If you've checked out the Channel 4 streaming service recently, you might have noticed that Casualty and EastEnders are now on there. Now, these aren't new episodes — they're classic instalments.
Casualty currently has seasons 23 through 26 (the episodes from late-2008 to mid-2012) on Channel 4, with more arriving on Monday 6 July.
As for EastEnders, there are 149 episodes of 'season 27', which starts off in April 2010, right in the middle of the Syed-Christian-Amira drama, and goes up to Christmas. Even more episodes will hit Channel 4 on Friday 10 July.
At one point, BBC soaps being available to stream via Channel 4 might have been considered unthinkable, so why is it happening now?
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The reason is fairly simple: These are the classic episodes also available on streaming service U, which covers the UKTV channels like U&Drama and Alibi that famously show a lot of repeats (and are actually owned by the BBC, despite having adverts).
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In 2025, Channel 4 and UKTV announced that they signed a deal to carry U content on Channel 4 streaming starting in January 2026 — which is why you might have also seen BBC classics like Red Dwarf and Have I Got a Bit More News for You on there.
A partnership like this isn't unheard of, as ITV and Disney+ have been sharing content through the 'A Taste of' project for a while now. It has seen shows like The Bear appear on ITVX and even (almost) up-to-date episodes of Coronation Street pop up on Disney+, for limited times.
When their collaboration was first announced, ITV and Disney stated that the goal was promote each other's services, giving people, well, a taste of the content available in the hopes that they go and sign up.
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Even before that, major British broadcasters — the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and 5 — have been licensing their shows to big American streamers such as Disney+ and Prime Video as a way to monetise their back catalogues.
While the idea of two BBC staples being carried by Channel 4 may have seemed mind-boggling years ago, now it's pretty par for the course.
Classic episodes of Casualty and EastEnders can be streamed on U and Channel 4. EastEnders episodes going back to April 2008 and select milestone and festive episodes are also available on BBC iPlayer.
New episodes of Casualty air on Saturday nights on BBC One and now stream first on BBC iPlayer, where episodes are released at 6am on the day of transmission.
EastEnders airs Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
