These are the characters who were created as the orginal cast and appeared in the first few episodes. Nick Cotton is not considered one of the original 23 characters as he was not created as a regular but let's include him anyway since he's outlasted most of them.

Here's the list

Ian Beale
Kathy Beale
Lou Beale
Pete Beale
Kelvin Carpenter
Tony Carpenter
Nick Cotton
Arthur Fowler
Mark Fowler
Michelle Fowler
Pauline Fowler
Lofty Holloway
Naima Jeffery
Saeed Jeffery
Dr. Legg
Andy O'Brien
Ali Osman
Sue Osman
Ethel Skinner
Mary Smith
Angie Watts
Den Watts
Sharon Watts
Debbie Wilkins

1.Den Watts
2.Pauline Fowler
3.Sharon Watts
4.Michelle Fowler
5.Angie Watts
6.Lou Beale
7.Kathy Beale
8.Ethel Skinner
9.Arthur Fowler
10.Sue Osman
11.Mark Fowler
12.Ian Beale
13.Nick Cotton
14.Lofty Holloway
15.Debbie Wilkins
16.Dr. Legg
17.Mary Smith
18.Tony Carpenter
19.Naima Jeffery
20.Pete Beale
21.Kelvin Carpenter
22.Andy O'Brien
23.Saeed Jeffery
24.Ali Osman

1)Sharon Watts (refusing to call her Sharon Mitchell)
2)Pauline Fowler
3)Kathy Beale
4)Angie Watts
5)Den Watts
6)Lou Beale
7)Ian Beale
8)Ethel Skinner
9)Michelle Fowler
10)Arthur Fowler
11)Mark Fowler
12)Nick Cotton
13)Lofty Holloway
14)Ali Osman
15)Sue Osman
16)Kelvin Carpenter
17)Pete Beale
18)Tony Carpenter
19)Mary Smith
20)Debbie Wilkins
21)Dr. Legg
22)Naima Jeffery
23)Saeed Jeffery
24)Andy O'Brien

1, Den Watts
2, Angie Watts
3, Lou Beale
4, Pauline Fowler
5, Arthur Fowler
6, Ethel Skinner
7, Kathy Beale
8, Michelle Fowler
9, Sharon Watts
10, Sue Osman
11, Mary Smith
12, Ian Beale
13, Mark Fowler
14, Debbie Wilkins
15, Nick Cotton
16, Lofty Holloway
17, Dr Legg
18, Naima Jeffery
19, Andy O'Brian
20, Saeed Jeffery
21, Kelvin Carpenter
22, Tony Carpenter
23, Ali Osman
24, Pete Beale

I hated Peter Dean as Pete. I think its the worst miscast in the entire history of the show. I've always wondered if they had given the part to someone else maybe the character might still be on screen.

I agree. I despised Pete Beale. I was glad when he left and even happier when he died a few months later. Dean was a terrible actor. The character had so much potential to run and run but Dean's acting was hard to take and eventually I think the writers just gave up. A thoroughly unpleasant character played in such a way that it was impossible to like him (for me anyway).

Angie
Den
Sharon
Michelle
Mary
Sue
Pauline
Ethel
Arthur
Mark
Tony
Nick

The rest are all much of a muchness for me. Amazing to think how ground breaking EE was with Naima and Saeed and Tony and Kelvin. Did Brookie have equivalent ethnic minority families?

Also how fantastic was Mary the punk? Would be nice to see her make a cameo as a librarian or venture capitalist.

Sue
Den
Michelle
Arthur
Pauline
Lou
Mark
Ethel
Mary
Pete
Kathy
Nick
Andy
Naima
Angie
Lofty
Dr Legg
Tony
Sharon
Kelvin
Ian
Debbie
Ali
Saeed

I would love if Ian, Sharon or Dot briefly bumped into her only to be shocked by her transformation into a tweed cardigan wearing meek and mild librarian

Oh that would be great! Maybe she rolls up her sleeve to show a Clash tattoo? She was a great character.

I actually liked Pete. Not a good actor but he was a typical stick in the mud father who wanted his son to be a chip off the old block. Maybe it was an age thing. I was about the same age as him at the time and knew plenty of men (and women) like him with such rigid ideas.

Would love this to happen, even a Lofty cameo, would be awesome.

I heard that Linda Davidson does something in web design or online media now for the main channels.

Agree he really let the character down. Such a waste.


I'm not objecting to what the character was but it was Peter Dean who killed all Pete's potential. Just a serious miscast. Julia Smith even said she only gave him the role because she felt sorry for him, given how hard and ruthless she was then Peter must have really layed it on thick in the audition. Julia should have gone with her instinct and got a better actor. She didn't hold back in recasting Angie at the 12th hour.

Oh, yes Lofty would be interesting too!

I didn't think he was that bad at the time but when you rewatch his scenes with Kenny and Pat he was pretty clunky.

Getting Lofty back for a cameo would be great. Its a shame Santer didn't come in a few months earlier. I reckon he would have done a good job in giving Pauline a better send off than she got perhaps with a few cameo appearances from the likes of Lofty.

It was also a shame they axed Debbie. I never understood that decision.

Sue osman
Lou beale
Michelle fowler
Den watts
Mary smith
Ethel skinner
Angie watts
Debbie Wilkins
Mark fowler
Kathy beale
Pauline fowler
Naima jeffery
Andy o'brian
Ali osman
Arthur fowler
Pete beale
Nick cotton
Lofty holloway
Tony carpenter
Ian beale
Kelvin carpenter
Saeed jeffery
Sharon watts
Dr Harold Legg

All were brilliant back in the early early but Sharon is not really as good as she was back then anymore.

Eleven of them were gone by the end of the third year!

I think its possible for Annie Smith (Mary's kid) to come into the show. She would be over 30 now. Linda Davidsn no longer act but would probably do a cameo

Dr Legg could visit Dot on the 30th anniversary episode.

The Osmans should come back.

Lofty should also make a cameo.

The only character I don't want back is Saeed. He was awful.

If Santer came in a year earlier Pauline wouldn't have left when she did and would probably have been onscreen until Wendy Richard became ill. We'd also have Kathy onscreen now as well. Santer said openly he believed his predecessors decision to kill off Kathy was a massive mistake and he would have brought her back.

Santer should have brought Kathy back. Her death had just occured when he became EP and could easily have been gotten around with a decent witness protection storyline. Leaving Ben for a few months is a lot easier to deal with than leaving him forever. It's too late now.

1 - Ethel Skinner
2 - Den Watts
3 - Angie Watts
4 - Lou Beale
5 - Pauline Fowler
6 - Arthur Fowler
7 - Ian Beale
8 - Kathy Beale
9 - Ali Osman
10 - Sue Osman
11 - Sharon Watts
12 - Lofty Holloway
13 - Michelle Fowler
14 - Mary Smith
15 - Nick Cotton
16 - Mark Fowler
17 - Dr Legg
18 - Tony Carpenter
19 - Kelvin Carpenter
20 - Andy O Brien
21 - Debbie Wilkins
22 - Pete Beale
23 - Saeed Jeffrey
24 - Naima Jeffrey

Ethel was always one of my favourite early characters and still one of my favourite all time Eastenders characters.

I also detested Pete Beale and thought Peter Dean was a poor actor (hence his lack of work since) but I do remember him better than Saeed and Naima so put them at the bottom.

Would love for like Ian to bump into Mary and see her now a success. Little Ali coul turn up in Walford to track down his mum do we can finally discover what happened to sue after she got sectioned. Debbie, lofty and anima in would like back. I didn't mind saeed but he was only in it for the first year and didn't really do that much.


Shame andy got killed off as i liked him. It's also a shame kathy, 'mark, pete, and angie died off screen Pauline, Arthur, den, Lou, Ethel have also been killed off too (I know many of their actors died too) so their is no return for these characters now anyway

They shouldn't have killed Arthur off but I guess it was the only logical way he'd leave Pauline. At least he could come back now if they hadn't killed him (and it wasn't exactly the best death in the programme).

I think at least producers like Santer and DTC are careful who they kill off now so we don't get another Kathy, Angie, Mark, Cindy who die off screen.

I think characters should die if they are at the end of their storyline but its a selection that you have to be careful with. Killing Pat off was ridiculous whereas killing Joey off wouldn't matter because he's unlikely to turn up again.

I am sure Bill Treacher asked to be killed off as he was adamant he wouldn't return. He was basically retiring. Also I doubt Arthur would have left Pauline so it was the only way to go.

Andy has since passed away a real life so there would be no chance of a return for him anyway.

As for killing characters off, I for one am a firm believer that if an actor chooses to leave they should not assume the door should be left open. Killing a character off when you are sure all storylines are over wouldn't really work as a soap death needs impact - it pulls in the viewers. I miss Pat but at least she died on screen so there was some point to it.

I thought Bill left because of exhaustion. Arthur could have easily been sectioned and hospitalised to give Bill a chance to recover and consider a return. He's certainly continued acting since. Loved Arthur and it would have been amazing to see him back.

O/T his son has also worked in EE as a cop colleague of Jack's.