EastEnders is a long-running, popular British (Television in the United Kingdom) television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985. It currently ranks as one of the most watched shows in the UK. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford (Walford) in the East End (East End of London) of London. The series primarily centres around the residents of Albert Square, a Victorian square of terraced houses, and its neighbouring streets, namely Bridge Street, Turpin Road and George Street, and which encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community centre, cafe and various small businesses, in addition to a park and allotments.

The series was originally screened as two half-hour episodes per week. Today, four episodes are broadcast each week on BBC One (each episode is repeated on BBC Three at 22:00) and an omnibus (omnibus (broadcast)) edition screens on Sunday afternoons. It is one of the UKs highest-rated programmes, often appearing near or at the top of the weeks BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) ratings. Within eight months of its launch, it reached the number one spot in the ratings, and has remained, almost consistently, among the top-rated TV programmes in Britain ever since. The average audience share for an episode is currently between 35% and 45%. Created by producer Julia Smith and script editor Tony Holland, EastEnders has remained a significant programme in terms of the BBCs success and audience share, and also in the history of British television drama, tackling many controversial and taboo issues previously unseen on mainstream television in the UK.

EastEnders has won five BAFTA Awards (British Academy Television Awards), and has won the Inside Soap Award for Best Soap for ten years running, as well as eleven National Television Awards for Most Popular Serial Drama (Results of The National Television Awards) and eight awards for Best Soap at the British Soap Awards. It has also been inducted into the Rose dOr Hall of Fame. Its also won six TV Quick/TV Choice Awards for Best Soap, five TRIC Awards for Soap of The Year and four Royal Television Society Awards for Best Continuing Drama.