companion Ryan Sinclair) as , and Sophie Colquhoun (Madrigal in Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy) as Ava Bourne.

Jamie Foreman, who played Eddie Connolly in The Idiot's Lantern, played from 2011 to 2012.

In 2014, Rakhee Thakrar, who would go on to play Eighth Doctor companion Bliss in various Big Finish audios, took over the role of from Zahra Ahmadi.

Davood Ghadami, who played Jim, one of the crew aboard the Teselecta in Let's Kill Hitler, played from 2014.

Twelve years after previously appearing as her Doctor Who character, Melanie Bush, in Dimensions in Time, Bonnie Langford joined the EastEnders cast in 2015 as, mother to the aforemtioned Kush.

The Kazemi family was expanded once again in 2016 with the addition of Carmel's other son, and Kush's brother,, played by Shaheen Jafargholi, who previously appeared in the Torchwood episode, Greeks Bearing Gifts, as Danny.

Roger Griffiths, who played Commander Kess in Planet of the Ood, joined the show in 2018 as.

2020s
Reoccurring Big Finish voice actor Zaraah Abrahams joined the soap as in 2020 (a role originally played in the 2000s by ).

A special flashback episode broadcast in 2022 featured George Russo (Phillip in The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone) as Eric Mitchell, Christopher Pizzey (Eddie Smith in The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith) as Malcolm Keeble, and David Ajala (Peter in The Beast Below) as a police officer.

Miscellaneous
EastEnders and its extensive shared cast with DWU media is a subject within the BBC Books publication, Who-ology: The Official Miscellany, under the section "Soap Who", which contains an extensive (by the time of publication) list of cast members shared with televised Doctor Who.

Festive specials
EastEnders traditionally broadcasts extended episodes on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, in time slots that are typically adjacent to Doctor Who's own festive specials, resulting in the two shows competing against each other in the ratings.

For Christmas Day schedules, EastEnders have typically ended up with higher overnight ratings than Doctor Who, with only The Time of the Doctor and The Husbands of River Song managing to score higher in their respective years. New Year's Day ratings, meanwhile, have historically worked in Doctor Who's favour, with only Part 2 of The End of Time failing to outdo EastEnders in 2010.