EastEnders is a British soap opera; the first episode was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End of London. The series primarily centres on the residents of Albert Square, a Victorian square of terraced houses, and its neighbouring streets, namely Bridge Street, Turpin Road and George Street. The area encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community centre, funeral parlour, café, wine bar, various other small businesses, a park and allotments.
The series was originally screened as two half-hour episodes per week. Since 2001, episodes are broadcast each weekday, apart from Wednesdays, on BBC One, and again on BBC Three at 10.00 p.m. An omnibus edition was broadcast at weekends before being discontinued in 2015.
It is one of the UK's highest-rated programmes, often appearing near or at the top of the week's BARB ratings. Within eight months of its launch, it reached the number-one spot in the ratings, and has consistently remained among the top-rated TV programmes in Britain. In 2013, the average audience share for an episode was around 30 per cent. Created by producer Julia Smith and script editor Tony Holland, EastEnders has remained a significant programme in terms of the BBC's success and audience share, and also in the history of British television drama, tackling many controversial and taboo issues in British culture and social life previously unseen on United Kingdom mainstream television.