List of EastEnders characters introduced in 2002
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2002, by order of first appearance. Many were introduced by the show's executive producer, John Yorke.
Jack Evans
Jack Evans, played by the identical twins Brodie O'Sullivan and Riordan O'Sullivan, is the son of Barry and Natalie Evans. He has a traumatic breech birth early in 2002. He is named after Natalie's younger brother. Jack initially lives with his parents, his grandfather Roy and Roy's wife Pat, but moves out of Albert Square in March 2003 following his parents' divorce and Roy's death. Barry is devoted to Jack and agonises over the fact that he cannot be a full-time father to him.Barry dies early in 2004 and as he had just married Janine Butcher, she inherits Barry's estate. When Natalie suspects Janine is responsible for Barry's death, she leaves Walford for a new start with Jack. Before they leave, Natalie and Jack plant a tree in the Square in Barry's name. Jack's last appearance is in May 2004.
Minty Peterson
Rick Peterson, played by Cliff Parisi, He makes his first appearance on 11 March 2002. Minty's friend, Phil Mitchell, to look after his sister, Sam. Minty becomes friends with fellow mechanic Garry Hobbs, but their friendship is tested when Minty dates Gary's mother, Hazel. Hazel leaves Minty, however, and he goes on to have a relationship with Phil's old girlfriend, Manda Best. However, Sam reappears in Walford, and this leads to Minty admitting to Manda that he still has feelings for Sam. However, Sam leaves Walford again, and Minty decides to quit Walford himself in September 2010.Tom Banks
Tom Banks, played by Colm Ó Maonlaí, is a firefighter who had been friends with Sharon Watts when they were young. When he reappears in Walford in 2002, they become close again. The couple begin dating, and despite interference from Sharon's ex-boyfriend Phil Mitchell and Tom's psychotic ex-wife [|Sadie], they stay together. However, things take a turn for the worse when Tom discovers he has a brain tumour.Sean Andrews
Sean Andrews, played by Oliver Bradley, is the son of Trevor Morgan and Donna Andrews, born on 31 August 2001. Sean is the product of his parents' extra-marital affair. Donna was originally Trevor's mistress.Sean is first mentioned by Trevor's wife Little Mo Morgan, who urges Trevor to be a part of Sean's life despite his abusing both her and Donna in the past. Donna then flees to the Slaters' house to hide from Trevor who is on a violent rampage but is eventually found and leaves Sean with Mo Harris. Trevor bursts into the house and the police are called. A violent Trevor demands to see his son but Kat Slater fights off Trevor, letting him beat her to prevent him going out the back where Sean is being kept and to stall for the police's arrival. The police arrive and arrest Trevor and Donna takes Sean home. In November 2002, Sean is kidnapped from Donna's house by Trevor. Trevor starts abusing Little Mo but she stands up to him and says she's not frightened of him. He threatens to start a fire but Little Mo shows little interest and goes to get Sean and leave but Trevor grabs Little Mo, causing her to drop the lit match, and starts a house fire at Little Mo's home. Local fireman Tom Banks saves Sean and Little Mo, but dies when going back to save Trevor, who also dies. Donna and Sean leave shortly afterwards.
Gus Smith
Gus Smith, played by Mohammed George, debuted in 2002. He soon begins a relationship with Sonia Jackson. However, Sonia breaks up with him to reconcile with her previous boyfriend, Jamie Mitchell, though Gus continues to have feelings for Sonia for a long time. Gus is joined in Walford by his troublesome brother Juley, and also takes custody of Robbie Jackson's dog, Wellard.Precious Hudson
Marjorie "Precious" Hudson, played by Judi Shekoni, is the glamorous wife of gangster Angel Hudson and she is first seen in Walford in June 2002 when Angel forces his old associate, Paul Trueman, to keep a watchful eye over her. It turns out that Precious is Angel's fake alibi in a murder trial and fearing that she might skip town or be harmed before she can testify, he arranges for Precious to move in with the Trueman's and instructs Paul not to let her out of his sight.Initially Paul is unaware of the fact that Precious is Angel's wife, and so when she makes her amorous intentions towards him clear, he has no qualms whatsoever about having sex with her. When she finally tells him the truth, he is horrified, and petrified of what Angel will do should he discover what had occurred between them. Precious reassures him that their marriage is a sham and promises not to divulge the affair. However, later that night, whilst Paul goes to get a take-away for them, Precious packs her bags and leaves. Paul is frantic, particularly when Angel shows up looking for her. Paul feeds Angel a story and he along with his brother, Anthony, goes in search of Precious, leaving Angel home alone with their father, Patrick. Paul eventually finds Precious at her mother Estella's hair salon, and desperately tries to persuade her to return, but she refuses and flees in a taxi. Paul returns home to discover his father bound and gagged by Angel, who is also holding Anthony's girlfriend, Zoe, hostage. Angel attacks Paul, just as Precious walks in the door. She has changed her mind about returning because she loves Paul.
A few days later some shady characters are seen placing a bomb underneath Precious' car – timed to go off half an hour before she is due to be at the solicitor with Angel. However, Precious had put her car into the local mechanics for a service and when it explodes only Garry Hobbs is hurt but his injuries are not serious. Precious is furious that her life is under threat and she tells Angel she will lie for him in the trial but only if he gives her a divorce. Soon after Precious is kidnapped by the father of the man Angel murdered. He convinces Precious that the only way to get rid of Angel is to get him locked up. Precious realises that Angel will never divorce her and would rather see her dead, so she decides to tell the truth at the trial the following day, but to her horror Angel is found not guilty anyway.
Paul and Precious then decide to flee Walford for Spain. However, an altercation at The Queen Victoria public house between the Truemans and the Slaters stalls their departure and after Paul gets into a fight with Garry he is taken away by the police. Meanwhile, Precious, who is waiting for Paul is caught by Angel.
Precious tells Angel she is in love with Paul and wants a divorce. Surprisingly Angel isn't bothered and he tells Precious that he doesn't care enough about her betrayal to kill her and that she can have her divorce. Paul is a different matter, however. He promises that if he ever finds out that she and Paul are together, he will kill him. To protect Paul, Precious is forced to lie. She tells him she isn't in love with him and says she is just using him as an escape from Angel. After which she leaves Walford, leaving Paul with a broken heart.
Juley Smith
Julius "Juley" Smith, played by Joseph Kpobie, first appears in July 2002 as Gus Smith's brother. He proves to be a problem for Gus, as he gets involved in crime, including firearm possession and the theft of charity money, which leads to his departure in April 2005. In September 2005 he returns and visits France with Gus, Minty Peterson, Garry Hobbs and Mickey Miller. Mickey's father Mike Swann sees straight through him and exposes him as a con-man. He returns to Walford and promises to change.Juley then has a romance with Ruby Allen. Their crush starts on 21 November 2005; however, they really push the limits on 12 December 2005 when they have sex together, despite watchful eye of Ruby's father, Johnny Allen. The couple do not seem to care about what Johnny thinks, but Juley has a near-fatal encounter with Johnny on 15 December 2005 when Johnny ambushes him with a pair of kitchen scissors, with the intent to harm him. Juley is only saved when Dennis Rickman intervenes. It is subsequently revealed that Juley is working for Phil Mitchell, who is paying him to be with Ruby to antagonise Johnny. Ruby later moves in with Juley.
Juley starts to fall in love with Ruby and decides to call it off with Phil, who orders Juley to give back all the money he has been paid. Juley had put some of the money into his brother Gus's fund to see his dog, Wellard, who has been arrested for biting Ian Beale. Gus catches Juley with the money, and forces Juley into confessing about his working for Phil. In January 2006, Phil wants Juley to end his relationship with Ruby, saying if Juley doesn't end it, he will tell Johnny the truth and Johnny will most likely kill Juley. Juley breaks up with Ruby in the harshest way he can, despite his true feelings. Johnny is released from hospital and finds out about Phil paying Juley. Johnny threatens to kill Juley if he ever goes near Ruby again. Realising he is making a mistake Juley attempts to get Ruby back, and she eventually agrees to try again. However, she realises that she cannot trust him when she finds herself questioning his phone calls. When Ruby returns to Walford after her father's arrest, Juley talks to her in the market to see if she is okay, but is badly beaten by Johnny's employee, Jake Moon.
In July 2006 Juley mugs Ruby and hits her, leaving her with a minor injury. He then steals £2000 from her which she was going to use for her holiday with her best friend, Stacey Slater. Ruby enters Scarlet nightclub to put the £2000 in a safe but when she is leaving the office, Juley creeps into the nightclub. Ruby is about to leave the club when she hears a noise coming from the office. This is where she finds Juley with the money and he runs away, pushing her onto the floor. The next day, Juley's brother Gus discovers the £2000 in Juley's bedroom. He alerts Juley that he knows what is going on and then tries to deliver the money through the postbox of Scarlet, but Jake is watching. He calls Gus inside the club to discuss what is going on. Gus lies, but then confesses to Jake that it is Juley who stole the money. Jake then orders Gus to find Juley and bring him to the club, otherwise he will report Juley to the police. Gus returns to the flat and tells Juley what Jake is planning to do to him. Jake closely follows Gus and demands Juley to open the door. Juley and Gus then hug and squeeze hands, which is followed by Juley escaping the flat by the back door, and then leaving Walford. His last appearance is on 27 July 2006.