List of EastEnders characters introduced in 1996
The following is a list of fictional characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1996, by order of first appearance.
Michael Rose
Michael Rose, played by Russell Floyd, first appears in Walford as a Market Inspector in 1996. He initially has very few storylines, but he is chosen to be the best man at Terry Raymond 's wedding. He has a crush on April Branning but no relationship ever develops between them. Then there is the arrival of his teenage son Matthew and former wife Susan Rose in 1997.His ex-wife Susan is suffering from multiple sclerosis and Michael ends up caring for her. Eventually he and Susan get back together and seem happy until the arrival of Lisa Shaw who is also a Market Inspector. He and Lisa become attracted to each other and have an affair behind Susan's back. Michael ends the affair and decides to leave Walford with Susan and start a new life in Leeds, with Susan unaware of the affair.
He returns occasionally in 1999 when his son Matthew is wrongly imprisoned for the murder of Saskia Duncan. Michael's last appearance is in December 1999, visiting Matthew in prison.
Dan Zappieri
Dan Zappieri, played by Carl Pizzie, made his first screen appearance on 19 March 1996. Pizzie was out of work and had just opened a bar with fellow actor Nick Pickard when he was cast as Dan. EastEnders was his first major television role. Pizzie relished the chance to play a bad guy role, as he had only ever played "regular guys" before.Dan was a drug dealer, who befriended Tony Hills. They sold drugs together and Pizzie commented that Tony was easily drawn into Dan's world as he thought it was exciting and he liked having money. When two of Dan's customers suffered serious side effects from his drugs, he was unconcerned and Pizzie noted that all Dan cared about was money. He said "He likes playing the bad guy, he thinks his life is a bit like an Al Pacino movie." Pizzie found parts of Dan's storylines challenging to play, as he did not touch drugs. But he liked that the show was tackling the subject matter and the negative effects taking drugs had on people. An Inside Soap columnist branded the character "Desperate Dan" and "Walford's latest villain".
Aunt Sal
Aunt Sal is played by Anna Karen, and has appeared sporadically since 21 March 1996, usually for only one or two episodes at a time. She is Peggy Mitchell's sister.Ben Mitchell
Ben Mitchell has been played by six different actors. Matthew Silver appeared as an infant Ben from 1996 to 1998, and Morgan Whittle played him as a toddler from 1999 to 2000. After a six-year absence from the series, Charlie Jones assumed the role of Ben in 2006. Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood axed Jones as part of a series revamp in 2010; the role was recast to Joshua Pascoe later that year. Pascoe portrayed Ben until 24 August 2012, when he was sent to prison for the murder of Heather Trott. Ben returned to the serial in September 2014, with the role recast to Harry Reid, before departing on 12 January 2018. Havingously appeared as a baby and a toddler, Ben returned to EastEnders in 2006 played by child actor Charlie Jones. Jones was cast alongside Megan Jossa, who would play his cousin Courtney Mitchell. While Ben is partially deaf, Jones is a hearing actor. The Guardian Rebecca Atkinson suggested that, as only the second disabled character in EastEnders history, Ben was introduced to fulfil a BBC quota. She criticised Jones' casting, and opined, "The use of able-bodied actors to play disabled characters is endemic. Maybe in theory there's nothing wrong with that, but while real disabled people are invisible it is downright offensive to persistently cast able-bodied people in disabled roles."Joe Wicks
Joe Wicks, played by Paul Nicholls, appears on screen between 25 March 1996 and 14 November 1997. EastEnders was praised for the character's portrayal of schizophrenia. EastEnders story editor, Ian Aldwinkle, decided to introduce a character with schizophrenia after working on the drama series Casualty, which featured violent and dramatic incidents involving people with the illness, but only focussed on the medical side. Aldwinkle researched the illness and says he was shocked to discover that it affects one in 100 people, but it was rarely spoken about. He said: "Because it has a continuing storyline, EastEnders was able to look at the effect that schizophrenia has on a family and on individual relationships. I wanted to humanise it and look at the emotional impact it has on people." He said he hoped that the storyline would be helpful, saying "It seems to me that mental illness is one of the last subjects that you can still make jokes about without being labelled politically incorrect, and that seems wrong. If I get just one letter from one person saying that the character of Joe Wicks has helped to change their life for the better, then I will be pleased."Lorraine Wicks
Lorraine Wicks, played by Jacqueline Leonard, is introduced in April 1996, as the former wife of the already established character David Wicks. She is brought into the serial along with her son Joe Wicks. Author Kate Lock has described Lorraine as "relentlessly sensible, fair and nice" but with a "rogue gene" that prompted her to select the wrong kind of men. As well as a high-profile storyline concentrating on Joe's diagnosis of schizophrenia, Lorraine's most prominent storyline is a love triangle between herself, Grant Mitchell and Grant's wife Tiffany. In the storyline, Lorraine discovers that Tiffany is keeping a secret from Grant – that he is potentially not the father of her unborn child. When Tiffany refuses to tell Grant the truth, Lorraine does, making way for them to become a legitimate couple, albeit briefly. Leonard commented in December 1996, "Lorraine has had a year on her own and she feels that she probably needs a bit of contact – and Grant's quite macho. It was very interesting from my point of view because Lorraine could be perceived as being bitchy and she's not. She genuinely cares about Tiffany and their marriage and the baby and she wants the whole situation sorted out. But she and Grant do like each other and care about each other and it loses control a bit."Alistair Matthews
Alistair Matthews, played by Neil Clark, is a store manager who catches Sarah Hills shoplifting in April 1996, but promises not to call the police if she attends his Christian fellowship and turns her back on her sinful ways. Sarah is captivated by Alistair's Christian preachings and joins his fellowship. Frankie Pierre is drawn to Alistair too, and when he turns her advances down, she spreads rumours that they were sexually involved; although Alistair publicly denies this, causing Frankie's downfall in Walford.Alistair condemns Sarah for having pre-marital sex with Robbie Jackson during a crisis of faith. However, Sarah is hurt to discover that Alistair does not practice the piety that he preaches, and when she realises that he is having pre-marital sex with his girlfriend Sue Taylor, she denounces him publicly in front of his congregation.