[2] Phil's most prominent storylines include his battles with alcoholism and addiction; suffering from cirrhosis of the liver; various criminal dealings; having an affair with Grant's wife, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean)—a storyline popularly dubbed "Sharongate"; a failed marriage to Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth); a longstanding animosity with his tormented stepson Ian; sparking numerous feuds and rivalries; having relationship problems; seeking to avenge the death of Sharon's adoptive brother and later husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), by confronting his gangland killer, Johnny Allen (Billy Murray), in the "Get Johnny Week" storyline; becoming a prime suspect in the murder of his uncle, Archie (Larry Lamb) (see "Who Killed Archie?

His shape, skills in stage fighting and a variety of sports including boxing, football and karate made him an ideal choice to play one of Walford's latest "tough-men".

[4] Initially, Phil was calmer than Grant but both brothers had a sense of physical danger, displaying stereotypical masculinity, thuggish behaviour and a tendency to resolve problems through violence.

Phil was originally depicted as the thinker and the more streetwise of the pair, often bailing his more spontaneous brother out of trouble, although later plotlines drove the character down a darker, more destructive route.

[4] Phil can be very violent, but unlike Grant, he occasionally showed restraint when dealing with various enemies encountered – exacting revenge over time, using mind games or getting others to do his dirty work, amongst other things.

Sharongate has also proven a popular storyline with viewers and it was voted the sixth top soap opera moment of the decade in a poll of 17,000 people for What's on TV magazine.

The relationship between alcohol abuse and domestic violence was explored between Phil and his wife, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) culminating in the slow deterioration of their marriage, which gripped viewers throughout 1997.

Of particular note is an episode where Phil attends Alcoholics Anonymous (February 1997), an "alien and uncomfortable arena" where he was forced to talk about his condition, expose his vulnerability and reveal the basis of his problem – the physical abuse he'd received from his father and his fear that he will do the same.

After discovering that Grant had vengefully slept with Kathy, Phil went ballistic with a handgun causing the hijacked Vauxhall Astra they were driving to career at high speed into the River Thames, in an episode that was watched by 19.5 million viewers.

[15] The episode caused the third-largest power surge on record,[16] and the Liverpool and Barcelona UEFA Cup semi-final was postponed for 10 minutes to accommodate a special 40-minute edition of the soap.

[21] The report followed the news that Lucy Benjamin was to return for a single episode, reprising her role as Lisa, the mother of Phil's daughter, Louise Mitchell (Brittany Papple).

[28] Phil Mitchell first arrives in Walford in February 1990 to open an automobile repair shop, known as The Arches;[3] he is joined by his younger brother Grant (Ross Kemp).

[30] Kathy agrees to marry Phil in 1994, despite the pair having to overcome a incident where he torched a vehicle in a car lot owned by his future stepfather Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) to secure an insurance scam; the result accidentally killed a homeless boy trapped inside.

However, it is soon revealed that Grant is alive and he escapes to Brazil[29] – though not before sending Phil and their mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) the deeds for his half of The Queen Vic.

[29] Kate disappears, but several months later, Phil finds her working as the secretary for the Walford's veteran reigning gangland kingpin – Jack Dalton (Hywel Bennett).

Towards the end of September 2003, Dennis and Sharon are reunited with their father Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) – who returns to the square after 14 years, when he had supposedly been shot dead on Dalton's orders.

As Jake flees to alert Chrissie of the situation, Johnny holds Phil and Grant at gunpoint to reclaim the recording – but relents in letting them escape when his daughter Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) walks in on the incident.

Following the supposed death of Kathy and her husband Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) earlier on, Ben returns to England and moves in with Ian – much to Phil's surprise.

He then forms a relationship with local beautician Suzy Branning (Maggie O'Neill) in an attempt to move on from Stella, and the two end up getting engaged with each other after she falsely claims to be pregnant with his child.

During a family meal where Peggy is set to announce her engagement to her brother-in-law, Archie (Larry Lamb), tensions build when Phil upsets Ben and nearly lashes out at him.

Their wedding initially appears successful, but it ends in disaster at the reception; Phil witnesses his cousin, Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), discover that Archie – her father – had manipulated her into believing that her long-lost daughter, Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace), whom she previously employed as her secretary, was dead.

Phil reacts badly when he discovers Ben (now Joshua Pascoe) is gay, and makes it clear that he prefers Billy's foster son, Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick).

At their engagement party, Sharon returns, begging for help, as she has left her fiancé, John Hewland (Jesse Birdsall) at the altar and he has her son, Dennis Rickman (Harry Hickles).

Shirley demands money from Phil, which he does not have, forcing him to accept a deal from Derek's associate Carl White (Daniel Coonan) – who had recently arrived in the square.

Once recovered, Phil learns that Carl is framing their business partner Max Branning (Jake Wood) for causing the car crash – as well as using Ian as a false witness.

She is later hospitalized with a ruptured spleen, leaving Phil distraught – though he later admits to Shirley that he arranged for the men to scare Sharon at the bar, but believed the bodyguards that he hired for her would have protected her and did not realise that she would be hurt.

Five months later, when Louise suffers burns from being pushed into lit candles by bullies Alexandra D'Costa (Sydney Craven) and Madison Drake (Seraphina Beh) at her prom party, Ben contacts his father.

Phil accepts, and helps Aidan recruit a crew for the heist; Mick and Vincent join the pair along with their new friend, Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).

After arguing for a while, Kat tries to talk Phil round, until suddenly Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) attempts to run over Ben as she falsely believes he is responsible for the death of her fiancé Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami).

[33][34] He has featured in some of the show's most memorable and highly viewed storylines and he is the second longest running male character to appear in the soap, surpassed only by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).