EastEnders

EastEnders was a television show broadcast in the United Kingdom during the 20th and 21st century.

Pete's World did not have Eastenders, much to Jackie Tyler's continued disappointment. The programme was one of the things she missed from the Doctor's universe. (AUDIO: The Siege of Big Ben)

Evelyn Smythe, having left with the Sixth Doctor in the year 2000, had "foreknowledge" of 1990s EastEnders episodes, and made a bit of cash off this, betting for the correct outcome. (PROSE: Instruments of Darkness)

The Seventh Doctor claimed to have once had a dream in which all his old enemies chased him around EastEnders' sets. (PROSE: First Frontier)

Among the casualties of the Vore invasion of Earth in 2005 were members of the cast of the series; they had lost more than Coronation Street. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles)

In the summer of 2007, with the new "ghost" craze sweeping the planet, one of the killed-off characters, Den Watts, was brought back to the show in ghost form, using one of the ghosts which materialised during that period. The Tenth Doctor flicked through this episode of EastEnders along with Ghostwatch and Trisha Goddard, while investigating the new phenomenon at Jackie Tyler's flat. The ghosts were later revealed to be Cybermen attempting to cross between universes. (TV: Army of Ghosts)

When Amy Pond and Rory Williams suddenly ended up in a doll's house, Rory suggested that the Eleventh Doctor was in an EastEnders-like place. (TV: Night Terrors)

When Rani Chandra had the Berserker pendant she told her father to do Bianca, from EastEnders. Haresh said: "Rick-ay. Whitney. Paaaat." (TV: The Mark of the Berserker)

Sophie was a fan of EastEnders. In 2007 she was watching Ghostwatch and texted them that "Dirty Den" was back. (GAME: Ghostwatch)

During the Twelfth Doctor's imprisonment in the Prison, Clara Oswald taught Class 2A's art class. She asked the students to paint a placard with the slogan "SAVE THE DOCTOR" but instead, they got confused and began to paint "SAVE DOT COTTON". Clara explained to the Governor that Dot Cotton was a "famous Cockney chimney". (PROSE: The Blood Cell)

EastEnders was among the 20th century Earth television shows broadcast by Reef Station One in the New Earth Republic during the 101st century. (PROSE: Synthespians™)

Behind the scenes

In TV: The Impossible Planet, the Tenth Doctor claims that "this is going to be the best Christmas Walford has ever had". Walford is the fictional setting of EastEnders, with the line being a reference to the soaps infamous tradition of having depressing Christmas specials.

Crossovers with Doctor Who

Though other stories portray EastEnders as a television soap, the Brief Encounter story Mistaken Identity by Gary Russell and the Doctor Who mini-episode Dimensions in Time cross over EastEnders with the Doctor Who universe. A line in First Frontier dismissed that adventure as a dream.

The comic adventure Happy Deathday seems to take place, in part, in the EastEnders universe. This is later revealed to be a video game being played aboard the Doctor's TARDIS.

In the comic Tooth and Claw, the Eighth Doctor refers to "Albert Square", the location of the series (although he might have meant another Albert Square).

The National Television Awards Sketch 2011 and Sprout Boy meets a Galaxy of Stars are also crossovers with the series.

The Brilliant Book 2012

According to The Brilliant Book 2012, a book that contains non-narrative based information, William Shakespeare was the head writer of EastEnders in an alternate timeline.

Doctor Who references in EastEnders

The character Bradley Branning was a fan of Doctor Who, amoung other sci-fi series’. An episode broadcast in early 2008 saw him and Stacey Slater attend a Doctor Who convention. People in Dalek and Cybermen costumes could be seen at the event. In another episode, Bradley claimed he knew the names of all the actors to play the Doctor off by heart.

Connections

Tony Holland, who played the Third Assistant in The Savages, and Julia Smith, who directed The Smugglers and The Underwater Menace, were the co-creators of EastEnders.

Ace Bhatti, Nina Wadia, Michelle Ryan, Lucy Baker, Gary Beadle, Lynda Baron, Jo Joyner, Sharon D Clarke, Michelle Collins, Jill Halfpenny, Rudolph Walker, Don Gilet, Rakhee Thakrar, Anita Dobson, Tracy Ann Oberman, and Tamzin Outhwaite are just a handful of the Doctor Who actors to have appeared in the soap over the years.

June Brown, as well as appearing as Lady Eleanor in The Time Warrior, also appeared as her EastEnders character Dot Branning in both Dimensions in Time and Dermot and the Doctor.

Barbara Windsor appeared as her EastEnders character Peggy Mitchell in Army of Ghosts.

EastEnders character Shabnam Masood has been portrayed by two Doctor Who actors: Zahra Ahmadi originated the role from 2007 to 2008. Rakhee Thakrar later took on the role from 2014 to 2016.

Bonnie Langford took on the regular role of Carmel Kazemi in 2015, just over two decades after appearing on the EastEnders set as her Doctor Who character in Dimensions in Time. She left the role in 2018.