EastEnders created the Beale and Fowler family, drawing on his own background. His mother, Ethel Holland, was one of four sisters raised in Walthamstow. Her eldest sister, Lou, had married a man named Albert Beale and had two children, named Peter and Pauline. These family members were the basis for Lou Beale, Pete Beale and Pauline Fowler. Holland also created Pauline's unemployed husband Arthur Fowler, their children Mark Fowler and Michelle Fowler, Pete's wife Kathy Beale and their son Ian Beale. Smith used her personal memories of East End residents she met when researching Victorian squares. Ethel Skinner was based on
EastEnders spin-offs spent their Christmas together, entitled "All I Want for Christmas". "EastEnders" first audio drama, "EastEnders: The Podcast", started on 28 November 2018, consisting of four episodes. The first "EastEnders" video, released on 22 September 1986, was "EastEnders – The Queen Vic", which looked at the major events in the lives of Angie Watts, Den Watts, Jan Hammond and Michelle Fowler, such as the birth of Michelle's baby, Vicki. The next video "EastEnders – The Den and Angie Years", released in 1994. It included all of Den and Angie's moments such as their second honeymoon. In 1998, "EastEnders – The Mitchells