Walford East
Encyclopedia
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. In the story the station is located a short distance from Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
. While sounds from the station and trains running on its associated rail lines can often be heard on the show, these are artificial and added to the soundtrack of episodes in post production as the station itself is a mock-up
Set construction
Set construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
. The station first appeared in late 1985, when Lou Beale
Lou Beale
Louise Ada "Lou" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, Civvy Street, set during the Second World War....
collapsed outside it, and was then aided by Sue Osman
Sue Osman
Susan "Sue" Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sandy Ratcliff. She was one of the serial's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 19 February 1985 and departing on-screen in May 1989. Created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, Sue was...
, who had just left the station, and Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a recurring basis from the soap's debut episode in February 1985, through to his last appearance to date in 2009. Nick is the son of characters Charlie and Dot Cotton, and the father of Ashley and...
, who was nearby. The train sound was first heard in 1987 and the train's first appearance was in 1988 at Lou Beale
Lou Beale
Louise Ada "Lou" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, Civvy Street, set during the Second World War....
's funeral. Trains did not appear again until 4 February 2010, when CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
was used in the show for the first time.
Several key scenes have occurred at this location, especially character arrivals and departures. It was the setting for the arrival of Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon
Alfred William "Alfie" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005...
, Stacey Slater
Stacey Slater
Stacey Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lacey Turner. She made her first appearance on 1 November 2004. The character was introduced as a feisty and troublesome teenager, an extension of the already established Slater clan...
and Bert Atkinson, and the setting of farewell scenes for Zoe Slater
Zoe Slater
Zoe Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Ryan. She made her first appearance on the 18 September 2000...
, Little Mo Mitchell
Little Mo Mitchell
Maureen "Little Mo" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kacey Ainsworth.-Storylines:...
, Steven Beale
Steven Beale
Steven Peter Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Edward Farrell from 1989 to 1990, Stuart Stevens from 1992 to 1996, Edward Savage from 1997 to 2002, and Aaron Sidwell from 2007 to 2008...
, Yolande Trueman
Yolande Trueman
Yolande Trueman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Angela Wynter. The character made her final appearance on 3 October 2008.-Storylines:...
and Charlie Slater
Charlie Slater
Charles "Charlie" Slater is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Derek Martin, making his first appearance on 4 September 2000. He is played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the...
. Charlie's exit is the first time the platform has been seen.
It is supposedly on the District
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
and Hammersmith & City Line
Hammersmith & City Line
The Hammersmith & City line is a subsurface London Underground line. It connects Hammersmith in the west with Barking in the east, running through the northern part of central London. It is coloured salmon pink on the Tube map...
s, and on the tube map
Tube map
The Tube map is a schematic transit map representing the lines and stations of London's rapid transit railway systems, namely the London Underground , the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground....
on the wall of the station, it is shown to replace the real station of Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley-by-Bow tube station
Bromley-by-Bow tube station is a London Underground station on the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach Road in the Bromley-by-Bow neighbourhood of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London, England. The station is on the District and Hammersmith & City lines, with both services sharing a...
, being located between Bow Road
Bow Road tube station
Bow Road tube station is on the District and Hammersmith & City lines of the London Underground. It is on Bow Road in Bow, east London, about 300 metres from Bow Church DLR station and is in fare zone 2...
and West Ham
West Ham station
West Ham station is an interchange station located on the corner of Manor Road and Memorial Avenue in the West Ham neighbourhood of the London Borough of Newham in east London, England. The station is served by London Underground, National Rail and Docklands Light Railway services...
. In 2009, a Walford West tube station was mentioned on screen by character Denise Fox
Denise Fox
Denise Celeste Fox is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Diane Parish. She made her first appearance on 11 May 2006. Parish temporarily left EastEnders in early 2008 to give birth to her second child...
. Walford West has not been seen.
See also
- List of fictional railway stations
- List of fictional rapid transit stations
- List of London Underground-related fiction
External links
- Underground EastEnders Information on Walford East
- Walford East BBC EastEnders profile