The lead up to Mel and Ian's Millennium wedding included a hen/stag night celebration episode, which was filmed on-location in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The episode evoked criticism by the Broadcasting Standards Commission for its inclusion of "almost relentless drunken and promiscuous behaviour, sexual innuendo and drug-taking, before the watershed", which included Mel having to kiss various strangers. The BBC defended the episode, claiming that its content would have “come as no surprise to viewers” and adding that the depiction of this behaviour conformed to an "EastEnders" tradition – that questionable conduct "only leads to further trouble...One character's quest for drugs led to embarrassment and nausea and a drinking binge led to the calling off of and Natalie’s wedding while the prospects for and Ian's became bleaker."