EastEnders old style credits mock

Hello, this is my first mock in a long time, so go easy on me.

The original EastEnders credits used from the show's inception until around 1997 or 1998 were cut to each bar of the theme tune. Since then the show has switched to scrolling credits (apart from this brief period in order to fit in with the BBC's ECP design of the mid-00s. They switched to scrolling again when the 2007 ECP was introduced IIRC).

This is an attempt to recreate those traditional credits using the current graphics and arrangement of the theme tune. The credits are genuine, taken from this Monday's episode.

If viewed in full screen the map may look a little blurred or low res unforunately, I did try my best by taking it from a Freeview HD off-air recording.



Just for fun, here is what these credits would look like using the BBC's current ECP design. I made sure this was accurate by comparing my off-air recording with the ECP alongside the clean version from iPlayer. The credits end up a bit close to the left edge of the screen, so in practice would need to be moved further into the centre, which may necessitate reducing the font size in order to prevent cutoff by the ECP.



My credits are also longer in duration than the one used on the episode I took them from - which are 45 seconds long in comparison to mine which are just over a minute long. Faster credits in this style were used (see the 2003 Christmas special on iPlayer) but for my mock I didn't want them to go too fast, so used the full length 2009 recording of the theme tune.

I prefer the old style ending with the credits fading to the zoomed out map, so have used that style in my recreation.

Hope you like it!

Surprised the BBC still let them have 45 seconds - I thought 30 minute shows were restricted to 30 seconds, though I guess with EastEnders it's easier to pad out 15-30 seconds with extended credits than content.

The mock does what you aim it to do - I think realistically to be ECP safe they'd probably need to be centred, and a smaller font would enable more credits per page so a shorter sequence but on the whole that mock reminds you that whatever you think of the current status of the show the theme and the look are rather iconic.

In recent years it has indeed usually been 30 seconds, with the credits theme being the same length as the intro theme. The 45 second version is usually reserved for the omnibus, now on W. I guess it's just that Monday and Tuesday's episodes had quite a lot of credits, rather than it now being the norm. I just checked tonight's episode and it was back to 30 seconds.


I've also noticed that over the years, they seem to change their minds on whether to show the characters' full names or just their first names. At the moment they're using full names.

I’ve noticed the 45 second version with sitar bridge appearing on episodes more frequently recently.

The 45 second EastEnders credits aren't new, I remember them being seen as far back as 2007 on occasion. I think it depends on how the episodes are edited together and it's an easy filler I suppose if you're 15 seconds under where you need to be.

Mind you EastEnders has often been different credit-wise to other programmes, especially when it was the only programme on the network in the early 2000s with that credit design. Nothing else would ever use it. CBBC IIRC had a few of its programme credits done in a similar way with the odd live ECP/insert - they stopped doing that after a while but the programmes didn't change the credit layouts until the next refresh came along.

IIRC, Dot Cotton (or latterly Branning) always had her full character name in the credits, whilst many others often only had their first names listed as you suggest.

Yes I'd noticed that looking at old credits. Wonder if it was in her contract that the full character name must be credited? Odd otherwise.

It wasn't specific to Dot, it was a quirk linked to the script of each episode. Characters that featured prominently during an episode would be listed by their first name only. Auxiliary characters (as Dot tended to be in the early days) were given their full name.

Great upload.
I always thought it odd that the Crossroads credits showed Joy Andrews as "Mrs Hope" for years rather than "Tish Hope"

Sanjay and Gita always had their surnames listed too - it's how I found out the actress playing Gita leant her last name (Kapoor) to the character too.