Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: bbc, Boaty McBoatface, daleks, doctor who, EastEnders, interactive televisions, live television

EastEnders Is Doing It Live – And It's Letting Viewers Join In

EastEnders will broadcast a live episode in which TV audiences in the UK will vote on the ending... but we're more interested in the options.

EastEnders is going live for a full episode as part of its 40th-anniversary celebration, and this time, the audience will have the power to decide the outcome of one storyline. Yes, that will go well. Is this going to be like when DC Comics let readers vote for whether Robin dies? This should be fun. The episode will broadcast live from BBC Elstree Centre in February, so that might help take the British public's mind off possibly freezing to death in winter when pensioners' heating allowance is cut by the government.

In a first on EastEnders, the anniversary week will have an added twist to include an interactive element where the viewers will be able to choose their desired outcome of a love story. Whilst those in question currently remain under wraps, their fate will remain firmly in the viewers' hands, and the outcome will play out during the live episode as the cast and crew will be set to adapt the scene to portray whichever result is voted for by the public.

EastEnders Goes Interactive – Is It Really Such a Good Idea?

Chris Clenshaw, Executive Producer, says of the live episode: "The 40th anniversary is a milestone event for EastEnders, and we have been planning this week for a long time to ensure that it's a week full of drama and surprises. In fact, as our regular audience will know, we have already seen the return of familiar faces and have many more nods to our history to come, which will all build up to our momentous anniversary week. This time, as well as going live, we are adding an extra twist, and for the very first time in the history of the show and as a gift to the viewers, we are giving the audience the power to have their say in choosing the outcome of one of our storylines. Whilst we're still keeping the finite details of the 40th close to our chest, I can promise that it will be an unmissable week full of shocking twists that will change Albert Square and the lives of those who live in it forever."

Limited Choices, Guys

More details on how the interactive element will work will be announced in due course, including details of the storyline and which characters' fates will be decided by a fickle viewing public's whims. Remember, it will be about the outcome of an ongoing love story plotline on EastEnders, not who lives or dies. Viewers will not get to choose whether vampires, ninjas, monkeys, or baboons invade Albert Square. They will not get to decide whether Boaty McBoatface crashes into the middle of Albert Square and takes out half the cast. The TARDIS will not appear outside the Prince Albert pub, nor will Daleks invade, which is too bad since that would be a ratings bonanza. Doctor Who crossed over with Eastenders back in the 1990s on the Children in Need special "Dimensions in Time" in one of the worst pieces of television ever produced, and it got the viewers in! And that wasn't interactive.

EastEnders first went live back in 2010 for its 25th anniversary, where it was revealed that Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) killed Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb). Hasn't another Slater sister killed another guy since? It all starts to blur over the years. EastEnders last went live for its 30th anniversary back in 2015 with a set of five episodes that all included live elements as the "Who Killed Lucy Beale" whodunit was revealed. Some of us have already forgotten who Lucy Beale was, let alone who killed her.

Eastenders streams on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and Britbox in the US. Alas, American viewers will get the episode a day later and won't have a chance to vote for who gets to smooch.

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