EastEnders in popular culture special episode of "A Question of Sport", "A Question of EastEnders", was screened in 2000 to mark the show's fifteenth anniversary. A sketch in a 1995 episode of "A Bit Of Fry And Laurie" is set in the Fowlers' kitchen, with Fry, Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Clive Mantle parodying the speech and mannerisms of the characters of Pauline Fowler and Pete Beale. The dramatic drums at the end of every episode were parodied by "SMTV Live" in a "Friends" spoof entitled "Chums". The name "EastEnders" is spoofed in a series of pornographic films called "RearEnders", which also spoof the "EastEnders"
Pauline Fowler (who proposes) in 1999, Eddie Skinner in 2000, and Terry Raymond, with whom she goes on a blind date in 2001. However, the character remains staunchly faithful to her late husband's memory, refusing to let the relationships progress beyond companionship. In 2001 Derek Harkinson (Ian Lavender) is introduced, an old school friend of Pauline's. Initial scripts indicated that Derek was being groomed as a romantic interest for Pauline, which she is shown to welcome. However, the storyline takes a twist when he reveals, to her shock, that he is gay. 2002 sees Derek move in with the Fowler family, unconventionally