Collecting ‘EastEnders’

Since 1985, plots on ‘EastEnders’ have addressed contemporary social issues in the daily lives of families and residents living around the fictional Albert Square. The BBC soap opera’s strong matriarchal characters, like landlady Peggy Mitchell and chain-smoking laundrette worker
Dot Cotton, have come to represent the programme’s nostalgic depiction of working class life. From Dot’s handbag to Cat Slater’s leopard print coat, the soap opera’s instantly recognisable look has, for many viewers, come to determine what it means to be an East Ender.

Written by: Harriet Astbury, Assistant Curator, Theatre & Performance
Published: April, 2026

Collecting Stories