137-532: Mo Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders , played by Edna Doré between 1988 and 1990. She is introduced as the matriarch figure of the Butcher family, Frank Butcher 's ( Mike Reid ) elderly mother. She is portrayed as a battle-axe, tough and interfering. Her most notable storyline first aired in 1990, when the character is used to portray descent into Alzheimer's disease . Doré opted to leave
274-459: A 41% share of the audience, and the BBC Three repeat saw 1.59 million viewers (7.4%) tuning in. Peggy's departure on 10 September received 10.09 million viewers for BBC One, a 38.1% share during broadcast, and the later BBC Three repeat was watched by 1.16 million viewers, attaining a 5.3% share. Additionally, the four episodes were the most-watched programmes on BBC One that week and
411-693: A censorship apparatus for the inevitability of war. Due to the BBC's advancements in shortwave radio technology, the corporation could broadcast across the world during the Second World War. Within Europe, the BBC European Service would gather intelligence and information regarding the current events of the war in English. Regional BBC workers, based on their regional geo-political climate, would then further censor
548-402: A fire to tie in with EastEnders ' transition to high definition so the set could be completely refurbished. It was reported that the fire could tie in with the departure of Peggy or one of the several other characters whose departure had previously been announced. Director Lee Salisbury said the fire, as well as Peggy's departure, would have a huge effect on several characters, especially
685-422: A fresh start, bidding her family goodbye and leaving Walford . The episodes were directed by Lee Salisbury and produced by Bryan Kirkwood . The first was written by Daran Little and the remainder by Simon Ashdown . Kirkwood intended to give Windsor an "epic and poignant" departure, as befitting her status as the ultimate EastEnders matriarch. The fire storyline was created for her exit, and to facilitate
822-579: A horse and carriage, Pearly Kings , a street party and jellied eels . Her busybody attitude results in few friendships in Walford for Mo, but she becomes close to Marge Green ( Pat Coombs ), despite belittling her. Together they participate in the Walford Brownies , but Mo (a Brown Owl) is sacked for lying about her age. She also takes on the local council over the proposed closure of the community centre . In 1990, she becomes increasingly forgetful, and
959-461: A larger brand: in 2003, BBC Choice was replaced by BBC Three , with programming for younger adults and shocking real-life documentaries, BBC News 24 became the BBC News Channel in 2008, and BBC Radio 7 became BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011, with new programmes to supplement those broadcast on Radio 4. In 2008, another channel was launched, BBC Alba , a Scottish Gaelic service. During this decade,
1096-469: A match to the alcohol-soaked floor to start a fire. It spreads quickly, causing an explosion. The customers flee the pub, Syed Masood ( Marc Elliott ) is knocked to the ground and trampled in the process but is rescued by his father Masood Ahmed ( Nitin Ganatra ) and brother Tamwar ( Himesh Patel ). Peggy tries in vain to extinguish the flames, but is forced out by her friends and family. Stacey, unaware of
1233-599: A news and information service. In 1978, BBC staff went on strike just before the Christmas, thus blocking out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio stations into one. Since the deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the 1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster Channel 4 ), especially on satellite television, cable television, and digital television services. In
1370-489: A number of additional channels and radio stations have been launched: Radio 5 was launched in 1990, as a sports and educational station, but was replaced in 1994, with BBC Radio 5 Live to become a live radio station, following the success of the Radio 4 service to cover the 1991 Gulf War . The new station would be a news and sport station. In 1997, BBC News 24 , a rolling news channel, launched on digital television services, and
1507-732: A proposal to cut 4,000 jobs, and to privatise parts of the BBC, disrupted much of the BBC's regular programming. In 2006, BBC HD launched as an experimental service and became official in December 2007. The channel broadcast HD simulcasts of programmes on BBC One , BBC Two , BBC Three and BBC Four as well as repeats of some older programmes in HD. In 2010, an HD simulcast of BBC One launched: BBC One HD . The channel uses HD versions of BBC One's schedule and uses upscaled versions of programmes not currently produced in HD. The BBC HD channel closed in March 2013 and
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#17328810009831644-448: A pushy interloper". Initial storylines centred upon clashes between Pat and Mo, with Frank trying to find a compromise between the bickering women in his life. Kingsley has commented that "gradually some sort of compromise was worked out and slowly Mo became more human." In 1990, a topical storyline was aired in which Mo was given Alzheimer's disease . During the year, Mo was shown to grow increasingly more forgetful, and after tests, Frank
1781-566: A refurbishment of The Queen Victoria set for the transition to high-definition television broadcasting. The episodes were filmed over seventeen days, more than twice the series' typical filming duration, with the interior set rebuilt on the George Lucas Stage in Elstree for the fire. A special version of the theme tune , called " Peggy's Theme ", was created for Windsor's final episode. It was released as an EP , available for download following
1918-539: A series of strikes; however, the BBC stated that the cuts were essential to move the organisation forward and concentrate on increasing the quality of programming. On 20 October 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced that the television licence fee would be frozen at its current level until the end of the current charter in 2016. The same announcement revealed that the BBC would take on
2055-596: A wedding reception for Janine Butcher ( Charlie Brooks ) and Ryan Malloy ( Neil McDermott ) to let everyone know the pub is hers again. Peggy's friend Pat Evans ( Pam St Clement ) arranges a hen party for Janine at the R&;R nightclub , but Janine feels betrayed by Pat when Peggy reveals that she said Janine's marriage would not last. Janine meets a man named Richard Monroe ( Andrew Hall ), who settles her bill. Impressed by his car, Janine leaves with him. Worried about her son Phil ( Steve McFadden ) because of his addiction to
2192-433: A will of iron and a face of stone [...] To her grandchildren she was always indulgent, but to Frank she was always the boss, a woman with a whim or iron." Kingsley surmised that "only slowly did Walford begin to see a softer side to hard bitten old Mo". Kingsley described Mo as a woman who sought status, suggesting that she wished to be "Queen Bee" when she moved to Walford and regarded Frank's new wife Pat as "nothing more than
2329-578: Is eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after flooding the B&;B, setting fire to the house, and planning to visit her brother Sidney in Bexleyheath (having forgotten that Sidney had died years previously). Frank feels unable to look after her, and sent her to live with his sister Joan, who looks after Mo in Colchester until her death on New Year's Eve 1992. After Frank dies in 2008, his solicitor reads
2466-570: Is not the father of her baby Lily . Stacey explains to Dot that Bradley knew he was not Lily's father. Dot informs Bradley's father Max ( Jake Wood ), who tells her he already knows. Concerned by Stacey telling people her secrets, he wonders if she has ceased taking medication for her bipolar disorder . He tells her that she needs to keep the truth about Lily's father and the fact that she killed Peggy's husband Archie ( Larry Lamb ) several months previously to herself (see Who Killed Archie? ). Phil tries to convince various people to let him out as he
2603-500: Is obviously of paramount importance." Reith succeeded in building a high wall against an American-style free-for-all in radio in which the goal was to attract the largest audiences and thereby secure the greatest advertising revenue. There was no paid advertising on the BBC; all the revenue came from a tax on receiving sets. Highbrow audiences, however, greatly enjoyed it. At a time when American, Australian and Canadian stations were drawing huge audiences cheering for their local teams with
2740-519: Is old now and the baby needs a strong mother. Peggy gives her jewellery to Sam to sell so she has some money. Peggy speaks to Phil, accepting responsibility for making him the way he is and offering to help him get off the drugs. He says she needs him more than he needs her and that she suffocates him. Realising that he is right, Peggy asks the rest of her family to look after him, saying emotional goodbyes. Though Phil claims not to have meant what he said, Peggy says she has to leave for his sake. As she leaves
2877-409: Is responsible for operational management and delivery of services within a framework set by the board, and is chaired by the director-general , currently Tim Davie , who is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief. The corporation has the following in-house divisions covering the BBC's output and operations: The Queen Victoria " Queen Vic Fire Week " is a group of four episodes of
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#17328810009833014-511: Is safe, and tells Ryan that Lily is his daughter. Peggy stares at the pub as it is completely destroyed. The next day, Peggy visits Stacey in hospital and asks her to confess to burning the pub, as a sentence for arson would be less than one for murder, but Stacey refuses. Peggy realises that Stacey needs to look after her daughter so she leaves. Ryan confronts Stacey at the hospital, shocked with her confession, refuses to acknowledge his daughter, and goes on his honeymoon with Janine. Peggy goes into
3151-605: Is shown to be extremely fond of her favourite grandchild Janine (Rebecca Michael) and takes a hand in persuading Frank to bring her to Walford to live with him in 1989 (Janine had previously been living with Frank's eldest daughter Clare outside Walford). Despite being protective and doting on her family, Mo is not blinkered to their faults, even in a rare moment supporting Pat in her decision to put Janine in therapy when her behaviour becomes out of control. Mo eventually warms to Pat, seeing that Frank does love her, and arranges for them to be married in great East End style, complete with
3288-524: Is suffering withdrawal symptoms, but nobody will. Janine awakens in Richard's flat and gets dressed, though they did not have sex. She returns home and tells Pat that she feels guilty, and Pat tells her not to inform Ryan. Janine fears that she is not good enough for Ryan, but he reassures her and they marry. Stacey attends their wedding reception in The Queen Victoria, leaving Lily in a bedroom upstairs. She
3425-443: Is surprised by a photograph of Peggy and Archie, and is frightened to hear Phil making noises in the living room. Stacey tells Peggy that she thinks Archie is alive and locked upstairs. Peggy assures Stacey that Archie is dead, telling her that Bradley killed him, as he was posthumously found guilty of the murder. Stacey then confesses that she killed Archie. Peggy demands that Stacey leave the pub and Stacey pleads with her not to call
3562-445: Is usually just one. The episodes took seventeen days to film, where normally crew are given eight days to film a week's worth of episodes. Between forty and forty-five members of crew were required for filming the fire episode, including assistant directors, a design department, cameras, lighting, sound, make up, costume, visual effects, fire safety officers and a stunt team consisting of a stunt co-ordinator and stunt doubles. Filming
3699-501: The Daily Record . Former executive producer of EastEnders , Michael Ferguson , has suggested that Mo having Alzheimer's in 1990 gave people permission to talk about an illness "that had been almost too distressing to discuss in public before." He alleged that viewers informed him that EastEnders had given them a shorthand "like Mo" to discuss Alzheimer's. According to writer Colin Brake,
3836-593: The Sunday Mercury wondered if the fire episode was inaccurate due to the lack of fire alarms, sprinklers and emergency lighting in the pub, but noted that the episode's use of the song " Murder on the Dancefloor ", featuring the line "Gonna burn this god damn house right down", was "clever". A writer for Heat said "We knew the Vic fire was coming, but actually seeing it was quite another thing, and knowing that it also marked
3973-626: The Archbishops of Canterbury and York came to St Paul's to broadcast to the UK and the world on the National Day of Prayer. BBC employees during the war included George Orwell who spent two years with the broadcaster. During his role as prime minister during the war, Winston Churchill delivered 33 major wartime speeches by radio, all of which were carried by the BBC within the UK. On 18 June 1940, French general Charles de Gaulle , in exile in London as
4110-577: The BBC Television Service ) started from Alexandra Palace in November 1936, alternating between an improved Baird mechanical 240-line system and the all-electronic 405-line Marconi-EMI system which had been developed by an EMI research team led by Sir Isaac Shoenberg . The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical system dropped early the following year, with the Marconi-EMI system
4247-478: The British Broadcasting Company , it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,200 are in public-sector broadcasting. The BBC was established under a royal charter , and operates under an agreement with
Mo Butcher - Misplaced Pages Continue
4384-936: The MediaCityUK development in Salford , with BBC Three moving online only in 2016, the sharing of more programmes between stations and channels, sharing of radio news bulletins, more repeats in schedules, including the whole of BBC Two daytime and for some original programming to be reduced. BBC HD was closed on 26 March 2013, and replaced with an HD simulcast of BBC Two; however, flagship programmes, other channels and full funding for CBBC and CBeebies would be retained. Numerous BBC facilities have been sold off, including New Broadcasting House on Wilmslow Road in Manchester. Many major departments have been relocated to Broadcasting House in central London and MediaCityUK in Salford, particularly since
4521-486: The Mitchell family , of which Peggy is the matriarch. Kirkwood said the fire was "one of the most spectacular stunts that EastEnders has ever seen, and it's very exciting." All four episodes were directed by Lee Salisbury, who learned three weeks before filming that he would be working on the episodes, and said he was "a bit dumbstruck" to discover he would be directing the fire episodes and Windsor's departure, but that he
4658-525: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport . Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer . The fee is set by the British Government , agreed by Parliament , and is used to fund
4795-514: The 2025–26 season of the Women's Super League campaign. The BBC is a statutory corporation , independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen from April 2017 by the BBC Board and regulated by Ofcom . The chairman is Samir Shah. The BBC is a state owned public broadcasting company and operates under a royal charter . The charter is the constitutional basis for
4932-578: The BBC soap opera EastEnders , broadcast between 6 and 10 September 2010 on BBC One . The episodes included a fire at The Queen Victoria public house , also known as The Queen Vic or The Vic, and the departure of the character Peggy Mitchell , portrayed by Barbara Windsor , who left the series after sixteen years in the role. During the episodes, Peggy—the pub landlady—has her crack cocaine -addicted son Phil ( Steve McFadden ) imprisoned in The Queen Victoria, forcing him to go cold turkey . She later learns that her deceased husband Archie ( Larry Lamb )
5069-467: The BBC announced a BBC News savings target of £80 million per year by 2022, involving about 520 staff reductions. The BBC's director of news and current affairs Fran Unsworth said there would be further moves toward digital broadcasting, in part to attract back a youth audience, and more pooling of reporters to stop separate teams covering the same news. In 2020, the BBC reported a £119 million deficit because of delays to cost reduction plans, and
5206-565: The BBC is subject to an additional 'Agreement' between it and the Culture Secretary , and that its operating licence is to be set by Ofcom, an external regulatory body . It used to be that the Home Secretary be departmental to both Agreement as well as Licence, and regulatory duties fall to the BBC Trust , but the 2017 charter changed those 2007 arrangements. The charter, too, outlines
5343-791: The BBC released minutes of the board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation. Unlike the other departments of the BBC, the BBC World Service was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office . The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. A strike in 2005 by more than 11,000 BBC workers, over
5480-440: The BBC suddenly became the primary source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position. On the one hand Reith was acutely aware that the government might exercise its right to commandeer the BBC at any time as a mouthpiece of the government if the BBC were to step out of line, but on the other he was anxious to maintain public trust by appearing to be acting independently. The government
5617-477: The BBC was granted sufficient leeway to pursue the government's objectives largely in a manner of its own choosing. Supporters of the strike nicknamed the BBC the BFC for British Falsehood Company. Reith personally announced the end of the strike which he marked by reciting from Blake's " Jerusalem " signifying that England had been saved. While the BBC tends to characterise its coverage of the general strike by emphasising
Mo Butcher - Misplaced Pages Continue
5754-531: The BBC", was priced at tuppence (two pence ) on newsstands, and quickly sold out its run of a quarter of a million copies. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee. By now, the BBC, under Reith's leadership, had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified (monopoly) broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit
5891-459: The BBC's airwaves. In 1937, a MI5 security officer was given a permanent office within the organisation. This officer would examine the files of potential political subversives and mark the files of those deemed a security risk to the organisation, blacklisting them. This was often done on spurious grounds; even so, the practice would continue and expand during the years of the Cold War. There
6028-535: The BBC's censorship office, which surveilled and edited American coverage of British affairs. By 1940, across all BBC broadcasts, music by composers from enemy nations was censored. In total, 99 German, 38 Austrian and 38 Italian composers were censored. The BBC argued that like the Italian or German languages, listeners would be irritated by the inclusion of enemy composers. Any potential broadcasters said to have pacifist, communist or fascist ideologies were not allowed on
6165-446: The BBC's international 24-hour English-language news services BBC News , and from BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements in business. Since its formation in 1922, the BBC has played a prominent role in British life and culture. It is sometimes informally referred to as
6302-663: The BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian . Some of the BBC's revenue comes from its commercial subsidiary BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide ), which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes
6439-510: The BBC, and sets out the BBC's Object, Mission and Public Purposes. It emphasises public service , (limited) editorial independence , prohibits advertising on domestic services and proclaims the BBC is to "seek to avoid adverse impacts on competition which are not necessary for the effective fulfilment of the Mission and the promotion of the Public Purposes". The charter also sets out that
6576-680: The Beeb or Auntie . In 1923 it launched Radio Times (subtitled "The official organ of the BBC"), the first broadcast listings magazine; the 1988 Christmas edition sold 11 million copies, the biggest-selling edition of any British magazine in history. Britain's first live public broadcast was made from the factory of Marconi Company in Chelmsford in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mail ' s Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe and featured
6713-575: The British government's asylum policy on social media. Lineker was suspended from his position on Match of the Day before being re-instated after receiving overwhelming support from his colleagues. The scandal was made worse due to the connections between BBC's chairman, Richard Sharp, and the Conservative Party. In April 2023, Richard Sharp resigned as chairman after a report found he did not disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest in his role in
6850-500: The CBBC Channel and CBeebies Channel. In addition to the television channels, new digital radio stations were created: 1Xtra , 6 Music and Radio 4 Extra . BBC 1Xtra was a sister station to Radio 1 and specialised in modern black music, BBC 6 Music specialised in alternative music genres and BBC7 specialised in archive, speech and children's programming. The following few years resulted in repositioning of some channels to conform to
6987-676: The Corporation's governance and regulatory arrangements as a statutory corporation, including the role and composition of the BBC Board. The current Charter began on 1 January 2017 and ends on 31 December 2027; the Agreement being coterminous. The BBC Board was formed in April 2017. It replaced the previous governing body, the BBC Trust, which itself had replaced the board of governors in 2007. The board sets
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#17328810009837124-553: The Friday episode was the second most-watched on all channels. The fire and Peggy's exit episodes garnered a mixed reception by critics. Liam Tucker, founder of website Watch With Mothers, compared the fire episode to the film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and admired the special effects and performances of the episode, but said that it seemed unlikely that everyone would have escaped safely, especially Stacey and her baby. Roz Laws from
7261-642: The GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee. The committee recommended a short-term reorganisation of licence fees with improved enforcement in order to address the BBC's immediate financial distress, and an increased share of the licence revenue split between it and the GPO. This was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee to fund broadcasts. The BBC's broadcasting monopoly
7398-498: The GPO proposed that it would issue a single broadcasting licence to a company jointly owned by a consortium of leading wireless receiver manufacturers, to be known as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd , which was formed on 18 October 1922. John Reith , a Scottish Calvinist , was appointed its general manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. L. Stanton Jefferies
7535-498: The Prime Minister, maintained the censorship of editorial opinions on public policy, but allowed the BBC to address matters of religious, political or industrial controversy. The resulting political "talk series", designed to inform England on political issues, were criticised by members of parliament, including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Sir Austen Chamberlain . Those who opposed these chats claimed that they silence
7672-492: The UK's first Independent local radio station, LBC came on-air in the London area. As a result of the Pilkington Committee report of 1962, in which the BBC was praised for the quality and range of its output, and ITV was very heavily criticised for not providing enough quality programming, the decision was taken to award the BBC a second television channel, BBC2 , in 1964, renaming the existing service BBC1 . BBC2 used
7809-518: The Vic". Narrated by Shane Richie , the documentary looked at ten moments from Peggy's time in the show that made her a British icon. According to overnight figures, it received ratings of 4.49 million viewers. Official ratings raised the figure to 4.62 million. A documentary looking at the filming of the fire was broadcast on 24 September 2010 on BBC Three . It received 800,000 viewers. The 6 September episode, featuring Janine's hen party, attracted 9.54 million viewers on BBC One. It
7946-622: The air and forced the British government finally to regulate radio services to permit nationally based advertising-financed services. In response, the BBC reorganised and renamed their radio channels. On 30 September 1967, the Light Programme was split into Radio 1 offering continuous "Popular" music and Radio 2 more "Easy Listening". The "Third" programme became Radio 3 offering classical music and cultural programming. The Home Service became Radio 4 offering news, and non-musical content such as quiz shows, readings, dramas and plays. As well as
8083-458: The broadcast of baseball, rugby and hockey, the BBC emphasised service for a national rather than a regional audience. Boat races were well covered along with tennis and horse racing, but the BBC was reluctant to spend its severely limited air time on long football or cricket games, regardless of their popularity. John Reith and the BBC, with support from the Crown , determined the universal needs of
8220-606: The challenge of better reflecting and representing a changing UK". Since 2017, the BBC has also funded the Local Democracy Reporting Service , with up to 165 journalists employed by independent news organisations to report on local democracy issues on a pooled basis. In 2016, the BBC Director General Tony Hall announced a savings target of £800 million per year by 2021, which is about 23% of annual licence fee revenue. Having to take on
8357-424: The character Peggy Mitchell was announced. The show's executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood, said it was a massive honour for him to be responsible for the character's exit, but explained that as she has become the "quintessential matriarch of the show", they had to get the exit storyline right, which he said would be "both epic and poignant". In June 2010, it was announced that The Queen Victoria would be destroyed in
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#17328810009838494-412: The closure of BBC Television Centre in March 2013. On 16 February 2016, the BBC Three television service was discontinued and replaced by a digital outlet under the same name, targeting its young adult audience with web series and other content. Under the new royal charter instituted in 2017, the corporation must publish an annual report to Ofcom, outlining its plans and public service obligations for
8631-408: The corporation began to sell off a number of its operational divisions to private owners; BBC Broadcast was spun off as a separate company in 2002, and in 2005, it was sold off to Australian -based Macquarie Capital Alliance Group and Macquarie Group Limited and rebranded Red Bee Media . The BBC's IT , telephony and broadcast technology were brought together as BBC Technology Ltd in 2001, and
8768-553: The division was later sold to the German company Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS). SIS was subsequently acquired from Siemens by the French company Atos . Further divestments included BBC Books (sold to Random House in 2006); BBC Outside Broadcasts Ltd (sold in 2008 to Satellite Information Services ); Costumes and Wigs (stock sold in 2008 to Angels Costumes ); and BBC Magazines (sold to Immediate Media Company in 2011). After
8905-447: The drug crack cocaine , Peggy enlists the help of Minty Peterson ( Cliff Parisi ) and Billy Mitchell ( Perry Fenwick ) to abduct him from the flat he is living in. They bring him back to The Queen Vic, locking him in the living room upstairs, where the windows have been boarded up to stop him from escaping. Stacey Branning ( Lacey Turner ) reveals to Dot Branning ( June Brown ) that her deceased husband Bradley ( Charlie Clements )
9042-604: The end of an era with the departure of Barbra [ sic ] Windsor made it that much more emotional." A reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post wrote "Never in the history of soap fires, of which there have of course been legion, have so many hilariously overindulgent explosions been captured on camera." The People deemed the lack of deaths "a wasted opportunity." Writing for entertainment news website Digital Spy , Daniel Kilkelly said Peggy's final episode featured "plenty of poignant moments [...]—not least
9179-475: The episode, and features as the lead track on composer Simon May 's album The Simon May Collection . The episodes were accompanied by two documentaries on BBC Three , one following the filming of the fire, and the other examining ten of Peggy's most iconic moments in EastEnders . Viewership ranged from 8.60–10.09 million, with no episode watched by less than a third of the total viewing audience. They were
9316-437: The events, heads upstairs to Lily and becomes trapped. She uses the crowbar to smash a boarded-up window and hands Lily over to Ryan, who has climbed a ladder. Peggy realises Phil is still inside and returns to the building with Billy. They find him trapped beneath a wooden beam, and are able to drag him out to safety. Ryan goes back up the ladder and carries an unconscious Stacey out. Stacey regains consciousness and sees that Lily
9453-405: The explosion happened, she "was actually blown off my feet and landed on Steve McFadden who ended up with bruised ribs". Windsor's final episode on 10 September 2010 did not end with the usual EastEnders theme tune . Instead the occasionally used " Julia's Theme ", a piano version of the theme, was reworked specially for the broadcast, and given the name "Peggy's Theme". The theme was created by
9590-407: The facilitation of a loan to Prime Minister Boris Johnson . Dame Elan Closs Stephens was appointed as acting chairwoman on 27 June 2023, and she would lead the BBC board for a year or until a new permanent chair has been appointed. Samir Shah was subsequently appointed with effect from 4 March 2024. In October 2024 it was announced that the BBC along with Sky Sports signed a deal to broadcast
9727-404: The famous Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba . The Melba broadcast caught the people's imagination and marked a turning point in the British public's attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, the pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among
9864-447: The first fully electronic television system in the world to be used in regular broadcasting. The success of broadcasting provoked animosities between the BBC and well-established media such as theatres, concert halls and the recording industry. By 1929, the BBC complained that the agents of many comedians refused to sign contracts for broadcasting, because they feared it harmed the artist "by making his material stale" and that it "reduces
10001-542: The flames as "like a very sooty clockwork mouse". James McCarthy of Welsh newspaper Western Mail said Windsor's "final emotional scene will doubtless remain the stuff of EastEnders ' legend for years to come," and Jim Shelley from the Daily Mirror said "It was a good way to go." However, Shelley's colleague Polly Hudson said Peggy's exit was a "non event", as "Peggy just left, nonsensically and at complete odds with everything we've learnt about her character over
10138-429: The following year, BBC Choice was launched as the third general entertainment channel from the BBC. The BBC also purchased The Parliamentary Channel, which was renamed BBC Parliament . In 1999, BBC Knowledge launched as a multimedia channel, with services available on the newly launched BBC Text digital teletext service (later rebranded as BBC Red Button), and on BBC Online . The channel had an educational aim, which
10275-453: The forthcoming ending of the remaining £253 million funding towards pensioner licence fees would increase financial pressures. In January 2021, it was reported that former banker Richard Sharp would succeed David Clementi , as chairman, when he stepped down in February. In March 2023, the BBC was at the centre of a political row with football pundit Gary Lineker , after he criticised
10412-499: The four national channels, a series of local BBC radio stations were established in 1967, including Radio London . In 1969, the BBC Enterprises department was formed to exploit BBC brands and programmes for commercial spin-off products. In 1979, it became a wholly owned limited company, BBC Enterprises Ltd. In 1974, the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax , was introduced, created initially to provide subtitling, but developed into
10549-612: The full cost of running the BBC World Service and the BBC Monitoring service from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and partially finance the Welsh broadcaster S4C . Further cuts were announced on 6 October 2011, so the BBC could reach a total reduction in their budget of 20%, following the licence fee freeze in October 2010, which included cutting staff by 2,000 and sending a further 1,000 to
10686-633: The government. Throughout the 1930s, political broadcasts had been closely monitored by the BBC. In 1935, the BBC censored the broadcasts of Oswald Mosley and Harry Pollitt . Mosley was a leader of the British Union of Fascists , and Pollitt a leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain . They had been contracted to provide a series of five broadcasts on their parties' politics. The BBC, in conjunction with The Foreign Office of Britain, first suspended this series and ultimately cancelled it without
10823-405: The higher resolution 625-line standard which had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from 1 July 1967 and was joined by BBC1 and ITV on 15 November 1969. The 405-line VHF transmissions of BBC1 (and ITV) were continued for compatibility with older television receivers until 1985. Starting in 1964, a series of pirate radio stations (starting with Radio Caroline ) came on
10960-422: The house, Phil begins to follow her, but she sends him back inside. She looks at the pub and walks out of Walford . "I'll be so sad to leave Peggy behind. EastEnders has been wonderful to me and it's no secret that it changed my life all of those years ago." —Barbara Windsor on leaving EastEnders In October 2009, actress Barbara Windsor's decision to leave EastEnders after sixteen years of portraying
11097-471: The ladder, several layers of cardboard boxes were stacked on the ground for the stunt doubles to fall onto. For filming the final explosion scene, all the actors whose characters were involved were filmed separately for their reactions. The explosion had to be delayed due to a power failure at Elstree Studios, two minutes before the explosion was due to be set off, which also affected a live broadcast of Big Brother . The power cut lasted two hours and filming
11234-522: The last 15 years." In February 2011, the fire was nominated for 'Best Stunt' at the 2011 All About Soap Bubble Awards. In May, it was nominated for 'Spectacular Scene of the Year' at the 2011 British Soap Awards . In 2015, Inside Soap listed the Queen Vic fire as their 9th favourite soap opera stunt of all time, saying it was "just smoke and mirrors—we wanted proper carnage!" The London Fire Brigade used
11371-534: The late 1980s, the BBC began a process of divestment by spinning off and selling parts of its organisation. In 1988, it sold off the Hulton Press Library, a photographic archive which had been acquired from the Picture Post magazine by the BBC in 1957. The archive was sold to Brian Deutsch and is now owned by Getty Images . In 1987, the BBC decided to centralize its operations by the management team with
11508-399: The lead track on the album The Simon May Collection and was also released as an EP available to download immediately after the episode. He revealed: "All the actors and crew had made a really special couple of shows. My main purpose was to bring something to the table, and I didn't think it would be a single. [...] But when everybody heard the track they said 'you've got to release that as
11645-665: The leader of the Free French, made a speech, broadcast by the BBC, urging the French people not to capitulate to the Nazis. In October 1940, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret made their first radio broadcast for the BBC's Children's Hour , addressing other children who had been evacuated from cities. In 1938, John Reith and the Government of the United Kingdom , specifically the Ministry of Information which had been set up for WWII, designed
11782-535: The loss-making consortium, and Reith was keen that the BBC be seen as a public service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 United Kingdom general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production, and with restrictions on news bulletins waived,
11919-754: The material their broadcasts would cover. Nothing was to be added outside the preordained news items. For example, the BBC Polish Service was heavily censored due to fears of jeopardising relations with the Soviet Union . Controversial topics, i.e. the contested Polish and Soviet border, the deportation of Polish citizens, the arrests of Polish Home Army members and the Katyn massacre , were not included in Polish broadcasts. American radio broadcasts were broadcast across Europe on BBC channels. This material also passed through
12056-519: The misinterpretation of the movement. Brake has suggested that the mishap was a "salutary lesson to those [...] in the script department to be very vigilant in ensuring, as far as possible, that no group or individual was offended by an unintentional slight in a script." BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London , England. Originally established in 1922 as
12193-586: The modest, church-going elderly or a member of the Clergy . Until 1928, entertainers broadcasting on the BBC, both singers and "talkers" were expected to avoid biblical quotations, Clerical impersonations and references, references to drink or Prohibition in the United States , vulgar and doubtful matter and political allusions. The BBC excluded popular foreign music and musicians from its broadcasts, while promoting British alternatives. On 5 March 1928, Stanley Baldwin,
12330-502: The most watched programmes on BBC One in the week of broadcast, and the Friday episode was the second-most watched show across all channels. The episodes received a mixed response from critics. Several highlighted inaccuracies and implausibilities in the storyline, including the lack of fire alarms and sprinklers in the pub. Others focussed on Peggy's departure, with James McCarthy of the Western Mail writing that it would "doubtless remain
12467-413: The new corporation adopted the coat of arms , including the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation". British radio audiences had little choice apart from the upscale programming of the BBC. Reith, an intensely moralistic executive, was in full charge. His goal was to broadcast "All that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement.... The preservation of a high moral tone
12604-473: The next year. In its 2017–18 report, released July 2017, the BBC announced plans to "re-invent" its output to better compete against commercial streaming services such as Netflix . These plans included increasing the diversity of its content on television and radio, a major increase in investments towards digital children's content, and plans to make larger investments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to "rise to
12741-413: The notice of the public. Less radical politicians faced similar censorship. In 1938, Winston Churchill proposed a series of talks regarding British domestic and foreign politics and affairs but was similarly censored. The censorship of political discourse by the BBC was a precursor to the total shutdown of political debate that manifested over the BBC's wartime airwaves. The Foreign Office maintained that
12878-541: The opinions of those in Parliament who are not nominated by Party Leaders or Party Whips, thus stifling independent, non-official views. In October 1932, the policemen of the Metropolitan Police Federation marched in protest at a proposed pay cut. Fearing dissent within the police force and public support for the movement, the BBC censored its coverage of the events, only broadcasting official statements from
13015-424: The original theme tune composer, Simon May , who was reportedly thrilled to write the theme tune for Windsor. He added more piano to the theme and gave it a "more melancholy feel". May composed the theme not knowing what would happen on screen, but when Kirkwood brought a rough edit of the episode, May noted that the music fitted perfectly first time, saying it was "remarkable and very moving." The theme features as
13152-407: The people of Britain and broadcast content according to these perceived standards. Reith effectively censored anything that he felt would be harmful, directly or indirectly. While recounting his time with the BBC in 1935, Raymond Postgate claims that BBC broadcasters were made to submit a draft of their potential broadcast for approval. It was expected that they tailored their content to accommodate
13289-438: The police for Lily's sake. She attempts to tell Ryan that he is Lily's father, but is interrupted by Pat, who thinks Stacey is trying to seduce him and slaps her. Phil smashes through the door using a crowbar that was left in the room. He starts taking cash and drinking alcohol, and interrupts Peggy before she can call the police about Stacey. They argue, with Phil accusing Peggy of loving the pub more than she loves him and throwing
13426-435: The positive impression created by its balanced coverage of the views of government and strikers, Seaton has characterised the episode as the invention of "modern propaganda in its British form". Reith argued that trust gained by 'authentic impartial news' could then be used. Impartial news was not necessarily an end in itself. The BBC did well out of the crisis, which cemented a national audience for its broadcasting, and it
13563-476: The post, with a note saying 'We regret, etc.'" In the 1930s music broadcasts also enjoyed great popularity, for example the friendly and wide-ranging BBC Theatre Organ broadcasts at St George's Hall , London by Reginald Foort , who held the official role of BBC Staff Theatre Organist from 1936 to 1938. Television broadcasting was suspended from 1 September 1939 to 7 June 1946, during the World War II , and it
13700-547: The pub and looks around as she remembers events from her time there. She then tells Billy she wants to take Phil away to make a fresh start and to protect him. Her niece Ronnie ( Samantha Womack ) tells Peggy she is five months pregnant and asks Peggy not to leave as she is like a mother to her. Peggy tells Ronnie to give her real mother, Glenda ( Glynis Barber ), another chance. Peggy's daughter Sam ( Danniella Westbrook ) does not want her to leave as Peggy promised to look after Sam's baby Richard for her, however, Peggy says she
13837-459: The public should not be aware of their role in the censorship. From 1935 to 1939, the BBC also attempted to unite the British Empire's radio waves, sending staff to Egypt, Palestine , Newfoundland , Jamaica, India, Canada and South Africa. Reith personally visited South Africa, lobbying for state-run radio programmes which was accepted by South African Parliament in 1936. A similar programme
13974-423: The radio and television divisions joining forces together for the first time, the activities of the news and currents departments and coordinated jointly under the new directorate. During the 1990s, this process continued with the separation of certain operational arms of the corporation into autonomous but wholly owned subsidiaries , with the aim of generating additional revenue for programme-making. BBC Enterprises
14111-443: The sales of OBs and costumes, the remainder of BBC Resources was reorganised as BBC Studios and Post Production , which continues today as a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC. The 2004 Hutton Inquiry and the subsequent report raised questions about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led to resignations of senior management members at the time including the then Director General, Greg Dyke . In January 2007,
14248-456: The scene which saw Peggy standing in the destroyed Queen Vic and appearing completely devastated." Gareth McLean from The Guardian said the use of "Peggy's Theme" was a "suitably sentimental sendoff" for the character, but said that "in hindsight, Peggy should have left Walford three or four years ago, her character trapped in a cycle of increasingly samey stories that reduced her to a parody of her former self", describing her efforts to put out
14385-811: The serial that same year; Mo was written out of the soap making her last appearance in November. Mo was killed off in 1992, but her death was off-screen. Mo was born in Walthamstow in 1921. During her teenage years she married Chike Butcher who worked for London Transport . Chike got promoted to transport inspector at the age of forty-five, and Mo felt she had achieved status. They had two children, Frank ( Mike Reid ) and Joan ( Mary Miller ). Following Chike's death, Mo never remarried; she busied herself with caring for Frank's children, particularly when their mother June died in 1987. Mo moves to Albert Square in September 1988 to be near Frank and his family. She disapproves of
14522-470: The single because it's something special'." A number of trailers were released to television in August 2010 to promote Peggy's departure from the series, and a section on the official EastEnders website was dedicated to the character, allowing fans to "heart Peggy". The 10 September episode was followed by a twenty-minute episode of documentary programme EastEnders Revealed titled "Peggy Mitchell: Queen of
14659-407: The soap's bosses had to find a new family to inhabit the Vic. Pat Wicks ( Pam St Clement ) and her boyfriend Frank Butcher ( Mike Reid ) were instilled as the new landlords, and along with Frank came his family, including his mother Mo ( Edna Doré ), who moved to Walford in September. Mo was portrayed as a battle-axe. Author Hilary Kingsley has described Mo as a "tough, interfering busybody with
14796-460: The staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office (GPO), was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests and moved to rescind its ban in the wake of a petition by 63 wireless societies with over 3,000 members. Anxious to avoid the same chaotic expansion experienced in the United States,
14933-435: The storyline had to be curtailed earlier than they would have liked due to Doré's desire to leave. Commenting on her time in the soap and the reasons for her departure in 1999, Doré said, "I shall always be grateful to EastEnders. It gave me recognition. It was a marvellous opportunity to be known everywhere, although it totally changes your life. For a while I couldn't even go shopping without being stopped. But compared with
15070-619: The storyline involving Mo and the unruly Brownies was intended to be fun, but references to Brownies behaving badly caused great offence to the Brownie movement, and an official complaint was made and upheld. The broadcasting commission said the EastEnders Brownie episodes "came near to parody," were unfair to the Brownies and harmed the Girl Guides ' image. The BBC had to make a public apology for
15207-427: The strategy for the corporation, assesses the performance of the BBC's executive board in delivering the BBC's services, and appoints the director-general. Ofcom is responsible for the regulation of the BBC. The board consists of the following members: The executive committee is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the broadcaster. Consisting of senior managers of the BBC, the committee meets once per month and
15344-412: The studio. Controlled gas pipes were used to shoot jets of flames and a header was specially built to collapse on Phil. Salisbury had to ensure that the fire for the interior scenes matched that of the already-filmed exterior scenes. In 2016, Windsor said that the Queen Vic fire was her favourite stunt to film since joining the cast in 1994. She called it her " Joan of Arc moment" and revealed that when
15481-550: The stuff of EastEnders ' legend for years to come," and Jim Shelley calling it "a good way to go." In contrast, the Daily Mirror 's Polly Hudson found Peggy's exit a nonsensical "non event", and Gareth McLean of The Guardian deemed it "suitably sentimental", but several years overdue. The fire was nominated in the "Best Stunt" category at the 2011 All About Soap Bubble Awards. Peggy Mitchell ( Barbara Windsor ), who has just regained her status as landlady of The Queen Victoria public house , decides to throw
15618-479: The theatre or film it was lacking in job satisfaction because it was so quick. I did it for a couple of years. I didn't want to stay so long that I wouldn't be considered for other parts." Mo was killed off-screen in 1992, succumbing to Alzheimer's; her death was confirmed on-screen in the New Year's Eve episode of 1992. Doré was at a New Year's Eve party when she discovered her character's fate. She commented in 2001, "I
15755-563: The value of the artist as a visible music-hall performer". On the other hand, the BBC was "keenly interested" in a cooperation with the recording companies who "in recent years ... have not been slow to make records of singers, orchestras, dance bands, etc. who have already proved their power to achieve popularity by wireless." Radio plays were so popular that the BBC had received 6,000 manuscripts by 1929, most of them written for stage and of little value for broadcasting: "Day in and day out, manuscripts come in, and nearly all go out again through
15892-892: The way Frank is raising his teenage children Ricky ( Sid Owen ) and Diane ( Sophie Lawrence ) and immediately clashes with his fiancée Pat Wicks ( Pam St. Clement ), bringing up her past reputation as a prostitute and threatening to put a halt to their impending marriage. During her time in Walford Mo has an array of jobs; she first works in the kitchens of The Queen Victoria , then on Arthur Fowler 's ( Bill Treacher ) fruit and veg stall and then in Ali Osman 's ( Nejdet Salih ) café. However all her jobs come to an end due to her interference, causing her employers no end of grief. Fiercely loyal to her family, Mo sticks by her son through his financial woes and tries her best to help him out by offering Frank her late husband Chike's life insurance money. She
16029-572: The will in The Vic and presents Janine with Mo's diary from 1990, which is left to her as per Frank's instructions. 1988 was a year of change on-screen in EastEnders . Since the show's inception in 1985 and up until 1988, one of the soap's main focal points, The Queen Victoria (The Vic) public house , had been inhabited by the Watts family; however, actors Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson who played landlords Den and Angie Watts resigned in 1988, meaning
16166-412: The writer [Ashdown] and myself also wanted it to be an episode where things kept happening and the audience would keep thinking, 'Wow, that must have been the explosion' or 'That must have been the stunt'. But more things keep happening and happening, and I think that's what people will find really shocking." The production team had several production meetings for the weeks' worth of episodes, whereas there
16303-509: The £700 million cost for free TV licences for the over-75 pensioners, and rapid inflation in drama and sport coverage costs, was given as the reason. Duplication of management and content spending would be reduced, and there would be a review of BBC News . In September 2019, the BBC launched the Trusted News Initiative to work with news and social media companies to combat disinformation about national elections. In 2020,
16440-442: Was a widely reported urban myth that, upon resumption of the BBC television service after the war, announcer Leslie Mitchell started by saying, "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted ..." In fact, the first person to appear when transmission resumed was Jasmine Bligh and the words said were "Good afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh ... ?" The European Broadcasting Union
16577-495: Was adopted in Canada. Through collaboration with these state-run broadcasting centres, Reith left a legacy of cultural influence across the empire of Great Britain with his departure from the corporation in 1938. Experimental television broadcasts were started in 1929, using an electromechanical 30-line system developed by John Logie Baird . Limited regular broadcasts using this system began in 1932, and an expanded service (now named
16714-427: Was at a New Year's Eve party when someone came up to me and said, 'Have you seen, you've been killed off?' And I heaved a sigh of relief and had another drink. Still I can't complain. I had a good time at EastEnders and the one advantage of having been in a soap is that I get far better paid for my roles now." Edna Doré's portrayal of Mo's descent into Alzheimer's has been described as "deeply moving" by John Millar of
16851-513: Was divided on how to handle the BBC, but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PM's own. Although Winston Churchill in particular wanted to commandeer the BBC to use it "to the best possible advantage", Reith wrote that Stanley Baldwin 's government wanted to be able to say "that they did not commandeer [the BBC], but they know that they can trust us not to be really impartial". Thus
16988-416: Was done with four television cameras, a steadicam and a dolly . The exterior fire scenes were filmed first, in five night shoots lasting until 4 a.m., and the real exterior set was burnt. Safety was the top priority for the fire scenes, and fire safety advisors ensured all cast and crew were protected. Stunt doubles wore flame-proof gel on their faces and for the scene where Ryan and Stacey fall from
17125-640: Was followed by the Government's acceptance of the recommendation made by the Crawford Committee (1925–26) that the British Broadcasting Company be replaced by a non-commercial, Crown-chartered organisation: the British Broadcasting Corporation. The British Broadcasting Corporation came into existence on 1 January 1927, and Reith – newly knighted – was appointed its first director general. To represent its purpose and (stated) values,
17262-474: Was formed on 12 February 1950, in Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations. Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955, with the commercial and independently operated television network of Independent Television (ITV) . However, the BBC monopoly on radio services would persist until 8 October 1973 when under the control of the newly renamed Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA),
17399-475: Was further delayed due to rain. Despite the delay, the scenes were completed on schedule. Salisbury noted that the demise of such an iconic set as The Queen Victoria left several cast members in tears. The interior set of The Queen Victoria pub was taken apart and rebuilt exactly to scale on the George Lucas Stage, a fire stage at Elstree Film Studios, for interior scenes, filmed over four days. The interior set took seven weeks to build and two weeks to get into
17536-559: Was informed that Mo was suffering with dementia. The storyline was scripted to show the effects on a family when a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's. By November that year, Mo was in advanced stages of mental deterioration. It was at this stage that the character was written out of EastEnders , Edna Doré having decided to end her contract. On-screen, Mo was sent to live with her daughter in Colchester, having convinced herself that Frank wanted to kill her. Writer Colin Brake has suggested that
17673-504: Was its first director of music. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved domestic manufacturers. To this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to "inform, educate and entertain". The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate. Set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between
17810-575: Was left to BBC Radio broadcasters such as Reginald Foort to keep the nation's spirits up. The BBC moved most of its radio operations out of London, initially to Bristol , and then to Bedford . Concerts were broadcast from the Bedford Corn Exchange ; the Trinity Chapel in St Paul's Church, Bedford was the studio for the daily service from 1941 to 1945, and, in the darkest days of the war in 1941,
17947-486: Was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, as was the prohibition on advertising. To avoid competition with newspapers, Fleet Street persuaded the government to ban news bulletins before 7 pm and the BBC was required to source all news from external wire services. The Radio Times , the world's first and longest-running radio and television listings magazine, was launched by Reith in September 1923. The first edition, subtitled "The official organ of
18084-400: Was modified later on in its life to offer documentaries. In 2002, several television and radio channels were reorganised. BBC Knowledge was replaced by BBC Four and became the BBC's arts and documentaries channel. CBBC , which had been a programming strand as Children's BBC since 1985, was split into CBBC and CBeebies , for younger children, with both new services getting a digital channel:
18221-442: Was murdered by the person he raped: Stacey Branning ( Lacey Turner ). Before she can report Stacey to the police, Phil escapes and sets the pub on fire. Stacey and her infant daughter Lily are trapped inside, but are rescued by her lover Ryan Malloy ( Neil McDermott ) – prompting Stacey to reveal to him that he is Lily's father. In light of the incident, Peggy decides against reporting Stacey for Lily's sake. She then plans to make
18358-504: Was proud to do so. He said his main aim for the fire was to show the fear, panic and pandemonium that comes when a fire starts and quickly spreads. He wanted the story to be character-led rather than led by the fire, saying that the fire "almost becomes a backdrop". Salisbury said it was hard to make the fire look real because "you can't actually set fire to stuff". As the fire lasted for some time, characters' scenes could be divided up into small sections. Salisbury commented: "Bryan Kirkwood,
18495-457: Was reorganised and relaunched in 1995, as BBC Worldwide Ltd. In 1998, BBC studios, outside broadcasts, post production, design, costumes and wigs were spun off into BBC Resources Ltd. The BBC Research & Development has played a major part in the development of broadcasting and recording techniques. The BBC was also responsible for the development of the NICAM stereo standard. In recent decades,
18632-479: Was replaced by BBC Two HD in the same month. On 18 October 2007, BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced a controversial plan to make major cuts and reduce the size of the BBC as an organisation. The plans included a reduction in posts of 2,500; including 1,800 redundancies, consolidating news operations, reducing programming output by 10% and selling off the flagship Television Centre building in London. These plans were fiercely opposed by unions, who threatened
18769-476: Was watched by 36.1% of television viewers during its original broadcast. The later BBC Three repeat was viewed by 840,000 people, attaining a 3.9% share of the audience during broadcast. The 7 September episode, in which Stacey confessed to Peggy that she killed Archie, was viewed by 8.60 million people on BBC One and 990,000 on BBC Three, with audience shares of 34.9% and 4.7% respectively. The fire episode on 9 September received 9.40 million viewers and
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