“Get outta my pub!”
Quote this to any British person over the age of 18 and they’ll be momentarily amused, recognizing Peggy Mitchell’s classic “EastEnders” catchphrase, and then turn to confusion. I know because I’ve seen it happen.
If you’re like most well-adjusted Americans, you’ve probably never heard of the 38-year-old BBC soap opera “EastEnders” in your life. But — I explained to the confused Danielle, a Bristol native I met during my brief stint as a cashier at a barbecue restaurant in England — I’m not like other Yanks.
The show first caught my attention this March after a user I follow on X posted about becoming obsessed with “Sukeve,” the romantic pairing of Suki Panesar and Eve Unwin on “EastEnders.” Intrigued, I perused a few YouTube clips to see what all the fuss was about.
As a fan of all things sexual repression, I immediately latched onto Suki, a middle-aged mother, wife, businesswoman and bad-bitch antagonist, played to perfection by Balvinder Sopal. Suki’s tough outer shell begins to crack when resident butch lesbian Eve, portrayed by Heather Peace, makes a move on her.
Once I was properly introduced to “Sukeve,” I was a goner. After binge-watching all of their YouTube clips, I created a BBC iPlayer account and began watching “EastEnders” episodes as they came out.
Now that I’ve been regularly streaming the show for half a year, I’ve become invested not just in Suki and Eve’s story, but in the lives of many other characters residing in Walford, the fictional London borough where “EastEnders” takes place.
I’m not the only new “EastEnders” fan on the block. I’ve recently observed many other queer both U.K. and U.. X users jump on the “Sukeve” train. Online Gen Z lesbians are just one small new faction of the “EastEnders” fandom though — according to BBC, “EastEnders” was streamed a record-breaking 366 million times on iPlayer during 2022.
A large part of the resurgence of “EastEnders,” which, according to Danielle, is a show for grannies, has to do with Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw, who took over the “EastEnders” reins in January 2022.
Clenshaw revived the soap to its former glory, bringing back classic characters like Cindy Beale and Lisa Fowler. They obtained greater popularity by recasting characters like the charming young Freddie Slater, adding more diversity to the show by expanding the Baker, Panesar and Knight families and, of course, forging extremely compelling storylines.
These changes brought new success for the show during the 2023 British Soap Awards, when it swept almost every audience choice category including Best British Soap, a title it hadn’t claimed since 2015. And, with February’s shocking flash-forward teaser of a Christmas Day episode involving six of Walford’s most important women and the body of a dead man, the buzz surrounding “EastEnders” has yet to die down.
Okay, Lina, we get it. You’re obsessed with this obscure British soap opera because of a couple of middle-aged lesbians. What’s new? Why should we care?
In The Streaming Age, it’s common for shows to get canceled after one or two seasons (and sometimes removed from their streaming service entirely — I’m glaring at you, Zaslav) for monetary reasons with little to no warning to fans or the creators themselves, leaving audiences with a myriad of unanswered questions and lingering cliffhangers.
Starting a new show these days is akin to dating as a person with commitment issues: you can’t fully invest in the characters because you’re scared that they’ll be ripped from you at any moment.
Long-running soap operas like “EastEnders” are a remedy to this problem.
Even through the worst of slumps during its almost 40-year run, “EastEnders” has maintained a loyal fanbase because of its longevity. Grannies all over the UK have been tuning in every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to catch up with their favorite Walford residents for a long time. During such an uncertain era of television, it’s comforting to know that no matter what, “EastEnders” won’t be abandoning its audience for the time being.
Lesbians are all too familiar with the show-cancellation life. Countless shows featuring lesbian storylines have been thrown to the chopping block — especially at Netflix — after one season, leaving queer viewers feeling discouraged about lesbian representation in TV.
“Sukeve” is a breath of fresh air when it comes to lesbian representation, not just because of the non-cancellable soap aspect, but also because of the characters’ demographics. Depictions of romances between middle-aged women are scarce and, on top of that, Suki’s Punjabi background and Eve’s butch expression make this pairing even more interesting and exciting.
I get that “EastEnders” and “Sukeve” aren’t for everybody. But if you’re bored of getting your heart broken by cancellations left and right, try watching any soap, “EastEnders” or not. Who knows — soon, you too might find yourself quoting classic soap catchphrases and confusing British people.
