User:AnemoneProjectors/List of EastEnders episodes (1996)

EastEnders is a British soap opera, examining the domestic and professional lives of working class people who live in the fictitious London Borough of Walford in the East End of London. The show airs on BBC1 and entered its twelfth broadcasted year on 1 January 1996 with its 1231st episode, with Corinne Hollingworth continuing her role as executive producer until Jane Harris took over. EastEnders aired 161 episodes in 1996, with the the typical week comprising three half-hour episodes on BBC1, in a time slot of 8.00pm on Mondays and 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Cast and characters
Russell Floyd was cast as Michael Rose, the new market inspector, and the character debuted on 15 February. Carl Pizzie made his first appearance on 19 March as Dan Zappieri, a drug dealer. The child of Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Kathy Mitchell (Gillian Taylforth), Ben Mitchell, was introduced on 21 March. Matthew Silver was cast in the role. The show's story editor, Ian Aldwinkle, decided to introduce a character with schizophrenia after working on medical drama, Casualty. He created the character of Joe Wicks, who is the son of David Wicks (Michael French) and Paul Nicholls was cast in the role. Joe's mother and David's former wife, Lorraine Wicks, was also introduced and the role was cast to Jacqueline Leonard. Best friends Lenny Wallace (Desune Coleman) and Huw Edwards (Richard Elis) were introduced on 28 May. Andrew Lynford was cast as Tiffany Raymond's (Martine McCutcheon) brother, Simon Raymond; the character made his first appearance on 4 June. Soul singer, Frankie Pierre, was introduced on 18 June, with Syan Blake cast in the role. Sylvester Williams made his first appearance on 24 June as Mick McFarlane. Paul Moriarty joined the cast on 1 July as George Palmer, a gangster.

Mark Monero quit the show in 1996 and his character, Steve Elliot, departed on 12 February. Alexia Demetriou decided to focus on her studies and quit her role as Janine Butcher; the character departed on 12 March. Following her 1995 reintroduction, Daniella Westbrook began experiencing off-screen problems, which resulted in producers axing her character, Sam Mitchell. Sam departed on 26 March. Bill Treacher, who had portrayed Arthur Fowler since the show's conception, chose to leave the show in 1995 after it began having a negative effect on his health. Following his imprisonment at Christmas 1995, Arthur was released when he was found not-guilty but died shortly after his release. Willy Roper (Michael Tudor-Barnes) also departed at the conclusion of the storyline. Michael French quit his role as David Wicks after appearing in the series for three years and the character departed on 21 November. Michelle Collins (who portrayed Cindy Beale) became pregnant in 1996 and took maternity leave. Collins' on-screen sons, Stuart Stevens and Francis Brittin-Snell (who portrayed Steven Beale and Peter Beale), also left the series.

Former recurring characters, Meena McKenzie (Sudha Bhuchar) and Marcus Christie (Stephen Churchett), reappeared for guest appearances in 1996. Following a brief appearance in December 1995, April Branning (Debbie Arnold) was reintroduced as a regular character. She returned on 1 April. Arnold's departure was announced in August and the character departed on 24 October. The role of Lucy Beale was recast from Eva Brittin-Snell to Casey Anne Rothery in late 1996. Martin Fowler actor Jon Peyton-Price was axed from his role in 1996 after eleven years in the role and the role of Martin was recast to James Alexandrou to allow maturer storylines for the character.

The following is a full list of the EastEnders 1996 cast.

Regular cast

 * Howard Antony as Alan Jackson
 * Debbie Arnold as April Branning
 * Syan Blake as Frankie Pierre
 * Paul Bradley as Nigel Bates
 * Todd Carty as Mark Fowler
 * Tony Caunter as Roy Evans
 * Desune Coleman as Lenny Wallace
 * Michelle Collins as Cindy Beale
 * Lindsey Coulson as Carol Jackson
 * Brian Croucher as Ted Hills
 * Daniela Denby-Ashe as Sarah Hills
 * Richard Elis as Huw Edwards
 * Tommy Eytle as Jules Tavernier
 * Russell Floyd as Michael Rose
 * Michael French as David Wicks
 * Dean Gaffney as Robbie Jackson
 * Mona Hammond as Blossom Jackson
 * Mark Homer as Tony Hills
 * Shobu Kapoor as Gita Kapoor
 * Ross Kemp as Grant Mitchell
 * Harry Landis as Felix Kawalski
 * Jacqueline Leonard as Lorraine Wicks
 * Andrew Lynford as Simon Raymond
 * Martine McCutcheon as Tiffany Raymond
 * Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell
 * Mark Monero as Steve Elliot
 * Paul Moriarty as George Palmer
 * Paul Nicholls as Joe Wicks
 * Sid Owen as Ricky Butcher
 * Patsy Palmer as Bianca Jackson
 * Caroline Paterson as Ruth Fowler
 * Mike Reid as Frank Butcher
 * Wendy Richard as Pauline Fowler
 * Gavin Richards as Terry Raymond
 * Pam St. Clement as Pat Evans
 * Gillian Taylforth as Kathy Mitchell
 * Bill Treacher as Arthur Fowler
 * Michael Tudor-Barnes as Willy Roper
 * Deepak Verma as Sanjay Kapoor
 * Daniella Westbrook as Sam Mitchell
 * Sylvester Williams as Mick McFarlane
 * Shaun Williamson as Barry Evans
 * Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell
 * Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale

Recurring and guest cast

 * Devon Anderson as Billy Jackson
 * John Bardon as Jim Branning
 * Terence Beesley as Derek Branning
 * Sudha Bhuchar as Meena McKenzie
 * Priya Bilkhu as Sharmilla Kapoor
 * Gemma Bissix as Clare Bates
 * Eva Brittin-Snell and Casey Anne Rothery as Lucy Beale
 * Francis Brittin-Snell as Peter Beale
 * Natalie Cassidy as Sonia Jackson
 * Julie Christian-Young as Sue Branning
 * Stephen Churchett as Marcus Christie
 * Neil Clark as Alistair Matthews
 * Alexia Demetriou as Janine Butcher
 * Leonard Fenton as Harold Legg
 * Gretchen Franklin as Ethel Skinner
 * Joy Graham as Reenie Branning
 * Lyndam Gregory as Guppy Sharma
 * Anna Karen as Aunt Sal
 * Elizabeth Kelly as Nellie Ellis
 * Campbell Morrison as Charlie Mason
 * Carl Pizzie as Dan Zappieri
 * Jon Peyton-Price and James Alexandrou as Martin Fowler
 * Matthew Silver as Ben Mitchell
 * Stuart Stevens as Steven Beale
 * Steve Weston as John Valecue

List of episodes
During 1996, EastEnders typically aired three episodes in a time slot of 8.00pm on Mondays, and 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Every episode was 30 minutes in length. They were broadcast on BBC1, with a weekly omnibus edition also broadcast on Sundays. Corinne Hollingworth continued her role as executive producer until Jane Harris took over.

All official ratings are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), which were published in the Broadcast. Airdates and credits are taken from BBC Genome.


 * January (14 episodes)
 * February (13 episodes)
 * March (12 episodes)
 * April (14 episodes)
 * May (13 episodes)
 * June (12 episodes)
 * July (15 episodes)
 * August (14 episodes)
 * September (13 episodes)
 * October (14 episodes)
 * November (12 episodes)
 * December (15 episodes)