Archie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Larry Lamb.

He soon instigates trouble between his two daughters by scheming with Suzy Branning (Maggie O'Neill) to destroy Roxy's marriage with Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky) and later manipulating Ronnie into disbelieving the fact that her employee Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) is actually her long-lost daughter Amy—the latter of which consequently resulted in Danielle being killed in a hit and run on the day Archie married his sister-in-law Peggy (Barbara Windsor).

He was then kidnapped by Peggy's son Phil (Steve McFadden) and subsequently forced to leave Walford for good, but Archie ended up returning with the intent of getting revenge on his family.

[3] His plans gradually came to light when Archie forged a romantic partnership with Peggy's hated stepdaughter Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks); exploited Phil's sister Sam (Danniella Westbrook) while she was on the run for her involvement in the murder of the siblings' old enemy Den Watts (Leslie Grantham); and blackmailed Phil's stepson Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) with the knowledge that he cheated on his wife Jane (Laurie Brett)—which were all part of his scheme to successfully swindle his family from their beloved home, The Queen Victoria public house.

He thereupon caused the death of Ronnie's unborn child and later betrayed Janine by leaving her temporarily homeless upon finding out that she and her boyfriend Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) plotted to defraud his wealth in their get-rich-quick scheme.

Shortly afterwards, Archie got his comeuppance when he was murdered on Christmas Night 2009 after an unknown assailant pushed the Bust of Queen Victoria onto him.

This had both ended the character's reign of terror in 2009 and triggered the events of his own whodunit storyline, dubbed Who Killed Archie?, that occurred in early 2010.

It was soon revealed two months later in the show's first live episode, "EastEnders Live", that Archie's murderer was in fact Sean's younger sister and Danielle's best friend: Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner)[4]—whom he had raped on 6 October 2009 to cover-up his revenge scheme by escalating her bipolar disorder trauma, which led to Stacey being sectioned as a result of Archie raping her.

While happy to have Archie part of the family, Peggy realizes she needs to question his motives and tests him by sending texts from a mobile phone that belonged to Phil's girlfriend - Suzy Branning (Maggie O'Neill).

When Archie learns about this, he postpones the wedding and considers ending his relationship with Peggy; however, they later reorganize the preparations after she accepts his proposal.

Worried about her daughter's paternity, Roxy has a DNA test done and Archie finds the results, discovering that Amy's father is actually Suzy's brother Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) - whom Ronnie has already embarked on a relationship with.

After catching Suzy stealing from the Mitchells' safe, Archie tells her he will keep quiet providing she makes sure Sean finds the DNA test results, proving that he is not the father.

However, she later finds the locket upon toasting her father's marriage to Peggy - which causes Ronnie to realize that Danielle was telling the truth and that Archie had in fact been lying to both of them.

As Archie desperately defends his actions in front of Peggy and their ashamed family, Ronnie rushes to find and reconcile with Danielle.

Peggy, wanting justice for Ronnie and Danielle, orders Phil to kill Archie - so he kidnaps him and threatens to bury him in cement.

At some point, Archie discovers that Peggy's daughter Sam (Danniella Westbrook) is back in Walford - having returned from Brazil despite being on the run for covering up the murder of the Queen Vic's original landlord and Phil's old enemy, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

He also learns of Sam's engagement to Janine's brother Ricky (Sid Owen) and gives them a gift - which they decline.

He first plans to burn the pub down and frame Billy for the incident, but Peggy discovers this - though Archie is able to convince her that he was not involved and they kiss briefly.

She then blackmails him into selling the debt to Archie, whom she claims to be in a relationship with; Ian is forced to agree when he fears the pair will expose the recording to his wife Jane (Laurie Brett) and threaten Ben should the latter get involved.

Upon realizing that she had been manipulated again, Peggy confronts Archie and signs the divorce papers and the Mitchells celebrate in the pub.

She eventually finds an envelope containing a one-way ticket to Gdańsk in Poland, and discovers that Archie has packed a bag for her to move out of the Queen Vic.

Prior to Bradley's death, Ronnie learns that Archie raped Stacey and tells Roxy this when the two siblings have an argument over their father's murder.

Months later, Ronnie recaps on this after walking into Roxy and their mother Glenda (Glynis Barber) watching old videos of them together with Archie.

At first both Roxy and Peggy refuse to believe this, but they realize that Archie had indeed raped Ronnie upon finding out that Glenda knew about it without telling anyone in the first place.

In 2014, Stacey returns to Walford and ends up confessing to the police that she killed Archie - in order to clear Bradley's name.

Janus told Digital Spy, "I would love the idea that this mad, iconic male [Archie] comes back into our lives.

"[12] Other actors mentioned by Janus and Simons include Terence Stamp, Malcolm McDowell,[12] Michael Caine, Ian McShane[13] and Ray Winstone.

"[16] Lamb said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be joining the Mitchell clan and working with [...] Barbara Windsor and my new-found daughters Ronnie and Roxy.

"[10] Archie is a love interest for Peggy, his brother's widow, despite reports that actress Barbara Windsor did not want any more romantic storylines.

[22] After Lamb joined the cast, Diederick Santer commented "I've only seen a handful of scenes that Larry's done so far but I think he's giving a mesmerising and multi-layered performance.