When EastEnders crossed over with other shows

BBC News

06-02-2025

You're one of the biggest shows on telly. It shouldn't be a surprise when you get involved in a collaboration or two.In its first 40 years on air, BBC soap EastEnders has entertained millions of fans with its regular episodes of drama and everyday London life. But it has occasionally joined forces with other shows as well, and actors who made their names in Walford have also popped up in the nation's other soaps too - sometimes before their time in Albert Square, and others when they had left Walford behind.Join BBC Bitesize as we take a look at a few examples.
East Street: Walford meets WeatherfieldEastEnders hit our screens in February 1985. Before too long, it became one of the 'big' soaps on British TV, alongside the ITV shows Coronation Street, Crossroads and Emmerdale (then known as Emmerdale Farm). Of the latter three, the Street was the longer-running, its first episode airing in December 1960.EastEnders and Coronation Street were often toe-to-toe in the battle to top the ratings, especially in the 1980s. More than a quarter of a century after they both occupied the TV listings, the two shows shared a story for the first time.
The BBC's Children in Need telethon screened a special 15-minute mini episode in November 2010 called East Street, where EastEnders' fictional borough of Walford tested out an official twinning with Coronation Street's Weatherfield. It was the same year that the Square celebrated 25 years on screen and the Street marked its 50th anniversary.Written for laughs, scenes included Corrie's Liz McDonald working behind the bar of the Queen Vic with Kat Slater, while Gail McIntyre and Denise Fox attempted to outdo one other in the Bridge Street Cafe, arguing over whose husband was the most evil (they had both married murderers).
Meanwhile, Weatherfield welcomed EastEnders regulars Christian Clarke, Zainab Masood, Darren Miller, Jane Beale and Jodie Gold to the cobbles. Zainab and Corrie's Eileen Grimshaw shared a cup of tea while talking about both being mums of gay sons, and Jane learned from Hayley Cropper and Sunita Alahan how crime and disaster were two things that Walford and Weatherfield had in common.The episode ended with the (fake) cliffhanger that Liz may have been the mother who gave Kat up at birth - a typical soap opera storyline that firmly united both shows.
Dimensions in Time: Albert Square goes sci-fiThe travels of The Doctor in the TARDIS may seem millions of light years from the dramas of Albert Square but there was a brief spell in 1993 when two of the BBC's most popular shows joined forces.
In 1993, the sci-fi series Doctor Who celebrated its 30th anniversary, although no new episodes had aired since 1989.To mark the time traveller's three-decade milestone, a special mini adventure - Dimensions in Time - was filmed for that year's Children in Need appeal on the set of EastEnders, using 3D technology that could be viewed through special glasses, and with characters from both shows interacting. At the end of the first episode, viewers could then call in to choose which EastEnders character would save the day in episode two - Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) or Big Ron the market trader (Ron Tarr).The story followed the seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) caught up in an adventure with villainous Time Lord, The Rani (Kate O'Mara). Her machinations led to different incarnations of The Doctor appearing in Albert Square, including the third (Jon Pertwee), fifth (Peter Davison) and sixth (Colin Baker), along with various companions who had appeared in the series as far back as its 1963 debut. Louise Jameson and Bonnie Langford, who reprised their companion roles in the special, would later join EastEnders playing regular characters. A cavalcade of monsters from throughout the show's history also turned up as part of The Rani's plans.
The story jumped in time between 1973, 1993 and 2013 and gave viewers the opportunity to see characters Pauline Fowler and Kathy Beale 'aged up' by 20 years for scenes set two decades in the future. This would later lead to an unexpected continuity hitch, as Kathy and Pauline were killed off in EastEnders prior to 2013 (although Kathy would return in 2015, very much alive) - but then The Doctor is renowned for doing tricky things with time!
The two shows crossed over again in 2006 when Dame Barbara Windsor made a cameo as Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell in the Doctor Who episode Army of Ghosts.The Albert Square actors who popped up in other soapsActors who have appeared on one soap can sometimes be found popping up in another. It has happened to a number of EastEnders actors over the decades. Here are a few examples.Michelle Collins: Between her two stints as the selfish Cindy Beale, Michelle also spent three years in Coronation Street as Rovers Return manager, then owner, Stella Price from 2011 to 2014. Her character was revealed as the mother of long-standing character Leanne Battersby, but after having her heart broken, Stella left for New York once she had sold the Rovers to the McDonald family.Ross Kemp: He is returning to EastEnders for its 40th anniversary as Grant Mitchell - but before his character debuted in 1990, Kemp played Graham Lodsworth in Emmerdale Farm. His character appeared in late 1986 and early 1987 when he came to Beckindale in search of his birth mother, Dolly Skilbeck.Gillian Taylforth: The actress who appeared in the very first episode of EastEnders in 1985 as Kathy Beale has an impressive three soap roles on her acting CV. After leaving the Square for the first time in 1998, with shorter term stints in 1999 and 2000, Kathy was believed dead from 2006 until she returned full-time in 2015. In the years between, Taylforth played Sgt Nikki Wright in police drama The Bill and then spent two years as Sandy Roscoe in Hollyoaks before returning to EastEnders.This article was published in January 2025