What happened when the EastEnders cast watched back their best - and most cringeworthy - moments?
Matt Taylor
Producer and director
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You can catch some of EastEnders’ best loved actors cosied up on their Walford settees cringing and laughing over some of their most memorable scenes together. It’s in an exclusive six-parter on BBC iPlayer, all to celebrate EastEnders’ 30th birthday. So what could have gone on behind the scenes with some of Walford’s finest? Director and producer Matt Taylor told us the story…
EastEnders is a juggernaut and continuously rolls on, and episodes don’t get repeated as such, so the 30th anniversary felt like too good an opportunity to miss.
Most actors are happy talking about their own work, so with Back To Ours, it was just about finding the right people at the right time. Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace were the guinea pigs with this project, essentially making a pilot, so they took the risk. Once I had a short clip from this episode to show people, most apprehensions were gone, as they could see clearly what I was after. Samantha Womack and Rita Simons nearly bit my arm off to be included!
The Mitchell sisters are just as close in real life
On set, it was about making the actors feel relaxed and confident so that they could chat truthfully and openly, although certain storylines may have been expected, the actual chosen footage was kept under-wraps until ‘action’ was called.
We filmed between two-three hours with each pairing and often did more than one showing of a clip. The first time around gave us genuine reactions, on the second take we could expand those thoughts and stories. But sometimes the cast became so engrossed as viewers, they forgot to chat!
Occasionally, I would be needed to steer the conversation back on track or help to give their comments context that we’d all understand, but mostly once they started it was very hard to stop them chatting, especially Pam St Clement and Barbara Windsor - they are probably still there!
Jessie Wallace's famous 'Yes I am!' scream was originally a whisper
Making each episode was a long process. Matthew Campbell the EastEnders archivist would draw up a massive long-list of moments for us from the EastEnders database. Assistant producer Katy Reid would then work through the endless clips, helping to reduce the long-list, before we’d work together in creating a final running order, shaping something that flowed and felt like a rounded show. I was keen not to ask the actors for their thoughts at this stage as I felt that may give us a too polished response.
Samantha and Rita’s reaction to the frozen lake scene was totally unexpected – and hilarious. It would be easy to mistake them for real-life sisters. The screen kisses generated a far more school playground level of embarrassment than I ever expected.
Meanwhile, Nitin Ganatra and Himesh Patel might be father and son on-screen but they are clearly mates with an added mentor relationship off-screen. The story of Himesh first meeting Nitin with an autograph request is sweet and told brilliantly.
Nitin says he often forgets that Tamwar isn't his son in real life
Adam Woodyatt’s relationship with ‘his house’ – ie Ian Beale’s set - was fascinating. He’s essentially grown up on set and he feels a real ownership towards it. He would refer to times when the house dimensions or layout were ever so slightly different, or, as you can see in his episode, where he believes Ian’s belongings (props) should be! Kat and Alfie’s place has actually burned down since filming, so that was lucky!
Barbara Windsor and Pam St Clement are TV legends, so it was so nice to see them working so naturally together, with such a genuine friendship built around the shared experience of working in Walford. It also became very old-school showbiz at times, especially when Christopher Biggins called Barbara for a chat!
Pam and Barbara have a strong friendship after their Walford experiences
The clips had an equally strong reaction for people who had worked on those episodes too. During Pat’s death scene, we were concentrating on Pam and Barbara’s responses to this story and out of the corner of my eye I could see one member of the production team in floods of tears!
The audience responses have been fascinating – it’s given EastEnders viewers a chance to feel like they really know the people behind the characters just that little bit more.
Matt Taylor is the director and producer of EastEnders: Back To Ours.
EastEnders: Back To Ours is available until Thursday 26 February on BBC iPlayer.
More on EastEnders: Back To Ours:
Digital Spy: Barbara Windsor and Pam St Clement join EastEnders: Back To Ours
Daily Mail: Goggle-box style EastEnders
Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.
