FLASHBACK #8: BBC Prime, Eastenders & Internet!

Having returned to Finland, it was now 2002. New year, new start. It was time to get proactive and start actioning some of the things that could make a difference to daily living. So, following the advice of my friend from Helsinki, I got a home internet connection installed and subscribed to Cable TV.

You can imagine my delight when one of the channels on my TV package was BBC Prime. And, even better, the long-running soap, 'Eastenders', was on four nights per week. Eastenders follows the melodramatic lives of the residents of Walford, a fictional area set in East London. The soap has been running for more than 20 years and I even remember the first episode. It has secured its place as a firm component of Britain's TV culture. Every now and then, the soap introduces some sensational storylines where tabloids 'leak' snippets of what is about to happen in future episodes to the soap's fanbase of millions. Christmas episodes of the soap attract more than 20 million viewers. More info can be found on www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/

Meanwhile, the internet connection was a good way to while away the more boring of the lonely, winter evenings. I would regularly chat with friends in South Africa, Australia and, of course, the UK. Sometimes, I wonder what people did 100 years ago, apart from struggle and die early!