BBC/Composite: EastEnders Insider Share By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025 From smoking to tube trains, Ben Wadey’s 6 biggest changes since taking over as Executive Producer The soap's been through some changes recently Features Nigel Bates Oscar Branning Share By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025 It’s been just over a month since Ben Wadey took over as Executive Producer of EastEnders, taking over the reigns from predecessor Chris Clenshaw and implementing some major changes. Since then, much has happened, including the much-vaunted return of Zoe Slater and the sale of The Queen Vic. The changes have been more subtle than that too, from a lighter touch (and visual palette!) to key scenes set outside of Albert Square. Here are six of the biggest changes we’ve noticed since Ben Wadey started work on the soap. They could have cleaned up a bit (Credit: BBC) The biggest changes EP Ben Wadey has made since taking over EastEnders: 1. Smoking One of the first things viewers noticed as Ben Wadey’s tenure began was the prominence of characters casually lighting up a cigarette. This began with Elaine puffing on a cigarette outside The Vic, and continued with Ravi doing the same. Recent (re)arrival Oscar carried on the chain (smoking) with a cigarette tucked behind his ear as he turned up in Walford. This proved to be the source of contention for Lauren and Peter’s social worker, as she noticed his cigarette packet on the living room table. Article continues below Read all the latest spoilers That’s on them for not tidying up properly, though. Smoking’s not big and it’s not cool (maybe when Ravi does it, but that’s just Ravi making everything look cool, rather than ciggies per se), but it is realistic. The soap unveiled its tube set this year (Credit: BBC) 2. Ben Wadey’s train set The soap’s new Executive Producer showed he meant business by unveiling his new toy – a tube train set. This became an integral part of Joel and Tommy’s storyline as young Andrew Tate wannabe Joel found himself in hot water for groping a girl on the tube. The tube set reappeared this week, first as Nigel took a stressful trip back to Walford, then again as Harry and Kojo transported Ravi’s drugs across London. More than just the tube set, the soap also nipped away from Walford to show Alfie looking for Zoe in Spain. Well, it was just a hotel room really, but the sounds of sirens and local wildlife were a nice touch. It’s always fun to see the soap venture outside of Albert Square, so this may be a promising sign of things to come. The Market’s been a hive of activity lately (Credit: BBC) The biggest changes EP Ben Wadey has made since taking over EastEnders continued: 3. A busy market Albert Square has had a tendency to feel a bit like a ghost town since COVID, with a notable lack of crowds in the street, market and Queen Vic. This seems to have changed for the better under Wadey’s management, with both the market and local pub feeling a lot more crowded in recent weeks. There’s also been more interaction between tertiary characters, with hitherto underutilised figures like Vinny getting a bit more to do, even when he’s not directly involved in the story. Case in point: last week’s scamming Ian Beale, in which he played along with the Slaters as they pretended to have won £10,000. EastEnders has been a bit cheerier lately (Credit: BBC) 4. Lightness of touch From the arrival of Oscar Branning to Phil Mitchell claiming that he’s never eaten an avocado in his life, EastEnders has been on form lately. For a soap with a reputation for being all about the doom and gloom, it’s been fun to see a little levity lately. This may not be to all tastes, but between Nigel‘s continuing dementia decline and Ravi forcing Harry to sell drugs, the soap has proved that there’s still room for the usual heartbreak and gritty dramatics. The brighter outlook is more than just tonal, too. Visually its been looking a bit lighter and more colourful, too. Should they have gotten Julia’s theme? (Credit: BBC) The biggest changes EP Ben Wadey has made since taking over EastEnders: 5. Doof-doofs re-done Not all of the recent changes have necessarily been positive ones. Some have noticed that the way the soap approaches its ‘doof doofs’ (or ‘duff duffs,’ if you will) has changed, often finishing on less dramatic moments than you’d expect. This meant that, instead of Bernie and Felix getting the iconic doofs (or even Julia’s theme) as they left, producers instead cut to a miffed-looking Ravi. This happened again, last night, as Linda departed The Queen Vic after 11 years. An end of an era, but instead it finished on Suki learning about Avani’s abortion plans. Powerful stuff, but Linda deserved better. Zoe is one of many 2000s icons returning this year (Credit: BBC) 6. 00s’ EastEnders revisited The Slaters joined the soap in September 2000, with Kat taking on a job as barmaid at The Queen Vic shortly afterwards. The soap has made great moves recently to return to that era, from bringing back Kat’s daughter Zoe, to putting her and Alfie behind the bar of the pub again. The 2000s throwbacks are continuing to roll in too, with the recently-announced return of Kat (and Zoe’s) old flame, Anthony Trueman. Max Branning is on his way back to Albert Square too, having made his Walford debut in 2006. Are you thrilled to see this era of EastEnders making a return? Read more: Who’s leaving, joining and returning to EastEnders? Complete list of cast exits, arrivals and returns. Share Good to Know Share By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 23 2025
