User:AnemoneProjectors/List of EastEnders episodes (2020)

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 35th broadcast year on 1 January 2020 with episode number 6053/6054. Jon Sen continued his role as executive producer, working alongside Kate Oates as senior executive producer. In the typical week, EastEnders airs four episodes of roughly 30 minutes in a time slot of 8:00pm on Mondays and Fridays, and 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, filming was suspended in March 2020 because of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and two episodes were shown a week on Mondays and Tuesdays until 16 June 2020, when the last episode produced before the national lockdown was shown. Filming later resumed and the show returned to screens on 7 September 2020, with four episodes of around 20–25 minutes being shown each week, in slightly varying time slots to the usual ones. A total of 138 episodes were broadcast, with the final episode of the year, number 6193, being shown on 31 December 2020.

The year included a number of special episodes, such as the first episode of the year, which contained a flashback to Christmas Day 2019. The show celebrated its 35th anniversary in February 2020 with a week of episodes set over one 24-hour period.New regular cast members introduced in 2020 included Balvinder Sopal (Suki Panesar) and Stevie Basaula (Isaac Baptiste). Guest stints for former cast members included Danny Hatchard as Lee Carter. Characters that returned in 2020 with new actors included Peter Beale, now played by Dayle Hudson. Departing regular cast included Danny Walters (Keanu Taylor), Tilly Keeper (Louise Mitchell), Lucy Benjamin (Lisa Fowler), Tom Wells (Leo King) and Jasmine Armfield (Bex Fowler).

Cast and characters
On 1 November 2019, it was announced that Danny Walters would be leaving his role of Keanu Taylor and the character made his final appearance in episode 6056 (3 January 2020). Former cast member Danny Hatchard concluded his guest stint as Lee Carter in January 2020, also departing in episode 6056, having reprised the role during the previous month. Emma Barton took a break from her role as Honey Mitchell, with the character departing in episode 6064 (17 January 2020); this was to facilitate Barton's appearance on the Strictly Come Dancing tour. On 20 February 2020, it was reported that the character Dot Branning's (June Brown) appearance in episode 6066 (21 January 2020) was her last and that Brown had announced that she would "never go back" when she told the Distinct Nostalgia podcast, "I've left for good. I've sent her off to Ireland where she'll stay." A BBC statement said that Brown could come back "if the story arises and if [she] wishes to take part". It was also reported that there were no plans, to the production team's knowledge, for Brown to leave the role permanently. The departure of character Louise Mitchell, played by Tilly Keeper, was confirmed on 3 December 2019, after appearing in the series since 2016. Additionally, Louise's mother, Lisa Fowler, played by Lucy Benjamin, returned in 2019 and was reported to be back for a stint, meaning she would also depart in 2020. Louise, Lisa and Louise's infant daughter, Peggy Taylor, all depart in episode 6068 (24 January 2020). The character of Leo King, played by Tom Wells since 2019, was killed off in episode 6080 (14 February 2020). On 28 January 2020, it was reported that Jasmine Armfield had filmed her final scenes as Bex Fowler and would depart during the following month, having appeared since 2014.

The first episode of the year features the introduction of Isaac Baptiste (Stevie Basaula), the son of Sheree Trueman (Suzette Llewellyn). Basaula's casting had not been publicised prior to his debut. The first new regular character to be officially announced for 2020 was Suki Panesar, played by Balvinder Sopal. Suki is the mother of Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol), Jags Panesar (Amar Adatia), Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) and Ash Kaur (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) and her introduction was announced on 22 December 2019. The return of character Peter Beale was announced on 18 December 2019, with the part being recast to Dayle Hudson, the seventh actor to play the role, taking over from Ben Hardy.

The following is a full list of the EastEnders 2020 cast.

Regular cast

 * Zaraah Abrahams as Chelsea Fox
 * Amar Adatia as Jags Panesar
 * Jasmine Armfield as Bex Fowler
 * Rose Ayling-Ellis as Frankie Lewis
 * Emma Barton as Honey Mitchell
 * Stevie Basaula as Isaac Baptiste
 * Lucy Benjamin as Lisa Fowler
 * Jamie Borthwick as Jay Brown
 * Max Bowden as Ben Mitchell
 * Luisa Bradshaw-White as Tina Carter
 * Kellie Bright as Linda Carter
 * June Brown as Dot Branning
 * James Bye as Martin Fowler
 * Natalie Cassidy as Sonia Fowler
 * Ricky Champ as Stuart Highway
 * Tony Clay as Callum "Halfway" Highway
 * Priya Davdra as Iqra Ahmed
 * Letitia Dean as Sharon Mitchell
 * Jaz Deol as Kheerat Panesar
 * Danny Dyer as Mick Carter
 * Adrian Edmondson as Daniel Cook
 * Tameka Empson as Kim Fox
 * Perry Fenwick as Billy Mitchell
 * Tanya Franks as Rainie Branning
 * Davood Ghadami as Kush Kazemi
 * Don Gilet as Lucas Johnson
 * Roger Griffiths as Mitch Baker
 * Danielle Harold as Lola Pearce
 * Linda Henry as Shirley Carter
 * Dayle Hudson as Peter Beale
 * Shiv Jalota as Vinny Panesar
 * Gurlaine Kaur Garcha as Ash Kaur
 * Tilly Keeper as Louise Mitchell
 * Simone Lahbib as Katy Lewis
 * Suzette Llewellyn as Sheree Trueman
 * Louisa Lytton as Ruby Allen
 * Scott Maslen as Jack Branning
 * Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell
 * Shona McGarty as Whitney Dean
 * Clay Milner Russell as Bobby Beale
 * Zack Morris as Keegan Butcher-Baker
 * Laila Morse as Mo Harris
 * Rukku Nahar as Habiba Ahmed
 * Clair Norris as Bernadette Taylor
 * Diane Parish as Denise Fox
 * Jessica Plummer as Chantelle Atkins
 * Maisie Smith as Tiffany Butcher-Baker
 * Toby-Alexander Smith as Gray Atkins
 * Balvinder Sopal as Suki Panesar
 * Lorraine Stanley as Karen Taylor
 * Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Beale
 * Lacey Turner as Stacey Fowler
 * Rudolph Walker as Patrick Trueman
 * Jessie Wallace as Kat Moon
 * Danny Walters as Keanu Taylor
 * Tom Wells as Leo King
 * Jake Wood as Max Branning
 * Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale
 * Gillian Wright as Jean Slater
 * Milly Zero as Dotty Cotton

Recurring cast

 * Fiona Allen as Michaela Turnbull
 * Hunter Bell as Arthur Fowler
 * Ruhtxjiaïh Bèllènéa as Mila Marwa
 * Cody Briffett as Ernie Moon
 * Elliot Briffett as Bert Moon
 * Isabella Brown as Lexi Pearce
 * Ray Emmet Brown as Pastor Cassius Lawrence
 * Ulric Browne as Winston
 * Ian Burfield as DCI Peter Arthurs
 * Abbie Burke as Amy Mitchell
 * Ben Champniss as Shrimpy
 * Shay Crotty as Tommy Moon
 * Frankie Day as Ricky Mitchell
 * Alexandra D'Sa as PC Khan
 * Harry Farr as Ollie Carter
 * Kara-Leah Fernandes as Bailey Baker
 * Grace as Janet Mitchell
 * Arayah Harris-Buckle as Pearl Fox
 * Hot Lips as Lady Di (dog)
 * Alfie Jacobs as Chatham Taylor
 * Tom Jacobs as Riley Taylor
 * Bleu Landau as Dennis Rickman
 * Isaac Lemonius as Mackenzie Atkins
 * Maria Louis as Shelley
 * Mahalia Malcolm as Mia Atkins
 * Mica Paris as Ellie Nixon
 * Freddie Phillips as Will Mitchell
 * Crystal Rasmussen as Dee Forestation
 * Jane Slaughter as Tracey
 * Laura Stevely as Miss Gardner
 * Liz Sweet as Marie Evans
 * Lillia Turner as Lily Slater
 * Paul Usher as Danny Hardcastle
 * Sian Webber as Ritchie Scott
 * Nick Wilton as Mr Lister
 * Philip Wright as DI Steve Thompson
 * Unknown as Abi Branning
 * Unknown as Dave (cat)
 * Unknown as Raymond Dawkins
 * Unknown as Hope Fowler
 * Unknown as Mica Fox
 * Unknown as Cherry Slater
 * Unknown as Peggy Taylor
 * Unknown as Albie Watts

Guest cast

 * Edward Aczel as Duncan
 * Alexandra Afryea as court clerk
 * Dee Ahluwalia as Hari
 * Suzanne Ahmet as Sophie Rundell
 * Francesca Anderson as police officer
 * Andrew Ashford as DI Treharne
 * Jack Bennett as George Watson
 * Barry Calvert as Jake
 * Charlie Carter as Captain Matthew Cox
 * Emma Carter as Trading Standards officer
 * Jim Conway as Officer Daniels
 * Kate Cook as Judge Barbara Tyler
 * David Corbett as Mr Hobbs
 * Hannah Daniel as DCI Morgan
 * Logan Dean as DI Declan Briggs
 * Scott Ellis as PC Waters
 * Hannah Emanuel as fertility consultant
 * Phoebe Farnham as Young Whitney
 * Sarah Finigan as Loretta Perkins
 * George Fletcher as "Ham Man"
 * Karlina Grace-Paseda as Judge Adams
 * Emma Handy as Dr Towne
 * Jeffrey Harmer as Joe
 * Danny Hatchard as Lee Carter
 * Paul Herzberg as Pattison QC
 * Simon Hibbs as hospital security guard
 * Leo Ihenacho as PC Stevens
 * Alim Jayda as Jeremy
 * Carly Jones as chaplain
 * Tom Joyner as David
 * Sureni Kay as PC Sandhu
 * Ezra Faroque Khan as Dr Laghari
 * Gemma Knight-Jones as Sharmaine Campbell
 * Emma Laird Craig as paramedic
 * Ben Lewis as Iain
 * Holly Maguire as young Katy Lewis
 * Ally Manson as police officer
 * Magdalene Mills as A&E receptionist
 * Daniel Moore as PC Darryl Whisson
 * Miranda Nolan as DC Jill Harvey
 * Guy Oliver-Watts as Mark Osbourne QC
 * Sarah Paul as Laura Awoyinka
 * Bryonie Pritchard as nurse
 * Farah Sardar as Dr Hefni
 * Joseph Siddle as stranger
 * Paul Sloss as Simon
 * Dan Starkey as Douglas
 * Richard Thomson as Paul Skeggs
 * George Verghis as Doctor Ellis
 * Yvonne Wickham as jury foreperson
 * Ben Woodhall as customer
 * Zain Zaman as pizza delivery guy

List of episodes
In the typical week, EastEnders airs four episodes of roughly 30 minutes in a time slot of 8:00pm on Mondays and Fridays, and 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though episodes are sometimes moved or extra episodes added for different reasons. Kate Oates continued her role as senior executive producer from 2018, and Jon Sen continued his role as executive producer, also from 2018, producing the episodes. On 18 March 2020, it was announced that filming for EastEnders would be suspended "In light of the spread of COVID-19" and that the number of episodes being broadcast would be reduced to two a week "so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible." The episodes would be shown on Mondays and Tuesdays in the usual time slot. The BBC announced on 14 May 2020 that filming would resume in June with social distancing and actors doing their own hair and make-up. It was also reported that there could be a gap in broadcasting when when existing episodes run out.

All official ratings cover a period of 28 days from the original broadcast, and are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB). Airdates, credits, running times and episode summaries are taken from episodes, the official EastEnders website and BBC programmes schedules. Episode numbers are taken from Radio Times.


 * January (19 episodes)
 * February (16 episodes)
 * March (13 episodes)
 * April (8 episodes)
 * May (8 episodes)
 * June (6 episodes)
 * September (14 episodes)
 * October (18 episodes)
 * November (17 episodes)
 * December (19 episodes)

January
On 25 December 2019, it was announced that a flashback episode exploring the events of episode 6047/6048, set on Christmas Day 2019, would air on 1 January 2020. Sen billed the episode as a "format-busting sixty minute episode taking us back to the beginning of Christmas Day to see the stories from different perspectives". Oates believed there would need to be a good reason to deviate from the house style, which she thought there was in this event. She also praised the cast, writers and directors for their work in creating a "clever and exciting" episode.

February
EastEnders celebrated its 35th anniversary on 19 February 2020. It was reported on 14 January that during the anniversary week (17–23 February), one character would be killed off during a boat party on the River Thames. The episodes from that week are set over a 24-hour period with each episode showing the day's events from a different perspective. The week also includes the birth of Sharon Mitchell's (Letitia Dean) baby, fathered by Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), and the return of Ian Beale's (Adam Woodyatt) son, Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson). Executive producer Jon Sen said of the week of episodes: "For the 35th anniversary we wanted to entertain the EastEnders audience on the iconic river which has heralded the start of the show for 35 years. This unmissable week of episodes is destined to be exciting, gripping and heart-breaking – it will be a week that will go down in EastEnders history."

Additionally in February, Leo King (Tom Wells) departed the series in February after being stabbed by Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) in an act of self-defence.

September
EastEnders returned to screens on 7 September 2020 following the suspension of filming earlier in the year. New filming techniques were introduced to keep actors socially distanced, such as CGI via the use of plate shots, with actors filming scenes in isolation and being digitally brought together in the editing process. Perspex screens were also used to bring actors closer together and also to allow them to kiss, although in some cases, an actor's real-life partner was used for a kissing scene. It was reported on 12 June 2020 that new episodes would be around 20 minutes in length, instead of around 30 minutes. A mural was added to the set, depicting a black woman and measuring 5x2 m. It was painted by visual artist Dreph (real name Neequaye Dsane), who said it was "a really exciting opportunity" to have his work become a fixture on the show. Sen said it was a "timely addition... that reflects events taking place in the real world".

It was reported that the show would cover "timely and relevant" storylines as the characters emerge from lockdown, with the COVID-19 pandemic being part of the storylines and the fictional businesses being affected as real businesses were. Storylines in September 2020 included the effect of the lockdown on those in abusive relationships with the characters Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith) and his wife, Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer), which was reported to involve a "tragic" ending. It was revealed that the characters Martin Fowler (James Bye) and Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) have entered a relationship and started living together. Former Queen Vic pub landlady Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) is now working in the launderette and her husband, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), is out of work. Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) have been living in and running the Vic with Sharon's infant son, who has been renamed from Kayden to Albie. Ian's son, Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell), has developed "issues with constant and extreme hand-washing routines" after becoming "increasingly nervous" about contracting COVID-19. Callum "Halfway" Highway (Tony Clay) has been fast-tracked into the police force and has been separated from his boyfriend, Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), during lockdown. Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) developed COVID-19 and was in intensive care but recovered and is now staying with his son, Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey). Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) has started divorce proceedings against Sharon. Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar) and Jags Panesar (Amar Adatia) are now in a relationship but she is insisting on keeping it a secret. It was also revealed that Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) returned Cherry Slater to her mother, Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis), and returned to Walford before lockdown started, and therefore the character of Cherry had left the show. A new character, Ellie Nixon, played by Mica Paris, was introduced in September, as a "formidable" character said to be among the "most villainous" of EastEnders characters.