List of EastEnders characters introduced in 1993

[2] Various members of the family began to appear sporadically from November 1993 onwards, but in episodes that aired early in 1994, the Jacksons moved from Walford Towers, a block of flats, to the soap's focal setting of Albert Square.

The following day, Pete smuggles Rose out of hospital with Frank Butcher's (Mike Reid) help and they then make their getaway to start a new life.

However, on the day they are due back, Pauline is contacted by the police with the news that Pete and Rose have been killed by a car accident arranged by the Chapman family.

Having been a familiar face on children's television for many years, Maguire was previously most famous for playing Tegs in BBC's school drama, Grange Hill.

[1][6][7] EastEnders scriptwriter Colin Brake has suggested that by the end of his stint in the soap, Sean Maguire's status as a teen pin-up "put him in the Take That league".

[1] Sean Maguire's departure upset his fans, though the actor attempted to develop his appeal towards the young audience by becoming a television presenter and a pop singer.

[9] As they were the only Asian characters in the show, EastEnders received criticism for axing them from MPs including Oona King, MP for East End constituency Bethnal Green and Dr Ashok Kumar.

Gita played by Shobu Kapoor and her husband Sanjay (Deepak Verma) were introduced early in 1993 by producer Leonard Lewis.

Audrey Whittingham, played by Shirley Dixon, kidnaps Vicki Fowler (Samantha Leigh Martin) while she is waiting to be collected outside Walford Primary School.

Sanjay and Gita are happy until local reporter Polly Becker (Victoria Gould) discovers their recent scandal and gets it published in the Walford Gazette.

Martin admitted that nerves led her to appear awkward and clumsy during her first days on set, so someone had to tell her to correct the way she walked, as she looked ungainly.

Gidea decides to leave Walford in the same month, however, her cousin Clyde Tavernier has grown close to her, so he sets about searching London to track her down.

Phil responds by giving fellow neighbour Hattie Tavernier (Michelle Gayle) a lift to Southampton so she can stop her boyfriend, Steve Elliot (Mark Monero), from leaving the country.

Nadia is a Romanian refugee who came over to England to be with her boyfriend, Marku (Ravil Isyanov) – another immigrant, who has been able to stay in the UK due to a marriage of convenience with an English woman.

Feeling jealous of her husband's real girlfriend, Nadia makes things as difficult as possible for them and finally seduces Phil at Christmas 1993 and sleeps with him.

She instructs her new fiancée Guppy Sharma (Lyndam Gregory), to liaise with Gita about a business proposition for their clothing stall while keeping his connection to Meena a secret.

[23] Fitzgerald was appearing in a variety show when he was spotted by a talent scout who suggested he send some photos to the BBC's casting department.

[24] Marshall revealed Fitzgerald was hired after producers noted his resemblance to John Altman, who plays his on screen father, Nick.

Bianca has been featured in storylines including affairs, feuds, bereavements, family problems, spina bifida and abortion, a problematic marriage to Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and the revelation of her 15-year-old adoptive daughter Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) being sexually abused by her fiancé Tony King (Chris Coghill) and his subsequent arrest for paedophilia.

Antony told author Larry Jaffee, "Alan was so family oriented, but I liked that a young black guy who was very responsible, mature – that was something that I was very comfortable with because it was something I grew up with to a point.

Coulson decided to quit the role in 1997, but she returned temporarily in 1999 as part of a storyline that marked Carol's daughter Bianca's (Patsy Palmer exit.

[43] In July 2007, Gareth McLean of The Guardian lamented the lack of strong female characters in EastEnders, noting that Lucy "is yet to come into her own".

[44] Fellow Guardian critic Grace Dent commented on the repetitive nature of EastEnders storylines by comparing Lucy's relationship with Jane (Laurie Brett) to the fraught mother-daughter bond between Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan).

[48] Stuart Heritage from The Guardian expressed a dislike for Peter in April 2010, saying he should be written out, "before his increasingly spectacular haircut goes power mad and starts to colonise the entire set.

They joyride Frank Butcher's (Mike Reid) car and crash it into Michelle Fowler's (Susan Tully) wall on Albert Square in April 1994.

[50] Introduced as a 15-year-old school boy, Robbie is initially portrayed as troublesome; frequently playing truant, occasionally shoplifting and, as author Kate Lock suggests, "generally making a nuisance of himself".

However, Lock observes that this aspect of the character was toned down eventually, and "the unfortunate Robbie became less of a lout and more of a [...] prat, forever mucking things up and being the fall guy.

Executive producer Diederick Santer explained that he wanted great stories to get people talking, saying "The wedding is the perfect opportunity for us to bring back the much-loved Jackson characters – Carol, Sonia, Robbie and Billie (Devon Anderson).

"[54] Nellie Ellis, played by Elizabeth Kelly,[55] was introduced as the interfering relative of Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) in 1993 and appears regularly until 1998.

[51] She stated, "When stingy Nellie wasn't giving Arthur (Bill Treacher) grief, she was flirting in a button-up sort of way with Jules Tavernier (Tommy Eytle).