{"id":9546,"date":"2025-08-19T14:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/9546\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T14:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:44:11","slug":"eastenders-icons-team-up-for-new-messy-reboot-of-a-bbc-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/9546\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders icons team up for new “messy” reboot of a BBC drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 is rebooting a classic BBC drama format, and it has signed up a bunch of EastEnders<\/a> stars.<\/p>\n

The channel is bringing back the Play for Today, which originally aired over 300 instalments (running between 50 and 100 minutes each) between the years of 1970 and 1984.<\/p>\n

5 is reviving the format with the aim of showcasing new talent and providing experience to people from lower-income backgrounds.<\/p>\n

What to Read Next<\/p>\n

Details for the first four plays have been revealed, with plenty of familiar faces in the casts.<\/p>\n

First of all, there’s Never Too Late<\/strong>, a drama about a rebellious older woman who is reluctantly moved into a retirement village.<\/p>\n

She clashes with the other residents and what she sees as an oppressive system, before a chance encounter forces her to examine her life, past and presents.<\/p>\n

\"angie<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Best film and TV tours for 2025<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

EastEnders legend Anita Dobson<\/a> leads the cast, which includes fellow former Albert Square actors Nina Wadia<\/a>, Michael Fenton Stevens, Natasha Williams, and Tracy-Ann Oberman.<\/p>\n

Nigel Havers, who appeared in rival soap Coronation Street<\/a>, also stars.<\/p>\n

The synopsis describes the play as “a story about second chances, unlikely friendships, and how the messy, defiant reality that life \u2013 and love \u2013 don’t end with retirement”.<\/p>\n

Jessica Plummer, who also had a major EastEnders role a few years back, leads Special Measures<\/strong>. Set in an underfunded, struggling school, the play follows a deputy head of English who has to step up after her boss abruptly quits… on the day of an Ofsted inspection!<\/p>\n

\"Chantelle<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Did you spot this dark EastEnders detail in Okie and Harry story?<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Fellow Corrie star Paul Copley and The Royle Family’s Sue Johnston lead Big Winners<\/strong>, about a couple who win millions of pounds in the lottery. But it’s not the only huge change in their lives, as one of them announces they want a divorce.<\/p>\n

Finally, there’s Intruder<\/strong>. The reclusive life of a former national treasure is disturbed when a barefoot and bloodied man turns up at his door in the night, and threatens to unravel long-buried secrets.<\/p>\n

Comedian Alan Davies stars in this one, alongside Knock at the Cabin’s Nikki Amuka-Bird and newcomer Logan Mersh.<\/p>\n

5’s revived Play for Today premieres later this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Digital Spy’s new print issue is here! Buy <\/strong>Oasis – Live in ’25<\/strong><\/a> in newsagents or <\/strong>online<\/strong><\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 is rebooting a classic BBC drama format, and it has signed up a bunch of EastEnders stars.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[341,9386,343,18,117,19,17,342,9385,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-9546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-50354cd9-7778-4147-a4b9-c8b46bda4ba5","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-locale-gb","16":"tag-shorttitle-eastenders-icons-team-up-for-bbc-drama-reboot","17":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}