No it didn't but to be fair to Brookside the set up of the housing was very different. They were all private houses which mainly the characters had 'moved up to' from 'lower' economic backgrounds. The exception to that were the Collins' who had downsized from a lovely house on the Wirral due to Paul being made redundant in his middle age.

Basically Brookside was a 'lower middle class suburban housing estate so you wouldn't expect to have Council tenants such as Ethel, Mary, Dot or sadly at that time a showing of ethnic minorities in the way you would London's EastEnd. They had plenty of ethnic characters as the years went on - the Johnsons being the most noticeable ones.

I'll do my list a little later - good idea for a thread.

He has done a few bits here and there, a think his best known role after Eastenders was as a villain in The Bill. However I recall he was pleased to be killed off as he didn't want the temptation to return. In fact a lot of actors are happy to have their characters killed off (at least at the time). Truth is we have to accept that soaps kill off characters. We cant just have all the minor characters killed off because we love the main ones, that wouldn't make sense. I liked Arthur but he was off his time I think, I don't miss him now.

Den Watts
Angie Watts
Ian Beale
Sharon Watts
Pauline Fowler
Ethel Skinner
Michelle Fowler
Lou Beale
Mark Fowler
Kathy Beale
Arthur Fowler
Dr. Legge
Pete Beale
Nick Cotton (bottom purely because of John's awful acting)

All the following have faded in memory for me so wouldn't really be able to rank -

Kelvin Carpenter
Tony Carpenter
Lofty Holloway
Naima Jeffery
Saeed Jeffery
Andy O'Brien
Ali Osman
Sue Osman
Mary Smith
Debbie Wilkins

I thought Julia gave him the gig because he'd worked a market so looked authentic when on the fruit and veg stall and felt he bore enough of a resemblance to Wendy Richard's to be believable as her brother. She even says in the EastEnders book on how it was created that his audition was 'disappointing' but she thought he'd get better. He didn't and his resentment at Les Grantham becoming the breakout star when he thought the Beales were going to be the forefront characters didn't help any either.

I don't think that I can put them in any order. I liked most of the cast in the early days, except perhaps Lou and Ethel (I think that I viewed them as silly old sods) and I never really like Angie. The others I quite liked, unless of course I am viewing the past through rose tinted glasses.

Great thread. My list:

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

Pete was incredibly annoying. Legg was pretty pointless - can't recall him ever having a proper story line and was not in that many episodes any way. I never really liked Debs and Andy - I watched the show to see 'gritty east end!' Ian and Mary were OK just not riveting for me. Lofty was a good character just not a favourite. Saeed and Naima weren't too bad - Saeed actually I can't recall that much of but was part of the stories of Naima - who was an OK character. Ali was OK and a fit with storylines with the ace Sue. ...
Pauline, Angie, Den, Lou, Arthur, Sue, Kathy, were great characters and main story drivers - what's not to like?

Ethel was funny - an entertaining figure.

Mark, Michelle, Sharon, Kelvin were a cool younger bunch. Some say the original Mark wasn't that great an actor but I recall thinking I liked his brooding presence.

Tony was a good character - shame about the whiny wife they later gave him. Nick was fine but really only worked as a recurring villain.

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

It appears Pete Beale wasn't that popular. My problem was Peter Dean, I didn't think he was very good which is a shame as his character was an important part of the original cast. He was one off screen death I was glad to hear about.