Online TV

Eastenders E20


Online spin off show E20 is a modern take on Eastenders. It features characters who are of a considerably younger age than the usual characters that feature on the original Eastenders. There's been a lot of popularity on it which has now reached its third series. The show is set in Albert Square just like Eastenders but it follows the lives of teenagers. It first aired on the 8th January 2010 in the motive to develop and nurture new talent, including actors, writers, composers, to target a younger audience and to drive people onto the internet. 


Each episode lasts between 3-16 minutes and is available now as an omnibus through the iPlayer, BBC3 and via the red button. 


Santer conceived the idea of a "parallel universe show" with new characters, where the regular characters are in the background. Yorke sought to improve the portrayal of teenagers in EastEnders and to get younger people writing for it. The ideas came together and EastEnders: E20 was created in what Yorke described as "one of the quickest periods from idea to screen I've ever known." Regarding the decision to create an online drama, Yorke said, "People don't watch television at fixed times anymore, they use iPlayer [to] get it at their convenience and so it made sense to make a programme that [viewers] can specifically get at their convenience." The show's producer, Deborah Sathe, added, "Technology is changing and it's changing really quickly and I think it's really appropriate that the BBC is leading the way in offering online content." The first series was commissioned by multi-platform commissioning executive Rosie Allimonos. 


Another incentive for the show was to get more people to use the Internet. Sathe stated that it was an opportunity for younger people to bring the older members of their families onto the internet, and Yorke hoped that it would bring people onto the internet who had not used it before. Simon Nelson, BBC Vision controller of multiplatform and portfolio, said that this was an opportunity for the BBC to develop its expertise in drama production by exploiting the creative potential of the Internet to create a new online drama where few have succeeded. EastEnders: E20 primarily operates as a standalone series but also cross-references storylines of the main soap. According to Santer, the series also explores the stories of the soap's anonymous bystanders. He said, "There are always other people [in EastEnders] milling round the market and houses that we never go into. There are four or five parallels you could do. It will be nice to see well-known characters through strangers' eyes. Ian Beale may show up and he is just a strange, irritating man. Or they might ask: 'Who is that moody girl in the market?' And it will be Stacey Slater."



The show started off with 1.7 million viewers, but by 19 February the episodes had 2.8 million with additional content pushing the total to 3.3 million views.