Q 01/05

On which BBC channel has EastEnders been broadcast since 1985?

A) BBC Two

B) BBC Three

C) BBC Four

D) BBC One

Answer · why

D) BBC One

The show was commissioned to give the BBC a twice-weekly rival to ITV's Coronation Street. Within eight months it topped the BARB ratings.

Q 02/05

Who created EastEnders with Tony Holland?

A) Verity Lambert

B) Phil Redmond

C) Tony Warren

D) Julia Smith

Answer · why

D) Julia Smith

Smith and Holland had worked together on Z-Cars and the hospital drama Angels. Phil Redmond created Brookside; Tony Warren created Coronation Street.

Q 03/05

On what date did the first episode of EastEnders air?

A) 3 January 1985

B) 7 April 1984

C) 12 September 1985

D) 19 February 1985

Answer · why

D) 19 February 1985

It went out at 7pm on a Tuesday and drew around 17 million viewers. The launch had slipped from January because of delays to Wogan's chat show.

Q 04/05

Whose death opened the very first episode of EastEnders?

A) Lou Beale

B) Harold Legg

C) Pete Beale

D) Reg Cox

Answer · why

D) Reg Cox

The creators decided none of their 23 characters was wicked enough to have killed him, so a 24th, Nick Cotton, was invented to do it.

Q 05/05

Which character was the 24th created, specifically so someone was wicked enough to kill Reg Cox?

A) Den Watts

B) James Willmott-Brown

C) Nick Cotton

D) Grant Mitchell

Answer · why

C) Nick Cotton

Played by John Altman, Nick became famous for constant exits and returns, tormenting his mother Dot until the character died in 2015.