EastEnders fans shocked as BBC soap announces ‘season two’ after 6,000+ episodes: ‘How expensive is the box-set going to be?’

Programme’s first ‘season’ apparently lasted a staggering 35 years

EastEnders has surprised fans by announcing that it has now entered “season two” following a coronavirus-inflicted hiatus. 

According to this new revelation, EastEnders’ first season is comprised of more than 6,000 episodes broadcast over a span of 35 years.

The popular BBC soap had aired continuously since 1985 until 16 June, 2020, when the show used up its catalogue of existing episodes, and was unable to produce more due to social lockdown restrictions.

EastEnders’ official Twitter account shared the news, announcing that its second season had started with the airing of new episodes on BBC One last night (7 September).

In the replies to the tweet, EastEnders fans showed they saw the funny side of things.

“Can anyone give me a brief overview of season 1??? Been a bit busy the last 35 years,” joked one Twitter user.

“How expensive is the series one box set going to be?” asked another, to which BBC Studios fired back: “Not sure about price, we're still working out how to make it fit into one room!”

New episodes of EastEnders are being produced in accordance with government social distancing guidelines, which poses its own set of challenges.

Scenes involving, for example, large numbers of people or physical closeness are out of the window, at least in terms of traditional staging.

CGI effects and camera tricks are some of the workarounds being deployed to present the illusion of normalcy.