List of EastEnders characters introduced in 1988

He visits his ill mother and finds out that he has been named as the father of Pat's younger son, Simon Wicks (Nick Berry).

Kenny remains off-screen following his 1988 departure, suffering a car accident in June 1992, prompting Pauline to travel to New Zealand and care for him.

She soon angers Ian by flirting with other men, and Pete, who is in a bad mood after arguing with Kathy, throws her out of his house when she tries to bring a friend home to stay.

He is born in March 1988 and is delivered in his parents' flat, 47B Albert Square, by Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) and Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard).

When health visitor Carmel Jackson (Judith Jacob) notices that Little Ali is not being looked after properly, she investigates and finds that the child minder is neglecting the children in her care, leaving them alone all day.

Several other men are put in the frame, including Brian, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) and Pete's brother Kenny Beale (Michael Attwell).

In 2006, Brian's nephew Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels) and his stepchildren Deano (Matt Di Angelo) and Carly (Kellie Shirley) come to live with Pat.

He is also angry over Dr. Legg's lack of persistence concerning Donna Ludlow's (Matilda Ziegler) drug problem, and later blames himself for not providing sufficient help following her suicide in May 1989.

However, David's contemporary methods alienate the older residents of Walford and after much protesting Dr. Legg eventually decides to rethink his retirement.

In 2019, David contacts Dot Branning (June Brown) from Israel to say that he cannot make it back to England for Dr. Legg's funeral.

Cindy has an eye for the lotharios of Walford and despite trying to settle down repeatedly with the more reliable Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), she is unable to remain faithful to him.

In 2008, Diane returns for the funeral of her father Frank (Mike Reid), and at the end of June 2012 for the wedding of her sister, Janine (Charlie Brooks).

[3] Over the years, Diane develops from a rebellious teenager who runs away from home, to a free-spirited single mother having difficulty looking after her young son.

He is introduced in June 1988, as a character claiming to be from "Walford Investments", who tries to persuade James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) to let him buy into The Dagmar.

The Firm financially ruin The Dagmar for the purpose of drawing in its custom for their own wine bar, Strokes, which is in fact a front for illegal gambling reluctantly run by Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

[4] She first appears in Albert Square in June 1988 as a member of the gangster organisation known as The Firm, sent to Walford to manage Strokes Winebar, which is actually a facade for an illegal gambling den.

In 1989 Shireen in betrothed to Jabbar Ahmed (Gordon Warnecke), and although she is at first opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage, the pair soon fall in love.

Ethel initially thinks the offer is for a proposal of marriage, but when she realises that his motives are less than honourable, she is furious, and smashes his Issy Bonn records over his head.

However, Dot has heard that Benny plans to propose, and in a bid to prevent her best friend from accepting, she turns up at their luncheon and brands Ethel stupid for considering marriage, saying she could never be happy with a Jew, as they were "different".

The final straw comes when Benny informs Ethel that her pug Willy will not be able to stay at the manor where he lives, due to a "no pets" rule.

Queenie Price, played by John Labanowski, is an inmate in Dickens Hill prison along with Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

Guido Smith, played by Nicholas Donovan, is first seen in October 1988 as a business contact of the graphic designer, Colin Russell (Michael Cashman).

Eventually Colin plucks up the courage to make a pass at him, but has his hopes dashed when he discovers that Guido is already involved with another man named Des.

Petty arguments erupt between the pair, instigated by Colin, whose demeanour is constantly changing from mild-mannered to belligerent, for no apparent reason.

Guido is left bemused by this, but eventually Colin divulges that he is suffering from poor health and the worry is having a negative effect on his behaviour.

Writer Colin Brake has joked that when Ian (Adam Woodyatt) and Cindy (Michelle Collins) moved into the flat some time later, many viewers expected them to find Guido still inside.

[1] Colin and Guido's gay relationship was the cause of much controversy in January 1989 when EastEnders aired the first homosexual mouth-to-mouth kiss on British television.

The chaste peck on the lips between Colin and Guido resulted in a front page denunciation in The Sun newspaper, who described it as "a homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs [...] when millions of children were watching".

The kiss was watched by twenty million people and came at a time when Margaret Thatcher's government had set forward a moral agenda that urged a return to traditional family values.

[5] The Sun printed the assertion that "Furious MPs last night demanded a ban on EastEnders as the BBC soap showed two men kissing full on the lips".