EastEnders - the early days

gboygboy Posts: 4,989
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I've just discovered some old episodes of EastEnders from 1985/86 on YouTube and I'd forgotten how good it was.

It has a different, grittier (almost docu-drama) feel about it than today and there are some brilliant characters:
  • Pete & Kath
  • Lou Beale
  • Mary the Punk
  • Debs and Andy
  • Sue and Ali
  • Dr Legg

and, of course, the legends that were Den and Angie.

Although the pace and storylines are slightly slower and more 'domestic' than the high drama in today's episodes, it's still very watchable and entertaining.

Comments

  • Dan_CbbcDan_Cbbc Posts: 1,842
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    Oh Yeah defintley, there was a more community feel back then as well, I watch these eps myself the old ones and I'm currently up to November 1985 and I have to say I don't think i've ever seen characters like Debs and Andy in the show, a couple that are together but have this love/hate relationship.
  • cobiscobis Posts: 11,780
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    Debs and Andy were an interesting couple, they were introduced as a typical professional couple who were on their way up, while I wouldn't call their relationship love/hate there was an unbalance to their relationship in that initially he was a student nurse and she worked in a bank with a bigger wage and he definitely had an inferiority complex about her earning more money, while she was definitely a snob. I also seem to recall that her family were disapproving of him.

    This all changed when she lost her job and there was a shift in the power balance so to speak.

    As well as their own dramas they were involved in quite a few other memorable events on the Square, it was Andy who Sue and Ali ran to when their baby died, Debs was nearly a victim of the 'Walford Attacker' who got more than he bargained for as she had been taking self defence classes! and it was Debs who Naima's husband had been making smutty telephone calls to amongst others, in fact it was Naima who recognised his voice when she took the phone from Debs during one call.

    In typical Walford style Andy was killed when he flung himself in front of a lorry to save a little girl from being run over, horrifically he and Debs had had a row just before and her last words to him were I wish you were dead!

    Debs and Andy were certainly a memorable couple and she was a bit lost when his character was axed, I don't think she stayed in for long after that, I wonder what she is doing now?
  • Kyle123Kyle123 Posts: 25,782
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    How weird. A lot of Eastenders early days were before my time, but I thought I had a pretty good knowledge of it all. Yet i've never even heard of Debs and Andy. :eek: How odd!
  • Hound of LoveHound of Love Posts: 79,797
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    Those were the days; no Mitchells too, which was an added bonus:D
  • GulftasticGulftastic Posts: 127,112
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    It was genuinely good back then. Character lead.
  • cobiscobis Posts: 11,780
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    Kyle123 wrote: »
    How weird. A lot of Eastenders early days were before my time, but I thought I had a pretty good knowledge of it all. Yet i've never even heard of Debs and Andy. :eek: How odd!

    I think part of that is they were a couple alone so to speak, they integrated well with the rest of the community but once they were gone they had no other attachments to the square so not many people to mention their names or say remember when.... the Watts, Mitchells, Brannings and Slaters etc have over the years had one or more family members still in the square, to remind us of people who have left and although the Watts and Fowlers have sadly all gone, Ian had enough of a connection to their families to slip in the odd memory, I loved that he mentioned tracking down Kelvin on the internet recently!
  • -Sid--Sid- Posts: 29,365
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    Andy was my first soap crush :o

    I was devastated when he was killed :cry:
  • gboygboy Posts: 4,989
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    Debs and Andy were good characters - very much a pair of outsiders trying hard to fit in. What is interesting is that they created a bit of a fuss in Albert Square because they weren't married. Weird to think that 25 years ago two people 'living together' was considered a novelty, whereas now we wouldn't think twice about it.

    I loved their house with all the stripped pine etc - very 1980s!

    Mostly, I'd forgotten how brilliant Den and Angie were together - there was a real dynamic between those two.

    And Ian Beale was actually quite likeable when he was 15...!
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    I loved Debs and Andy, Walford's original upwardly mobile couple. They made an interesting contrast to the rest of Albert Square, and well-meaning Debs sticking her nose in for the "good" of others always made me smile.

    I remember Debs receiving anonymous phone calls, and deciding it was Ali Osman. She invited Ali and Sue to dinner, deciding she would discuss it all openly and rationally, and she had just made her thoughts known (Sue was furious) when the phone rang. Guess who it was?

    Debs and Andy were the first couple in Albert Square to have a VCR (Pete Beale had one, but he lived outside of the Square). They got it second hand, but it was pinched when a man hiding in a wardrobe delivered to the house, looted the place.

    Fabulous couple.

    And their house...

    The stripped pine. The black dining table and chairs...

    So '80s I feel all nostalgic!

    Nostalgic? For the '80s? Yep, 'fraid so...
  • tenchgirltenchgirl Posts: 11,100
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    Lofty?????

    :)
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    tenchgirl wrote: »
    Lofty?????

    :)

    Good grief, yes, Lofty the misfit, with his weird hair and asthma inhaler... bless him!
  • EastEndFan05EastEndFan05 Posts: 4,778
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    EE was so good back in the 80's.

    Debs and Andy bring back memories!

    Such a great mixture of characters back then. The style was, like someone said above, almost documentary like. This all went towards making EE something you could really get invested in. Even when nothing was happening it was entertaining just watching the characters chit chat and go about their daily lives.

    The fantastic Den and Angie running The Vic. It was never more alive than it was when they were in charge. Such great chemistry together. The loveable Ethel and her little Willy, Dr. Legg, Nick Cotton (back when he could act!), Arthur and Pauline, Pete and Kathy, Lou, the great friendship between Sharon and Michelle, Roly!. So many wonderful memories.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 99
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    gboy wrote: »
    I've just discovered some old episodes of EastEnders from 1985/86 on YouTube and I'd forgotten how good it was.

    It has a different, grittier (almost docu-drama) feel about it than today and there are some brilliant characters:
    • Pete & Kath
    • Lou Beale
    • Mary the Punk
    • Debs and Andy
    • Sue and Ali
    • Dr Legg

    and, of course, the legends that were Den and Angie.

    Although the pace and storylines are slightly slower and more 'domestic' than the high drama in today's episodes, it's still very watchable and entertaining.

    Also Pauline and Arthur):
  • dd68dd68 Posts: 17,828
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    I have always loved the show, but after the first three years, in 1988, it was almost a relief when Den and Angie split for good, they took the show over, and yes I know, Angie left in 1988, and Den in 1989.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    For me, the exits of Den, Ange and Lou Beale marked the beginning of the end of a truly magical era in Albert Square.
  • EastEndFan05EastEndFan05 Posts: 4,778
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    For me, the exits of Den, Ange and Lou Beale marked the beginning of the end of a truly magical era in Albert Square.

    Agreed.

    1985-1988, right up until Den went to prison, could easily be another show. Once they started to phase Den out EE went through a few ups and downs until they reinvented it in 1990 with the introduction of the Mitchell brothers. It's gone through several reinventions through the years, of course. But EE can basically be separated into 2 eras. The 1980's and the 1990's onwards AKA the Mitchells era. I do feel it entered a 3rd era in 2006 which I'd refer to as the new era. It came into it's own in 2007 and has remained stuck in that era ever since. Although I'm not sure many would agree considering the Mitchells dominated it also until recently.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    Good point. I felt the Mitchells dominated too much, and everybody seemed too in fear of Grant and Phil and Peggy. The Firm as seen in EastEnders in the late 1980s wore smart suits, operated brick size mobile phones, opened shady wine bars (Remember "Strokes"?) and were largely an unknown commodity. Grant and Phil seemed far too small and insignificant to be so widely feared.
  • dazza89dazza89 Posts: 13,909
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    Whilst im sure Eastenders was back good back in the day would the show survive if it was still like that today? TV has changed and everything is more sensational, its just the way the media has gone and soaps have to change in order to keep going.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    dazza89 wrote: »
    Whilst im sure Eastenders was back good back in the day would the show survive if it was still like that today? TV has changed and everything is more sensational, its just the way the media has gone and soaps have to change in order to keep going.

    Of course you're right, dazza - although I think it's sad. At least the '80s episodes still exist, so that's something! :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,291
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    cobis wrote: »
    Debs and Andy were an interesting couple, they were introduced as a typical professional couple who were on their way up, while I wouldn't call their relationship love/hate there was an unbalance to their relationship in that initially he was a student nurse and she worked in a bank with a bigger wage and he definitely had an inferiority complex about her earning more money, while she was definitely a snob. I also seem to recall that her family were disapproving of him.

    This all changed when she lost her job and there was a shift in the power balance so to speak.

    As well as their own dramas they were involved in quite a few other memorable events on the Square, it was Andy who Sue and Ali ran to when their baby died, Debs was nearly a victim of the 'Walford Attacker' who got more than he bargained for as she had been taking self defence classes! and it was Debs who Naima's husband had been making smutty telephone calls to amongst others, in fact it was Naima who recognised his voice when she took the phone from Debs during one call.

    In typical Walford style Andy was killed when he flung himself in front of a lorry to save a little girl from being run over, horrifically he and Debs had had a row just before and her last words to him were I wish you were dead!

    Debs and Andy were certainly a memorable couple and she was a bit lost when his character was axed, I don't think she stayed in for long after that, I wonder what she is doing now?

    Thanks for reminding of EE at it`s best. Didn`t Debs & Andy own a washing machine?!
    If only EE was like that now. In the last couple of years I`ve felt that I`ve been watching out of habit. There have been some good episodes. Since BK started it`s been getting worse. I enjoyed last week but this week so far it has been very poor.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    Debs and Andy were saving for a washing machine. After doing up the house - the rewiring, stripped pine and household essentials, they couldn't quite run to a washing machine at first.
  • KymberlyKymberly Posts: 763
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    ArumLily wrote: »
    Thanks for reminding of EE at it`s best. Didn`t Debs & Andy own a washing machine?!
    If only EE was like that now. In the last couple of years I`ve felt that I`ve been watching out of habit. There have been some good episodes. Since BK started it`s been getting worse. I enjoyed last week but this week so far it has been very poor.

    Sorry if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but I am sure I that the actors who played Andy and Debs were together in real life too.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    I've just thought of another '80s EastEnders character I thought brilliant - Sue Osman from the cafe. She was vulnerable (the cot death of baby Hassan was such traumatic viewing) but a real bitch as well. A very interesting character.
  • emmerdaleloveremmerdalelover Posts: 891
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    Kymberly wrote: »
    Sorry if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but I am sure I that the actors who played Andy and Debs were together in real life too.

    Yes, Ross Davidson and Shirley Cheriton met on the EastEnders set, and were together for a while.
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