As every EastEnders fan knows, the Christmas Day episode is always the one to watch and is much a part of festive tradition as mince pies and crackers. Even if you've neglected to watch much of the soap throughout the year, everything stops for the Christmas Day episode. All the family gathers in the living room with their tubs of Roses or Quality Street and glass of Baileys as we excitedly wait to see illicit affairs get exposed; paternity results get revealed; secrets come to light... and sadly there has been the odd tragic death. While many complain that the Christmas episodes of EastEnders are as dreary and grim as is the soap's acquired reputation, there's still plenty more who tune in because let's face it, no one does drama quite like EastEnders does. And you're guaranteed drama by the truckload on EastEnders come Christmas Day. Though it hasn't been all doom and gloom - there has been the odd wedding or yuletide baby!
Over the course of the soap's thirty eight year history, EastEnders has never failed to deliver emotional, surprising, dramatic, and sometimes heartwarming storylines. Everyone will have their favourites. We take a look at what we think are ten of the most memorable Christmas Day EastEnders episodes.
1. DEN SERVES ANGIE DIVORCE PAPERS (1986)
Whoever would have thought that someone handing over an envelope wouldn't just be a ratings winner but go down in history as one of the most iconic soap moments EVER! It's impossible to write a post about memorable EastEnders' Christmas episodes without mentioning that episode where philandering Queen Vic landlord, Den Watts, served divorce papers to his wife Angie so that he could sail off into the sunset with his mistress Jan.
Walford residents - and the viewers at home - could see that the Watts' marriage was a very one-sided one: Angie loved Den a lot more than he loved her. He treated her appallingly. It wasn't just his constant cheating with anyone that was a woman and breathing but also his emotional abuse and neglect of his wife. But unlike the viewers, the residents of Albert Square along with Angie, were yet to learn that Den had fathered a child with his daughter's best friend. And nobody at all knew, not even Den himself, that he'd also fathered a son with another woman, though it would be another seventeen years before Dennis Junior showed up in Walford.
But the more Den neglected Angie, the more she tried to dig her claws in as she refused to let go of her man - even if he didn't want her. And her desire to hang on to Den went too far when she lied about having terminal cancer and claimed she only had six months to live. Den reluctantly agreed to stay with her although he declared that if he ever found out she was lying, he'd kill her. However when he did discover the truth, after Angie had drunkenly poured out her heart to a waiter on the Orient Express, Den did far worse than end her life - he took steps to end their marriage, serving the divorce papers to a stunned Angie on Christmas Day.
This episodes proved that you didn't need over the top car chases and shoot-outs to have people on the edge of their seats - just a good storyline; great writing; strong characters and superb acting.
'Appy Christmas Ange!
2. GRANT MARRIES SHARON... AND MARK'S REVELATION (1991)
We've cheated a little bit here because this episode took place on Boxing Day rather than Christmas (there was actually no EastEnders episode on Christmas Day in 1991) so this is the closest we can get to a Christmas episode for this year. But nonetheless it is still a classic episode. There was joy in the Walford air for once during the festive season as Sharon made it down the aisle to become Mrs. Grant Mitchell. Though the wedding of the year very nearly didn't happen as Grant sprung the Boxing Day wedding as a complete surprise to a furious Sharon who hadn't been expecting to tie the knot for another month.
However after a nudge in the right direction (or the wrong direction depending on how you look at it!) from best friend Michelle Fowler, Sharon agreed to go ahead with the wedding that Grant had planned in secret and by the end of the episode the two were man and wife. The groom sported a waistcoat that future Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter would have been proud of, and Grant rather cringingly serenaded Sharon with You’ll Never Walk Alone where all the guests joined in. A rather ironic song choice considering Sharon would soon discover that marriage to Grant would be a rather lonely experience - so lonely that she would have to find comfort in the arms of her brother-in-law Phil! .
But we couldn't have too much festive cheer in this episode - oh no! Sharon and Grant's wedding storyline contrasted greatly with an anxious Mark Fowler having to break the news to his devastated parents that he had been diagnosed as HIV positive. Pauline's support of her son despite her agony was highlighted against Arthur's disgust. These scenes demonstrated that even in the nineties there was still a lack of knowledge and understanding surrounding HIV and AIDS.
3. THE RETURN OF FRANK BUTCHER (1995)
"Ooh, look who it is!" exclaimed an excited Pat Butcher to the children gathered around her front room as everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of Santa. But it wasn't Santa who walked in through the door with his Santa's sack and his cheers of 'Ho, ho ho.' Instead it was Pat's estranged husband, a grinning Frank, who walked in with a 'Hello babe' while clutching presents for his family. Frank had broken Pat's heart nearly two years earlier when he walked out on her and his children as he'd been suffering from severe depression. A desperately worried Pat did everything she could to find him but after accepting that she needed to let go for the sake of the kids and herself, she moved on with her life, even finding love with new partner, Roy Evans.
While the residents of Walford were stunned by Frank's return, his children, Ricky and Janine were overjoyed. Pat on the other hand was horrified, especially as Roy had now moved into the home she once shared with Frank. Awkward indeed!
And so began the merry-go-round that was the Pat and Frank show in which they both tried to let go and move on with new lives and new loves but they could never quite forget each other. They were each other's one true love no matter how much heartache their union caused. As Pat lay dying, she confessed to her stepdaughter Janine how much she regretted her four marriages. The only man she should have married and stayed married to, she said, was her beloved Frank.
4. GRANT CHEATS ON TIFFANY WITH LORRAINE WICKS (1998)
Most of those on the Square were skeptical of Grant and Tiffany Mitchell's marriage. There was a big age gap; they had nothing in common; they were super argumentative, and anyone could see that Grant wasn't over his first wife, Sharon. Had Tiffany not been pregnant, chances are that she never would have become the second Mrs. Mitchell.
But what Grant didn't know was that Tiffany wasn't totally sure if he was the father of her unborn child or if it was her ex-boyfriend Tony Hills. Only Lorraine Wicks, David Wicks's ex-wife and the Queen Vic's live-in barmaid, was privy to that information after Tiffany had rather foolishly confided in her. Lorraine, although sympathetic at first, was adamant that Tiffany ought to tell Grant the truth. Whether it's because she thought it was the right thing to do or because she had her eye on Grant herself, who knows! But it caused a falling out between the two women.
Then on Christmas Day came the Mitchell family's festive lunch in which an argument between a very drunk Phil Mitchell and upset Lorraine, triggered by Phil laughing at Lorraine's son Joe who suffered with his mental health, spilled over with everyone around the table having a go at someone else. For those of us watching at home, it was hilarious! But things took a very different turn when Joe revealed that he had witnessed his mum and Grant having a sly snog. A fed-up Tiffany decided she'd had enough and left to spend Christmas with her brother Simon and their friends. It was bad timing because with Tiffany out of the way, the simmering tension between Grant and Lorraine bubbled over with the two giving into their passion later that evening, marking the start of their affair...
5. ALFIE AND KAT GET MARRIED (2003)
One of those very rare Christmas EastEnders episodes where there's less doom and gloom and more festive cheer - and this time combined with the sound of wedding bells. But when the groom is Alfie Moon, you can't expect everything to run smoothly, can you? Due to issues concerning documents for his divorce from his first wife, Alfie wasn't able to finalize everything in time for his Christmas wedding to Kat, meaning that they couldn't get legally wed. But rather than confess all to Kat, in true typical Alfie style, he decided to go ahead with the wedding in order not to upset his bride-to-be, and pay one of his friends, Ray, to pose as the registrar. Alfie's logic being what it was, he believed he could have a legal ceremony with Kat once the decree absolute came through - but make Kat believe they were just having a wedding blessing. Oh, Alfie!
However Alfie's grandmother, Nanna Moon, discovered what was happening and tried to persuade Alfie to call off the sham wedding as it wasn't right to start a marriage when it was based on lies. And it looked as though Alfie's conscience had got the better off him because when the 'registrar' - hilariously played by David Walliams - asked if anyone had any objections, a horrified Kat looked on as the groom raised his hand! Alfie eventually confessed all to a tearful Kat, which was very brave of him considering he could have had Kat and all the Slaters after him!
But a Christmas miracle occurred when in the midst of all the mayhem with the guests and Kat's family awaiting an explanation, Alfie's solicitor arrived to announce that his decree absolute had come through. Once Alfie had managed to persuade the registrar, the real one this time, to abandon the carving of the Christmas turkey in order to hurry over for the wedding, it was back on and Kat finally became Mrs. Moon.
An interesting thing to note was fugitive Phil Mitchell lying in wait for the Watts family when he spotted a radiant Kat skipping across the Square to see her fiancé Alfie on the morning of their wedding. Little did Phil - or any of us for that matter - know that twenty years later it would be Phil and Kat heading down the aisle. Although instead of the glamourous red and gold ensemble that Kat wore to marry Alfie, she just stitched a pair of curtains together in order to become Mrs. Mitchell!
Like it all so far? Then check out the second part of this post!
Photos: YouTube
Blog graphics: Angel Noire
