The British Film Institute described Market in Honey Lane thus: "It was not an earth-shaking programme, and certainly not pioneering in any revolutionary ideas in technique and production, but simply proposed itself to the casual viewer as a mildly pleasant affair.

[22] Other characters created included Jewish doctor Harold Legg, the Anglo-Cypriot Osman family (Ali, Sue and baby Hassan), black father and son Tony and Kelvin Carpenter, single mother Mary Smith and Bangladeshi couple Saeed and Naima Jeffery.

Original production designer Keith Harris left the show, and Holland and Smith both decided that the time had come to move on too, their final contribution coinciding with the exit of one of EastEnders' most successful characters, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

[34] In addition, several other long-running characters left the show that year, including Sue and Ali Osman (Sandy Ratcliff and Nejdet Salih) and their family; Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler); Carmel Jackson (Judith Jacob) and Colin Russell (Michael Cashman).

During her time at EastEnders, Berridge introduced popular characters such as Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman),[49] Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner)[50] and the critically panned Indian Ferreira family.

[51] Berridge was responsible for some ratings success stories, such as Alfie and Kat Slater's (Jessie Wallace) relationship, Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) getting her comeuppance, Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns) and Jamie Mitchell's (Jack Ryder) death storylines and the return of one of the greatest soap icons, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), who had been presumed dead for 14 years.

Executive producer Sen explained that the bi-annual scheduling conflicts that the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup cause to the soap, premiering four episodes on the streaming service would be beneficial for fans of the show who want to watch at their own chosen pace.

[126] Clenshaw's first major decision as executive producer was the axing of five series regulars: Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson), Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ), Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith), Dana Monroe (Barbara Smith) and Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold).

[162] A gender balance in the show is maintained via the inclusion of various "macho" male personalities such as Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden),[163] Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp),[164] Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass),[165] and George Knight (Colin Salmon), "bad boys" such as Den Watts (Leslie Grantham),[166] Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky),[167] Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd),[168] Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman),[169] Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood),[170] and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) and "heartthrobs" such as Simon Wicks (Nick Berry),[171] Joe Wicks (Paul Nicholls),[172] Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder),[173] Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman),[174] Joey Branning (David Witts),[175] Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami)[176] and Zack Hudson (James Farrar).

Examples include Steve Owen (Martin Kemp),[178] Jack Dalton (Hywel Bennett),[179] Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs),[180] Johnny Allen (Billy Murray),[181] Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman),[169] and Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry).

Other recurring character types that have appeared throughout the serial are "cheeky-chappies" Pete Beale (Peter Dean), Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami), "lost girls" such as Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton), Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), and Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis), delinquents such as Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington/Clay Milner Russell) and Keegan Baker (Zack Morris), "villains" such as Nick Cotton (John Altman), Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns), May Wright (Amanda Drew), Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti), Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb), Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) and Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), "bitches" such as Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Lucy Beale (Melissa Suffield/Hetti Bywater), Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), Babe Smith (Annette Badland) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), "brawlers" or "fighters" such as Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), and Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy), and cockney "wide boys" or "wheeler dealers"[11] such as Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels), Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins), Fatboy (Ricky Norwood), Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol) and Tom "Rocky" Cotton (Brian Conley).

Over the years they have been joined by the likes of Mo Butcher (Edna Doré), Jules Tavernier (Tommy Eytle), Marge Green (Pat Coombs), Nellie Ellis (Elizabeth Kelly), Jim Branning (John Bardon), Charlie Slater (Derek Martin), Mo Harris (Laila Morse), Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker), Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), Les Coker (Roger Sloman), Rose Cotton (Polly Perkins), Pam Coker (Lin Blakley), Stan Carter (Timothy West), Babe Smith (Annette Badland), Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas), Sylvie Carter (Linda Marlowe), Ted Murray (Christopher Timothy), Joyce Murray (Maggie Steed), Arshad Ahmed (Madhav Sharma), Mariam Ahmed (Indira Joshi) and Vi Highway (Gwen Taylor).

[35] Such characters included Julie Cooper (Louise Plowright)—a brassy maneater; Marge Green—a batty older lady played by veteran comedy actress Pat Coombs; Trevor Short (Phil McDermott)—the "village idiot"; his friend, northern heartbreaker Paul Priestly (Mark Thrippleton); wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham); and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell), who became Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) sparring partner.

In the main, middle-class characters exist as villains, such as James Wilmott-Brown (William Boyde), May Wright (Amanda Drew), Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson), Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti) and Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), or are used to promote positive liberal influences, such as Colin Russell (Michael Cashman), Rachel Kominski (Jacquetta May)[161] and Derek Harkinson (Ian Lavender).

[195] EastEnders has been praised for its portrayal of characters with disabilities, including Adam Best (David Proud) (spina bifida), Noah Chambers (Micah Thomas) and Frankie Lewis (Rose Ayling-Ellis) (deaf), Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) and her daughter Stacey (Lacey Turner) (bipolar disorder), Janet Mitchell (Grace) (Down syndrome), Jim Branning (John Bardon) (stroke)[196] and Dinah Wilson (Anjela Lauren Smith) (multiple sclerosis).

The show also features a large number of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters (see list of soap operas with LGBT characters), including Colin Russell (Michael Cashman), Barry Clark (Gary Hailes),[197] Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford), Tony Hills (Mark Homer),[198] Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy), Naomi Julien (Petra Letang),[199] Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White), Tosh Mackintosh (Rebecca Scroggs),[200] Christian Clarke (John Partridge), Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid/Max Bowden), Paul Coker (Jonny Labey),[201] Iqra Ahmed (Priya Davdra), Ash Panesar (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris), Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).

[35] Although the programme still covered many issues in 1989, such as domestic violence, drugs, rape and racism, Brake reflected that the new emphasis on a more balanced mix between "light and heavy storylines" gave the illusion that the show had lost a "certain edge".

[213] In the early 2000s, EastEnders covered the issue of euthanasia with Ethel Skinner's (Gretchen Franklin) death in a pact with her friend Dot Cotton (June Brown), the unveiling of Kat Slater's (Jessie Wallace) sexual abuse by her uncle Harry (Michael Elphick) as a child (which led to the birth of her daughter Zoe (Michelle Ryan), who had been brought up to believe that Kat was her sister), the domestic abuse of Little Mo Morgan (Kacey Ainsworth) by husband Trevor (Alex Ferns) (which involved marital rape and culminated in Trevor's death after he tried to kill Little Mo in a fire),[212] Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) giving birth at the age of 15 and then putting her baby up for adoption, and Janine Butcher's (Charlie Brooks) prostitution, agoraphobia and drug addiction.

This was done by a number of means, including chipping the pavements, using chemicals to crack the top layer of the paint work, using varnish to create damp patches underneath the railway bridge, and making garden walls in such a way they appeared to sag.

The set would provide a modern, upgraded exterior filming resource for EastEnders, and copy the appearance of the existing buildings; however, it would be 20 per cent bigger, in order to enable greater editorial ambition and improve working conditions for staff.

Sometimes an entire quartet is filmed on location, which has a practical function and are the result of EastEnders making a "double bank", when an extra week's worth of episodes are recorded at the same time as the regular schedule, enabling the production of the programme to stop for a two-week break at Christmas.

[241] Off-set locations that have been used for filming include Clacton (1989), Devon (September 1990), Hertfordshire (used for scenes set in Gretna Green in July 1991), Portsmouth (November 1991),[34] Milan (1997), Ireland (1997),[261] Amsterdam (December 1999),[262] Brighton (2001) and Portugal (2003).

[263] The episode shown on 9 April 2007 featured scenes filmed at St Giles Church and The Blacksmiths Arms public house in Wormshill, the Ringlestone Inn, two miles away and Court Lodge Farm in Stansted, Kent.

[338][339][340] The schedule remained the same as EastEnders with twice weekly episodes; however, some notable changes included the programme now being set in Rotterdam rather than London, characters being given Dutch names (Den and Angie became Ger and Ankie) and The Queen Victoria pub being renamed Cade Faas.

[354][355] An example of EastEnders' popularity is that after episodes, electricity use in the United Kingdom rises significantly as viewers who have waited for the show to end begin boiling water for tea, a phenomenon known as TV pickup.

[373] The following day, the anniversary week was rounded off with another fully live episode (the second after 2010) with 9.97 million viewers watching the aftermath of the reveal, the Beale family finding out the truth of Lucy's killer and deciding to keep it a secret.

A year later BBC chairman Christopher Bland admitted that as result of the Irish-set EastEnders episodes, the station failed in its pledge to represent all groups accurately and avoid reinforcing prejudice.

[395] Unused storylines penned by Yallop, which were revealed in the press during the trial, included the death of Cindy Beale's (Michelle Collins) infant son Steven; Sufia Karim (Rani Singh) being killed during a shotgun raid at the corner shop; Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) dying of undiscovered cancer;[396] and an IRA explosion at the Walford community centre, killing Pete Beale (Peter Dean) and Diane Butcher (Sophie Lawrence), and leaving Simon Wicks (Nick Berry) paralysed below the waist.

[400] In September 2008, EastEnders began a grooming and paedophilia storyline involving characters Tony King (Chris Coghill), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), Lauren Branning (Madeline Duggan) and Peter Beale (Thomas Law).

We are always mindful of the timeslot in which EastEnders is shown and we took great care to signpost this storyline prior to transmission, through on-air continuity and publicity as well as providing a BBC Action Line at the end of the episode which offers advice and support to those affected by the issue".