User:AnemoneProjectors/List of EastEnders episodes (1985)

EastEnders is a British soap opera, examining the domestic and professional lives of working class people who live in the fictitious London Borough of Walford in the East End of London. The show broadcast its first episode on 19 February 1985, with Julia Smith as executive producer. EastEnders aired 91 episodes in 1985, with the the typical week comprising two half-hour episodes on BBC1, in a time slot of 7:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, until September 1985 when they were moved to 7:30pm.

The show's original characters include Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih), Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin), Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard), Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton), Lou Beale (Anna Wing), Saeed Jeffery (Andrew Johnson), Naima Jeffery (Shreela Ghosh), Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), Nick Cotton (John Altman), Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff), Pete Beale (Peter Dean), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), and Mark Fowler (David Scarboro), all of whom are introduced in the first episode, and Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt), Tony Carpenter (Oscar James), Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford), Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson) and Debbie Wilkins (Shirley Cheriton), who appeared after the first episode. Characters introduced later include Hannah Carpenter (Sally Sagoe), Dot Cotton (June Brown), Simon Wicks (Nick Berry), and Cassie Carpenter (Delanie Forbes). Johnnie Clayton, Gary Whelan, Allan O'Keefe, Haluk Bilginer, Ken Wynne, Douglas Fielding, Dulice Liecier and Ishia Bennison guest starred throughout the year as Reg Cox, Terry Rich, Chris Smith, Mehmet Osman, Ernie Mears, Roy Quick, Sheena Mennell and Guizin Osman respectively. Johnson (Saeed Jeffery) was the only cast member to leave the series during the year. Scarboro temporarily left his role as Mark Fowler, making a brief return in December.

Cast and characters
The original cast featured eighteen regular cast members, one infant cast member, an extra character and two animals. The first character featured on-screen was local pub landlord Den Watts. The role was controversially cast to Leslie Grantham, who had only appeared on television once before. Jean Fennell was originally cast as Den's wife, Angie Watts until creator Julia Smith decided she was not right for the role and recast the role to Anita Dobson. Show creators planned for Den and Angie to have an adoptive daughter, Sharon Watts and cast Letitia Dean in the role because of her laugh, which they described as "the dirtiest in the world!". The Watts family were also given a pet, originally planned to be a German shepard named Prince, but this was later changed when the show found a poodle named Roly. The second character to appear was Ali Osman, a Turkish Cypriot café and taxi firm owner. The casting of Ali caused arguments between co-creators Smith and Tony Holland as they disagreed between which of two actors to cast as Ali. Nejdet Salih was eventually cast as Ali. In an attempt to portray a multi-cultural relationship, Ali's British wife, Sue Osman was created. Sandy Ratcliff was recommended for the role and after much concern over her "free spirit", she was cast in the role. The couple were scripted to be parents to a young baby named Hassan, who was played by Michael Evangelou. Show creators had scripted their first family, the Beales and Fowlers, based on Holland's family. Lou Beale was created as the seventy-year-old "stubborn, family orientated" matriarch of the family. Anna Wing was cast in the role, to her delight of being a "household name". Lou was billed as the widowed mother of middle-aged twins, "rough and ready" Pete Beale and "battle-axe" Pauline Fowler. The role of Pete was cast to Law and Order actor Peter Dean because of his "tremendous enthusiasm" for the part, whilst the role of Pauline was offered to The Newcomers and Are You Being Served? actress Wendy Richard, who accepted. Pauline was married to the unemployed Arthur Fowler, who was created with actor Bill Treacher in mind. Treacher was offered the role and he accepted. Arthur and Pauline were planned to have two children, "feisty" Michelle Fowler and "tough" Mark Fowler. Grange Hill actors, Susan Tully and David Scarboro were cast in these roles. Pete was scripted to be married to "attractive, practical" Kathy Beale and having unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Sue Osman, Gillian Taylforth was offered the role. Ian Beale was created as the "sensitive" son of Pete and Kathy. Television newcomer, Adam Woodyatt was cast as Ian.

Aside from the three central families, the show featured several other characters. An Asian couple, Saeed and Naima Jeffery, were cast in the show as the owners of the local grocery store. Andrew Johnson was cast as Saeed, whilst Shreela Ghosh was cast as Naima after a small struggle in locating any Muslim women. The second character of the show to be created was an elderly lady who was billed as the "the life and soul of the party", Ethel Skinner. Having been considered the ideal casting, Gretchen Franklin was cast. Ethel was scripted to have a pug, Willy, named after her late husband. The show also featured a resident Jewish doctor, Dr Harold Legg, but finding a capable actor proved difficult. Leonard Fenton was suggested by writer Bill Lyons, before being subsequently cast in the role. The final character to be created was Nick Cotton, the show's local villain. The character was not created by Smith and Holland and was not part of their original vision for the show, being credited as an "afterthought". Because of this, the actor John Altman was not cast by Smith and instead was cast by the directors. Fifteen additional characters were introduced on a regular basis throughout the year. Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) and DS Terry Rich (Gary Whelan) joined the cast in episode three, whilst Linda Davidson began appearing as punk Mary Smith along with her daughter, Annie Smith, played by both Zara Posener and Jenna Alembick, in episode five. The Carpenter family, the show's first black characters, were introduced between February and November 1985. They consisted of separated parents Tony Carpenter and Hannah Carpenter and their children, Kelvin Carpenter and Cassie Carpenter. Ross Davidson and Shirley Cheriton were cast as "young couple" Andy O'Brien and Debbie Wilkins and began appearing in episode ten. The Osman family were expanded throughout the year with the introductions of Ali's brother and sister-in-law, Mehmet Osman (Haluk Bilginer) and Guizin Osman (Ishia Bennison). Nick's Christian, chain-smoking mother, Dot Cotton, was created alongside most of the original cast, with the role cast to June Brown. Pauline was originally scripted to be five-months pregnant in her early forties and she eventually gave birth to a son, Martin Fowler (Jon Peyton Price) in July 1985. When Scarboro departed the show in April 1985, show bosses were required to create a new character that could replace Mark's storylines and thus, Simon Wicks (or "Wicksy" as he was also known) was created. Nick Berry was quickly cast as Simon, with Smith calling it one of the fastest on record.

Johnson chose to leave the show after less than a year, following his disapproval of the storylines he was receiving. Saeed left the show on 26 December 1985, making him the first character to permanently leave the show. Despite this, the first departure from the show came in April 1985 when Scarboro also disapproved of his storylines and left his role of Mark. However, Scarboro made returns across three guest stints in December 1985, 1986 and 1987, making his original departure only temporary.

The following is a full list of the EastEnders 1985 cast.

Regular cast

 * Peter Dean as Pete Beale (83 episodes)
 * Leslie Grantham as Den Watts (82 episodes)
 * Bill Treacher as Arthur Fowler (82 episodes)
 * Wendy Richard as Pauline Fowler (81 episodes)
 * Susan Tully as Michelle Fowler (81 episodes)
 * Anita Dobson as Angie Watts (78 episodes)
 * Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Beale (78 episodes)
 * Nejdet Salih as Ali Osman (77 episodes)
 * Shirley Cheriton as Debbie Wilkins (74 episodes)
 * Oscar James as Tony Carpenter (73 episodes)
 * Sandy Ratcliff as Sue Osman (73 episodes)
 * Anna Wing as Lou Beale (73 episodes)
 * Paul J. Medford as Kelvin Carpenter (72 episodes)
 * Gretchen Franklin as Ethel Skinner (71 episodes)
 * Tom Watt as Lofty Holloway (70 episodes)
 * Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale (69 episodes)
 * Ross Davidson as Andy O'Brien (67 episodes)
 * Linda Davidson as Mary Smith (65 episodes)
 * Letitia Dean as Sharon Watts (65 episodes)
 * Leonard Fenton as Dr Harold Legg (62 episodes)
 * Andrew Johnson as Saeed Jeffery (62 episodes)
 * June Brown as Dot Cotton (41 episodes)
 * Shreela Ghosh as Naima Jeffery (41 episodes)
 * John Altman as Nick Cotton (37 episodes)
 * Nick Berry as Simon Wicks (21 episodes)
 * David Scarboro as Mark Fowler (11 episodes)

Recurring and guest cast

 * Roly as Roly (81 episodes)
 * Willy as Willy (59 episodes)
 * Jenna Alembick and Zara Posener as Annie Smith (35 episodes)
 * Jon Peyton-Price as Martin Fowler (19 episodes)
 * Michael Evangelou as Hassan Osman (18 episodes)
 * Douglas Fielding as DS Roy Quick (11 episodes)
 * Dulice Liecier as Sheena Mennell (9 episodes)
 * Sally Sagoe as Hannah Carpenter (9 episodes)
 * Delanie Forbes as Cassie Carpenter (8 episodes)
 * Elaine Donnelly as WPC Alison Howard (6 episodes)
 * Gary Whelan as DS Terry Rich (6 episodes)
 * Allan O'Keefe as Chris Smith (5 episodes)
 * Ken Wynne as Ernie Mears (4 episodes)
 * Haluk Bilginer as Mehmet Osman (3 episodes)
 * Judy Liebert as Ruth Lyons (3 episodes)
 * David Bauckham as the police officer (2 episodes)
 * Kieran Parkes as Stuart (2 episodes)
 * Vic Tablian as Mustapha (2 episodes)
 * Peter Aubrey as the ambulance attendant (1 episode)
 * Ishia Bennison as Guizin Osman (1 episode)
 * Johnny Clayton as Reg Cox (1 episode)
 * Sally Faulkner as Ingrid (1 episode)
 * Jon Glentoran as Alan Grout (1 episode)
 * Brian Hoskin as Mr Chumley (1 episode)
 * Mine Keylan as Ayse Osman (1 episode)
 * Peter Laxton as Gary aka "Chas" (1 episode)
 * Isabelle Lucas as Jean Hancock (1 episode)
 * Harry Miller as DI Marsh (1 episode)
 * Jeffery Robert as the ambulance driver (1 episode)
 * Anthony Short as John (1 episode)
 * Vanessa Short as Melanie (1 episode)
 * June Watson as Mary's health visitor (1 episode)
 * Ulric Browne as Winston
 * Michael Leader as Michael
 * Martha Ross as Martha
 * Jane Slaughter as Tracey
 * Ron Tarr as Big Ron
 * Doreen Taylor as Maude
 * Jeannie Taylor as Lil

List of episodes
During 1985, EastEnders aired two half-hour episodes every week in a time slot of 7:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday, until September when they were moved to 7:30pm, while two episodes in December were moved to different times due to changes in the schedule over the Christmas period. The episodes were broadcast on BBC1. A weekly omnibus edition was also broadcast on Sundays. Every episode was produced by the show's creator Julia Smith since the first episode. The episodes were repeated on Drama from August to October 2018.

All official ratings are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), which were published in The Listener and The Stage, and are combined with each respective week's omnibus edition. Airdates and credits are taken from BBC Genome and the book EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration.


 * February (4 episodes)
 * March (8 episodes)
 * April (9 episodes)
 * May (9 episodes)
 * June (8 episodes)
 * July (9 episodes)
 * August (9 episodes)
 * September (8 episodes)
 * October (10 episodes)
 * November (8 episodes)
 * December (9 episodes)

February
The first storyline of EastEnders is a murder mystery, involving the death of Reg Cox (Johnnie Clayton), after he is discovered unconscious in his flat by Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih) and Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), having not been seen for three days. This started the soap's first whodunit storyline and the police investigation allowed viewers to learn about the lives of the other characters. Other early storylines include Pauline Fowler's (Wendy Richard) later-in-life pregnancy and being given an ultimatum by her mother, Lou Beale (Anna Wing), Pauline's husband, Arthur, being offered a temporary job working as a builder for Tony Carpenter (Oscar James), Ali and Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff) starting the Golden Circle money chain letter scheme and Den making a number of calls to his mistress, Jan Hammond (Jane How).

March
March's storylines include Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) competing to date Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford), DS Terry Rich (Gary Whelan) questioning Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) about a Luftwaffe badge that Mark Fowler (David Scarboro) gave him, Mary Smith (Linda Davidson) and her daughter Annie Smith moving into Reg Cox's (Johnnie Clayton) old flat, Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin) stopping Nick Cotton (John Altman) from trying to persuade Mary into becoming a prostitute, and the First Til Last shop being broken into and racist slogans being spray painted onto the shop walls and shutters.

April
In April, Naima Jeffery (Shreela Ghosh) confides in Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) that she and her husband Saeed Jeffery (Andrew Johnson) do not have a physical relationship, Pete Beale (Peter Dean) makes fun of his son Ian Beale's (Adam Woodyatt) ambitions of becoming a chef, Ian tells of Nick Cotton (John Altman) and Mark Fowler's (David Scarboro) involvement in the vandalism of the First Til Last food store, Lou Beale (Anna Wing) and her granddaughter Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) go on holiday to Clacton, Albert Square is under threat of being redeveloped and Debbie Wilkins (Shirley Cheriton) starts a Save our Square campaign, and when Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) learns that her husband Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) is only in Spain to be with another woman, she decides to seduce Tony Carpenter (Oscar James) to spite Den.

June
One of the more prominent storylines of June 1985 is the cot death of Hassan Osman, infant son of Sue Osman and Ali Osman. The storyline was introduced because the producers felt it was impossible for the studios to cope with four babies in the show (Annie Smith and the yet-to-arrive Martin Fowler and Vicki Fowler being the other three). During this time in the 1980s, the issue of cot death was prominent in the British press, partly due to an increase in casualties, but also because a doctor had gone public with the accusation that parents were to blame for the tragic occurrence. Holland and Smith decided that covering this issue in the soap would be a good way of "setting the record straight", and so it was decided that Sue and Ali's baby would die from cot death in the early months of the show. This was the first of many controversial storylines in EastEnders' history. After the storyline aired in June 1985, the show was praised by audience and press alike for the sensitive and unsensational way the subject was treated. The sudden tragedy came as a surprise to the audience, especially since the bereaved parents were a couple whose feuding, fighting ways had made them appear rather comic in the early episodes of the show. The British Cot Death Foundation initially feared that a soap opera would trivialise the subject and frighten new parents. They tried to stop the episodes from airing, but in the end they were pleased with the way the subject was handled, and provided back-up support after transmission to many viewers who wanted more information on the subject.