Mitchell family

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Mitchell family
EastEnders family
Introduced by Michael Ferguson
Duration 1990–
First appearance 20 February 1990

The Mitchell family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The first Mitchell nuclear family introduced were Eric Mitchell's widow Peggy Mitchell and her three children, Phil, Grant and Sam. Phil's son Ben and daughter Louise were born onto the show as was Grant's daughter Courtney. Billy Mitchell was later introduced as Phil, Grant and Sam's second cousin, as was Billy's nephew Jamie. Billy's daughter Janet was born onto the show as was his son William. This was followed by Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell, their father Archie, half-brother Danny and mother Glenda. Ronnie's daughter Danielle Jones also appeared on the show and also her other son James also appeared on the show. Roxy's daughter Amy was also born onto the show. Billy's granddaughter Lola Pearce was later introduced onto the show. The most recent addition to the Mitchell family was Lexi Pearce, the daughter of Ben and Lola. More minor characters who have appeared in the show include Eric and Archie's other brother Clive Mitchell, Billy's uncle Ted and Sam's son Richard Mitchell.

Currently the only remaining members of the Mitchell family in the show are Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick), Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), Amy Mitchell (Amelie Conway), Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) and Lexi Mitchell. All the other members of the Mitchell family - including Grant (Ross Kemp), Sam (Danniella Westbrook), Peggy (Barbara Windsor), Ben (Joshua Pascoe), Courtney (Megan Jossa), Janet (Grace), William (Toby Walpole), Danny (Liam Bergin) and Glenda (Glynis Barber) - have all left the show, while other characters - including Jamie (Jack Ryder), Archie (Larry Lamb) and James - have all been killed-off. The characters of Clive (Tony Selby), Ted (John Boswell) and Richard Mitchell only ever appeared briefly on the show. Other members of the Mitchell family that have been mentioned but have never appeared on-screen include Peggy's husband Eric Mitchell (who died before the Mitchells arrived on the show) Grant's son Mark Fowler, Jr. (who was born following his mother Michelle Fowler's departure from the show).

Various major characters who have appeared on the show have also been married into the Mitchell family. These characters include Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Kate Morton (Jill Halfpenny), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Tiffany Raymond (Martine McCutcheon), Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen), Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs), Little Mo Slater (Kacey Ainsworth), Honey Edwards (Emma Barton), Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Sean Slater (Rob Kazinsky) and Alfie Moon (Shane Richie). Another character with strong connections to the Mitchell family is Peggy's sister Sal Martin (Anna Karen), who has appeared as a recurring character.

Family tree

Storylines

Grant's wife Sharon Watts had had an affair with her brother-in-law Phil in a storyline dubbed "Sharongate". Grant and Sharon later split up, but it was after this that the Mitchells' ran The Queen Victoria public house with Peggy Mitchell as its iconic landlady.

Phil married Nadia Borovac in 1993 so she could stay in the country and he married Kathy Beale in 1995 and they had a son, Ben. They divorced in 1999 and Kathy took Ben and emigrated to South Africa. Grant had a daughter, Courtney with his wife, Tiffany Raymond, but was widowed after Tiffany was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Frank Butcher was driving and felt incredibly guilty but he was forgiven and Peggy married him later that year.

In 2001, Phil was in the centre of the Who Shot Phil? storyline. Phil had become a darker and more menacing character during the previous year, and five characters were suspected of being responsible. This storyline received a lot of press in newspapers and the media, with many people placing bets on who the attempted killer was. Several outcomes were allegedly filmed [1] An estimated 22 million viewers watched EastEnders on April 5, 2001 to find out that Lisa Shaw — Phil's former girlfriend — was the culprit.[2] The episode caused the third-largest power surge on record[3] It was later revealed that Lisa was pregnant with Phil's child, Louise. Lisa later took Louise and emigrated to Portugal with Mel Healy after her marriage to Mark Fowler broke down. Phil went after her and came back with Louise in October 2002. Lisa was missing and the police suspected that Phil had killed her so Kate Morton, an undercover cop, tried to find out more by becoming Phil's girlfriend. He admitted to her; revealed in flashback episodes that after tracking Lisa down, Phil convinced her that she was an unfit, irresponsible mother and persuaded her to give him Louise. He also said that if she ever returned, he would tell the police she shot him. He left a suicidal Lisa standing near the edge of a cliff with a handful of money. It was unknown whether Lisa had killed herself or not. Phil married Kate in 2003 but Lisa returned on their wedding, seeming to be a reformed character, she persuaded Phil to allow her contact with their daughter. It emerged that Lisa planned to shoot Phil again to repay him for some of the hurt he'd caused. However, Den Watts convinced her it was the wrong way to go about things. Lisa's mental state reminded Den of his late wife, Angie so he took her under his wing and promised to get Louise back, by setting Phil up for an armed robbery. He and his son Dennis Rickman, framed Phil so he was arrested and in prison, Kate had no right to stop Lisa taking Louise and leaving Walford again. In December 2007, Jack Branning told Phil that Lisa and Louise were living in South London.

As Grant had emigrated to Brazil and Phil was in prison; Sam was the only Mitchell on the Square. She was tricked by her lawyer into selling The Queen Vic to Den Watts and manipulated by Andy Hunter. Andy married her and conned her out of everything, leaving her penniless. She teamed up with Chrissie Watts and Zoe Slater for revenge on Den and witnessed Chrissie kill her husband. Zoe thought she was responsible as she had hit Den first but Sam saw Den regain consciousness and Chrissie hit him again. Sam used this to blackmail Chrissie for the Vic's takings but ended up depressed and deranged, feeling the only way to reveal the truth was to dig Den's body up from under the Vic cellar but she was arrested and charged with Den's murder. Phil, Grant and Peggy returned to clear her name and they convinced Sharon Watts that Chrissie had been the one to kill her father. Chrissie was sent to prison and Sharon returned the Queen Vic to Phil.

More recent Mitchell storylines have included Get Johnny Week, where the Mitchell brothers returned for revenge on Johnny Allen a gangster that threatened Peggy. Also, Billy Mitchell and his wife Honey had a child, Janet who has Down's syndrome. Ben Mitchell, having returned to England after the death of his mother, moved in with Phil and suffered mental and physical abuse at the hands of Stella Crawford, his father's fiancée.

In 2007, Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell were the newest Mitchells on the Square. Arriving from Ibiza, they were Phil's cousins, daughters of his uncle, Archie Mitchell. In 2008, it was revealed that Ronnie had had a daughter when she was 14 and she blamed Archie for insisting that the baby be adopted. When Archie was introduced in July, he told Ronnie that her daughter was dead. Roxy had had a one-night-stand with Ronnie's on-off boyfriend, Jack Branning, and she got pregnant, giving birth to a daughter that she named Amy Mitchell that November. Suzy Branning, Phil's latest girlfriend, revealed on Christmas Day 2008 that Roxy's husband, Sean Slater, was not Amy's father and it was soon discovered that Jack was, angering Ronnie and Sean.

Meanwhile, Danielle Jones arrived in the Square, looking for her birth mother, Ronnie Mitchell. Ronnie realised that Danielle was her daughter after finding Danielle's locket in her wine glass on Archie and Peggy's wedding day. Danielle had tried to tell Ronnie this many times but was rejected each time. Unfortunately just minutes after Ronnie accepted their relationship, Danielle was run down by Janine Butcher and died in her mother's arms. Subsequently Archie's manipulative behaviour was revealed and the Mitchells disowned him. Peggy ordered Phil to kill him but Phil ordered him to leave Walford and never return. However, he returned in July 2009, where Peggy fell for his charms once again.

Sam phoned Phil in August 2009, asking for money as she was living in Brazil, on the run for her part in Den Watts' death. Phil sent Ricky to Brazil to give her £30,000 but Sam returned to the UK with Ricky, shocking everyone. She and Ricky reconciled but she had an affair with Jack Branning. When the affair became public knowledge, Sam fled the square again. This time, she cost Ronnie £150,000 and the Mitchells had put the Queen Vic up as security for Sam's bail. In December, Archie and Janine Butcher plotted revenge on the Mitchells. On Christmas Eve, they took over the Queen Vic, scattering the Mitchells across the square but Archie was found dying by his daughter, Ronnie, in the Queen Vic Pub, and he died in her arms. After weeks of speculation, Stacey Slater was revealed to be responsible but the police closed the case after Bradley Branning died, assuming he was the killer. Sam had also returned and was hiding at a flat that Minty had provided. Whilst the murder investigation was ongoing, Detective Marsden was determined to prove one of the Mitchells was responsible and Phil and Peggy plotted to frame Sam but she overheard them. She went to the police herself and told them that Peggy was responsible and went to prison for her involvement in Den Watts's murder.

Ronnie and Roxy's mum arrived in the Square shortly after Archie's death and told them that she had a son called Danny. Roxy got Archie's millions and the Queen Vic. Danny tried to steal it but Glenda told Roxy and Danny left. Ronnie revealed that Archie had raped her when she was 13, and that Glenda knew. Louise, who had returned wanting to get to know her father, stayed for a while but she returned to live with her mother and Ben went to prison, so Phil started taking crack cocaine. Roxy signed the Queen Vic over to Peggy, but on her return, she and Phil had quite a showdown and he set fire to the pub, leaving the Queen Victoria Public House burnt out. This resulted in Peggy leaving the square in a poignant episode. In the meantime, Sam revealed she was pregnant and gave birth in September 2010 to a little boy whom she named Richard. After a DNA test, Sam told everyone that Ricky was the father but Bianca didn't believe her and rang the clinic. They told her that Jack was, in fact, Richard's biological father so Ronnie told them that she was pregnant. After Sam realised that Jack nor Ricky intended to stay with Ronnie and Bianca, Minty was persuaded to consider leaving with her but he declined, so Sam and baby Richard left the square alone.

Ronnie and Jack married in November 2010 and Ronnie gave birth to a son in December, who they named James but he died of sudden infant death syndrome and Ronnie swapped him with Kat and Alfie's baby.

In January 2011, Phil Mitchell had a heart attack in the R & R. He was trapped in the stock room by Ian Beale but was found and rushed to hospital. Later he asked Shirley Carter to marry him. She initially refused but changed her mind. However, on their wedding day, she refused to marry Phil when she discovered his affair with Glenda but they stayed together, regardless.

In the meantime, Roxy sold 27 Albert Square to Greg Jessop. While moving out, she lost her dog Albert and moved in with her mother, Glenda, making Carol Jackson move out. Glenda later left Albert Square in disgrace after being disowned by Ronnie and Roxy and rejected by her lovers, Phil Mitchell and Ian Beale.

In July 2011, Ronnie was sentenced to three years in prison for kidnapping Tommy. She was eventually forgiven by Kat. In September, it was revealed that Ben Mitchell is gay, a fact that devastated Phil. Shortly after, tired of being badly treated by Phil, Ben starts a malicious campaign against his father, secretly sending him newspaper clippings and pictures of his past misdemeanors. Ben starts plotting with DCI Marsden (Sophie Stanton) to get Phil arrested. Phil is unaware of the stalker's identity and finds out the truth when arrested for the murder of Stella Crawford.

The Mitchell Empire

The Mitchell's business empire was a rival of the successful Beale Empire. The Mitchell Empire owned The Queen Victoria (1995–2013), Walford Snooker Hall, Bridge Street Cafe, The Arches, a percentage of e20. Some of these businesses were from the Beale Empire such as Bridge Street Cafe and The Arches. However, Sam lost the Mitchell Empire. Even though the official Mitchell empire was lost, the Mitchells still operates some Walford businesses such as the eminent Queen Vic and the Mitchell Sisters used to own R&R nightclub which they sold to Jack Branning. Phil Mitchell used to be the car lot's owner which he rented to Kevin Wicks and his aunt, Pat Evans. Jack Branning blackmailed him and Phil relinquished the business. Archie Mitchell bought Pat Cars (formerly Janine Cars) from Jack and renamed it Mitchell's Executive Motors. However, the mainstream Mitchell family were in debt causing them to lose their pub to rogue Mitchell, Archie Mitchell. Archie wanted to sell the pub to make flats in the Square however, he died and left The Queen Victoria, Mitchell's Executive Motors and 27 Albert Square to Roxy. Roxy also bought the beauty salon Booty after a bidding war between her and Ronnie. Roxy later sold the beauty salon back to Tanya and she sold her share of R&R to Janine Butcher. In 2011, The Mitchell empire has been returned to its former glory, with Phil Mitchell now owning the Queen Victoria, The Arches, The Cafe & a Controlling 81% stake in the R&R. And Roxy Mitchell Owning the free hold of the car lot. In 2012, Ian Beale brought the cafe from Phil, renaming it Mandys. Phil sells The Vic to newcomers Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) in December 2013, thus ending 18 years of Mitchell family ownership.In January 2014 it is revealed that Roxy has sold the free hold of the car lot to David Wicks.

Family members

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stagehand fires fateful shot to keep EastEnders in dark", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-03-02.
  2. ↑ "22M TUNE IN TO SEE PHIL CONFRONT EAST ENDERS LISA", Evening Standard. URL last accessed on 2007-03-02.
  3. ↑ "Power surge for 'EastEnders'", The Independent. URL last accessed on 2007-03-02.

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