User:AnemoneProjectors/List of EastEnders episodes (1998)

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 airs on BBC One and entered its 14th broadcasted year on 1 January 1998 with its 1554th episode, with Jane Harris continuing her role as executive producer until Matthew Robinson took over. EastEnders aired 161 episodes in 1998, with the the typical week comprising three half-hour episodes on BBC One, in a time slot of 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 8.00pm on Mondays.

Cast and characters
In 1997, Diane Parish was cast in the role of Lola Christie, a love interest for Mick McFarlane (Sylvester Williams); the character debuted on 22 January. Six months later, Parish opted to leave the serial after receiving another job. January 1998 saw the introduction of a new Italian family, the di Marcos, who were billed to "rival" the Mitchell family. The family of eight consists of grandparents Bruno di Marco (Leon Lissek) and Luisa di Marco (Stella Tanner), their daughter-in-law Rosa di Marco (Louise Jameson), her children Beppe di Marco (Michael Greco), Gianni di Marco (Marc Bannerman), Teresa di Marco (Leila Birch) and Nicky di Marco (Carly Hillman), and Beppe's young son Joe di Marco (Jake Kyprianou). Louise Raymond, the estranged wife of Terry Raymond (Gavin Richards) and mother of Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon) and Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford), was introduced in May 1998. Carol Harrison was cast in the role. Following the axing of several ethnic minority characters, producers decided to create new characters to replace them. The Jamacian relatives of Mick and a new "heart-throb" Asian doctor were announced. Josie McFarlane (Joan Hooley), the mother of Mick, and Kim McFarlane (Krystle Williams), the foster daughter of Josie, were introduced in August 1998. Three new characters were announced in July 1998: Melanie Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite), Fred Fonseca (Jimi Mistry) and Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder). Robinson promised that the characters have "subtle qualities to spice up Walford" and would feature in "strong" plots. Melanie is the relative of an existing character and is described as "a real man-eater". Fred is the Square's new resident general practitioner (GP) and billed as "a womanising bachelor with a silky bedside manner". Jamie is the "tearaway" cousin of Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) who becomes "a real handful" for the Mitchell family. Barbara Keogh was cast as pensioner Lilly Mattock in 1998, making her first appearance on 5 November. The character creates a "comedy double act" with her flatmate Dot Cotton (June Brown). Lucy Benjamin was cast as Lisa Shaw, a "home-wrecking blonde". In September 1998, it was announced that Martin Kemp would join the cast as "smooth operator" Steve Owen in late December. Kemp dubbed the character "a sensitive guy and very intelligent", and a show spokesperson commented, "Steve's going to give Grant Mitchell a run for his money, but with his head, not his fists." Robinson revealed that Kemp was selected from 20 actors and chosen because he is "a very subtle actor". Saskia Duncan (Deborah Sheridan-Taylor), Steve's obsessive former girlfriend, was also introduced in December.

After a stint on the soap in 1997, Janet Dibley reprised her role as Lorna Cartwright in February 1998. Dibley was offered a year-long contract extension in March, but declined it as she disagreed with the planned storylines for Lorna. Despite further offers from producers, including a pay rise, she quit the soap and Lorna departed in April. Original character Nick Cotton (John Altman) made another return in March for a one-month guest stint. After taking maternity leave in 1997, Shobu Kapoor reprised her role as Gita Kapoor in July 1998.

Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) became the first character to depart in 1998 at the conclusion of Reid's guest stint. Reid later opted to reprise the role permanently and the character returned in May 1998. Michelle Collins and Gillian Taylforth, who portray Cindy Beale and Kathy Beale respectively, chose to leave the series in 1998; their departures aired in April 1998. Paul Bradley decided to leave the serial at fear of being typecast as a nerd after portraying Nigel Bates since 1992. Victoria Gould, who portrays Polly Becker, quit her role in 1998; the character departed in September 1998. Several cast members were written out of the serial in 1998 following Robinson's appointment, including Elizabeth Kelly (Nellie Ellis), Clare Grogan (Ros Thorne), Matthew Silver (Ben Mitchell), Karen Henthorn (Julie Haye), Jon Lee (Josh Saunders), Gemma Bissix (Clare Bates), Jamila Massey (Neelam Kapoor), Deepak Verma (Sanjay Kapoor), Kapoor (Gita Kapoor), Lissek and Tanner (Bruno and Lisa di Marco), and Paul Moriarty (George Palmer).

The following is a full list of the EastEnders 1998 cast.

Regular cast

 * Joe Absolom as Matthew Rose
 * Marc Bannerman as Gianni di Marco
 * Lucy Benjamin as Lisa Shaw
 * Leila Birch as Teresa di Marco
 * Paul Bradley as Nigel Bates
 * June Brown as Dot Cotton
 * Todd Carty as Mark Fowler
 * Tony Caunter as Roy Evans
 * Melanie Clark Pullen as Mary Flaherty
 * Desune Coleman as Lenny Wallace
 * Michelle Collins as Cindy Beale
 * Daniella Denby-Ashe as Sarah Hills
 * Janet Dibley as Lorna Cartwright
 * Richard Driscoll as Alex Healy
 * Richard Elis as Huw Edwards
 * Perry Fenwick as Billy Mitchell
 * Russell Floyd as Michael Rose
 * Dean Gaffney as Robbie Jackson
 * Victoria Gould as Polly Becker
 * Seán Gleeson as Conor Flaherty
 * Michael Greco as Beppe di Marco
 * Clare Grogan as Ros Thorne
 * Carol Harrison as Louise Raymond
 * Karen Henthorn as Julie Haye
 * Mark Homer as Tony Hills
 * Joan Hooley as Josie McFarlane
 * Louise Jameson as Rosa di Marco
 * Shobu Kapoor as Gita Kapoor
 * Ross Kemp as Grant Mitchell
 * Barbara Keogh as Lilly Mattock
 * Jon Lee as Josh Saunders
 * Leon Lissek as Bruno di Marco
 * Andrew Lynford as Simon Raymond
 * Martin Kemp as Steve Owen
 * Jamila Massey as Neelam Kapoor
 * Martine McCutcheon as Tiffany Mitchell
 * Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell
 * Jimi Mistry as Fred Fonseca
 * Paul Moriarty as George Palmer
 * Tamzin Outhwaite as Melanie Healy
 * Sid Owen as Ricky Butcher
 * Patsy Palmer as Bianca Butcher
 * Diane Parish as Lola Christie
 * Caroline Paterson as Ruth Fowler
 * Mike Reid as Frank Butcher
 * Wendy Richard as Pauline Fowler
 * Gavin Richards as Terry Raymond
 * Jack Ryder as Jamie Mitchell
 * Nadia Sawalha as Annie Palmer
 * Leslie Schofield as Jeff Healy
 * Deborah Sheridan-Taylor as Saskia Duncan
 * Pam St. Clement as Pat Evans
 * Stella Tanner as Luisa di Marco
 * Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Mitchell
 * Dominic Taylor as Nick Holland
 * Roberta Taylor as Irene Hills
 * Deepak Verma as Sanjay Kapoor
 * Tilly Vosburgh as Susan Rose
 * Sylvester Williams as Mick McFarlane
 * Shaun Williamson as Barry Evans
 * Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell
 * Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale

Recurring and guest cast

 * James Alexandrou as Martin Fowler
 * John Altman as Nick Cotton
 * Priya Bilkhu as Sharmilla Kapoor
 * Gemma Bissix as Clare Bates
 * Sonny Bottomley as Liam Butcher
 * Natalie Cassidy as Sonia Jackson
 * Stephen Churchett as Marcus Christie
 * Nicola Cowper as Gina Williams
 * Karin Diamond as Hayley Edwards
 * Carly Hillman as Nicky di Marco
 * Elizabeth Kelly as Nellie Ellis
 * Jake Kyprianou as Joe di Marco
 * Lawrence Lambert as Eliot Saunders
 * Campbell Morrison as Charlie Mason
 * Carissa and Josephine O'Meara as Courtney Mitchell
 * Chelsey Paden as Jessie Moore
 * Casey Anne Rothery as Lucy Beale
 * Edward Savage as Steven Beale
 * Matthew Silver as Ben Mitchell
 * Alex Stevens & Joseph Shade as Peter Beale
 * Simon Thomsen as Richard Crowe
 * Krystle Williams as Kim McFarlane
 * Ella Wortley as Cindy Williams

List of episodes
During 1998, EastEnders typically aired three half-hour episodes in a time slot of 8.00pm on Mondays, 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The episodes were broadcast on BBC One. A weekly omnibus edition was also broadcast on Sundays. Jane Harris continued her role as executive producer until Matthew Robinson took over.

From 1 January to 26 June, official ratings are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), which were published in Broadcast, and the figures are not combined with each week's respective omnibus edition. From 29 June 1998, official ratings are taken from the BARB website, and are all combined with the ombibus. Airdates and credits are taken from BBC Genome.


 * January (15 episodes)
 * February (12 episodes)
 * March (14 episodes)
 * April (14 episodes)
 * May (12 episodes)
 * June (12 episodes)
 * July (13 episodes)
 * August (13 episodes)
 * September (14 episodes)
 * October (13 episodes)
 * November (13 episodes)
 * December (16 episodes)
 * Supplemental episodes (3 episodes)