MineEnders (2019 TV series)

MineEnders is an upcoming British animated comedy/drama soap opera produced by Red Light Productions and Mojang for BBC Studios. The series' pilot episode was uploaded to the CBBC YouTube channel on 5th January, 2015. An upcoming series was then announced the same year, with a new production company, Red Light Productions, coming into place. The show is majorly based on the highly successful BBC soap opera EastEnders and the phenomenal video game Minecraft. It features the residents of the Blocktura town as they go about their daily lives and deal with love, happiness, betrayal, heartbreak and loss.

Production and development
In September 2014, two schoolfriends originally filed out the ideas for MineEnders in the UK. They sent the idea to the BBC and was accepted in October. By November, a huge production team was assembled just for this pilot episode. Recording managed to finish just before the upload deadline.

When the pilot episode was uploaded to the CBBC YouTube channel on 5th January, 2015, the views and likes soon rocketed, due to the drama and the suspense attained by the voice actors. The cliffhanger left the animation hanging in the balance of an upcoming TV series.

In August 2015, a brand new upcoming series was finally secured by the BBC. As of October 2018, the show is still in production for it's first season, with CGI Minecraft graphics and surround recording equipment.

The show is animated and produced at Studio AKA, a purpose-built studio near London equipped with high-end HDTV production facilities. The budget for each episode is approximately £500,000, making it "one of the most expensive children's show in the world" according to Cassidy. It's virtual sets are generated with an Unreal Engine 4-based framework, created by Epic Games, and then inputted into the animating software.

The show is set to air on 18th February, 2019, a day to the 34th Anniversary of EastEnders.

The original script of the pilot episode is available here.

Main

 * Charlie Matthews-Grout as Harry Quadmile - a 13-year-old boy who has recently moved into Blocktura.
 * Salem Ingle as Jason Quest - a long-term resident of Blocktura, and is also the leader of "Le Crew". The production team considered him being axed and killed off in 2021, but thought better of it.
 * Anthony Cassidy as Jack Crass - a young, feisty, talented, over-intelligent boy, who always wants attention, also part of "Le Crew". He became the centre of attention in 2020 when due to his likeness of Alice Gredderson (unhealthy eating, always researching and inactivity), he suffered a heart attack during a PE lesson in front of Alice and was later diagnosed with a heart condition. He appeared on the show less frequently after this occurred, but quickly made a full recovery from the attack and became a permanent character once again.
 * Emily Thomas as Alice Gredderson - a shy, outgoing brainy girl who loves every lesson in school (except PE). She is later revealed to be Jack's crush and girlfriend. She is often in Special Needs classes because of seizures and donates to her team for epilepsy awareness for events for them. She recieved a VNS therapy above her chest on her left and regularly visits a doctor to see the battery levels often and needs a magnet for every seizure. She is smart for being left handed and knows about Left Handers Day on 13th August. She heartbreakingly revealed this secret to Maya on Halloween night 2019.
 * Benjamin Ferguson as Clyde Anderson - member of "Le Crew", and was tragically the first to be killed off after a hit-and-run accident during the first season. His surname was not verified until the book Maya's Secret Diary was released in 2020.
 * Indiana Mae-Allum as Maya Garner - a good-looking girl, mostly on her phone, and Clyde's girlfriend before his death. She became the first character to leave the show in the second season. A book released in 2020, documenting Maya's time in the soap, was a number one bestseller. Her surname wasn't verified until the book was released.
 * Issac Mitton as Matt Duffer - a dumb, tall, funny boy who is the well-known joker of Blocktura Academy.
 * Bobby Taylor as Lucas Foreword - Matt's "second-in-command" in his joker collaboration, who loves his sister Lily very dearly. (Lucas achieved the first ever cliffhanger of the series.)
 * Jodie Martin as Lia Quadmile - Harry's hard-working, infamous, and helpful mother. In 2020, she is arrested on the suspicion of Eva Gredderson's murder. However, when the real murderer, Darren Targ, is revealed by Zack Foreword, a witness to the crime, she is eventually released.
 * Connor Taylor as Jaden Quadmile - Harry's shy, stealthily father - who was later revealed to be having an affair with Sharon Foreword.
 * Joshua Connick as Mr Stiff - the Head of Science at Blocktura Academy, who always exaggerates about all the drama he's been through.
 * Jake Rees as Jacob Blocks - Harry's new, careful, tight and pushy friend.
 * Daniel Nanzer as Mr Raunchaw - the Head of Student Activities at Blocktura Academy, who presents the yearly Blocktura's Got Talent. He is later revealed to be the Head of the PE Department.
 * Molly-Mae Taylor as Lily Foreword - Lucas' loving, funny, appreciated and cherished sister.
 * Ala Gajewska as Eva Gredderson - Alice's older adult sister. In 2020, while Eva is taking her pet poodle for an evening walk, she is stabbed to death. Lia Quadmile discovers her bloody body in the Town Centre, and after foolishly picking up the murder weapon, she flees in panic. Unfortunately for Lia, there is a witness who had seen her standing over Eva's body and fleeing the scene — Darren Targ. Lia is arrested for Eva's murder and imprisoned. However, a second witness, Zack Foreword, later comes forward to attest that he had seen Darren Targ in the vicinity on the night of the murder. It turns out that Darren was attempting a robbery when Eva saw him, and in order to silence her, Darren stabbed her. Lia is released and Darren is arrested for the murder. (This storyline was actually based on an existing storyline from it's parent show EastEnders, depicting the murder of Eddie Royle in 1991.)
 * Carla Stone as Rebecca Gredderson - Alice's firm, strong-minded mother, who loves her children dearly (introduced later in the show).
 * Gabriel Hicks as Zack Foreword - Lucas and Lily's father, who divorced his wife when she admitted to an affair.
 * Tia Mae-Allum as Sharon Foreword - Lucas and Lily's mother - who was later revealed to be having an affair with Jaden Quadmile.
 * Katie Gordon as Ruth Crass - Jack's short-tempered little sister, who always tries to get her own way.
 * Georgia Gordon as Sonia Crass - Jack's twin sister, who reveals she has a crush on Lucas Foreword.

Recurring

 * Carl Burns as Darren Targ - a 20-year old who attends the local Blocktura Woodlands College. He competed in the yearly Blocktura's Got Talent, and achieved 3rd Place. He only appears in the first five episodes, then returns briefly in 2019 for one episode, as an onlooker of Clyde's funeral. He returned permanently in 2020 as a witness to the murder of Eva Gredderson. Although, he later admitted he was the murderer after all.
 * Amena Burns as Zara Anderson (Guest starred for 7 episodes; flashback in 1 episode) - Clyde's mother and accidental killer in the hit-and-run storyline. She visited him in hospital and was in the waiting room when he died. She later got her comeuppance when she was shot and killed by his girlfriend Maya.
 * Daniel Matthews-Grout as Mr Cruncher - headmaster of the Blocktura Academy, who later dies of a heart attack tragically after confronting Harry about his poor school grades.
 * Lucas Jordan as Ivan Bres (Pilot episode only, role later taken over by Charlie Matthews-Grout) - An Irish boy who's family has lived in Blocktura for sometime.
 * Mia Richardson as Miss Mandus - the Maths Teacher at Blocktura Academy, who is suffering from a stammer.
 * Oscar Kane as Eddie O'Donnell - Eddie Royle and Eibhlin O'Donnell's son. He was a school friend of Le Crew who arrived on Blocktura in 2020. He was also the son of EastEnders character Eibhlin O'Donnell (Mary Conlon) who moved from Ireland with him. His father, Eddie Royle (Michael Melia), had been believed to be murdered by Nick Cotton in September 1991, but was in fact, still alive and had run away. He quickly strikes up a friendship with another Irish boy, Ivan Bres. During a confrontation after a bombshell that the group delivered that they weren't his friends at all, Harry rushed outside to him as he tried to walk away from them. Harry begged him to come back inside and he had thought them wrong, then Eddie yelled: "Oh, it's not like you care as if you're my family! But you're not my family!" This resulted in Eddie accidentally falling down the nearby steps and nearly dying as Harry tried to force him back inside.

Soundtrack
"EastEnders Opening Theme (1991, 1993-4, 1994-2009)" - Simon May

"I'll Always Believe in You" - Sharon Benson (Note: This song is frequently heard in the background.)

"Anyone Can Fall in Love" - Anita Dobson (Note: This song is frequently heard in the background.)

"Dragostea Din Tei" - O-Zone (Note: This song played during the Blocktura Academy Annual Disco.)

"Witch Doctor" - Alvin and the Chipmunks (Note: This song played during the Blocktura Academy Annual Disco.)

"Julia's Theme 2010 (from EastEnders)" - Simon May (Note: This song plays after tragic deaths or sad events.)

"Stand By Me" - Ben E.King (Note: This song played as Clyde died in Maya's arms at the Blocktura Hospital as he had been involved in a hit-and-run accident.)

"EastEnders Closing Theme (1991, 1993-4, 1994-2009)" - Simon May

Home media

 * MineEnders: The Complete Series One DVD

Books

 * MineEnders: Maya's Secret Diary (2020 release)

International releases and Scheduling
In 2019, Series One was sold to PBS Kids, the children's subsidiary of WLIW21, which broadcasts EastEnders regularly on Tuesdays in the United States. The show is set to air in the United States in the autumn of 2020.

From February 2019, the programme is mainly broadcast on CBBC, scheduled on Mondays at 8:00pm, although occasionally the timeslots are allocated to 8:30pm, to avoid contrast with EastEnders, which is also broadcast on Mondays at 8:00pm on BBC One. This is also to experiment with the viewing figures of the two shows, as EastEnders averages around 4-5 million viewers every episode. Also from March 2019, the Weekend Omnibuses (another inheritance from EastEnders) will air on the Saturday morning strand "Saturday Mash-up" on BBC Two, during the CBBC-BBC Two transfer on Saturday mornings.

Gallery


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