Queen Vic Fire Week


"Queen Vic Fire Week" is a group of four episodes of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, broadcast between 6 and 10 September 2010 on BBC One. The episodes included a fire at The Queen Victoria public house, also known as The Queen Vic or The Vic, and the departure of the character Peggy Mitchell, portrayed by Barbara Windsor, who left the series after sixteen years in the role. During the episodes, Peggy—the pub landlady—has her crack cocaine-addicted son Phil imprisoned in The Queen Victoria, forcing him to go cold turkey. She later learns that her deceased husband Archie was murdered by the person he raped: Stacey Branning. Before she can report Stacey to the police, Phil escapes and sets the pub on fire. Stacey and her infant daughter Lily are trapped inside, but are rescued by her lover Ryan Malloy – prompting Stacey to reveal to him that he is Lily's father. In light of the incident, Peggy decides against reporting Stacey for Lily's sake. She then plans to make a fresh start, bidding her family goodbye and leaving Walford.
The episodes were directed by Lee Salisbury and produced by Bryan Kirkwood. The first was written by Daran Little and the remainder by Simon Ashdown. Kirkwood intended to give Windsor an "epic and poignant" departure, as befitting her status as the ultimate EastEnders matriarch. The fire storyline was created for her exit, and to facilitate a refurbishment of The Queen Victoria set for the transition to high-definition television broadcasting. The episodes were filmed over seventeen days, more than twice the series' typical filming duration, with the interior set rebuilt on the George Lucas Stage in Elstree for the fire. A special version of the theme tune, called "Peggy's Theme", was created for Windsor's final episode. It was released as an EP, available for download following the episode, and features as the lead track on composer Simon May's album The Simon May Collection. The episodes were accompanied by two documentaries on BBC Three, one following the filming of the fire, and the other examining ten of Peggy's most iconic moments in EastEnders.
Viewership ranged from 8.60–10.09 million, with no episode watched by less than a third of the total viewing audience. They were the most watched programmes on BBC One in the week of broadcast, and the Friday episode was the second-most watched show across all channels. The episodes received a mixed response from critics. Several highlighted inaccuracies and implausibilities in the storyline, including the lack of fire alarms and sprinklers in the pub. Others focussed on Peggy's departure, with James McCarthy of the Western Mail writing that it would "doubtless remain the stuff of EastEnders legend for years to come," and Jim Shelley calling it "a good way to go." In contrast, the Daily Mirror Polly Hudson found Peggy's exit a nonsensical "non event", and Gareth McLean of The Guardian deemed it "suitably sentimental", but several years overdue. The fire was nominated in the "Best Stunt" category at the 2011 All About Soap Bubble Awards.

Plot

6 September 2010

, who has just regained her status as landlady of The Queen Victoria public house, decides to throw a wedding reception for Janine Butcher and Ryan Malloy to let everyone know the pub is hers again. Peggy's friend Pat Evans arranges a hen party for Janine at the R&R nightclub, but Janine feels betrayed by Pat when Peggy reveals that she said Janine's marriage would not last. Janine meets a man named Richard Monroe, who settles her bill. Impressed by his car, Janine leaves with him. Worried about her son Phil because of his addiction to the drug crack cocaine, Peggy enlists the help of Minty Peterson and Billy Mitchell to abduct him from the flat he is living in. They bring him back to The Queen Vic, locking him in the living room upstairs, where the windows have been boarded up to stop him from escaping. Stacey Branning reveals to Dot Branning that her deceased husband Bradley is not the father of her baby Lily.

7 September 2010

Stacey explains to Dot that Bradley knew he was not Lily's father. Dot informs Bradley's father Max, who tells her he already knows. Concerned by Stacey telling people her secrets, he wonders if she has ceased taking medication for her bipolar disorder. He tells her that she needs to keep the truth about Lily's father and the fact that she killed Peggy's husband Archie several months previously to herself. Phil tries to convince various people to let him out as he is suffering withdrawal symptoms, but nobody will. Janine awakens in Richard's flat and gets dressed, though they did not have sex. She returns home and tells Pat that she feels guilty, and Pat tells her not to inform Ryan. Janine fears that she is not good enough for Ryan, but he reassures her and they marry. Stacey attends their wedding reception in The Queen Victoria, leaving Lily in a bedroom upstairs. She is surprised by a photograph of Peggy and Archie, and is frightened to hear Phil making noises in the living room. Stacey tells Peggy that she thinks Archie is alive and locked upstairs. Peggy assures Stacey that Archie is dead, telling her that Bradley killed him, as he was posthumously found guilty of the murder. Stacey then confesses that she killed Archie.

9 September 2010

Peggy demands that Stacey leave the pub and Stacey pleads with her not to call the police for Lily's sake. She attempts to tell Ryan that he is Lily's father, but is interrupted by Pat, who thinks Stacey is trying to seduce him and slaps her. Phil smashes through the door using a crowbar that was left in the room. He starts taking cash and drinking alcohol, and interrupts Peggy before she can call the police about Stacey. They argue, with Phil accusing Peggy of loving the pub more than she loves him and throwing a match to the alcohol-soaked floor to start a fire. It spreads quickly, causing an explosion. The customers flee the pub, Syed Masood is knocked to the ground and trampled in the process but is rescued by his father Masood Ahmed and brother Tamwar.
Peggy tries in vain to extinguish the flames, but is forced out by her friends and family. Stacey, unaware of the events, heads upstairs to Lily and becomes trapped. She uses the crowbar to smash a boarded-up window and hands Lily over to Ryan, who has climbed a ladder. Peggy realises Phil is still inside and returns to the building with Billy. They find him trapped beneath a wooden beam, and are able to drag him out to safety. Ryan goes back up the ladder and carries an unconscious Stacey out. Stacey regains consciousness and sees that Lily is safe, and tells Ryan that Lily is his daughter. Peggy stares at the pub as it is completely destroyed.

10 September 2010

The next day, Peggy visits Stacey in hospital and asks her to confess to burning the pub, as a sentence for arson would be less than one for murder, but Stacey refuses. Peggy realises that Stacey needs to look after her daughter so she leaves. Ryan confronts Stacey at the hospital, shocked with her confession, refuses to acknowledge his daughter, and goes on his honeymoon with Janine. Peggy goes into the pub and looks around as she remembers events from her time there. She then tells Billy she wants to take Phil away to make a fresh start and to protect him. Her niece Ronnie tells Peggy she is five months pregnant and asks Peggy not to leave as she is like a mother to her. Peggy tells Ronnie to give her real mother, Glenda, another chance. Peggy's daughter Sam does not want her to leave as Peggy promised to look after Sam's baby Richard for her, however, Peggy says she is old now and the baby needs a strong mother. Peggy gives her jewellery to Sam to sell so she has some money. Peggy speaks to Phil, accepting responsibility for making him the way he is and offering to help him get off the drugs. He says she needs him more than he needs her and that she suffocates him. Realising that he is right, Peggy asks the rest of her family to look after him, saying emotional goodbyes. Though Phil claims not to have meant what he said, Peggy says she has to leave for his sake. As she leaves the house, Phil begins to follow her, but she sends him back inside. She looks at the pub and walks out of Walford.

Characters and cast

In October 2009, actress Barbara Windsor's decision to leave EastEnders after sixteen years of portraying the character Peggy Mitchell was announced. The show's executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood, said it was a massive honour for him to be responsible for the character's exit, but explained that as she has become the "quintessential matriarch of the show", they had to get the exit storyline right, which he said would be "both epic and poignant".
In June 2010, it was announced that The Queen Victoria would be destroyed in a fire to tie in with EastEnders transition to high definition so the set could be completely refurbished. It was reported that the fire could tie in with the departure of Peggy or one of the several other characters whose departure had previously been announced. Director Lee Salisbury said the fire, as well as Peggy's departure, would have a huge effect on several characters, especially the Mitchell family, of which Peggy is the matriarch. Kirkwood said the fire was "one of the most spectacular stunts that EastEnders has ever seen, and it's very exciting."