Beastenders
   
                             
    Welcome to Fleetway's flagship soap-strip. It's a gritty,
    down-to-earth series about the menfolk and monsters of
    Albert Scare, Wallyford, in the bleeding heart of
    London's Beastend...

    

   ...Look there's Arfur Growler and Pauline, and Pete Brawl
   the mouldy Pizza Specialist.... Dot Rotten runs the local
   launderette... And there's Dr Legs, their local vampire GP.
   Over in the Victoria Hotel are Lazy Len and Angry Angie
   Witts, and the kids Herman and Lizzy.... And there in
   the hotel kitchen is Weeksy the cook, and little Lofty the
   midget bellboy and clerk...

   Beastenders was a true Fleetway gem, perfectly lampooning
   the stars of Britain's favourite soap. The monster-fun plots
   revolved around the cunning plans of Mr Grott, a Wallyford
   Councilor bent on driving away Albert Scare's freaky
   residents so he could demolish the place and build a
   spanking new development - rather like a certain Ian Beale,
   methinks. Anyway, Grott was often assisted by an eager
   weasel of a lad, who frequently sought to undermine his
   efforts and gain the glory for himself. Of course, neither
   schemer ever succeeded in their dastardly plotting....

    

   Beastenders was given the honour of a double-page spread
   every week and in true soap-style, stories often ran for up to
   three issues, leaving readers with a suitable cliffhanger
   each week. It arrived within the pages of the new-look Buster
   in May 1987. This was when the comic shifted in size from
   the familiar  9.5" x 11" to the modern thinner, taller
   8.75" x 11.75" format. The first Beastenders strips were
   most ably drawn by Anthony Hutchings who drew many
   Fleetway strips at the time, like My Dad Mum, The Winners,
   and Bobby's Ghoul. Anthony's drawing style was very loose,
   wholly different from the precision of Reg Parlett who took
   over drawing duties around the beginning of 1988.


    

   Fleetway was no stranger to the soaps, of course, having
   lampooned that other stalwart "Coronation Street" in at least
   three different strips over the years: Horonation Street,
   Consternation Street and  Coronation Street School...