Enders cast members who have done 10 years

Broken_ArrowBroken_Arrow Posts: 10,637
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I don't know if anyone will be interested but I thought it might be interesting to look into the cast members who have appeared continuously for 10 years or more. I concentrated on those actors who have appeared for 10 years straight without a break

The list follows...



1.Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale) - Longest serving cast member with 28 years under his belt.

2.Pam St. Clement (Pat Butcher) - First appeared in 1986 and made her final appearance on New Year's Day 2012. Appeared for 25 and a half years with a few contracted breaks inbetween.

3.Wendy Richards (Pauline Fowler) - Original cast member who departed just 2 months shy of 22 years service.

4.June Brown (Dot Cotton) - First appeared in 1985 but left in 1993 before she completed a decade. Returned sporadically in 1997 before rejoining the cast full time. Has now appeared for 16 years continuously.

5.Perry Fenwick (Billy Mitchell) - Initially a recurring character from 1998 to 1999, Billy was made a regular in 2000 and has therefore appeared for over 10 years whether you consider him to be a 15 year veteran or a 13 year veteran.

6.Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Jackson) - Joined in 1993, left the cast in 2007. Having joined the show as a youth, Sonia's appearances were limited in her early days and she was essentially written out for a time from 1997 to 1998 although she popped up every now and then. Collectively her first stint spans 14 years with presumably contracted breaks.

7.Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell) - Appeared for 13 years from 1990 to 2003 before taking a break. McFadden was always due to return at some point and made his comeback in 2005. He is on course to complete a second full decade.

8.Gillian Taylforth (Kathy Beale) - Original cast member who accumulated the most amount of appearances (at the time) when she appeared as a regular from 1985 to 1998. 13 years service and 2 later guest stints.

9.Todd Carty (Mark Fowler #2) - The original actor to play Mark appeared on and off from the first episode in 1985 until 1987. Todd Carty took on the role in 1990 and appeared for 13 years until he was axed in 2003.

10.Laila Morse (Mo Harris) - Joined in 2000 but has appeared less and less as the years have passed. She did not have her contract renewed in 2012 but has been kept on as a recurring guest. Despite that, she has only appeared in one episode this year. Depending on how you look at it she was either a regular for 12 years or is still a regular with 13 years service so far. Nevertheless she completed a decade on the show.

11.Sid Owen (Ricky Butcher) - First appeared from 1988 to 2000 (12 years) and has been back and forth ever since.

12.Rudolph Walker (Patrick Trueman) - Joined the cast in 2001 but has appeared in a very limited capacity for many years now. Despite this, he is still regarded as a regular cast member and has appeared for 12 years so far.

13.Gretchen Franklin (Ethel Skinner)
- Original cast member who sadly appeared very infrequently from the late 80's onwards. She is comparable to Patrick and Mo in that she only showed up when needed. However, the writers respected Ethel more and had it written into the scripts that she moved into sheltered accomodation to explain her absences. Technically only a regular in the strictest sense in the early years, Ethel was still regarded as part of the cast until 1997 when she stopped appearing and subjectively put in 12 years service. She returned in 2000 for several months so Ethel could be written out permanently.

14.Leonard Fenton (Dr. Harold Legg) - Like Ethel, Dr. Legg was used less frequently as time went on. By 1997 he was phased out completely and given an offscreen exit after 12 years in the role. Dr. Legg has returned for guest appearances several times, mostly recently in 2007.

15.Bill Treacher (Arthur Fowler) - Pauline's husband remained for 11 years before the actor quit.

16.James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler #2) - Taking over the role of Martin in 1996, James Alexandrou stayed until 2007. The character of Martin Fowler (played by both actors) is one of the longest serving in the show, appearing from birth in 1985 until his exit 22 years later.

17.Derek Martin (Charlie Slater) - Joined in 2000 and remained until 2011. Although Charlie was regarded as a regular his appearances were very infrequent and he served as essentially a guest character in his latter years until his exit with the baby swap fiasco. Stupidly, after leaving Walford for good to the sound of Julia's Theme, Charlie returned a couple of months later for a few episodes.

18.Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler) - Original cast member who stayed for over 10 years and said ''No thanks'' to any offers of a return.

19.Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts) - Well known for her dramatic comebacks, this original cast member's first stint lasted for over 10 years and is her longest to date.

20.Dean Gaffney (Robbie Jackson) - Somehow managed to last 10 full years from 1993 to 2003 by being thick as a plank and having no storylines of any interest.



I did not include Barbara Windsor (Peggy #2) as she departed the cast in 2003 after 9 years due to illness and only appeared in a guest capacity in 2004 before returning to the cast full time in 2005.

I also didn't include Steven, Peter, Lucy and Bobby Beale as they've been played by various different actors.

Special mention for background performers Tracy, Winston and Big Ron who all passed the 10 year mark but aren't main cast members.

Comments

  • SMIDSYmk2SMIDSYmk2 Posts: 7,799
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    Would Sharon count, she had a break of a few months after sharongate was revealed.
  • Broken_ArrowBroken_Arrow Posts: 10,637
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    SMIDSYmk2 wrote: »
    Would Sharon count, she had a break of a few months after sharongate was revealed.

    It was a contracted break so it counts:)
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