Just like no player is bigger than the team, sometimes no actor is bigger than the character. Which explains why EastEnders bosses have never shied away from replacing iconic characters with new stars whenever the need arises. Here we look at the Walford wonders whose faces are always changing.

Peter Beale

A whopping seven actors have portrayed Ian’s son since his birth in 1993. The first four, Francis Brittin-Snell, Alex Stevens, Joseph Shade and James Martin, covered the character’s early years, but Peter came into his own with the arrival of actor Thomas Law in 2006. Soon, we saw Peter survive a near-drowning when Phil Mitchell’s 4×4 plunged into a lake and begin his long-running romance with Lauren Branning. Peter said goodbye to Albert Square in 2010, but this wasn’t the last we’d see of him – or of Thomas for that matter.

When Peter returned in 2013, the role was taken over by the muscular-framed Ben Hardy – now a star of films such as X-Men and Bohemian Rhapsody. In 2020 saw Dayle Hudson become the seventh Peter, but viewers were in for a shock when the character returned to our screens in 2023 after a year’s absence. Thomas Law was back, having reclaimed his old role after 13 years away.

Ben Mitchell

Ben has become infamous for his face swaps over the years, with six actors taking on the role. Following Ben’s birth in 1996, Matthew Silver then Morgan Whittle played the young Ben until 2000. Ben then spent much of his childhood in South Africa, before returning to Walford in 2006.

Nine-year-old Charlie Jones took on the role, as the character endured bullying torment at the hands of Phil’s psycho fiancé Stella Crawford, before being sentenced to juvenile detention for battering Lucas’ Johnson’s son Jordan with a spanner. Ben returned in 2010, now played by Joshua Pascoe, whose Ben eventually headed to prison for killing Heather Trott. On Ben’s release in 2014, new actor Harry Reid took over, then 2019 saw our most recent Ben, Max Bowden, make debut, playing the part played until his departure last year.

Ben’s a character who always somehow seems to boomerang back to Walford, usually with a new face, so could we see a seventh Ben before too long?

Peggy Mitchell

So legendary was Dame Barbara Windsor’s portrayal of Peggy Mitchell, that it’s often forgotten that she wasn’t the original actress to play the role. When Peggy first appeared on the Square back in 1991, a year after her sons Phil and Grant made their Walford debut, she was played by actress Jo Warne and very much the traditional EastEnd battleaxe. After Peggy tried and failed to stop teenage daughter Sam eloping with Ricky Butcher, it was three more years before we saw Peggy again.

When producers brought her back in 1994, they wanted too find some softer layers below the tough exterior – something Barbara Windsor brought to the role spades when she stepped into Peggy’s heels. And let’s not forget the third Peggy, Jaime Winston playing a young version of the character in 2002 when we flashed back to the Mitchells’ life in the 70s, and returning in the show’s 40th birthday episodes when troubled Phil suffers hallucinations of his late mum.

Lauren Branning

When Madeline Duggan played the first Lauren Branning, the character wasn’t exactly meek and mild. This troublemaker popped the video exposing Max and Stacey’s affair under the Christmas tree 2007, and later went on to carry out a deliberate hit and run on her dad. However, it was when current Lauren actress Jacqueline Jossa inherited the role in 2010 that the character graduated from troublesome teen to full blown drama queen.

We saw Lauren battle the bottle, embark on an affair with her cousin Joey, and fall pregnant by on-off boyfriend Peter Beale. Things have shown little sign of changing recently. Since Jacqueline returned last year after five years away, we’ve seen Lauren arrested for drug smuggling, start a deadly blaze that nearly killed her and become the chief suspect for putting Cindy in a coma.

Elaine Peacock

Elaine’s always been loud, upfront and the life and soul of every party. But when Linda’s mum first started making appearances in the show in 2014, she looked a little different, being played by blonde actress Maria Friedman. Producers then decided to bring Elaine in as a regular character in 2023.

However, with Maria a successful theatre star – she’d go on to win a prestigious Tony Award for Best Director on Broadway the following year – she couldn’t commit full-time. So, Harriet Thorpe stepped into the role. Out went the short blonde hair and in came Elaine’s big barnet, big laugh and a big success for Harriet in the role.

Johnny Carter

Poor Linda hadn’t had her troubles to seek in recent years, so it’s no wonder she might not have noticed that her son has developed quite the face swap habit – he’s worn three in little over a decade. When the Carters blasted into Walford in 2013, Johnny was played by Sam Strike and we watched Johnny navigate coming out as gay to his family and navigate the choppy waters first love.

Sam quit the role in 2014, and when Johnny returned in 2016, he was played by Ted Reilly. Johnny headed off to Manchester in 2018, but returned taller, darker and a thankfully lot tougher as Charlie Suff took over the role last year – Johnny being thrown straight into the maelstrom of the drama of ‘The Six’ drama, his mum having killed Keanu the previous Christmas.

Janine Butcher

Charlie Brooks’ portrayal of wicked Janine has undoubtedly made the character the Square’s biggest-ever superbitch. However, when Janine first arrived in Walford in 1993, she was a troubled teen, still mourning her mother’s death and making good-intentioned stepmum Pat’s life hell. Rebecca Michael first played the role, before new actress Alexia Demetriou took over in 1996, at which point Janine became ever more challenging.

However, it was when Charlie took over the part in 1999 that the Janine we love to hate arrived. Be it pushing hubby Barry Evans off a cliff or scheming her way into Mick Carter’s life, things are never dull when Janine is around. And although Charlie originally quit the soap in 2004, she has always been happy to pop back from time to time to cause more chaos.

Sam Mitchell

When it comes to soap recasts, Sam’s history could leave your head spinning. Danniella Westbrook famously created the role of Phil and Grant’s little sister back in 1991, playing her until 1993. However, Danniella’s returns to Walford in 1995 and 1999 were both cut short by producers when much-publicised troubles in her personal life took their toll on her work.

So, when Sam returned in 2002, Dannielle was replaced by new actress Kim Medcalf, who played the role for three years. Then, in an about turn in 2009, Danniella took back her the role, producers wanting to recreate Sam’s chemistry with Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen, who had returned to the show as Ricky and Bianca. However, fast forward to 2022 and it was Kim who was back for Sam’s most recent return to the Square.

Martin Fowler

In a way, Martin has featured in EastEnders from the very first episode in 1985, his mum Pauline Fowler discovering the news that she was pregnant. Martin was born later that year, and young actor John-Peyton Price played him for 11 years before James Alexandrou took over in 1996. James was also in the role for 11 years, before he – and Martin – quit Walford in 2007.

2014 saw producers want to bring a bit of the original Fowler family to the Square. James wasn’t interested in returning to the role, so James Bye took over and has gone on to make the part his own, jumping headfirst into the drama as Martin embarked on a rocky romance with troubled Stacey Slater.

Michelle Fowler

Schoolgirl Michelle’s pregnancy at just 16-years-old was EastEnders’ first plotline which truly gripped the whole nation. So, to bring such a classic character after 20 years away played by a new actress was a bold move by producers. With Sharon needing support when hubby Phil faced a liver transplant in 2016, Michelle headed home to her best buddy.

However, actress Jenna Russell didn’t get such a warm welcome, viewers struggling with a new actress in the iconic role. Meanwhile, Michelle’s big secret – an affair with her underage student in the US – didn’t do much to endear Michelle to the public. A shake-up by a new producer saw her depart the Square again less than 18 months later.

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