Glenda Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Glynis Barber.

She returned in January 2016 after Roxy's attempted rape by Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and in December 2016 for Ronnie's wedding, before leaving again on 10 February 2017.

Barber commented on Glenda's backstory in an interview with Digital Spy, saying "[Archie] was an abusive bully.

Since her departure from her daughters' lives, Roxy could not forgive her for abandoning them, but Ronnie was more understanding, as she witnessed the change that occurred in their mother through Archie's abuse.

Glenda says she did not sign anything but Archie's lawyer, Emma West (Ellie Beaven), says if she was untraceable for two years then her signature would not have been needed.

Ronnie, with the help of her former boyfriend Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), tracks Glenda down and pays her a visit, demanding to know if what she said was true.

When she calls Ronnie by the name Veronica, this upsets her and she leaves and Danny appears, startling Glenda.

Glenda shows Danny his father's obituary and gives him the address of The Queen Victoria public house where Ronnie and Roxy live.

Glenda attempts to befriend Peggy's son Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), but he is not interested.

Glenda flirts with the much younger Leon Small (Sam Attwater) in the betting shop and they arrange to meet later, leading to them having sex.

She discovers that Phil and his partner Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) stole Roxy's money, so attempts to blackmail him by suggesting an affair.

Shirley, who has learned of the affair from Ben, arrives and physically threatens Glenda, but decides against hurting her further.

Glenda leaves Walford after the confrontation, but not before reducing Shirley to tears by reminding her that she always goes back to Phil regardless of his behaviour.

[7] Glenda returns to help Roxy after her attempted rape by her fiancé Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo).

[12] Glenda is informed of this by the police and she identifies their bodies, causing her to break down in tears with Danny, Jack and his brother Max Branning (Jake Wood).

[14] After Ronnie and Roxy's funerals, Glenda tells Jack that she intends to take custody of Matthew as a replacement for not being in her daughters' lives.

Convinced that she is telling the truth, he asks Glenda to move in to help him look after the children when he decides to remain in Walford, and she delightfully accepts.

[17] He later realises that Glenda's intentions were good, and he tells her she can be a part of Amy, Matthew and Ricky's lives.

[18] Months later, Jack takes the children to visit Glenda to escape facing Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett) who has returned to Walford.

On 17 October 2009, it was announced on the EastEnders website that veteran actress Jill Gascoine had been cast as Glenda,[19] and would appear in 2010.

[19] On casting, the show's executive producer Diederick Santer stated: "I'm so looking forward to welcoming the hugely talented Jill to EastEnders.

Eyes every Friday night, [and] Jill's character, Maggie Forbes, was always my favourite – tough, glamorous, and exciting – perfect qualities for Glenda Mitchell."

[1] She said "I was so looking forward to playing Glenda but having spent the last 15 years working in America [...] I felt, on arrival, I lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama.

"[1] "I rushed in, they gave me Glenda's back-story and I didn't even have time to read all the scripts before I started filming.

[1] Barber said in an interview with media website Digital Spy: "I think they originally cast Jill [Gascoine] because she's of a similar age to Barbara [Windsor] and on screen, they're sisters-in-law, so it made total sense.

"[4] She added "Glenda's very important in the whole Mitchell saga and because I had to come in at such short notice, within 24 hours of meeting [the cast], I was on set shooting 38 pages of dialogue!

"[4] She explained that on her first day, she was told Glenda's backstory and had no time to read all the scripts, filming the character "on a need-to-know basis.

[20][21] The character is described as "polished, demure, dynamic and assured"—a complete contrast to the nervous and quiet woman the Mitchell family knew previously—and is said to cause a shock when she turns up in Walford unannounced.

[19] In December 2009, Santer hinted that Glenda would provide intrigue for fans of the Mitchell family following Archie's murder, saying "The question for the audience—and for the rest of the Mitchells—is what does she want?

[25] "I found it a very difficult thing to get my head around, because if Glenda knew her child was being hurt all along, then she's a complete monster.