List of EastEnders characters introduced in 2017

Madison Drake (Seraphina Beh), Alexandra D'Costa (Sydney Craven) and Travis Law-Hughes (Alex James-Phelps), three new teenage characters, were also introduced in January as well as their school teacher Mr Gethin Pryce (Cerith Flinn) and Hugo Browning (Simon Williams), the chairman of Weyland & Co.

The following month, Preston Cooper (Martin Anzor), a student with whom Michelle Fowler (Jenna Russell) had an illegal relationship in the United States, and Konrad Topolski (Piotr Baumann), a love interest for Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), made their first appearances.

Josh Hemmings (Eddie Eyre), the son of James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) and love interest for Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), and Tommy, a friend of Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), both debuted in March.

Keegan Butcher-Baker (also Baker), played by Zack Morris, is a friend of Shakil Kazemi (Shaheen Jafargholi) who also goes to school with Louise Mitchell (Tilly Keeper), Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield), Travis Law-Hughes (Alex James-Phelps), Alexandra D'Costa (Sydney Craven) and Madison Drake (Seraphina Beh).

Emerald catches Keegan Baker (Zack Morris) shoplifting at the local shop where Denise works whilst everyone is in chaos rescuing the injured, and attempts to stop him but he pushes her against the shelves.

[17] Social worker Trish Barnes (Tessa Churchard) visits Denise a few weeks later to inform her how her son is doing with his potential adoptive family and that he has been named Raymond after Ray Charles as the parents are a fan of his.

Bex then admits to the headteacher, Mrs Robyn Lund (Polly Highton), and teacher Mr Gethin Pryce (Cerith Flinn), that Louise, Madison and Alexandra were responsible for sending the photo,[38] but they deny knowledge of either incident.

[64] Gethin appears in Walford looking for somewhere to live and Sonia informs him that she will speak with her uncle Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) about locating a property on the Square.

[55] In September 2017 when Max collects Luke when he is released from prison, he takes him home to be reunited with his sister, Fi Browning (Lisa Faulkner) and half-brother, Josh Hemmings (Eddie Eyre).

[105] When Michelle returns to Walford at Christmas 2016, she confides in her best friend, Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) that she had a relationship with a 17-year-old student in the United States, meaning she had broken the law.

She narrowly avoids hitting Preston and crashes into the chip shop with Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) inside.

[105] Justin Harp from Digital Spy said "the romance is bound to cause trouble in Walford, since even Michelle's lifelong best friend Sharon reacted harshly when she first learned the truth".

[90] The following day, Fi is revealed as the daughter of James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde), also father to Josh, who reunite with him and brother Luke Browning (Adam Astill).

"[161] In May 2017, Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap hoped that she would see more of Woody, writing, "Like Danny Dyer, Lee Ryan has the natural charm and twinkle in his eye that's an essential requirement for the manager of the Queen Vic.

Joyce is upset that Ted intends to miss a Skype call with their son for the tournament and argues with him, berating him for giving Bernadette the time and affection that he never gave his own children.

"[177] After their first appearance, where scenes showed Ted and Joyce having a gun, Jonathan Hughes from Radio Times said the Murrays "seemed like a harmless elderly couple, if slightly put out at being rehoused by the council due to the imminent demolition of the tower block they've lived in for 40 years.

[189] Duncan Lindsay from the Metro said Tom "has turned out to be a little bit unsettling as he has snapped pictures of [Michelle] and followed her home" and said that "many have poured scorn on the likelihood of two strangers regularly bumping into each other on packed London trains, [but] it seems that this was less accidental than we were led to believe".

On her first shift, she overhears Keanu who has been recruited by Aidan Maguire (Patrick Bergin) in an illegal job with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Vincent and Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), but agrees to keep quiet.

She just wants to stay around at home and watch reality TV"[210] Executive producer Sean O'Connor added that he is "hugely excited at the arrival of Karen and her family in Albert Square.

O'Connor compared the characters to Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) and Coronation Street's Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), saying "whatever fate throws at them, they pick themselves up and face the next day.

[130] Bronson ends up in the park pond after Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) stops him tugging on Denise Fox's (Diane Parish) bag, which angers Keegan.

Following the character's introduction, fans of the series believed that there was "an ulterior motive" to her appearance, suggesting that she could be involved in Max Branning's (Jake Wood) revenge plot.

[201] When Donna Yates (Lisa Hammond) is late paying her pitch fees, Robbie Jackson (Dean Gaffney) gives Felix her stall on the market, on which he plans to sell "vintage goods".

However, the Metro said that Maguire would play a "minor character who is part of a small community based storyline", that the actor would be in around three episodes and had already filmed his scenes, and that his casting was nothing to do with the change of executive producer.

In early 2017, after Stacey finds out she is pregnant, she and her husband Martin agree to seek medical advice because she is worried about her postpartum psychosis returning that she suffered after the birth of her son, Arthur Fowler.

Stacey's cousin, Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis), gets involved by pretending to be interested in Martin and encouraging him to keep the children for longer than agreed, resulting in him being visited by the police.

Jack, Linda, and several others quickly arrive to aid Mick, only to find themselves surrounded by an even larger group of thugs called in by Aidan, who then threatens to burn the pub down.

[248] Her great-uncle, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), visits the hospital after her great-grandmother, Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), suggests that Max would kidnap the baby as punishment for being banned from the funeral.

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