The BBC EastEnders Website

by Larry Jaffee

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As part of our coverage of what goes on behind the scenes, the Walford Gazette had the privilege of interviewing the Web site producer Catherine Bond, who at the time of our early May meeting had been on the job for about one year.

The constantly updated web site has become an extremely popular destination, drawing 4 million page impressions weekly. 'The site is massive,' states Bond. 'Navigation and usability are something we're constantly battling.'

Fans make their opinions known on a continuous basis. 'We get quite a few e-mails'an average of 100 to 200 a day. Everybody e-mails the same things: I want to meet the actors. I want to meet Jamie Mitchell. I want to star in EastEnders. I want to send in a script.'

For that reason, the site offers a prominently placed link to FAQ (frequently asked questions). The Web site audience is skewed to younger teenagers, 80 percent female. When there is a particular current storyline that's gripping the nation (U.K.), such as the recent plot of Little Mo going to prison it invites feedback. In response to an offer for visitors to be able to write to the character in prison, the site received '7,000 e-mails in two weeks, which is quite amazing,' comments Bond. Respondents received an automated e-mail postcard reply from Little Mo, thanking them for their support and concern, and telling them how she misses her dad and her sisters.

'They get the feeling that they're interacting with the character,' explains Bond, whose dedicated EastEnders Web site staff includes two assistant producers, a researcher and a message board host, the latter being the only team member to be located at the Elstree studio.

'He knows the actors really well,' she says of the board host. Among his responsibilities is to catch interviews with actors on breaks between scenes. The interviews are posted every two weeks and are 'light-hearted stuff. It helps the actors that we're not challenging them in any way. We're making it fun for them.'

The Web site also aims to make it fun for fans, which is why most of the emphasis is on 'games, surveys and quizzes.' She cites the 'Ask Frank Generator,' to which questions can be posed and answered in the inimitable Butcher manner. 'They're not just asking one question; they ask questions over and over.' Another feature ranks percentage-wise the likelihood that an EastEnders character could fall in love with a visitor entering certain information about herself [or himself].

Bond says that they're planning a Walford Gazette lonely hearts column for the site. Although headlines and photos illustrating the current U.K. storyline are usually what comes up first on the home page, Bond and company have not forgotten the past. In fact, classic clips' a few minutes streamed in the RealVideo program'are among the most popular spots on the site.

The Web site provides a link to download the Real player, as it also does to get Macromedia's Flash programme, which enables animated features in cyberspace, for which the department has budgeted. She notes that a teenage fan once pointed out that she didn't have Flash on their computers at school, which suggests that the site shouldn't go overboard with Flash, given its strong popularity with that demographic group.

Once a month, the web site also features a live chat with an EastEnders actor, who responds to live questions online. The web site has also involved its most fervent fans, including two who were selected for its 'Dr EastEnders' feature. They include sometime Walford Gazette contributor Rachey Sim, and American __________. Bond's team sends both of them up to ten questions that come from readers, and a new question and answer is posted once a week. She drops a piece of EastEnders trivia: Linda Davidson, who played original cast character Punk Mary, was one of the first producers of the EastEnders Web site.

Bond herself has been in pretty regular contact with EastEnders executive producer John Yorke (who has since announced, two weeks following this interview, that he would be moving on to another position), especially when the site is giving away a costume or prop. '[The executive producer] needs to clear whether they're going to need that costume in the future.' Other items given away as prizes include an EastEnders jigsaw puzzle, which Bond happened to come across in the window of a village gift shop in England, and the new EastEnders mobile telephone covers (see page 3). She contacted the manufacturers of both items. The ultimate prize that has been given away by the Web site no doubt is the exclusive Albert Square tour one lucky young woman won. 'I organised that with the executive producer, organised security, got in touch with post-production, found out what the schedules were and what sets were free.' But that's not likely to happen again any time soon, advises Bond, who when asked by online readers, 'How may I tour the set',' responds that tours are unavailable, period. In fact, even BBC employees can't get in. Prior to landing her current job, Bond was a content editor at a Web site called Lastminute.com, which sells online holidays, flights and gifts. Bond says that being a big EastEnders fan wasn't a criterion for her current job. 'Any questions during my job interview had to with my web skills and what I could do to make the Web site better. I always watched it, but I wasn't a diehard fan. John Yorke asked me if I watched. I said 'Yes, but if there was a squash game going on I'd rather play a game of squash.' He said, 'That's very healthy.''

But since she has learned the inner workings of EastEnders, has Catherine enjoyed the show more' 'Absolutely. You can really appreciate the quality, the storylines and the acting. Some of the stuff they do is really amazing. I know the story editors, and what pressure they're under.'

Bond also notes the tremendous impact EastEnders makes on popular culture from a Web site point of view. 'We get a lot of feedback on things like rape and child abuse on the message boards and chats. It's such a powerful medium for communication. In the wrong hands it could do a lot of damage. But in the right hands it can educate people.'

So what's going to happen in the future' Will Phil finally love' Will Ian ever stop being a prat' All she would say in response: 'We need to know the storylines in the future.' Her lips are sealed.

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