The VT clock at the start of Episode 5006 (29 January 2015)
Production Codes is an alphanumeric designation used to uniquely identify episodes. Each episode has its on unique number but does not always follow the order of the previous production code. EastEnders has been designated a programme number 50.
Meaning[]
To understand the the elements of a production code, it needs to be broken into four sections.
If we us the first episode as an example - LDL G 100K
- LDL - This indicates its a London Drama Serial.
- G - Indicates the year of costing.
- 100 - The organiser's label.
- K - The check code for the label.
Changes[]
| Code | First use | Last use |
|---|---|---|
| LDL | LDL G100K 19 February 1985 |
LDL L538D 19 April 1990 |
| LDS | LDS A539H 24 April 1990 |
LDS F318A 11 April 1996 |
| LDX | LDX G319K 15 April 1996 |
LDX O638B 11 April 2008 |
| DRA | DRA A241D 14 April 2008 |
Currently still used |
- Production codes always change in the month of April due to the financial year running from 1 April and ending 31 March of the next calendar year.
- Hour-long Episodes are alway split into two half-hour episode for re-sale by BBC Worldwide so that they can be sold abroad. An example of this is Episode 4990 (2 January 2015) was given the production code "DRA D222D" but was split into two episode with the production codes "DRA D220P and DRA D221J".
Gallery[]
.jpg "EastEnders VT Clock (19 August 2013).jpg (49 KB)")
.jpg "EastEnders VT Clock Ep5006 (29 January 2015).jpg (140 KB)")
Notes[]
- Episodes after Episode 194 but before Episode 3770 will show as an incorrect episode number as episode numbers in the early years were not continuous and were reset, when an additional episode was added in 1994, 2001 and 2009. It was not until April 2009 that the BBC retroactively renumbered episode numbers to give consecutive numbering across the series.
- Other examples of production codes that differ from the standard are LDN C994X (26 July 1988) and DRR A023R (25 December 2013).