The 1986 Christmas Day episode of EastEnders is often given as the highest-rated UK soap opera episode ever, with 30. 15 million viewers ( in 2007, the UK had approximately 54 million viewers ).

In 1985, the BBC's London based soap opera EastEnders debuted and was a near instant success with viewers and critics alike, with the first episode attracting over 17 million viewers.

The towpath of the Grand Union Canal in Alperton was the scene of an episode of the BBC TV soap EastEnders, aired on 23 February 1989, in which the character Den Watts ( played by Leslie Grantham ) was shot before falling into the canal and supposedly dying.

He appeared as a talking head on December 30, 2008 episode of EastEnders Revealed: Nick Cotton Returns.

The part was originally played in the pilot episode for the series ( as part of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse ) by future EastEnders actress Gretchen Franklin.

On 2 August 2004 episode of EastEnders, EI was referenced.

While their characters were less significant, well-known actors who played cameos in the programme included Joan Sims, best known for her numerous roles in the Carry On films, who guest-starred in the feature-length episode " The Frog's Legacy " as an aunt of Trigger and old friend of Del's late mother ; future Hollywood star David Thewlis, who played a young wannabe musician in " It's Only Rock and Roll "; John Bardon, who played the role of Jim Branning in the soap opera " EastEnders ", as the supermarket security officer in " The Longest Night ".

There are four half-hour episodes of EastEnders each week ( not shown on Wednesdays ), with an omnibus episode at the weekend, plus hospital dramas Casualty and Holby City.

She returned to the role in 1993 for Dimensions in Time, a special charity Doctor Who / EastEnders crossover episode as part of the BBC's Children in Need.

In January 2007 the village was used as a semi-fictional location in the filming of an episode of EastEnders broadcast in the United Kingdom over the Easter 2007 holiday season.

In 2010, as a nod to the 50th anniversary of Coronation Street, characters in fellow established TV soap EastEnders made reference to watching the special anniversary episode.

In the episode, Army of Ghosts, Peggy Mitchell was seen in a fictionalized scene from EastEnders in order to demonstrate the degree to which the titular ghosts had permeated the popular culture of Doctor Whos Britain.

Richard subsequently found continued success as heroine and matriarch Pauline Fowler on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role she played from the first episode in 1985 until the character's death at Christmas 2006.

" On the day of her death, that evening's episode of EastEnders and a memorial programme, both dedicated to Richard, were broadcast on BBC One.

It featured in an episode of the BBC detective serial The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and in March 2007 was the setting for a major part of an EastEnders special.

One of his most recent television appearances was playing a tramp named Nobby Stuart in a special two-hander episode of EastEnders.

This was a celebrity episode in which she appeared with EastEnders actress Laila Morse who plays the part of Big Mo, DJ Dane Bowers and comedian Bobby Davro.

She also oversaw the transformation of popular dramas Casualty and its spin-off Holby City into year-round dramas, the addition of a fourth weekly episode to soap opera EastEnders and the highly successful resurrection of classic science-fiction series Doctor Who in 2005.

She also took part in a one-off exclusive BBC Red Button episode of EastEnders which was aired on 16th July 2012.

He did appear in one episode of EastEnders and often brags about it, delaying for as long as he can the fact that he was in one scene, had one line, and did nothing but buy a cagoule from Bianca Jackson's market stall.

Benjamin returned to EastEnders for a single episode on 5 August 2010 to facilate Barbara Windsor's departure storyline.

He also made brief returns to EastEnders in late January 2002, a spin-off special episode titled " Perfectly Frank " in 2003 and made his final comeback to EastEnders in early December 2005, for a week-long stint.

* 1953 – The first U. S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.

Frances ' daughter, Christine Lynch, appeared in an episode of the television programme Antiques Roadshow in Belfast, broadcast on BBC One in January 2009, with the photographs and one of the cameras given to the girls by Conan Doyle.

New pressures also saw introduction of the third weekly episode on 20 October 1989, broadcast each Friday at 19: 30.

The episode where Alan met his death under the tram gave Coronation Street its highest ever viewing figures of 26. 9 million, and is still the 9th most watched UK broadcast of all time.

During this period, the Friday episode was broadcast live, with the Wednesday episode being pre-recorded 15 minutes later.

The last regular episode to be shown live was broadcast on 3 February 1961.

Like BBC1, the ITV network was officially broadcast in black and white ( though programmes were actually broadcast in colour as early as July that year for colour transmission testing and adjustment ) at this point so the episode was seen by most in black and white.

The terms of the work-to-rule were that staff refused to work with the new equipment ( though the old black and white equipment had been disposed of by then ) and therefore programmes were recorded and transmitted in black and white, including Coronation Street The dispute was resolved in early 1971 and the last black and white episode was broadcast on 8 February 1971.

The third weekly episode was introduced on Friday 20 October 1989, broadcast at 19: 30.

From 1996, an extra episode was broadcast at 19: 30 on Sunday nights.

From episode 14 on Wednesday 25 January 1961, Tyne Tees Television broadcast the programme.

When they decided to broadcast the programme, national transmission was changed from Wednesday and Friday at 19: 00 to Monday and Wednesday at 19: 30 and the programme became fully networked under this new arrangement from episode 25 on Monday 6 March 1961.

The second Monday episode was introduced in 2002 and was broadcast at 20: 30 to usher in the return of Bet Lynch .< ref >

* 1960 – The first episode of the world's longest-running television soap opera Coronation Street is broadcast in the United Kingdom.

Its first episode aired in 1941 as an experimental broadcast. Game Show

The ' number of weapons ' joke echoes a similar joke in the first episode " The Man and The Hour " of the BBC sitcom Dad's Army, broadcast in July 1968.

Network 23's personnel files list her father as unknown, her mother as deceased, and her brother as Shawn Jones ; Shawn is the focus on the second episode broadcast, " Rakers ".

The first publicly announced network television broadcast of a program using the NTSC " compatible color " system was an episode of NBC's Kukla, Fran and Ollie on August 30, 1953, although it was viewable in color only at the network's headquarters.

When the final episode, " Things Aren't Simple Any More " originally aired on 20 November 2000 at 21: 00, it coincided with the broadcast of the first jackpot winner in the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ?, which had been filmed the Sunday before the broadcast.

Whitehouse stars alongside Charlie Higson in a new BBC2 comedy series called Bellamy's People, the first episode was broadcast on 21 January 2010.