During the episodes, Peggy—the pub landlady—has her crack cocaine-addicted son Phil (Steve McFadden) imprisoned in The Queen Victoria, forcing him to go cold turkey.

She later learns that her deceased husband Archie (Larry Lamb) was murdered by the person he raped: Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner).

[2][3][4] Kirkwood intended to give Windsor an "epic and poignant" departure, as befitting her status as the ultimate EastEnders matriarch.

[5] The fire storyline was created for her exit, and to facilitate a refurbishment of The Queen Victoria set for the transition to high-definition television broadcasting.

The episodes were accompanied by two documentaries on BBC Three, one following the filming of the fire, and the other examining ten of Peggy's most iconic moments in EastEnders.

Others focussed on Peggy's departure, with James McCarthy of the Western Mail writing that it would "doubtless remain the stuff of EastEnders' legend for years to come,"[6] and Jim Shelley calling it "a good way to go.

"[7] In contrast, the Daily Mirror's Polly Hudson found Peggy's exit a nonsensical "non event",[8] and Gareth McLean of The Guardian deemed it "suitably sentimental", but several years overdue.

Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), who has just regained her status as landlady of The Queen Victoria public house, decides to throw a wedding reception for Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) and Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) to let everyone know the pub is hers again.

Worried about her son Phil (Steve McFadden) because of his addiction to the drug crack cocaine, Peggy enlists the help of Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi) and Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) to abduct him from the flat he is living in.

They bring him back to The Queen Vic, locking him in the living room upstairs, where the windows have been boarded up to stop him from escaping.

Concerned by Stacey telling people her secrets, he wonders if she has ceased taking medication for her bipolar disorder.

She is surprised by a photograph of Peggy and Archie, and is frightened to hear Phil making noises in the living room.

Peggy assures Stacey that Archie is dead, telling her that Bradley killed him, as he was posthumously found guilty of the murder.

Ryan confronts Stacey at the hospital, shocked with her confession, refuses to acknowledge his daughter, and goes on his honeymoon with Janine.

In October 2009, actress Barbara Windsor's decision to leave EastEnders after sixteen years of portraying the character Peggy Mitchell was announced.

[5] In June 2010, it was announced that The Queen Victoria would be destroyed in a fire to tie in with EastEnders' transition to high definition so the set could be completely refurbished.

Salisbury commented: "Bryan Kirkwood, the writer [Ashdown] and myself also wanted it to be an episode where things kept happening and the audience would keep thinking, 'Wow, that must have been the explosion' or 'That must have been the stunt'.

[17] Salisbury noted that the demise of such an iconic set as The Queen Victoria left several cast members in tears.

[16] Controlled gas pipes were used to shoot jets of flames and a header was specially built to collapse on Phil.

She called it her "Joan of Arc moment" and revealed that when the explosion happened, she "was actually blown off my feet and landed on Steve McFadden who ended up with bruised ribs".

[22] May composed the theme not knowing what would happen on screen, but when Kirkwood brought a rough edit of the episode, May noted that the music fitted perfectly first time, saying it was "remarkable and very moving.

"[22] The theme features as the lead track on the album The Simon May Collection and was also released as an EP available to download immediately after the episode.

[27] Narrated by Shane Richie, the documentary looked at ten moments from Peggy's time in the show that made her a British icon.

[35] Roz Laws from the Sunday Mercury wondered if the fire episode was inaccurate due to the lack of fire alarms, sprinklers and emergency lighting in the pub, but noted that the episode's use of the song "Murder on the Dancefloor", featuring the line "Gonna burn this god damn house right down", was "clever".

[36] A writer for Heat said "We knew the Vic fire was coming, but actually seeing it was quite another thing, and knowing that it also marked the end of an era with the departure of Barbra [sic] Windsor made it that much more emotional.

"[37] A reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post wrote "Never in the history of soap fires, of which there have of course been legion, have so many hilariously overindulgent explosions been captured on camera.

"[40] Gareth McLean from The Guardian said the use of "Peggy's Theme" was a "suitably sentimental sendoff" for the character, but said that "in hindsight, Peggy should have left Walford three or four years ago, her character trapped in a cycle of increasingly samey stories that reduced her to a parody of her former self", describing her efforts to put out the flames as "like a very sooty clockwork mouse".

[9] James McCarthy of Welsh newspaper Western Mail said Windsor's "final emotional scene will doubtless remain the stuff of EastEnders' legend for years to come,"[6] and Jim Shelley from the Daily Mirror said "It was a good way to go.