Letter from Britannia

By Larry Jaffee



BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND —All’s well in Walfordville circa late May 2000. EastEnders is continuing its grip on the hearts and minds of some 15 million telly viewers weekly in old Blighty, if my recent trip across the Atlantic is any indication.

From white-collar types to punters alike, there seems to be more fascination than ever that EastEnders is broadcast (and appreciated) in the States, as well as in the mere existence of the Walford Gazette, published in New York no less.

My four-day U.K. excursion packed more EastEnders-related activities than a sane person should endure. My first EE stop in London (where I was on business earlier in the week for my day job attending a DVD conference; more on that later) was to look in on Gretchen Franklin (“Ethel”), the British gran I never had, and who celebrates her 89th birthday on 7 July. As it turned out, she was getting ready to return to Albert Square to tape some scenes after a few years of absence. The decision to have Ethel return came from new executive producer John Yorke (see page 9 for his interview with me), who explained that he thought it was a good idea to bring back some familiar faces.

Indeed, there were a few EastEnders scripts scattered on a her coffee table. Gretchen agreed when I asked if she would grant me the pleasure of watching EastEnders with her—the first time she did in our five years of friendship. I hustled across London’s Hammersmith Bridge to her home in Barnes around 7 p.m. to give us a half hour before EastEnders’ start.

Upon my arrival, Gretchen opened a bottle of champagne—which has become a tradition of our meetings.

She agreed that watching with me would be almost like doing her homework, enabling her to become more familiar with some of the current storylines and her new colleagues. EastEnders shoots about six weeks in advance. Gretchen, of course, was as witty as only “Ethel” could be about her observations of the episode we watched, but some things shall remain private.

Gretchen also shared some new stories with me about working on EastEnders. For example, she spoke fondly of Ross Kemp (“Grant”) and Steve McFadden (“Phil”), whom she referred to as “those boys,” and commending them for their professionalism. “They came to work prepared, knew their lines, were on time.”

I reminded her that Grant danced with Ethel in the Mitchell Brothers’ first episode on EastEnders, swinging her around, as Dot looked on with horror. Ethel meanwhile appeared to be having a grand time. Dot comes on the screen we’re watching, and Gretchen tells me about June Brown’s (“Dot”) daughters.

Ross once saw Gretchen struggling to keep open her dressing room door open to get some air on a particularly sweltering day, and asked if he could help. He promptly returned with a long steel pipe, which kept the door ajar.

We reminisce about how the EastEnders producers wouldn’t let me on the set five years ago, even after she and various BBC executives argued on my behalf. I tell her that much has changed, and in fact, I’m having a meeting with John Yorke at the studio the very next day.

I learn new things about Gretchen. For example, her cousin is the famous English actor Clive Dunn, best known for appearing in the long-running telly series Dad’s Army. She shows me a book he published four years ago entitled Permission to Laugh, a collection of funny stories. Clive and Gretchen performed together when they were younger.

I tell her that on Friday I’ve been invited to appear on Soap Fever up in Manchester. She suggests that I go see the Millennium Dome instead. I tell her thanks for the suggestion, maybe next trip. •

Turn to page 9 for my day at the EastEnders studio and interview with John Yorke.

• My next scheduled appointment is with Lianne Kolirin, the reporter, who interviewed me last year for the local Borehamwood Times. She’s now with a website called TotallyJewish.com, where her colleague Zeddy Lawrence had written a few EastEnders episodes in recent years. Zeddy now is developing an online soap opera called BaruchSide, a takeoff on the popular Brit soap Brookside (not as popular as EastEnders, of course).

TotallyJewish.com’s home page recently was adorned with a photo of Ross Kemp as Grant. I asked, “You’re not going to tell me Grant is Jewish?” Zeddy said no, he was just trying to get some attention for BaruchSide.

• While on my way to meet Lianne and Zeddy, I had an experience that renewed my faith in mankind. I left on the train the two bound volumes of the first seven years of the Walford Gazette, which I had been dragging around London. Some kind Samaritan must have seen the horror on my face when I did an about-face, only to have the doors close on me. I immediately called the Thameslink lost property office, described the lost items, as well as the time and direction that the train was headed. Also stuck in one of the books was a notebook with my notes from the conference I covered for work, as well my interview with John Yorke (I did have the tape however). The supervisor told me to call the next day. In the meanwhile, I thought about calling the tabloids to see if they’d write a story about my plight. You see a few of the Gazette issues are totally out of print. And obviously the books have a lot of sentimental value to me, not to mention would be extremely intriguing to any EastEnders fan. I had already resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t see them again. A few hours later I found out from my friend where I was staying that they found the lost items, and I could pick them up the next day. Sure enough, they were there and I am ever grateful to the person who returned them—a name unfortunately wasn’t left. •

The next morning I arrived for my appointment on Baker Street with MadAboutEastEnders.com, whose publisher agreed that we should do some joint promotion since our ventures share essentially the same goal—expand the base of EastEnders fandom. Afterwards I made my way to the BBC Shop at Broadcasting House to see how sales of the Gazette were going, and pick up some souvenirs—my son likes Dr. Who action figures, while my daughter is a Teletubbies fanatic—as well as some BBC-produced videos, books and CDs that are unavailable in the States. There’s a new EastEnders book—Bianca’s Diary, but I’m afraid there is way too much in the way of spoilers for the Gazette to sell it at this time. I was flattered when they told me that I qualified for the “staff discount.” I still spent about £55.

I then headed over to White City, the headquarters of BBC Worldwide, whose job it is to export BBC properties in other territories. I’m happy to report that they’ve finally appointed an EastEnders brand manager, who is in the process of conducting focus group research of what kind of products the show’s fans are interested in buying. I offered to do our part, so you can add your two pence on the survey found on page 10. While at BBC Worldwide I also made a deal to acquire a large quantity of the Radio Times’ special EastEnders’ 15th anniversary commemorative issue before they were no longer available. (While there are a few spoilers in the publication, the majority of the magazine covers the show’s history familiar to us in the States. Just try not to read the last few pages if you want to be completely surprised. See page 16 to order.) •

Later that afternoon, I arranged for tickets for myself and Deepak Verma (“Sanjay Kapoor”) to see a new fringe play called Boxed, starring and co-written by Mark Homer, whom we know as “Tony Hills.” Boxed was directed by Ray Kilbey, who also had a stint directing EastEnders. Also catching the performance were a few of Deepak’s EastEnders colleagues. A review of Boxed and hopefully an interview with Homer will be in the next issue.

• The next morning Granada sent a car to take me to Euston Station for my two-and-a-half-hour train trip to Manchester. The folks at Soap Fever invited me to ask the special guest Pam St. Clement (our “Pat”) a question from the audience. My question to Pam was whether Pat knows who her son Wicksy’s dad was. She laughed and ad-libbed, “a lady doesn’t tell.” I also gave Pam a copy of the Gazette (Vol. 3, Issue 3) with the interview Tim Wilson did with her. (Sorry, no back issues available.)

Soap Fever is a quick-moving show with a live audience of Manchester regulars to help along the proceedings and occasionally interact with Nadia (turn to page 10 for my interview with her). Sitting in the audience of Soap Fever allowed me to see (spoilers aside) a clip of an amazing, all-out row between Pat and Peggy, which should be hitting our PBS screens in about a year-and-a-half.

It’s always fascinating to see the reaction I get from Brits when I tell them that Americans regard EastEnders as a drama not a soap. To them, EastEnders is a lighter form of entertainment. I’m not sure some of this dichotomy is limited to class, although I can’t imagine that the 15 million to 20 million viewers who tune in weekly to EastEnders are only working-class women.

Twice I took offence at offhand remarks regarding EastEnders made by British executives attending the aforementioned DVD conference. The first comment came from the head of a company that prepares a DVD before the manufacturing process. He started his speech commending the French, who he believes have a higher appreciation of the arts. “They have culture; we (meaning Brits) have EastEnders.” I wanted to yell out, “Oi! Who made you the Guv ‘nor?!,” run up to the podium and pummell him like Grunt might.

Later, the BBC head of DVD production made a presentation on what projects they were releasing—they include everything from Teletubbies to David Attenborough-produced costume dramas. After his formal presentation, I introduced myself and asked whether anything was planned for EastEnders. He laughed, and said EastEnders wasn’t a priority at all, not fully realizing that I was perfectly serious.

Pardon my enthusiasm for the BBC’s most popular show in its history. Yet the powers-that-be continue to pigeon-hole it as some light entertainment.

Blimey, such an attitude gives me aggro.




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