<P> The target launch date was originally January 1985 . Smith and Holland had eleven months in which to write, cast and shoot the whole thing . However, in February 1984, they did not even have a title or a place to film . Both Smith and Holland were unhappy about the January 1985 launch date, favouring November or even September 1984 when seasonal audiences would be higher, but the BBC stayed firm, and Smith and Holland had to concede that, with the massive task of getting the Elstree Studios operational, January was the most realistic date . However, this was later to be changed to February . </P> <P> The project had a number of working titles--Square Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride and East 8 . It was the latter that stuck (E8 is the postcode for Hackney) in the early months of creative process . However, the show was renamed after many casting agents mistakenly thought the show was to be called Estate, and the fictional postcode E20 was created, instead of using E8 . Julia Smith came up with the name Eastenders after she and Holland had spent months telephoning theatrical agents and asking "Do you have any real East Enders on your books?" However, Smith thought "Eastenders" "looked ugly written down" and was "hard to say", so decided to capitalise the second' e' . </P> <P> After they decided on the filming location of BBC Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, Smith and Holland set about creating the 23 characters needed, in just 14 days . They took a holiday in Playa de los Pocillos, Lanzarote, and started to create the characters . Holland created the Beale and Fowler family, drawing on his own background . His mother, Ethel Holland, was one of four sisters raised in Walthamstow . Her eldest sister, Lou, had married a man named Albert Beale and had two children, named Peter and Pauline . These family members were the basis for Lou Beale, Pete Beale and Pauline Fowler . Holland also created Pauline's unemployed husband Arthur Fowler, their children Mark Fowler and Michelle Fowler, Pete's wife Kathy Beale and their son Ian Beale. Smith used her personal memories of East End residents she met when researching Victorian squares . Ethel Skinner was based on an old woman she met in a pub, with ill - fitting false teeth, and a "face to rival a neon sign", holding a Yorkshire Terrier in one hand and a pint of Guinness in the other . Other characters created included Jewish doctor Harold Legg, the Anglo - Cypriot Osman family, Ali Osman, Sue Osman and baby Hassan Osman, black father and son, Tony Carpenter and Kelvin Carpenter, single mother Mary Smith and Bangladeshi couple Saeed Jeffery and Naima Jeffery . Jack, Pearl and Tracey Watts were created to bring "flash, trash, and melodrama" to the Square (they were later renamed Den Watts, Angie Watts and Sharon Watts). The characters of Andy O'Brien and Debbie Wilkins were created to show a modern couple with outwardly mobile pretensions, and Lofty Holloway to show an outsider; someone who did not fit in with other residents . It was decided that he would be a former soldier, as Holland's personal experiences of ex-soldiers were that they had trouble fitting into society after being in the army . When they compared the characters they had created, Smith and Holland realised they had created a cross-section of East End residents . The Beale and Fowler family represented the old families of the East End, who had always been there . The Osmans, Jefferys and Carpenters represented the more modern diverse ethnic community of the East End . Debbie, Andy and Mary represented more modern - day individuals . </P> <P> Once they had decided on their 23 characters, they returned to London for a meeting with the BBC . Everyone agreed that EastEnders would be tough, violent on occasion, funny and sharp--set in Margaret Thatcher's Britain--and it would start with a bang (namely the death of Reg Cox). They decided that none of their existing characters were wicked enough to have killed Reg, so a 24th character, Nick Cotton was added to the line - up . He was a racist thug, who often tried to lead other young characters astray . When all the characters had been created, Smith and Holland set about casting the actors for the show . </P>

How many characters have there been in eastenders