Eastenders spin-off to hit the internet

The series will give younger writers the chance to ply their trade as the scripts will be penned by 17-22 year olds.

Just when you thought that Eastenders couldn't get any bigger - the BBC has commissioned a spin-off TV show which will be made available solely online. That may be a good thing. Eastenders E-20 will be coming in early 2010 and will feature four new teenage characters as they get up to all sorts of mischief on the square.

The series will give younger writers the chance to ply their trade with the scripts being penned by 17-22 year olds. The idea is to make the show a stand-alone so people who don't regularly watch Eastenders can still tune in. But there are promises of crossovers and surprises though - so there will be plenty of reasons for fans of the show to log on to the website.

Each of the thirteen episodes will be between six and twelve minutes long and will immediately follow the broadcasting of the soap on BBC 1. There will also be extra content available such as blogs and behind the scenes footage. The mini-series represents the first foray a major soap is taking into the world wide web and will no doubt trigger other big names to follow suit.

Casting is in its final stages and Eastenders E-20 will launch in January leading up nicely to the 25th Anniversary of the soap which will be celebrated in February 2010.