List of EastEnders characters introduced in 1985
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1985, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by executive producer Julia Smith. The first episode of EastEnders was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and twenty-three main characters were already created for their first appearance. The first character to be seen was Den Watts, followed by Ali Osman and then Arthur Fowler, all of whom find Reg Cox dying in his flat. Ethel Skinner, Harold Legg and Pauline Fowler appear, after Den alerts them of Reg's death. With Ethel is her pug Willy along with Lou Beale. Saeed and Naima Jeffery are seen working in the local shop whilst Angie Watts is seen in The Queen Victoria, Walford's local pub. Nick Cotton and Sue Osman are next seen, whilst Pete and Kathy Beale work at the fruit and veg stall and Hassan Osman is seen with his parents in the café. Sharon Watts, Ian Beale and Michelle Fowler are next seen and Mark Fowler is seen going into the bookies. Lastly, Roly the dog is seen in the pub when a fight breaks out.
Lofty Holloway is introduced on 26 February along with Terry Rich, and Tony Carpenter is introduced on 28 February. Mary Smith and her daughter [|Annie] are introduced on 5 March. Tony's son Kelvin is introduced on 12 March. Andy O'Brien is introduced on 21 March along with Debbie Wilkins. [|Chris Smith] was introduced on 7 May and Mehmet Osman was introduced on 13 June as a recurring character. Hannah Carpenter arrived on 25 June as Tony's wife and Dot Cotton was introduced on 4 July followed by Ernie Mears on 16 July. [|Detective Sergeant Roy Quick] was introduced on 20 August as Walford's detective. Martin Fowler was born on 30 July and Simon Wicks arrived on 5 October. Lastly, the wife of Mehmet, Guizin Osman arrived on 22 October, and Cassie Carpenter arrived as the daughter of Hannah and Tony.
Den Watts
Den Watts, played by actor Leslie Grantham, is the original landlord of The Queen Victoria. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". He is perhaps best remembered for his stormy love-hate relationship with his alcoholic first wife Angie, as well as his devoted interaction with their adopted daughter Sharon. After nearly 20 years of marriage, he hands divorce papers to Angie in the 1986 Christmas Day episode that was watched by a record-breaking 30.15 million viewers, more than half of the UK population at the time. The character soon departed from the show after getting involved with his local's criminal organization, The Firm – which sparked the events of an attempt on Den's life. For 14 years, it was believed that he had been killed, but he returns to Walford in September 2003. Seventeen months later, his character is killed off again – this time for good – at the hands of his manipulative second wife Chrissie, on the show's 20th anniversary episode that was watched by over of the UK population at the time. Den was described by EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge as being arguably one of the most iconic characters ever portrayed in a soap opera.Ali Osman
Ali Osman, played by Nejdet Salih, is a happy-go-lucky, easy-going chap, in stark contrast to his highly strung wife, Sue. He has a compulsive addiction to gambling, which gets him into trouble on more than one occasion and his marriage ends in disaster after he has his wife sectioned. He is a member of the original EastEnders cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985, and remains with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his final appearance on 10 October 1989. Ali Osman was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. Ali, a Turkish Cypriot, was originally intended to be named Chris. His name was changed to Ali when it dawned on Holland that he had given a Christian name to a Muslim. Ali was a well-intentioned attempt to represent the proportion of Turkish Cypriots who had immigrated to England and settled in the East End of London. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with.Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler, played by Bill Treacher, is the father of the Fowler family. Arthur is essentially a good man, but makes some foolish choices and always ends up paying dearly for them. Bossed to the brink of insanity by his wife Pauline and mother-in-law Lou Beale, Arthur falls into the arms of another woman. During his time in Albert Square he suffers with a mental disorder, is sent to prison twice and eventually dies of a brain haemorrhage in 1996. Arthur Fowler was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. Arthur is a member of the first family of EastEnders, the Beales and Fowlers, and Holland took the inspiration for some of the series' earliest characters from his own London family and background. Arthur's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story.Reg Cox
Reg Cox, played by Johnnie Clayton, is a resident of Albert Square. The first episode of EastEnders on 19 February 1985 centres upon pensioner Reg's death. According to scriptwriter Colin Brake, the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, wanted to start the serial "with a bang, throwing the audience into the middle of life in Walford". The Reg Cox storyline was deemed as a good starting point, allowing various members of the community to be involved with or comment on the circumstances of the old man's murder.In the first ever scene of the programme, the characters of Den Watts, Arthur Fowler, and Ali Osman are shown breaking down the door of Reg's flat. In Holland and Smith's book, The Inside Story, the authors have outlined their original interpretation of the scene: " starts with a bang, as a size ten boot kicks down the door that's locked from the inside. The tiny, dirty and foul-smelling council-flat behind the battered door belongs to Reg Cox who hasn't been seen around
Reg lived alone at 23b Albert Square. On the morning of 19 February 1985, Naima Jeffery, who runs the shop on Bridge Street, becomes concerned about Reg after he has failed to make his daily milk purchase for the past three days, and her husband, Saeed Jeffery, mentions this to Den Watts, publican of the pub next door. Den and Arthur Fowler rouse Ali Osman, who lives downstairs from Reg, to let them into the house and the three of them kick in the door to Reg's room when he fails to answer their knocking. Den speaks the opening lines of the first episode, "Stinks in here, dunnit?", followed by the discovery of an unconscious Reg slumped in his armchair in the lounge of his neglected flat. Den runs to get the local doctor, Harold Legg, and calls for an ambulance. On 21 February 1985, they learn that Reg had been severely beaten and died from injuries which had gone unnoticed when he was found. It is eventually revealed that Nick Cotton was behind the beating when he was attempting to steal Reg's war medals.
Reg, who was 59 years old when he died, was not a popular figure in Albert Square. He is referred to as a 'cantankerous old man' by Arthur, called a 'miserable so and so' by Ethel Skinner and a 'nasty old man' by his downstairs neighbour, Sue Osman. However, despite this, Lou Beale causes havoc around the Square, accusing Sue of neglect for allowing him to lie dying in his flat for days, without checking up on him. The character also appears in the Christmas special "CivvyStreet", set during the Second World War, shown on 22 December 1988.
In 2014, Reg's murderer, Nick, uses the name 'Reg Cox' as an alias after faking his own death. In 2015, Nick dies in the same place that Reg died exactly 30 years earlier, after admitting to his mother, Dot Branning, that he killed Reg.
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner played by Gretchen Franklin, is an elderly resident of Walford. An EastEnders original character, Ethel came in the soap's early years often found wandering the square with her adored pug Willy. She and Dot Cotton are lifelong friends, and although they wind each other up they are dependent on each other. In fact Ethel trusts Dot so much that she even asks her to help her die in 2000, after she is diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Ethel's original character outline states that she was born in 1920. However, during the series this was altered to 1916 and for many years her birthday fell on 19 February. When Ethel comes back to Walford to die in 2000, she reveals to Dot that she had lied about her age for many years.Ethel, like Reg Cox, also features in the 1988 "CivvyStreet" special, in which the character is played by Alison Bettles.