Kate Oates claims EastEnders’ festive episodes are the "best" she’s ever read.
The BBC One soap’s senior executive producer cannot wait to see the viewer reaction to the programme’s festive episodes, which feature huge storylines for the Mitchell family, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and Martin Fowler (James Bye), among others, and she has praised her story team for coming up with some "exciting" plots.
She said: "We’ve got an amazing story team. It’s a tireless job actually, no matter how dense the episode, no matter how detailed they are.
"It’s a really, really, really busy time – the team worked brilliantly, and doing some long hours.
"I’ve been in this business for a while now, and once we’d got that document I said ‘I think it’s the best Christmas I’ve ever read’ and I really really meant that, so I’m really really excited by it, and the story team have done an amazing job and should be applauded for it."
The storylines have been a long time in the planning, with Kate recalling reading the plots when the Wimbledon tennis championships were on in the first two weeks of July this year.
She added: "In terms of rituals, it was weird actually, because we were reading the storylines at the weekend and then talking about them on the Monday morning and Wimbledon was on – I remember it was the finals of Wimbledon."
While the planning takes place in the summer, the ‘EastEnders’ bosses wear Christmas hats during that time to get in the festive spirit.
EastEnders’ executive producer Jon Sen said: "When we’re planning, we always do the story planning in Christmas hats and it’s the middle of July, so it gets you in the spirit.
Their comments come just a few months after Kate teased some "huge" plans for next year’s 35th anniversary in February.
She said: "I can’t say much at all about it now – except we have a big Carter story at the forefront, and some great drama with Whitney too – so it is going to be a very exciting time for the show."
Kate Oates: EastEnders’ festive eps are the best ever
