From Reg Cox to Archie Mitchell, EastEnders' 25 years of hurt is still must-see TV

It all began in 1985 when the late Reg Cox was discovered mouldering in a dark sitting room by concerned neighbours. And 25 years on fans remain, like Reg, glued to their sofas. While any number of Albion Markets, Family Affairs and Eldorados flickered briefly across our screens, EastEnders established itself as the nation's one-stop shop for Lorca-esque levels of misery. But, just when you think the greyness will envelop you, there stands Frank Butcher in the nip , his revolving bowtie telling you everything's going to be all right. People call it gritty realism but 'Enders is as much of a fantasy world as any sci-fi drama. Once inside that E20 postcode, the peculiar becomes the norm. Everyone has a job in walking distance of their house, and a maximum of two ethnically diverse families are resident at any one time. To further push credibility, there are even women willing to sleep with Ian Beale. So particular is the universe they inhabit, cast members often return when the whole "pursuing other projects" thing doesn't work out. Like in The Prisoner, the giant inflated condom of obscurity brings them all home in the end. They come back with such regularity the producers might as well send departing actors off in a black cab and tell it to wait. While its producers always stop short of mass culls (see Emmerdale's plane crash), they offer up frequent sacrifices to keep things bubbling. Archie Mitchell is the latest stiff to join the ranks of Walford's violently dead, which – if laid flat – could cover an area the size of the Isle of Wight. Yet all of these improbabilities have provided some of the most iconic moments in soap; a gunshot, a divorce, a furtive snog, and some of the most miserable TV Christmases since records began. They could land an alien craft in Peggy's hair and have her tiny cockney brain controlled by interplanetary midgets if they wanted, and we'd still tune in to see what they made her do. Bring on the next 25 years. Now click on the Gallery to view Modern Toss' inimitable take on life in Albert Square.