Explore EastEnders' characters, from iconic legends to new arrivals, with the latest stories and drama unfolding in the village.
Explore the EastEnders cast, from iconic legends to new arrivals, with the latest stories and drama unfolding in the village.
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The EastEnders theme tune is one of the most widely recognised pieces of music in British popular culture. It’s become a familiar household sound since the soap’s first episode, which aired on February 19, 1985.
The catchy, slightly melancholic, melody was composed by British composer Simon May. Leslie Osborne has a contractual composer credit on the music, but he did not contribute to it.
EastEnders was the brainchild of TV script writer and producer duo Julia Smith and Tony Holland. They wanted a piece of a music that would reflect the gritty nature of life on the fictional Albert Square. Simon May delivered this, composing a theme full of drama and power, with the now iconic doof doof drum fill at the beginning.
The music accompanied the opening and closing credits, which showed an ariel shot of London with the River Thames running through the middle.
Here we take a look back at the history of EastEnders theme and credits and how they’ve changed over the 40 years on screen.
The EastEnders theme music has become synonymous with the soap itself. It was composed by Simon May, whose other credits include Howard’s Way, Eldorado and Castaway.
There is an interesting backstory to the creation of the theme. And it goes something like this…
Simon May was commissioned by the show’s creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith. The pair took him to the set and showed him pictures of the characters they’d cast, which gave Simon the impression it would be a dark and edgy programme. He went away and created a sombre theme tune, but was then told by Julia it was the opposite of what she and Tony wanted.
Simon went away and re-wrote the tune in one hour. It is in the key of E-flat major, which only happened after Simon pressed the wrong piano key. The music features a piano riff, accompanied by strings and the iconic drum beats, which EastEnders fans know as the doof doofs. Including them in the end titles only happened because Julia Smith liked them so much. Simon was paid £100 for his work.
In 1985, Simon’s work was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best TV Theme. And in 1987 it scooped the Best TV Theme Music gong at the Television and Radio Industries Club.
The EastEnders theme tune has now been heard around the world and broadcast in over 100 counties. It has been referenced in popular culture, including other TV shows and films. And in 2008 it topped a poll run by PRS for Music as the most recognisable piece of music in the UK, even beating the national anthem.
Simon May’s original title music was used from the first episode in 1985 until 1991. The opening theme tune was 24 seconds in length and the music to the end credits was over a minute long. A stereo version of the theme tune was then introduced in 1988 for the Sunday omnibus editions.
The first opening credits for EastEnders was a huge black and white aerial shot of London. The sequence starts at North Greenwich Dock, then zooms out, spinning and rising to show the whole of the East End. The main focus is on the bends of the River Thames, which runs through the city.
Graphic designer Alan Jeapes created the EastEnders opening titles. Like Simon May, he was commissioned by Tony Holland.
Approximately 800 black and white aerial photographs of London were taken from an aircraft. These were then stitched together to create one large image. It was decided to colour the river blue to try and smooth the image out.
The closing credits were then placed in the top left side of the screen.
In August 1991, the opening titles were given a slight makeover. The Thames was turned a lighter shade of blue and more of the EastEnd was shown on screen. This was possible because by this point EastEnders was recorded and mastered in stereo.
In 1986, the lyricist Don Black added lyrics to the EastEnders theme tune to create the song “Anyone Can Fall in Love”. The chorus lyrics go like this: Â “Anyone can fall in love. That’s the easy part you must keep it going. Anyone can fall in love. Over and over again.”
That same year the song was recorded by EastEnders star Anita Dobson, who played Queen Vic landlady Angie Watts in the soap. It reached number four in the UK singles charts and Anita even performed on Top of the Pops.
The song also features on the album The Simon May Collection and the Peggy’s Theme album. They were both released in 2010. In July 2016 it was revealed Anyone Can Fall in Love was the 12th highest charting TV theme of all time in the UK.
Debuting on May 11, 1993, came a new and jazzier version of the EastEnders theme tune. It sounded more soulful and contemporary, but proved to be very unpopular with the fans. This variation only lasted 11 months.
The previous EastEnders logo remained, but a splash of colour was added to the aerial view of London. The Thames appeared more fluid and realistic and the map was made up of a mosaic of 666 new stills. These were taken on roll film from an aircraft.
The EastEnders logo was also slightly sharpened to reflect a move towards more dramatic plots.
In April 1994 the EastEnders theme tune returned to its original melody. This was also the year that saw the introduction of the iconic doof doof drum beats at the start of the opening and closing credits.
The closing credits were dramatically cut in length, going from over a minute to around 35 seconds. This meant a lot of the EastEnders crew were not credited in the weekday episodes, only the weekend omnibus. The theme music remained unchanged until 2009.
In 1998, the BBC logo was added to the opening titles. It was placed in the top right corner of the screen to start, then moved underneath the EastEnders logo. The closing credits also got a revamp and were centered for the first time. In an era where the internet was really taking off, the BBC EastEnders website address was also shown at the bottom of the screen.
The following year saw the introduction of CGI (computer-generated imagery) to the opening and closing titles. These new graphics offered a lot of new possibilities. CGI was used to add in the Millennium Dome (now the O2 Arena), and the appearance of moving water in the Thames.
The static overlay and ariel stills gave way to a new 3D bird’s eye view of London, while the water in the Thames appeared a brighter blue.
There was a slight tweak to the music, which was given a clearer tone. But the core melody remained unchanged.
In 2009 the EastEnders theme tune was given its biggest update in a decade. The BBC transitioned to high-definition broadcasting, so more CGI changes were made to the opening credits. The River Thames turned a darker shade of blue and the EastEnders logo faded from the right. The doff doffs were also made to sound more dramatic.
A CGI blue ribbon and ‘EastEnders 25’ logo was added to the title sequence. The credit sequence also changed for one episode. It showed a mosaic of hundreds of people singing the EastEnders theme as the episode credits rolled.
To mark the Olympics coming to London in 2010, the Olympic Park was added to the aerial view. This then became a permanent update to the opening credits.
The theme for EastEnders 30th anniversary was murder, as the Lucy Beale’s killer was finally revealed in a dramatic live episode. The opening and closing credits reflected the dark storyline, and a special night-time aerial shot was used. These sequences were also used for the 35th and 40th anniversaries.
EastEnders really pushed the boat out for their 40th anniversary, with two different versions of the title sequences. In the first, the River Thames turned a ruby red colour and a special ‘EastEnders 40’ logo, depicting shattered glass appeared on the screen.
For the live episode, the night sequence was used along with the logo.
Julia’s Theme is an alternative version of the usual EastEnders theme tune. The piece of music was named after Julia Holland, one of the show’s co-creators.
It is used in place of the regular theme to mark a special, often sad, occasion. Instead of the normal doof doofs, Julia’s Theme ends an episode with a slow build-up piano. It is often used when a beloved character either dies or departs the show.
As of April 2025, Julia’s Theme has been used 81 times. The most recent was the death of legacy character Martin Fowler.
There have been several versions of Julia’s Theme used over EastEnders’ four decades on air. The original version ran between 1985 and 1995, and the second from 1995-2008. However, the most recent version has remained since 2010.
This was played on April 10, 1998 when Kathy Beale departed Walford for a new life in South Africa. It was often mistaken as a ‘jazzed-up’ version of Julia’s Theme, but is its own variation.
Kathy’s Theme was also played when Nigel Bates left the Square on April 30 that same year.
This variation was in honour of Walford icon Peggy Mitchell and written by Simon. It featured in Barbara Windsor’s farewell episode, which aired on September 10, 2010. The moment where the former landlady walked away, dressed in white with her head held high, is one fans will never forget.
Peggy’s Theme has also been used on a number of occasions in place of Julia’s Theme.
It also features on The Simon May Collection album.
This re-worked version of Julia’s Theme was played at the end of Pat Evans’ last episode.
The legendary character was killed off on January 1, 2012, marking the end of 26 magnificent years on the Square. Pat’s Theme is a piano solo, which was also played as the opening theme to the documentary EastEnders: Farewell Pat that aired the same year.
Dot’s Theme was composed by Simon May in honour of the late, great Dot Cotton. It was played at the end of her funeral episode on December 12, 2022. Actress June Brown had died in April 2022 aged 95.
