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<title>
BBC TV blog
 - 
Diederick Santer
</title>
<link>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/</link>
<description>Get the views of BBC bosses, presenters, scriptwriters and cast from the inside of the shows. Read reviews and opinions and share yours on all things TV - your favourite episodes, live programmes, digital channels, the schedule and everything else.</description>
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<item>
	<title>After EastEnders live episode - Stacey Slater disappears!</title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p>Well, I'll settle for that! <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b00qvhl6">A near faultless performance</a> from cast and crew alike, and a brilliant actress delivering the killer cliffhanger to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8526006.stm">16.6m stunned viewers</a>. It was everything I could possibly have hoped for - a truly memorable event to mark <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/twentyfive/">25 great years of EastEnders</a>. <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/eastenders/2010/02/live-episode-pics.shtml">I'm very proud of everyone involved</a>.</p>

<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Bradley Branning and Stacey Slater attempt to escape police in a taxi in the Who Killed Archie episode of EastEnders" src="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/100219_taxi_600x400.jpg" width="600" height="400" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></span></p>

<p>Forty eight hours after <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b00qvhl6">EastEnders Live</a>, I'm trying to put things in perspective. I said in my <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml">earlier blog</a> that all the best EastEnders moments of the last 25 years involved some kind of creative risk. Going live was a massive risk, but seeing it pay off so successfully, getting us our highest ratings in seven years, has made all the stresses worthwhile.</p>

<p>The biggest burden for me has been keeping the secret. I've been reading <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92571410">the comments on my blog</a> and I can reassure <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92571410">Bridget</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92637957">sweet alternative</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92643483">Jon</a> and others, that the <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/twentyfive/live/">cast and crew</a> really didn't know until the night.</p>

<p>The moment I told Lacey Turner (Stacey) that she was the killer, with less than an hour to go before the performance, was very exciting. She was shocked, and momentarily disorientated, but went with it immediately. We'd talked before about how it could be her, and she knew what she needed to do. I also told Jake Wood (Max), not that he was the killer, but that he would be supporting Lacey in the final scene in which she would be revealed as the killer. Watch it here:</p>

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<p>I never told Charlie (Bradley) - he, along with the rest of the cast, learnt it as the episode progressed. We've always managed this story on a need-to-know basis.</p>

<p>So how did we film all the episodes after the 'reveal' without them knowing? <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92652117">Peter - you've pretty much worked it out</a>. Well done! Here's my more detailed explanation, although I have a feeling that <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92652117">Peter probably puts it better</a>:</p>

<p>By the end of Friday only two characters are in on the secret - Stacey and her confidante Max - and it seems that Bradley is assumed to be the true killer of Archie. <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b00qzrm8">Monday's episode (22 February)</a> picks up with Stacey and Max both distraught at the loss of Bradley, and to some extent blaming themselves for what's happened.</p>

<p>But the audience now know something more than the actors did when playing those scenes - that Stacey is the killer and Max knows it. Here's where it gets tricky! With the greatest respect to those two brilliant actors, their sadness and guilt plays both ways. Upset at their loss and at encouraging Bradley to run, or upset at their loss and the fact that Stacey's actions may have led to it - these two sets of feelings and emotions more or less look the same.</p>

<p>It's this kind of split intention (where we've given an actor an intention to play which could mean one thing or another) which we have used heavily during this period with a number of characters. With Stacey and Max, it's all helped by the fact that Stacey mysteriously disappears quite soon too.</p>

<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100219_bradley600x400.jpg" src="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/100219_bradley600x400.jpg" width="600" height="400" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></span></p>

<p>We won't be filming new scenes on Monday (although we are doing some sound editing), but we will be dropping some quickly shot material in before too long. So I can assure viewers that the story doesn't become conveniently forgotten about, but rather stays active.</p>

<p>None of the writers, directors or actors working on the episodes that have been filmed up to now (about two months' worth) have known the truth. It's made it very tricky, as we've asked them to follow and work on our storylines without every being truly able to explain to them what's going on. But they've gone along with it, trusting our assurances that it would all make sense in the end. Another big risk! But I think this one will pay off too.</p>

<p><a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92689799">Zara</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92672226">gorde21</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92660704">emma</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92644160">Angie Linford</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92643602">Mark</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92643270">Ash</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92638234">mac</a>, <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92638427">julie</a> and others - thank you! I'm delighted you enjoyed the episode.</p>

<p>To <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92670023">Elizabeth</a> - I do hope you don't abandon us. There's plenty of warmth and hope in the months ahead in EastEnders, and not too many tragedies. Although something rather unpleasant does happen to Sugar the dog, now I think about it... Oh, what is it with this programme and death?</p>

<p>Finally, to <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml#P92642017">Ex-Tender</a>, I reckon the music in the Bradley montage might have been One Day Like This by <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/music/artists/3cb3928a-526c-4a3d-93c5-53315fa9bde0">Elbow</a> (but I didn't produce the Aftermath show, so I'm not 100% certain!).</p>

<p>Thanks for reading, and thanks so much to those of you who took the time and trouble to comment.</p>

<p><em>Diederick Santer is executive producer of EastEnders</em></p>]]></description>
         <dc:creator>Diederick Santer 
Diederick Santer
</dc:creator>
	<link>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/after-eastenders-live-episode-stacey-slater-disappears.shtml</link>
	<guid>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/after-eastenders-live-episode-stacey-slater-disappears.shtml</guid>
	<category>eastenders</category>
	<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:02:59 +0000</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
	<title>Who killed Archie? Even EastEnders actors don&apos;t know</title>
	<description><![CDATA[<div>
<div><a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/">EastEnders</a> has never played it safe - whether that's by breaking taboos, like <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/twentyfive/100topcharacters/characters_20_1.shtml?8">giving Mark Fowler HIV</a> when no one else would talk about it, or by allowing a load of teenagers to take over the show as we did with our <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/e20/">spin-off series E20</a>&nbsp;a few months ago - and we're certainly taking a big risk by deciding to do our <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/news/090915-live-episode.shtml">first ever live episode</a> for our 25th anniversary on <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b00qvhl6">Friday, 19 February</a>. &nbsp;</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>But it's our risk-taking spirit which has brought us our biggest successes and which has made us the greatest British soap of the last 25 years.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<span style="DISPLAY: inline" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 20px; DISPLAY: block" class="mt-image-center" alt="100217_archie_suspects_400.jpg" src="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/100217_archie_suspects_400.jpg" width="600" height="400" /></span>
<div><a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/twentyfive/diederick.shtml">I've been executive producer of the show</a> for nearly three and a half years, overseeing all aspects of the show's content and production, and it is an enormous personal privilege for me to steer the show that I've been watching since I was 15 to its quarter century. This anniversary will be a celebration for the audience of all that is great and has been great about EastEnders over the last 25 years. &nbsp;</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>We'd mapped out a big whodunnit story (<a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/features/marsden8.shtml">Who Killed Archie?</a>), featuring many of our biggest characters and crossing with <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/eastenders/2010/02/exclusive-pics-biancas-wedding.shtml">Ricky and Bianca's (second) wedding</a>, to play leading up to the anniversary night. &nbsp;But we only decided to do a live episode after we worked out the best way to protect the secrets of the story. The cast, the crew and the audience won't learn the identity of the killer until the night. In addition, of course, it's a new and exciting way for the audience to experience EastEnders and a bracing challenge for our cast and crew.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<span style="DISPLAY: inline" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 20px 20px; FLOAT: right" class="mt-image-right" alt="EastEnders: Bianca and Ricky's second wedding" src="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/100217_bianca_ricky_400.jpg" width="300" height="400" /></span>
<div>When I first told <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/eastenders/characters/">the cast</a> about it, their responses were very clearly divided between great enthusiasm and deep worry. &nbsp;In the end, if things go wrong (which of course they won't!) the egg will appear to be on their faces. But as time has gone on, they've all become excited by the challenge, and by the opportunity to work in a different way, albeit for one night only.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>We'll be rehearsing loads. Run through after run through, drilling our team like an army, building up confidence, ironing out the glitches, perfecting the action.&nbsp;</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Simon Ashdown, who has written the script, will be on hand throughout the rehearsal process, working with director Clive Arnold and line producer Sue Mather to get the very best fit between the creative and the practical. It's very complicated.&nbsp;</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Usually when a character walks from the interior of the Queen Vic out onto Albert Square, we film it on separate days - the interior in the studio, the exterior on our 'lot'. &nbsp;But for the live we can't do this - to move an actor from one set to the other requires other scenes in between to cover the action. To sort out these issues, there have been a number of people walking briskly around the site holding stopwatches.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>I'm so excited about the big night. I'm confident that the performance will go well, and I'm really intrigued to see what the audience make of the outcome. What I'm also really looking forward to is finally not having to live with the worry of knowing who the killer is any longer. &nbsp;There's very few of us who know, and we've had the story mapped out in our heads (not on paper!) for about a year. We live in constant fear of giving it away, talking in our sleep, nodding at the wrong moment.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>None of the actors know who did it. We'll be rehearsing a number of scenes in which a variety of outcomes are revealed, but I won't be telling the cast and the crew which one we're doing until the night, moments before we start transmitting.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>It's our biggest ever risk, and our biggest ever night, but I wouldn't want it any other way<i>.&nbsp;</i></div>
<div><i><br /></i></div>
<div><b><i>UPDATE 17:12 <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal" class="Apple-style-span">- <span style="FONT-STYLE: normal" class="Apple-style-span">PS -&nbsp;<a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/after-eastenders-live-episode-stacey-slater-disappears.shtml">I'll be writing here on the TV blog again after the live episode</a> - come back on Monday to see how it turned out!</span></span></i></b></div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><i>Diederick Santer is executive producer of EastEnders</i></div></div>]]></description>
         <dc:creator>Diederick Santer 
Diederick Santer
</dc:creator>
	<link>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml</link>
	<guid>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2010/02/who-killed-archie-even-eastenders-actors-dont-know.shtml</guid>
	<category>eastenders</category>
	<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
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