PART TWO: MY NIGHT ON-AIR WITH EASTENDERS
There was a hub-bub at the PBS station when Robin Fluin and I walked off the
elevator that night in March for the pledge drive. It had nothing to do with
us. Everyone was talking about the large, muscular bald man in the
studio--and no, Ross Kemp had not decided to fly over. It was Minnesota’s
wrestler-turned-politician and media darling Governor Jesse Ventura
http://www.jesseventura.com The highest elected official in Minnesota was
there on camera threatening the scrawny reporter who was nervously asking the
questions. It was all in fun...I think.

I next had to meet my partner for the segments. A nice man. A funny man. A
man who had not watched EastEnders since Den was alive and kicking. He was
going to be my springboard for facts about the show and the actors. He
munched away on crackers as I told him in 10 minutes all I could before we
had to be miked.

Could have been worse. I could have had the job of talking up the gift items
that the station uses to entice viewers to pledge. “Thank You Gifts” is what
they are called. For some reason, a manufacturer decided that coffee mugs
($75) T-shirts ($126) and sweatshirts ($150) with the aerial view of London’s
Thames were not complete without printing “Top Us Up Often” on the back.
“Top Us Up Often”?! Who has ever said that on the show? I thought they were
lousy things to be fobbing off on fans.

I had tried to talk the people at the station into purchasing a terrific deal
I’d seen on the internet from Design House International. “How to Speak
EastEnders” is great for any collection of EastEnders memorabilia. The thin
booklets were printed up in the 1980s when the show first hit our shores and
the PBS stations were trying to drum up interest. There are Cockney
expressions and character names used within the definitions. They could have
had hundreds at only $2 a booklet. I’m telling you about it, because I think
you might enjoy it. Go take a look. http://aybsos.webjump.com/aybsos.html

Even though the station didn’t buy the booklets, they offer the book from The
Albert Square Fan Club, put together by Jean Brooks. In Case You Tuned In
Late... is a synopsis of the EastEnders storyline from an American point of
view. It is a chatty, easy-to-read catch-up for fans who might not have
watched from the beginning, but want to know what went on. It is also good
for fans who would like to hear another impression of the show. Remember
that that need to connect with another fan often goes unanswered here in The
States.

Jean Brooks, 69, wrote the book as if rehashing it to her sister, Karin, a
sometimes viewer. Take a peek:

from page 10: Sharon and Grant fight and he leaves. He wants a baby but
still yearns for his old risky illicit danger spiced life. Phil stepped in
to help out in the Queen Vic and soon feelings between Sharon and Phil grew
to an inevitable outcome, but when Grant returned (he took off when he
learned she was on the pill) Sharon chose him over heart-sick Phil. Later
when Grant goes off for another cooling off period, they resume their
relationship.

from page 15: Ruth Mark, Michelle, Geoff, Pauline and Arthur all go to
Scotland to meet Ruth’s family - a daunting experience, except that everyone
except Ruth speaks perfectly comprehensible English.

from page 24: Alan proposes marriage to Carol. Poor woman, snakes and toads
come out of her mouth whenever she talks to Alan, and she manages to rebuff
him quite cruelly. Bianca, too, gets a proposal, on one knee, but she
refuses Ricky, this time.

Jean thoroughly enjoyed reliving such moments as Carol’s wedding and The
Walford Six being imprisoned. “I got kind of a kick of describing it.” She
did not estimate, however, that the book would take over 200 hours of her
time and countless hours of her husband’s time typing it up.

Robin Fluin also worked on the book. As an added bonus to the synopsis,
Robin put together genealogical charts of six EastEnder families. These
family trees are a help for any confused viewer (and most viewers of
EastEnders do get a little confused by those wacky family relationships).

The bustling Ms. Brooks explains her life before her literary career, “I
retired in 1990, after 30 years with the county social services agency. I
licensed foster homes and later monitored adult half-way homes and sexual
abuse programs. I learned about family dynamics from cradle to grave with
all the worst pitfalls on the way.”

Isn’t that the perfect training for writing about the goings on in Walford?!

“Yes, I probably developed a certain way of looking at things,” she agrees.

She has a love of English television and a connection to England through
ancestry and her husband, Bill, who lived in London when he was nine years
old. Bill’s father was the head of the London Bureau of The Associated
Press before and during WWII. The couple have traveled back to England three
times, in addition to other interesting locations (Egypt is Jean’s favorite
destination).

Though she missed the first episodes of the show, Jean soon tuned in and
found, “a literary quality with stories woven together and intricately
crafted.”

If you want to read the stories Jean has woven, In Case You Tuned in Late...
is being offered through KTCA and other PBS stations. It can also be ordered
over the internet. Please contact wfbjr@compuserve.com with the subject
heading "EE book" for more information.

And how did KTCA do that night I was smiling for the camera and saying my
spiel? 363 members pledged a total of $23, 000. Wendy Richard probably
could have enticed the fans to pledge more, but that amount was good enough
to secure EastEnders on our local airwaves for another year.