The Year Was… 1989

INTRODUCTION

Batman was top of the movie charts. The New Kids on the Block were adorning teenage bedroom walls across the land. Strange yellow-skinned people in Springfield became the focus of a generation. Hillsborough. Sky television launched in the UK. And as usual, EastEnders was on the front pages.

In 1989, EastEnders took a gamble. And it was a big one. It was time for some characters to leave the show. Some, like Sue and Ali had come to a natural end. Others, like Colin and Donna were storyline driven. But the big exit would be one the show would retcon years later, and it wouldn’t take that much credibility either…

EVENTS

Farewell to Dirty Den!
Den’s year started bad and got considerably worse as it went along. The Firm stole hidden evidence he had hidden that linked them to the Dagmar and decided that Den’s time was up, prison or not. Den, ever the clever one, obviously had back-ups of his evidence and, sprung from the prison van on the way to trial, fled into the night.

**Den** learnt from cellmate **Nick Cotton** that he had killed **Reg Cox**

He may have gotten away with it had it not been for Michelle. She asked awkward questions around the Square (for Vicki’s sake, you understand) and she ended up arranging an illicit meeting by the canal to say goodbye to her former love. When he arrived, Michelle promised to wait for him no matter how long it took and promised him that one day they would be a family. Den didn’t want any of that though and when he walked away from Michelle that day, he had no intention of returning. But the Firm were waiting, and Den was marked.

The Firm watch **Den** and Michelle‘s last meeting

Passing a couple walking by the canal, a shot rang out from a concealed gun in a bunch of daffodils they were carrying and Den hit the water. Unseen by us of course. But that was it. Den Watts was dead.

Sharon was devastated and took it out on everyone else, reacting very badly when Michelle, thinking it would cheer her mate up, declared that Vicki was Den’s and therefore her sister! Sharon did not take this very well at all and it took a while for her to calm down. In fact it took Vicki and a meningitis scare to bring the warring pair together again.

Cindy and her Suitors
Cindy Williams was spoilt for choice. She was good-looking, blonde and up for a good time. Unfortunately, boyfriend Ian’s idea of a good time was taking over the café and setting his catering business up, and to be fair, often times neglected her. Comforting Sharon after Den’s death with Simon spurred Cindy on and before you knew it the pair were at it like bunnies. Simon only had eyes for Sharon in the end though and Cindy reluctantly agreed to marry Ian when he proposed in the café of all places. This would not do, and Simon and Cindy soon began a passionate affair that ended with Cindy pregnant with Simon’s baby.

**Cindy** and **Simon** just wouldn’t leave each other alone…

She tried everything to split him and Sharon up, leaving her earrings around for her to find, that sort of thing, but there was no hiding the baby bump and soon the Beale clan were bustling around, planning the wedding of the year. In the end, rejected by Simon, Cindy married Ian. Simon served as best man and all’s well that ends well right? No. Steven was born by Christmas time, leaving Ian proud as punch, Cindy and Simon making guilty faces at each other, and hoping to high heaven that astute Kathy wouldn’t be good at adding months up.

**Ian** and **Cindy** on their wedding day

The End of the Beale Marriage
Kathy was not done yet. Oh no. She lured Willmott-Brown to the Square, made him think she would take the hush money and promptly betrayed him straight into the police’s hands. After a hideous trial, he was found guilty, but this would not be the last we would see of James Willmott-Brown. Not by a long shot. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and Kathy and Pete disintegrated. He knocked back the booze and went on holiday to New Zealand, while Kathy fell for the charms of Laurie Bates, who happened to also sell fruit and veg on the market. Kathy clearly had a type.

**Willmott-Brown** on trial for his attack on **Kathy**

The Sad Fate of Donna Ludlow
Donna had not made many friends in her three years on Albert Square and who can blame them: she stole from her neighbours to fund a heroin habit, blackmailed Ali after sleeping with him and generally wound everyone up. Even Rod gave up. Donna eventually tried to clean up her act, if only for the attention, and declared that her parents had died in a car accident. Just as she was basking in the glow of sympathy, her mother walked in! In the end the only person who took any pity on her was Dot, who offered her a couch. Donna made things worse by telling Sue about Ali and her fling, destroying that marriage permanently in one fell swoop, and even Dot had had enough. Returning home one evening, Dot was horrified to find Donna dead of a drugs overdose after choking on her own vomit.

Sue and Ali on the other hand went from being separated to all out enemies. She snatched their son, he snatched him back. Sue had a nervous breakdown and was sectioned, never to return and by the end of the year, having lost his beloved café to Ian Beale, Ali left the Square in disgrace.

**Sue** is left in the care of the mental health professionals…

The Butchers
Pat and Frank’s wedding day was one of the greatest events Albert Square ever saw, with horse-drawn carriages, flags in the street, Ethel kicking her knees up and jellied eels everywhere. It was to be a brief moment of happiness, however: within a month, devil-child Janine, Frank’s youngest, arrived and was clearly going to give Pat a run for her money. This relationship would be cracked for a very, very long time. Of course, Frank bribed Janine with sweets and gifts, undermining Pat’s well-meant discipline – no wonder Janine turned out the way she did! By the end of the year, they were running a B and B across the Square and Frank set his eyes on the car lot: selling second hand cars was his superpower.

A horsedrawn carriage brought them into the Square!

The Other Stuff
Colin leaves once he realises his condition and reunites with Barry. Ethel is left £2000 when admirer Benny Bloom dies. Carmel and Matthew get married, but he’s handy with his fists. Michelle confirms that she likes older (and married) men with Danny. Charlie Cotton is revealed to be a bigamist and Sharon becomes a compulsive shopper!