EastEnders: 25 best forgotten characters in BBC soap’s history

A trip down memory lane as the soap turns 40. There was undoubtedly a time in your life when you considered EastEnders appointment viewing. For some, it was the Den and Angie-days; for others, it was the Golden Epoch of Janine and Barry, the latter of whom probably ranks as one of the soap’s most memorable characters. More recent fans would most likely name storylines involving Stacey Slater and Max Branning as its most popular. It’s characters such as these that have ensured the soap has remained a staple of BBC schedules since it began 40 years ago this week.

As the soap celebrates its anniversary, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane to look at the best forgotten EastEnders characters. Andy Hunter. Played by: Michael Higgs. In the early 2000s, EastEnders went through a phase of having organised crime subplots, with characters including Dan Sullivan and Johnny Allen. Andy Hunter – who joined the show in 2003 – was the slimiest of them all. Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) proved the perfect love interest to Andy’s gangster up until she jilted him at the altar for Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) in 2005.

Beppe di Marco. Played by: Michael Greco. Binnie Roberts and Della Alexander. Played by: Sophie Langham and Michelle Joseph. Binnie Roberts and Della Alexander, characters from 1994, were the soap’s first lesbian couple. They left after a few years as a happy couple, which is rather unthinkable for the soap. Chelsea Fox. Played by: Tiana Benjamin. Chelsea Fox, daughter of Denise, was a breath of fresh air on the Square, mostly thanks to her portrayal by Tiana Benjamin, who quit the Harry Potter franchise to join the soap in 2006. (She played Gryffindor student Angelina Johnson.) She left the square in 2010.

Dawn Swann. Played by: Kara Tointon. Dawn may have been tainted by her association with the Miller family (her brother Mickey – played by Joe Swash – does not make this list), but the character injected a dash of glamour and optimism into the doom and gloom of Albert Square in 2005. Well, until she was kidnapped and almost died in a gas explosion. Dennis Rickman. Played by: Nigel Harman. Dennis Rickman seemed like a staple of EastEnders throughout the 2000s, but he was actually only on the show from 2003 to 2005. Still, his appearance made quite a stir thanks to the return of his resurrected father Dirty Den (Leslie Grantham) and marriage to his adopted sister, Sharon (Letitia Dean), right up until he was killed off on New Year’s Eve.

Garry Hobbs. Played by: Ricky Groves. Garry was in EastEnders for just under nine years, which – let’s be honest – is longer than anyone could recall. His character had quite the trajectory. After being introduced as the doting, if ultimately unhappy, husband of Lynne Slater (Elaine Lordan), he ended his time on the show literally sailing into the sunset with Dawn Swann in 2009. Glenda Mitchell. Played by: Glynis Barber.

It’s fair to say that Glenda, the scheming mother of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell (Samantha Womack and Rita Simons), was liked by nobody in the soap, which made her great entertainment for viewers. Glenda’s episodes always saw the character swanning around Albert Square with the sole intention of stirring up trouble, which invariably came back to bite her. She’s returned a number of times since the character was first introduced in 2010.

Dr Harold Legg. Played by: Leonard Fenton. More memorable due to the fact he was given a send off in the soap in 2021, Dr Legg was Albert Square’s go-to doctor throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Jamie Mitchell. Played by: Jack Ryder. Sorry Phil (Steve McFadden), but the best male Mitchell has always been his nephew Jamie, the character played by Jack Ryder from 1998 to 2002. He found himself at the heart of some of the soap’s biggest moments, including the surprise pregnancy of Sonia (Natalie Cassidy), the arrival of the Slaters and the 2001 shooting of his uncle in one of the soap’s biggest storylines of all time.

Lou Beale. Played by: Anna Wing. The straight-talking Lou Beale was an early favourite, as well as being the matriarch of one of the soap’s longest-standing families; Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) is her grandson. She was killed off in 1988. Kelvin Carpenter. Played by: Paul J Medford. Kelvin Carpenter was one of the soap’s original creations. You might remember him being a member of the soap’s fictional band alongside other teenage characters, including Sharon and Ian. His last appearance may have been 1987, but the character was mentioned in 2017.

Lucas Johnson. Played by: Don Gilet. There was something Shakespearean about the downfall of Lucas, a former criminal-turned-preacher who started murdering his way around the Square in 2008. Full of dramatic irony, his scenes with unsuspecting wife Denise (Diane Parish) were genuinely enthralling to watch, with Don Gilet playing up the Jekyll and Hyde-aspect of his character impressively. Lucas got his comeuppance in 2010.

Kelly Taylor and Spencer Moon. Played by: Brooke Kinsella and Christopher Parker. EastEnders has had its fair share of frustrating younger characters over the years, but Kelly – loyal friend to Zoe Slater – and the hapless Spencer Moon were two of the more likeable ones. Unlike his brother Alfie, Spencer’s time on the Square lasted for just three years (2002-05) and Kelly was written out the year before he left.