World Series

†Denotes wild-card team (since 1995).. She quotes endlessly from the Bible and it ridicules [religion] to some extent.". Prior to 1924, the pattern generally had been to alternate, or to make other arrangements convenient to both clubs. Dr Indarjit Singh, the editor of the Sikh Messenger and patron of the World Congress of Faiths, said: "EastEnders' Dot Cotton is an example. In 1925, Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets convinced owners to adopt the current 2-3-2 system of scheduling World Series games (one team would host the first two games, the other team would host the next three, and the first team would host the last two if necessary; the leagues alternated which representative would host the first games), already used in the 1924 Series, as a permanent rule. The BBC was criticised of anti-religious bias by a committee in the House of Lords, examples of this suggestion included EastEnders. The list of post-season rules evolved over time. In 2003, Shaun Williamson who played Barry Evans, said that the programme had become much grittier over the past 10 to 15 years, and found it "frightening" that parents let their young children watch.

Most importantly, the now-official (and compulsory) World's Series match was to be operated strictly by the National Commission itself, not on the whims of individual teams. Erin Pizzey, who became internationally famous for having started one of the first Women's Refuges, said that EastEnders had done more to raise the issue of violence against women in one story than she had done in twenty-five years. Receipts for later games were split among the two teams and the National Commission, the governing body for the sport, which was able to cover much of its annual operating expenses from World Series revenue. However, a helpline after this episode attracted over 2000 calls. This was to discourage teams from throwing early games in order to prolong the series and make more money. Complaints against a scene in which Little Mo's face was shoved in gravy on Christmas day, were upheld by the Broadcasting Standards Council. One rule was that player shares would come from gate receipts from the first four games only. As EastEnders is shown pre-watershed, there were worries that scenes of this storyline were too graphic for its audience.

During the winter of 1904/05, however, feeling the sting of press criticism, Brush saw the light and proposed what came to be known as the "Brush Rules", under which the series would be played over subsequent years. EastEnders is often criticised for being too violent, most notably during a domestic violence storyline between Little Mo and husband Trevor. Brush also cited the lack of rules under which the games would be played and how the money would be split. In 2002 EastEnders also won an award from the Mental Health Media Awards held at BAFTA for this storyline. Boston won on the last day of the season, but Brush stuck to his original decision. The chief executive of the NSPCC praised the storyline, for covering the subject in a direct and sensitive way, coming to the conclusion that people were more likely to report any issues relating to child protection because of it. At the time of the announcement, their new cross-town rivals, the Highlanders, were leading the AL. The child abuse storyline with Kat and her uncle Harry, saw calls to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) go up by 60%.

Brush, refused to allow his team to play, citing the "inferiority" of the upstart American League. Though, one campaigner noted that in some ways the storyline was not reflective of what was happening at the time as the condition was more common among the gay community. The Giants' owner, John T. The long-running storyline of Mark Fowler's HIV was so successful in raising awareness that in 1999 a survey by the National Aids Trust found teenagers got most of their information about HIV from the soap. The 1904 Series would have been between the AL's Boston Americans and the NL's New York Giants. The stars of Coronation Street in particular aligned themselves with Mary Whitehouse, gaining headlines such as 'STREETS AHEAD! RIVALS LASH SEEDY EASTENDERS' and 'CLEAN UP SOAP! Street Star Bill Lashes 'Steamy' EastEnders'. It had been arranged well in advance by the owners of the respective teams, as both were league leaders by large margins. Her criticisms were widely reported in the tabloid press as ammunition in its existing rivalry with the BBC.

One of these series at the end of 1903 was a meeting between the two pennant winners and is known as the 1903 World Series. She also felt that EastEnders had been cleaned up as a result of her protests, though she later commented that EastEnders had returned to its old ways. These series were arranged by the individual teams, not by the leagues directly, the same as the 1880s World's Series matches had been. However Whitehouse also praised the programme, describing Michelle Fowler's decision not to have an abortion as a 'very positive storyline'. After two years of bitter competition and player raiding, the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, several pairs of teams squared off for interleague exhibition games after the 1903 regular season. She was also critical of language such as 'bleeding', 'bloody hell', 'bastard' and 'For Christ's sake'. National League - American League. She made reference to representation of family life and emphasis on psychological and emotional violence within the show.

National League. She regarded EastEnders as a fundamental assault on the family and morality itself. American Association. Mary Whitehouse argued at the time that EastEnders represented a violation of 'family viewing time' and that it undermined the watershed policy. National League vs. EastEnders has received both praise and criticism for most of its storylines which have dealt with difficult themes, such as violence, rape and murder. National League. It is also shown on the British Forces Broadcasting Service's main TV channel, BFBS1, to members of HM Forces stationed around the world.

National Association of Professional Baseball Players. In Ireland, it is shown on RTÉ One at the same time as BBC One, which is also widely received in the country. National Association of Baseball Players (Amateur -> Professional). In New Zealand, it was shown by TVNZ on TV One, but is now on Prime. The following are teams that played an earlier version of the "World's Championship Series" or otherwise claimed the national championship "Pennant". Currently the series is seen in Australia only on pay-TV channel UK.TV. World Series Cricket was a short-lived but influential cricket competition. The series was screened in Australia by the ABC from 1987 until the early 1990s.

The term World Series has since been appropriated by other championships, such as the College World Series, the Little League World Series, the World Series of Golf, the World Series of Poker, the World Series of Birding and the World Series of Martial Arts. The American PBS channel, KOCE-TV ran the show one episode per week from 1990 to 1993. Commissioner Bud Selig, among others, has high hopes that this tournament could be as big as soccer's World Cup. Episodes from prior years are still shown on various PBS stations in the US. Many of the major baseball playing nations have committed to participating (the United States, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, etc.). At that point, Dish stopped its double-helping schedule, and now maintains the schedule of airing the new programmes consistently one month behind the UK schedule. Teams will be split into four groups of four and play a round robin schedule, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the next round. In approximately February, 2005, the programming reached the point of being one month behind the new shows being aired in the UK.

The tournament will be held in sites around North America, Central America, and Asia. Dish first broadcast two weeks' worth of shows each week to get caught up. Many major leaguers have expressed interest in playing in such a competition, including Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles (Dominican Republic), Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins (United States), Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers (Panama), and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves (from the Dutch island of Curaçao). In June, 2004, the Dish Satellite Network picked up EastEnders, airing episodes starting at the point where BBC America had ceased broadcasting them, offering the serial as a Pay-per-View item. In light of the International Olympic Committee recently voting baseball out of the Summer Games as a medal sport, this competition hopes to prove to the IOC that baseball is truly an international game. It is still shown on BBC Prime in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and on BBC Canada in Canada. It will be the first international baseball competition to feature Major League players. The series aired in the United States until BBC America ceased broadcasts of the serial in 2003, amidst fan protests.

Recently, Major League Baseball officially revealed its plans for the World Baseball Classic, to be held in March 2006. EastEnders is aired around the world in many English-speaking countries, including New Zealand and Canada. According to the IBAF chairman, such a move would do more for popularizing baseball around the world than any amount of money spent by the MLB for its current worldwide marketing. The current series has now finished. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has lobbied MLB to suspend play during the Summer Olympics, so that MLB players could compete for their respective national teams, and has agreed to shorten the Olympic tournament if MLB agrees to freeing its players. The series goes behind the scenes of the show and talks to some of the cast members. At the 2004 Summer Olympics the United States was not represented at all, since its team of minor league players did not survive the qualifying rounds. The show is presented by Angelica Bell and available to digital viewers at 8.30 PM on Monday nights.

The United States sends a team of minor league players to the Summer Olympics, as it takes place during the regular Major League season. As part of the BBC's digital push, EastEnders Xtra was introduced in 2005. Baseball tournaments between international teams do occur, notably at the world championships and at the Olympic Games. They are showing 5 episodes which means that 5 week's worth of episodes are shown every 4 weeks, which results in a catch-up rate of around 3 months a year). In deference to any controversy, more and more the term "World Series Championship" is being used, the subtlety being that it is merely a title and not a political statement. EastEnders is usually repeated on BBC3 at 10:00 PM and old reruns can often be seen on UKTV Gold (As of February 2006, UKTV Gold are showing episodes originally aired in November 2002. Pappas' web page on the subject.). On Wednesday 28th December 2005, Eastenders aired for the first time on a Wednesday night as part of the New Year's Eve storyline leading up to Dennis' death.

(For details, see Mr. In March of the same year, as Peter Fincham became the BBC One controller, rumours were sparked that EastEnders could air in a new time slot. Furthermore, investigation of the New York World for the relevant years revealed no evidence of the supposed sponsorship. Newspaper reports indicated that the show faced being taken off air for a fortnight after a storyline shortage, however this was denied by the BBC. Baseball researcher Doug Pappas refutes that claim, demonstrating a linear progression from the phrase "World's Championship Series" (used to describe the 1903 series as well as some of the 19th-century postseason series) to "World's Series" (a term first used in the 1880s and which persisted for decades) to "World Series". In February 2005, there were reports that the EastEnders schedule was threatened due to production problems. A persistent myth is that the "World" in "World Series" came about because the New York World newspaper sponsored it. This was to coincide with the relaunch of the channel and helped BBC3 break the one million viewers for the first time with 1.03 million who watched to see Mark Fowler's departure.

Attempts to pit the North American champions against champions in the Japanese or Latin American leagues in a truly meaningful way have, so far, not succeeded. In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of EastEnders on digital channel BBC3 before they were broadcast on BBC One. Sometimes the Japanese have gained the upper hand in those series; but since they are only exhibitions, their results cannot be regarded as conclusive. An episode of EastEnders Revealed which was commissioned for BBC3 attracted 611,000 viewers. The World Series winners have occasionally played winter exhibition series against the best players of other leagues around the world, such as Japan. EastEnders Revealed is the only BBC Choice programme to last the entire life of the channel and is still running on BBC3. Moreover, virtually all of the best international players — from the Pacific Rim, Latin America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere — play on Major League rosters, with the notable exception of Cuban nationals. In 1998, EastEnders Revealed was launched on BBC Choice (now BBC3), the show takes a look behind the scenes of the show and investigates particular places, characters or families within EastEnders.

While some would contend that there is no reason to believe that the World Series winner is a significantly better team than any club team outside Major League Baseball, no challenges have been made by other leagues. In this first head-to-head battle, EastEnders claimed victory over its rival. At the time the term was first used, baseball at the major league level was only played in the United States. The move immediately provoked an angry response from ITV insiders, who argued that the BBC's last-minute move - only revealed at 3.30 PM on the day - broke an unwritten scheduling rule that the two flagship soaps would not be put directly against each other. The "World" appellation has stuck despite the fact that only teams in the two major leagues, which happen to cover only the United States and Canada, actually participate. This caused some controversy as it clashed with Coronation Street, which at the time was moved to 8.00 PM to make way for an hour long episode of rural soap Emmerdale at 7.00 PM. That rule has been in place from the beginning, to keep the games "honest". EastEnders then added its fourth episode (shown on Fridays) on August 10th 2001.

The shares for the actual participants are limited to the gate receipts of the minimum number of games necessary to play the series. EastEnders output then increased to thrice after Coronation Street added an extra episode - in response to competition from EastEnders. Prior to 1969, teams finishing in the first division, or top half of the leagues' standings, received such shares; today, only the teams finishing in second place in their division but not earning a wild card receive them, because there are more divisions with each having fewer teams. Realising the futility of the situation, Grade decided to move the show to the later 7:30PM slot, but to avoid tabloid speculation that it was a 'panic move' on the BBC's behalf, they had to "dress up the presentation of that move in such a way as to protect the show" giving "all kinds of reasons" for the move . A portion of the gate receipts from the World Series — and, from 1969 onward, the other rounds of postseason play preceding it — is used to fund a Players' Pool, from which descending shares are distributed to the World Series winner, the World Series loser, all the other teams qualifying for the playoffs which did not reach the World Series, and certain other teams which did not qualify for the playoffs, the criteria for the latter changing at various times. Originally EastEnders was shown twice weekly at 7.00PM, however it soon moved to 7.30PM as Michael Grade did not want the soap running in direct competition with Emmerdale Farm; the BBC had originally planned to take advantage of the 'summer break' that Emmerdale Farm usually took in order to capitalise on ratings, but ITV added extra episodes and repeats so that Emmerdale Farm was not taken off over the summer. The designated hitter was not used at all prior to the 1975 Series, although the DH rule had been adopted by the AL in 1973. EastEnders is currently aired at 7.30PM on Tuesday & Thursday and 8.00PM on Monday and Friday, the omnibus is aired on Sunday, though the exact time differs.

From 1975 through 1985, the designated hitter was used for all games in even-numbered years, and was not used in any games in odd-numbered years. For the past 20 years EastEnders has remained at the centre of BBC One's primetime schedule. In a National League ballpark, both team's pitchers must hit. EastEnders was perhaps at its least popular in the year 2004, its lowest ever audience share was 28% in early 2005. In an American League ballpark, both teams use a designated hitter to hit for the pitcher. Sonia's shock birth in 2000 was watched by 19.3 million viewers and in 2001, Mel's marriage to Steve Owen was watched by 22.5 million viewers. Since 1986, the designated hitter rule has been applied based on the rules normally in effect at the home ballpark. Despite a decade and a half of high ratings it was most popular in the early 2000s, attracting an average of 15 million for most episodes and peaks of upto 25 million for the climaxes of popular storylines.

Starting with the 2003 World Series, the league that wins the mid-season All-Star Game has been awarded home-field advantage. In comparison, the smallest amount for an EastEnders episode was around 6.2 million in 2004, higher than the lowest of its rivals Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Until 2003, the team given the home-field advantage was switched every year between the American League and the National League. This was its largest audience ever, the largest amount of viewers for a soap episode, the 4th largest audience for a British television channel ever and the highest television audience for a single channel of the 1980s. That has been the pattern since 1924, with the exception of World War II, when travel restrictions were in place. In 1986, just under two years since it had been on air, EastEnders attracted 30.15 million viewers, for the Christmas episode in which Den handed a divorce letter to wife Angie. The first two games of the series are played in the home ballpark of the team awarded home-field advantage; the next three are in the other team's ballpark, and the final two, if necessary, are back in the first team's ballpark. The launch show attracted 17 million viewers in the 1980s, this was perhaps helped by the amount of press attention it received, something which continues today.

. Ever since EastEnders began on the mainstream BBC One, it has achieved some of the highest audiences in British television history. The Chicago Cubs have gone the longest between titles, having last won the World Series in 1908. Aside from that, the 10pm repeat showing on BBC Three attracts an average of 500,000 viewers, whilst the Sunday omnibus attracts a further 3 million. Of those eight teams, only three have appeared in the Series: Milwaukee, San Diego, and Houston. An average EastEnders episode attracts a total audience share between 45% and 50%. Eight teams, all established since 1961, have never won a World Series title: the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Based on market research by BBC commissioning in 2003, EastEnders is most watched by 16 - 24 year olds, closely followed by 25 - 34 year olds.

The New York Yankees have the most World Series titles, with 26 championships through the 2005 season. But the battle between EastEnders and Emmerdale saw EastEnders come out on top with 200,000 more viewers on the 1st December 2005. The modern World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exceptions of 1904 and 1994. However, this indirectly helped increase the audience of digital channel BBC Three as 1 million (10% share) tuned in to see the second showing. Baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1850s. The episode of Emmerdale, which saw the departure of one of its more popular characters, attracted 8.3 million viewers leaving EastEnders with 6.6 million for the funeral of Den Watts. The Series winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff (except in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921 when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff) and is awarded the World Series Trophy, as well as World Series rings. Weeks after this, ITV again scheduled episodes of Emmerdale against EastEnders.

It is played between the pennant winner of the American League and the pennant winner of the National League. In autumn of 2005, EastEnders had seen its average audience share increase, with the unearthing of Den Watts' body and the marriage of Sharon and Dennis. The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, the culmination of the sport's postseason each October. John Yorke immediately stepped into her position until a few weeks later when Kate Harwood was announced as the new executive producer. Glory Fades Away: The Nineteenth Century World Series Rediscovered, Jerry Lansch, 1991. But through her short reign she led EastEnders to some of its most healthy viewing figures in months. Baseball Almanac: World Series. This was one of the reasons storylines such as the 'Real Walford' football team were suddenly ignored.

Sporting News: History of the World Series. She is also said to have torn up many of the scripts that were planned and demanded re-writes. World Series.com - official website. It is reported that the cast and crew did not get on well with Kathleen Hutchison as she had them filming up to 12am. Darold Knowles is the only pitcher to appear in every game of a seven-game World Series (1973). He also brought back long serving script writer Tony Jordan. Bobby Richardson is the only player from a losing team to win a Series MVP award (1960). John Yorke who led EastEnders through what Mal Young (the then head of BBC drama) said was one of its most successful periods in 2001, returned to the BBC as the head of drama, meaning his responsibilities included the running of EastEnders.

Reggie Jackson is the only other player to accomplish the feat (1977). But in January 2005, after just four months it was the end for Kathleen Hutchison. Babe Ruth twice hit three home runs in one Series game (1926 and 1928). It indicated a fresh start for EastEnders after declining ratings in 2004. The 1976 World Series was the first Series to use the designated hitter rule. Whilst she was there she set about reversing the previous executive producer's work. The 1971 World Series featured the first Series game scheduled under lights. Kathleen Hutchison went on to axe Den Watts, Andy Hunter, Juley Smith and Derek Harkinson.

The 1970 World Series featured the first Series game on artificial turf. And within a few weeks later the producers announced a major shake-up of the cast with the highly-criticised Ferreira family, first seen in June 2003, set to leave at the beginning of 2005. The 1949 World Series featured the first Series game finished under lights. Kathleen Hutchison who had been the producer of hospital drama Holby City, was announced as the new executive producer. The 1908 World Series holds the record for poorest attendance including the record-low 6,210 in the finale. However, EastEnders was at a disadvantage as Emmerdale had began half an hour earlier, and the press were reporting viewers were bored with implausible and ill thought out storylines. Amazingly, that has not happened since. Emmerdale was watched by 8.1 million people.

The 1906 World Series featured two franchises that had never appeared in the World Series. The following day the show received its lowest ever ratings (6.2 million) when ITV scheduled an hour long episode of its usually less-popular soap, Emmerdale against it. At 82-79 (.503), the 1973 New York Mets had the lowest winning percentage of any World Series team. On 21 September 2004 Louise Berridge, the then executive producer, quit following massive criticism of the show. From 1978 to 1987, no franchise won the World Series twice, the longest such streak. EastEnders won the battle with 8.4 million viewers (41% share) whilst Coronation Street lagged behind with 7.3 million viewers (36% share). From 1949 to 1966, every Series involved the Yankees, Dodgers and/or Giants. In 2001 however, the soaps clashed for the first time.

From 1949 to 1956, every Series game was won by a team from New York City. In order to maximise ratings the BBC and ITV are usually careful to avoid scheduling clashes between their flagship soaps. The 1921-1922 Giants and 1975-1976 Reds are the only National League teams to win two straight World Series. Its main rival for ratings is usually Coronation Street. The Oakland Athletics' three consecutive World Series victories from 1972 to 1974 are the most for any non-Yankees franchise. EastEnders is one of the more popular programmes on British television and regularly attracts between 9 and 13 million viewers, while the show's ratings have fallen since its initial surge in pouplarity, the programme continues to be largely lucrative for the BBC. The New York Giants' four consecutive World Series appearances from 1921 to 1924 are the most for any non-Yankees franchise. This remains the highest rated episode of a soap in British television history.

The New York Yankees have won two or more championships in seven different decades - 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. In the Christmas of 1986, it attracted a massive 30.15 million viewers who tuned in to see Den Watts hand over divorce papers to wife Angie. 2005 - Chicago White Sox broke their curse winning for the first time since 1917. Research suggested that people found the characters true to life, the plots believable and, importantly in the face of criticism of the content, people watched as a family and regarded it as viewing for all the family. 2004 - Boston Red Sox broke their curse winning for the first time since 1918. As mentioned, EastEnders proved highly popular and Appreciation Indexes reflected this, rising from 55–60 at the launch to 85–5 later on, a figure which was nearly ten points higher than the average for British soap opera. 1994 - World Series cancelled due to strike. A precursor in UK soaps also set in a East End market was ATV's Market in Honey Lane between 1967 and 1969.

1993 - Toronto Blue Jays won on a Game 6 walk-off home run by Joe Carter. 'Exclusives' about EastEnders storylines became a staple of tabloid buyers daily reading. 1989 - Series interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. By Christmas of 1985, the tabloids couldn't get enough of the show. 1988 - Los Angeles Dodgers propelled to victory by Kirk Gibson's shocking Game 1 walk-off home run. This referred to Leslie Grantham, and set the tone for relations between Albert Square and the press for the next 20 years. 1986 - New York Mets' elimination averted in Game 6 with the assistance of Bill Buckner's infamous error. Within weeks the headline they had all dreaded had appeared — EASTENDERS STAR IS A KILLER.

1985 - Kansas City Royals' elimination averted in Game 6 with the assistance of an umpire's blown call. Press coverage, already intense, went into overdrive. 1980 - Philadelphia Phillies won their first championship after nearly a century in existence. Detailed reactions were taken after six months and since then regular monitoring has been conducted. 1977 - New York Yankees won on Reggie Jackson's Game 6 heroics. Following the launch, both group discussions and telephone surveys were conducted to test audience reaction to early episodes. 1976 - Cincinnati Reds swept entire postseason. The reviews were largely favourable, although after three weeks on air, BBC One's early evening share had returned to the pre-EastEnders figure of 7 million, though EastEnders then climbed to highs of up to 23 million later on in the year.

1975 - Boston Red Sox' Carlton Fisk's riveting Game 6 walk-off home run was not enough to break their curse. The next day viewing figures were confirmed at 17 million. 1962 - New York Yankees won a Series decided by Willie McCovey's line drive. Both Holland and Smith could not watch, they both instead returned to the place where it all began. 1960 - Pittsburgh Pirates won on Bill Mazeroski's Game 7 walk-off home run (the only Game 7 walk-off home run). Anticipation and rumour grew in equal measure until the first transmission at 7pm on 19 February 1985. 1956 - New York Yankees' championship included Don Larsen pitching the only postseason perfect game. The press were invited to see Elstree and meet the cast and see the lot - and stories immediately started circulating about the show, about a rivalry with ITV (who were launching their own market-based soap, Albion Market) and about the private lives of the cast.

1954 - New York Giants won championship after Willie Mays made The Catch. Julia Smith was uneasy about the late start as EastEnders no longer had the winter months to build up a loyal following before the summer ratings lull. Louis Cardinals won on Enos Slaughter's mad dash in Game 7. The launch was delayed for a second time until February 1985 due to a delay in the chat show Wogan, that was to be a part of the major revamp in BBC One's schedules. 1946 - St. Simon May (music) and Alan Jeapes (visuals) created it, and it remains one of the strongest title clips in television. 1932 - New York Yankees dominated behind Babe Ruth's Called Shot. Through the next few months, the set was growing rapidly at Elstree, and a composer and designer had been commissioned to create the title sequence.

1923 - New York Yankees won their first championship. Everyone was in agreement, East 8 was to be tough, violent on occasion, funny and sharp - and it would start with a bang. 1920 - Cleveland Indians' victory was punctuated by Bill Wambsganss who turned the only postseason unassisted triple play. Once they decided on these they returned to London for a meeting with the BBC. 1919 - Cincinnati Reds' championship was tainted by the Black Sox scandal. After they decided on the filming location (BBC Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire), Smith and Holland set about creating the 24 characters needed in just 14 days. 1908 - Chicago Cubs won their last championship to date. The project had a number of working titles — Square Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride, East 8. It was the latter that stuck (E8 is the postcode for Hackney) in the early months of creative process.

1905 - New York Giants' Christy Mathewson became the first World Series hero after pitching three complete game shutouts. However, in February 1984 they didn't even have a title or a place to film. 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates NL, Philadelphia Athletics AL - no Series. Julia Smith and Tony Holland had just 11 months in which to write, cast and shoot the whole thing. 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates NL, Chicago White Sox AL - no Series. The target launch date was originally September 1984 but this was postponed due to Michael Grade - the new controller of BBC One - preferring a January start. 1900 Brooklyn Superbas win 4, Pittsburgh Pirates win 1 - Chronicle-Telegraph Cup Series. They also looked at Brookside but found there was a lack of central meeting points for the characters, making it difficult for the writers to intertwine different storylines.

1899 Brooklyn Superbas - no Series. They came to the conclusion that Coronation Street had grown old with its audience, and that EastEnders would have to attract a younger, more socially extensive audience ensuring that it had the longevity to retain it for many years thereafter. 1898 Boston Beaneaters - no Series. They also identified that it has had difficulty in replacing 'big' characters such as Len Fairclough and Elsie Tanner, something which is arguably still present to this day, with the exit of Karen McDonald. 1897 Baltimore Orioles win 4, Boston Beaneaters win 1 - Temple Cup Series. Only after EastEnders begun did Coronation Street start to feature black people for example. 1896 Baltimore Orioles win 4, Cleveland Spiders win 0 - Temple Cup Series. When developing EastEnders, both Julia Smith and Tony Holland looked at influential models like Coronation Street, but they found that it offered a rather outdated and nostalgic view of working-class life.

1895 Cleveland Spiders win 4, Baltimore Orioles win 1 - Temple Cup Series. This was the beginning of a close and continuing association between EastEnders and audience research, which though commonplace today was something of a revolution in practice. 1894 New York Giants win 4, Baltimore Orioles win 0 - Temple Cup Series. There was anxiety at first that the viewing public would not accept a new soap set in the south of England, though research commissioned by lead figures in the BBC had revealed southerners would accept a northern soap, northerners would accept a southern soap and those from the Midlands, as Julia Smith herself pointed out, didn’t mind where it was set as long as it was somewhere else. 1893 Boston Beaneaters - no Series. Smith and Holland then went about putting ideas down on paper, they decided it would be set in the East End of London. 1892 Boston Beaneaters win 5, Cleveland Spiders win 0 - split-season championship. The outline that Reid presented was vague: two episodes a week, 52 weeks a year.

1891 Boston Beaneaters NL, Boston Reds AA - NL instructs Beaneaters not to play Series as leagues discuss restructuring. The first people to whom David Reid, then head of series and serials, turned were Julia Smith and Tony Holland, a well established producer/script editor team who had first worked together on Z-Cars. 1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms NL, Louisville Colonels AA - each win 3, no resolution. In February 1983, two years before EastEnders hit the screen, the show was nothing more than a vague idea in the mind of a handful of BBC executives, who decided that what BBC One needed was a popular bi-weekly drama series that would attract the kind of mass audiences ITV was getting with Coronation Street. 1889 New York Giants NL win 6, Brooklyn Bridegrooms AA win 3. It was the brass at BBC who had the last laugh, however, as EastEnders became wildly popular and displaced Coronation Street from the top of the ratings for the rest of the 1980s and 1990s and partly the 2000s. Louis Browns AA win 2. One news source went as far as to accuse the channel of only having the guts to air the soap after Patricia Phoenix, arguably Britain's premier soap diva, left Coronation Street.

1888 New York Giants NL win 6, St. Critics first derided the new offering, as it was clear that BBC wished to bridge the gap between the network and its competitor, ITV. Louis Browns AA win 5. It started airing on the night after a major ident change for the channel, with the show representing the "new face" of the BBC. 1887 Detroit Wolverines NL win 10, St. EastEnders was launched at a critical moment in the BBC’s history and was intended to demonstrate the BBC’s ability to produce popular programming. Louis Browns AA win 4, Chicago White Stockings NL win 2. Aside from this soap opera staples of youthful romance, jealousies, domestic rivalries, kitchen disasters, gossip, community fund-raising events and extra-marital affairs are regularly featured.

1886 St. In the early 2000s, EastEnders covered the issue of euthanasia with long-established characters Ethel Skinner and Dot Cotton, Kat Slater's abuse by her uncle Harry as a child, the domestic abuse of Little Mo Slater by husband Trevor, Sonia giving birth at the age of fifteen and then putting the baby up for adoption, prostitution, agoraphobia and drugs. Louis Browns AA - 6 game Series, ends in dispute. However, EastEnders still featured hard-hitting issues such as Mark Fowler discovering he was HIV positive in 1991 and the death of Gill, murder, adoption, alcoholism and domestic violence. 1885 Chicago White Stockings NL, St. As the show progressed into the nineties, less screen time was spent on these issues, perhaps reflecting the change in government. 1884 Providence Grays NL, Metropolitan [New York] AA - 3 game series, Providence wins all 3, 60-game winner Old Hoss Radbourn pitches every inning. Such storylines include Sue and Ali’s baby's cot death, Nick Cotton's homophobia, the rape of Kathy Beale in 1988, Michelle Fowler's teenage pregnancy, drug dealing, prostitution, mixed-race relationships, shoplifting, sexism, racism, divorce and muggings.

1883 Boston Beaneaters NL, Philadelphia AA - Philadelphia cancels scheduled Series after losing "City Series" to Phillies. Above all, we wanted realism’. 1882 Chicago White Stockings NL, Cincinnati Reds AA - 2 game Series, each club wins 1. She also said: ‘We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. 1881 Chicago White Stockings. Creator/ producer Julia Smith declared that 'we don't make life, we reflect it'. 1880 Chicago White Stockings. The programme makers emphasised that it was to be about 'everyday life' in the inner city 'today' and regard it as a 'slice of life'.

1879 Providence Grays. Arguably the difference between them was whilst Brookside confronted issues it was more sensationalist and EastEnders tried to maintain realism. 1878 Boston Red Caps. Brookside had also launched as a social realist drama, leading the way for more conservative soaps like EastEnders to follow. 1877 Boston Red Caps. However EastEnders has for the most part remained a populist series and has generally avoided the arguably tougher stories of Brookside. 1876 Chicago White Stockings. In the eighties, EastEnders featured gritty storylines involving drugs and crime, representing the issues faced by working-class Britain much as Coronation Street did in the 1960s but updated for an age of social breakdown.

1875 Boston Red Stockings. Created in Thatcherite Britain during the worst economic recession in Britain since the 1930s combined with high unemployment and rocketing crime rates, EastEnders tried to represent this in the social realist tradition. 1874 Boston Red Stockings. Examples include Den Watts, James Wilmott-Brown, Steve Owen, Andy Hunter and Johnny Allen. 1873 Boston Red Stockings. Another recurring character type is the smartly dressed businessman, often involved in crime, who is seen as a local authority figure. 1872 Boston Red Stockings. These characters are seen as being loud and interfering but most importantly, responsible for the well-being of the family and usually stressing the importance of family, reflecting on the past.

1871 Philadelphia Athletics. Some families feature an stereotypical East End matriarch such as Lou Beale, Pauline Fowler, Mo Harris and Peggy Mitchell. 1870 Chicago White Stockings. Key people involved in the production of EastEnders have stressed how important this idea of strong families is to EastEnders. 1869 Brooklyn Atlantics. The 2000s saw a new focus on the largely female Slater clan before the return of emphasis to the Watts and Mitchell families. 1868 New York Mutuals. The Watts and Mitchell families have been central to most of the notable EastEnders storylines and Peggy Mitchell in particular is notorious for her ceaseless repetition of such statements as "You're a Mitchell".

1867 Morrisania Unions. Tony Holland drew on the names of his own family for his characters. 1866 Brooklyn Atlantics. The first central family was the Fowlers, consisting of Pauline, Arthur, Mark, Michelle and also the closely related Beale family - Pete, Lou and Ian. 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics. Co-creator Tony Holland was himself from a large East End family and such families have typified EastEnders. 1864 Brooklyn Atlantics. EastEnders was built around the ideas of "clans" of strong families and each character having a place in the community.

1863 Brooklyn Eckfords. It is rumoured that the fictional borough of Walford was named after the areas of London that the creators hailed from - Walthamstow and Stratford. 1862 Brooklyn Eckfords. However, the show's producers actually based the square's design on the real life 'Fasset Square' in the East End. 1861 Brooklyn Atlantics. In reality, an Albert Square does exist in the East End, in Stratford. 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics. The postcode for the area "E8" was one of the working titles for the series.

1859 Brooklyn Atlantics. The strongest claim to being the 'real' Albert Square is held by Broadway Market in Hackney, a short pedestrianised road that features a weekly market and established street vendors. 1858 New York Mutuals. Walford has the fictional postal district of E20, thus fans have also tried to pinpoint the location using this, however, realistically London East postal districts stop at E18, the show's creators opted for E20 instead of E19 as it was thought to sound better. 1857 Brooklyn Atlantics. Walford East, is a fictional tube station for Walford, with the aid of a map that was first seen on air in 1996, it has been established that Walford East is located between Bow Road and West Ham, which realistically would replace Bromley-by-Bow. In the past, fans have tried to establish the actual location of Walford within London.

In 1993, George Street was added, and soon after, Walford East tube station was built. Then in 1986 he added an extension to the set, building the fourth side of Albert Square and in 1987 Turpin Road was added which included buildings such as The Dagmar. The EastEnders lot was built and designed by Keith Harris, who was a senior designer within the production team. This was done by a number of means, including chipping at the buildings with pickaxes.

But as the set was built in the early eighties, it had to be made to look as if it had been standing for years and years. Thus, central to Albert Square is The Queen Victoria Public House. Firstly, the square is named Albert Square after Prince Albert, the late husband of Queen Victoria, who then went on to die in 1901. It is thought that Albert Square was built around the early 20th century, indeed heavy research was done by the show's creators to support this.

These themes that were found for the setting can still be found in a present day episode of EastEnders. A real East End spirit — an inward looking quality, a distrust of strangers and authority figures, a sense of territory and community that the creators summed up as 'Hurt one of us and you hurt us all'. However, delving further into the East End, they found exactly what they had been searching for. The show's creators were both Londoners, but when they researched Victorian Squares they found massive changes in areas they thought they knew well.

EastEnders is set in the fictional London Borough of Walford, however the central focus of the show is that of the equally fictional Victorian square named Albert Square. . Despite lengthy criticism of the show from the critics, in October 2005 it won the prestgious National Television Award for most popular Serial Drama which EastEnders has won several consecutive times in the past ten years. It has been running ever since, generating strong viewing figures for much of that time, and has been the UK's highest-rating programme on numerous occasions.

EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera which was first broadcast on 19 February 1985. EastEnders: The Inside Story. The EastEnders Programme Guide. Public Secrets: EastEnders and its Audience.

EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration. Lulu is a big fan of the show. On Friday the 11 November 2005, EastEnders was the first British drama to feature a two minute silence. Osymyso a.k.a Mark Nicholson, one of the UK's original bootleg artists created a track based on remixed scenes of the Pat vs Peggy showdown.

This includes the 1980's, 1990's and so far the 2000's. Since EastEnders began in 1985, at least one of its episodes have rated higher than any other British soap opera throughout each decade. EastEnders was the inaugural winner of the 1999 BAFTA for best continuing drama. However, it proved very unpopular with the viewers and was replaced with a remix of the original theme tune only 11 months later, from 11 April 1994 (Also the first Monday edition of the show).

In 1993, the show's theme tune was updated to a Jazzy version, first heard on 11 May 1993. Albert Square is built on the site last used for building works in the 1980s Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. When Barbara Windsor joined in 1994, she was only contracted for ten episodes. The roads around Albert Square are not built to scale: they look real but some can only take one car at a time.

The Queen visited the set in 2001 and was shown around by actresses Wendy Richard and Barbara Windsor. A vocal version of the theme tune called 'Anyone can fall in Love' reached number 4 in the charts in the summer of 1986 and was sung by Anita Dobson (Angie Watts). Oxfam was the main outlet used for the actors costumes when the series was first made. The War memorial on set features names of people involved in EastEnders along with past stars.

Leslie Grantham originally auditioned for the part of Pete Beale but was thought too good looking so was instead cast as Den Watts. Pam St Clement (Pat) has 125 pairs of earrings from which to choose and fans still send her earrings in which she wears in the programme. The famous double-handers when only two actors appear in an episode was originally done for speed: while they film that, the rest of the cast can be making another episode. Researchers, from the BBC, went to the East End and visited 'Fassett Square' in the 1980’s.

Before the Spice Girls, Emma Bunton was cast as a troubled youth in the soap. Martha Ross, mother of television presenter Jonathan, has been an extra in the programme, as a market stallholder, since its inception. Robbie Williams has made a cameo appearance on the telephone in the Queen Vic and is a big fan of the show. Brad Pitt is such a fan of the soap that when BBC America took EastEnders off the air in 2003, he and his then wife Jennifer Aniston joined a petition of 15,000 US fans demanding the cable channel reinstate it.

George Michael, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are also fans of the soap. Madonna and Guy Ritchie are rumoured to be big fans of the show, with Madonna's favourite character being Dot Cotton. Sheila Hancock has appeared in the soap playing Barbara Owen. Susan Tully who played Michelle Fowler has directed some episodes since leaving.

There is a shop in Walford named Barratt's Bargain Corner, cleverly incorporating the BBC's initials. In 2001 EastEnders went head to head with Coronation Street for the first time, EastEnders won the battle with 8.4 million viewers (41%) while Coronation Street attracted 7.3 million (36%). EastEnders holds the record for the highest rated soap episode in Britain. EastEnders was the 1st most popular UK search term in 2005.

EastEnders was the 4th most popular UK search term in 2004. EastEnders was the 2nd most popular UK search term in 2003. Between 2001 and 2002, EastEnders was the 10th most searched-for TV show on the Internet.