Barbelith Underground > Conversation > Did Grant Morrison Invent Eastenders?

Over the Christmas period I found myself watching Eastenders, and it occurred to me that the current writers of the show may owe a significant debt to the works of Grant Morrison, and in particular The Invisibles. I know this may seem unlikely to seem of you, but if one considers the way in which the shallow pond of vacuous mainstream popular culture is often fed by the rich, fibrant, vertile river of comic books, and the fact that by now, every person under the age of 73 in the UK has read the Invisibles (apart from evil conformists and blind people), it is actually highly plausible.

Consider the evidence:

Firstly, Eastenders is set in London, England. Large parts of The Invisibles are set in and around London, a city which Grant Morrison helped make "cool" during the last decade.

Alfie Moon - the Moonchild? Alfie runs the Queen Vic pub, so there is a connection to the Royal Family. Shane Ritchie bears some physical resemblance to Mason from The Invisibles, however in personality Alfie arguably resembles King Mob, with his quick, irreverent wit. He also wears a leather jacket on occasion. When Alfie was first introduced, he impersonated a Mr Wright (or "Mr Right" - do you see? Names are important...) in order to get the job of landlord of the Vic - a job which he now continues to do even though his identity was unmasked - thus the "fictionsuit" which he took on has become "real".

Phil Mitchell: a bald man with no hair on his head, who is often prone to acts of violence. A King Mob analogue? Phil had a brother, Grant, who resembled King Mob even more, and he also has a friend/accomplice who goes by the name 'Minty' (no doubt a reference to the arty band of the mid-Nineties of whom I am sure Morrison was a fan). Last week, after Phil escaped police custody, the Police believed they had apprehended him but it turned out to be Minty, impersonating his friend. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Yes, that's right, it is point for point almost exactly the same as the 'sting' in Black Science II.

Other points of similarity: there are five Slater 'sisters', the exact number required for a cell. Kat Slater has suffered a miscarriage, just like Edie, and Little Mo has been raped, just like Fanny. Also, consider the return of Dirty Den, back from the dead, re-emerging into the linear continuity of Eastenders reality at a later point to that at which he left, just like John A Dreams. Den's description of his immersion in the canal make it clear that this is a death and rebirth experience with strong magical properties.

I think we have another 'Matrix' on our hands.