In 1983 the BBC approached Holland and Smith to produce a new experience for their channel, a bi-weekly soap-opera that would rival the long established ITV favourites, Coronation Street, Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm. The BBC wanted this new serial to reflect "London, today!" and together, Smith and Holland came up with the idea of a programme set in a Victorian Square within the East End of London, focusing on its close working-class families and eccentric Cockney inhabitants. Thus, EastEnders was born.
Holland and Smith wanted a primary focus of EastEnders to be a large extended family, representative of the type most typically found in the East End of London. Holland was from a large London family himself, and in creating some of the show's characters he was able to use some of his own experiences as inspiration for EastEnders central clan the Beales and Fowlers. In creating the stories and characters, Holland delved into family stories, past and present. His aunt Lou Beale came to inspire the EastEnders character of the same name, along with her two children Peter (Pete) and Pauline.
Holland also used some of his experiences as a barman in London's pubs and clubs to create the dynamic pairing of Den and Angie Watts, the owners of the Queen Victoria. Holland worked on EastEnders for four years, initially as script-editor and going on to script many episodes himself. After four years, Holland and Smith decided to leave EastEnders together in 1989 following a dispute with BBC bosses as to whether the character of Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) could return to the series following his exit in February of that year after being shot and supposedly killed. The character would ultimately return to the show 14 years later, having survived the shooting despite being presumed dead.
On his departure from EastEnders in 1989, Holland was approached by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE to give their new urban soap opera Fair City its structure and story lines for the first season.
In 1991, they were famously tempted back to the 'world of Corn'[citation needed] by the BBC to produce Eldorado, loosely based around the lives of expats in Spain. Their new show was launched in July 1992, but plagued by a string of on and off-screen problems, it received little of EastEnders success, and was axed a year later, in July 1993.
In 2001, he was awarded with a Special Achievement Award from the British Soap Awards, and in 2004 he appeared on the Channel 4 documentary How Soaps Changed The World.
Episodes written by Tony Holland
1980s
1985
1986
- Episode 183 (18 November 1986)
- Episode 184 (20 November 1986)
- Episode 185 (25 November 1986)
- Episode 194 (25 December 1986 - Part 1)
- Episode 195 (25 December 1986 - Part 2)
1987
1988
- Episode 361 (21 July 1988)
- Episode 362 (26 July 1988)
- Episode 363 (28 July 1988)
- Episode 371 (25 August 1988)
- Episode 383 (6 October 1988)
- Episode 405 (22 December 1988)
- CivvyStreet (26 December 1988)
1989
Prison Storylines Segments
Between 1988-1989 episodes featured Prison Storylines segments of Den Watts in Dickens Hill Prison theses were written separated from a normal episode. All segments were written by Bill Lyons and Bill Lyons.
1988
- Episode 376 (13 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 377 (15 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 378 (20 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 379 (22 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 380 (27 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 381 (29 September 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 382 (4 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 383 (6 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 384 (11 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 385 (13 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 386 (18 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 387 (20 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 388 (25 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 389 (27 October 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 390 (1 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 391 (3 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 392 (8 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 393 (10 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 394 (15 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 395 (17 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 396 (22 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 397 (24 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 398 (29 November 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 399 (1 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 400 (6 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 401 (8 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 402 (13 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 403 (15 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 404 (20 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 405 (22 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 406 (27 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 407 (29 December 1988) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
1989
- Episode 408 (3 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 409 (5 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 413 (19 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 414 (24 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 415 (26 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 416 (31 January 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 417 (2 February 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 419 (9 February 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 420 (14 February 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
- Episode 421 (16 February 1989) - (Co-written by Bill Lyons)
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