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Going Home Again to EastEnders
By Judy Hirsch
Years ago, I recall receiving an
e-mail from someone who “used to
be” a fan of EastEnders. I couldn’t
imagine how someone could talk
about EastEnders as a thing of the
past… until it happened to me.
Walford Gazette readers may remember
me as the originator of the
online EastEnders newsletter and
those wacky Tuesday night chats on
AOL. Like some of you, I began
watching EastEnders in late 1987
from the moment Tracey Ullman introduced
Den and Angie on our
local PBS stations. At the time, I
was living in Philadelphia, my
hometown.
Let’s fast-forward to 1994, when
I subscribed to AOL. One of the first
things I did was look for other
EastEnders fans. Not long after, I
started hosting the weekly chats and
publishing the online newsletters.
On 10 May 1998, I was featured in
an article entitled “Intimacy Sells”
in the Lifestyle section of The
Philadelphia Inquirer regarding reasons
people meet online. My bit focused
on EastEnders (see clipping
below).
In 1999, I changed jobs and
moved to Hartford, Connecticut
where I watched EastEnders from
the New York PBS station. In
2002, I moved to Dayton, Ohio
where I watched EastEnders on the
Dayton PBS station. But then the
unthinkable happened.
Within months of my arrival,
the Dayton PBS station dropped
the show. What took the sting out
was that BBC America was airing
EastEnders. The only difference –
BBC America showed episodes
that had recently aired in the U.K.,
and PBS stations aired episodes
from several years back. There was
a three-year episode gap that
needed to be closed. We established
“catch up” VHS tape trains
supplied by kind EastEnders fans
from other more fortunate cities.
And then the truly unthinkable
happened. In September 2003, to
the astonishment of EastEnders
fans around the U.S., BBC America
dropped the show. While some
wanted to fight, I believed it was a
losing battle. With the help of several
U.K. fans and a number of
U.S. fans in various cities, I organised
“Trans Atlantic” tape trains.
As the editor of
the online
newsletter and
weekly chat
room host, I was
one of the people
EastEnders fans
came to for help.
I couldn’t let
them down.
By 2005,
after 10 years of
publishing the
online newsletter,
hosting
weekly EastEnders
chats and overseeing about a
dozen tape trains, I experienced
what I now refer to as “EastEnders
overload.”
Then to top it off, my job was
eliminated. I needed to concentrate
on finding another job. So I handed
off the newsletter, chats and tape
trains and removed myself personally
from all tape trains. I stopped
reading everything associated with
the show, including the Walford
Gazette, and started to experience
what can only be described as
withdrawal symptoms.
I went cold turkey.
I relocated in 2006 after finding
a job in Racine, Wisconsin. By
now, it had been nearly two years
since I had seen an EastEnders
episode. To my chagrin, the PBS
stations available in Racine (from
Chicago and Milwaukee) didn’t
carry EastEnders. And so, within a
few months of moving, the show
fell completely off my radar scope.
In 2008, after my job in Wisconsin
was eliminated, I interviewed for
jobs in companies located as far east
as Philadelphia, as far south as
Texas, as far north as Michigan and
as far west as Arizona.
This was the first move I was to
make in which I don’t remember
wondering if EastEnders aired on
the local PBS stations. I accepted a
job in New York and moved in April
2009.
One late Friday night, not long
after settling into my new apartment
in Brooklyn, I was bored and started
channel surfing. That’s when I experienced
my first EastEnders déjà vu
moment. I saw Sonia Jackson talking
at Jamie Mitchell’s funeral. I
stared in disbelief for quite some
time.
My mind flashed back to when I
had heard the New York City PBS
station dropped EastEnders. So I
was confused. Where was this coming
from? That’s when I realised I
was watching the PBS station located
in Long Island. (Believe it or
not, that’s how I learned Long Island
was NOT one of the five New York
City boroughs!)
At the end of the episode, I saw
the original air date in the U.K. was
2002. I was living in Dayton in 2002
and remembered watching that
episode on BBC America. Little by
little, the storylines began to come
back to me. It had been five years
since I saw an EastEnders episode
and seven years since I watched this
particular episode. So it felt vaguely
familiar. Some of the major storylines
began to come back to me with
each episode. I immediately set my
DVR series feature to save all East-
Enders episodes.
I watched as Vicki Fowler arrived
from the U.S. I sighed as Mark left
and Martin went to prison. I saw Kat
and Alfie behind the bar at the
Queen Vic and remembered the romance
that eventually started between
them. I saw Dot lose her religion
after she was mugged in her
own home. I watched as Phil
Mitchell romanced Kate, which
meant he hadn’t yet found out who
she really was. I saw the Ferreira
family move in and I started remembering
the juicy storylines to come.
I saw a pregnant Laura, a doting Pat,
a bitter Ian, a confused Garry and an
angry Lynne. I knew the craziest
storylines involving the Slater sisters
had faded when I saw Little Mo
had settled into married life with
Billy Mitchell, and Zoe already
knew Kat was her mum. I watched
the departure of Anthony Trueman
and the creepy partnership develop
between Paul Trueman and Janine
Butcher. And I watched as Janine
first began to dig her evil claws into
poor, clueless Barry Evans. And of
course, there was Pauline Fowler always
shaking her head and whinging
on about something or someone.
The character I had completely
forgotten was Dennis Rickman. I
forgot how he made a pass at
Sharon. I forgot how he had had a
prior relationship with Kate. I forgot
everything. And then a couple of
weeks ago, it hit me like a bolt of
lightning. I would get to see the return
of Dirty Den… again! I found
myself getting excited each time
Dennis or Sharon mentioned Den
Watts because I knew the writers
were setting up his return.
Despite what Thomas Wolfe
wrote, sometimes you CAN go
home again. I look forward to more
EastEnders déjà vu moments while
I continue to catch up to the last of
the episodes aired by BBC America.
I haven’t been following the
U.K. spoilers so after that everything
will be fresh, new and exciting.
I can’t wait!
