EastEnders Deaths

British soap opera characters are three times likely to die violently as would be expected for people of their sex and age, researchers at King's College Hospital in London recently concluded in an article published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal.

The study concentrated on EastEnders and Coronation Street, and to a lesser extent, Brookside and Emmerdale.

"Are deaths in soap operas just convenient ways to raise audience figures while distorting the perception and possibly fear of violence in society?" According to the study, the characters die from a variety of dramatic causes: exotic diseases, murders, car accidents, drug overdoses, suicides and airplane crashes.

While we can't account for the other shows, in EastEnders' first 11 years (as far as the U.S. airings are concerned) the death toll according to our records is about 13: Reg Cox (murder); Den Watts (murder); Eddie Royle (murdered, presumably by Nick Cotton?); Gill (AIDS); Pete Beale & girlfriend Rose (car wreck; suspected foul play); Arthur Fowler (blow to head?); Lou Beale (old age); Debbie Bates (hit by car); Andy O'Brien (hit by lorry); Charlie Cotton (lorry crash); Donna (drug overdose); baby Hassan (crib death). Let's not forget the show's canine fatalities: Willie (Ethel's pug; old age) and Roly (Den's poodle; killed by car).

While it's true that coming storylines will result in the departures of some castmembers, the actual reason for some of the more popular characters being written out of the show has been wildly speculated (we won't ruin it for you by naming them).

In any case, if we've left anyone out post-mortem, please let us know.