| George Palmer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Paul Moriarty | ||||||||
| Duration | 1996–1998 | ||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 1311 4 July 1996 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 1705 8 December 1998 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Corinne Hollingworth | ||||||||
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George Palmer is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders , played by Paul Moriarty. He appeared between 4 July 1996 and 8 December 1998, being one of many characters axed by then executive producer Matthew Robinson.
Actor Paul Moriarty was asked to read for the role of George along with 10 other actors. [1] Moriarty was called back instantly and asked to begin working on the role the following day. He has commented to an American fan-based publication, "[It was] quite overwhelming. I had watched the show but not religiously [...] So I show up at [the studios in] Borehamwood the very next day, straight to make-up and then onto [the soap's setting of] Albert Square to do my first bit [...] I might just as well have landed on Mars." [1]
George has been described as "shady". [2] Moriarty has described his character's original outline as given to him by the production crew when he accepted the role: "The man’s background, as it was explained in the prepared bio which I received, was pretty nasty. He was a violent man-very bad news. He murdered people. He’d been this vicious boxer who punched and clawed his way up the ladder, disposing of a body here and there over the years if it helped him get to where he wanted to go. He wasn’t just into fencing stolen goods, you know! He was really meant to be this hard, ruthless bastard." [1] However, as Moriarty has inferred, his character altered somewhat from the original outline following the development of his relationship with the soap's matriarch Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor: "Obviously the character evolved in a certain way as the writers wanted to pursue the idea of George being a love interest for one of their important leading ladies. They simply wouldn’t allow her to be involved with a cold-blooded murderer because that wouldn’t reflect well in her character. Besides, inevitable comparisons would have then been drawn between Peggy and George on EastEnders, and Barbara having been married in real life to a gangster, Ronnie Knight." [1] Despite this, as author Kate Lock has suggested, "George Palmer's name carried serious clout in the criminal underworld" and it was these dalliances in illegal activity that eventually ended George and Peggy's romance. [3] Moriarty has been asked about Peggy's negative reaction to George's criminality because, as the interviewer noted, Peggy's backstory consists of a first marriage to a suggested gangster, Eric Mitchell, and Peggy had accepted his dealings and turned a blind-eye. [1] Moriarty responded, "I suppose [Peggy being] made landlady [of the soap's pub] did that to her - airs and graces! But that’s what happens on soaps if you stay a long-term character. You’ve got to be made sympathetic and even moral to an extent. So they had Peggy and George being all right for a while, and then George would inevitably screw up and they’d make up again - over and over. Barbara turned to me one night as we were driving home and said, 'This is getting to be bloody boring now, isn’t it?' She wasn’t half right. Quite frankly, the show didn’t know what to make of George. That’s why they brought on [his daughter] Annie [ Nadia Sawalha ] - to do the dirty work for him! That’s actually quite accurate of the East End villain these days. They swan around in these dapper suits and get someone else to hide the money-or the bodies." [1]
The character was one of many to be axed in 1998 by Executive Producer Matthew Robinson, following a dip in ratings. [4]
George Palmer first arrived at Albert Square to expand his business in Walford. It quickly turns out that George is a major figure in the East End criminal underworld who owns an illegal gambling den/money laundering operation, which masquerades as a members' only club known as The Market Cellar. He soon catches the attention of Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), local landlady of The Queen Victoria public house who disapproves of the business and tries to petition against it.
Pragmatically, George begins wooing Peggy in order to stop the objections to his club. He succeeds and soon finds himself growing attracted to Peggy, who eventually blossoms into genuine attraction towards him. George supports Peggy through breast cancer and they announce their engagement at Christmas 1996. However, Peggy's two hardman sons Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant (Ross Kemp) learn about George's illegal activities and they subsequently inform Peggy about it; Peggy responds by dumping George despite his attempt to win her back. After being unable to recoup his relationship with Peggy and upon finding his business in trouble, George flees to New Zealand where his criminal empire is based. During his absence at one stage, Peggy and her family end up getting into a conflict with the local mob who are seeking to hunt down George.
Later on, George reappears on the square to continue establishing his operation. He is soon joined by his daughter Annie (Nadia Sawalha), who had originally appeared to be his business partner sent to help him run the operation. It soon becomes clear that their relationship has become strained, as Annie had always felt her father wanted a son instead of a daughter and she continuously tries to prove her potential to George. As she makes progress in doing so, George forms a romance with local resident Rosa di Marco (Louise Jameson) - who had recently become a widow. By the time George and Rosa have gotten engaged, it emerges they had an affair just years before George had moved into Walford - at the time which Rosa's husband Giuseppe was in prison. It also becomes apparent to Rosa that George is possibly the father of her youngest son Gianni (Marc Bannerman), but this eventually turns out to be false when George does a DNA test and it later confirms that he is not Gianni's father.
Afterwards, George breaks up his engagement with Rosa and authorizes Annie to manage his business for him as he decides to return to New Zealand; he departs the square in 1998 and Annie soon joins him a year later.
Peggy Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. Peggy was reintroduced in 1994, recast to Barbara Windsor, who made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 7 November 1994. Peggy became a regular character, and Windsor played the role until she was forced to take a long break due to poor health and departed on 23 May 2003. She returned for two episodes broadcast on 16 and 17 September 2004, before rejoining as a regular character on 8 September 2005. Windsor announced in October 2009 that she would be leaving the show and departed on 10 September 2010. Windsor returned to the show for guest appearances on 20 September 2013, 25 September 2014, 17 February 2015 and 15 January 2016. She then appeared in six episodes between 9 and 17 May 2016, where the character was killed off. Her voice is last heard in the following episode, on 19 May 2016. Peggy's funeral aired on 4 July 2016. An archived recording of her voice was heard on 25 January 2022. On 26 July 2022, it was announced that Peggy would feature in a flashback episode set in 1979, alongside her husband Eric and their children Phil, Grant and Sam. Jaime Winstone played the role of Peggy for this special episode, which aired on 5 September 2022.
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is the primary setting for the soap. EastEnders is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work is filmed in nearby Watford, which was chosen for many of the exterior scenes due to its close proximity and the town's name being so similar to Walford. Thus, any stray road signs or advertising boards which are accidentally filmed in the back of shots will appear to read Walford. Locations used in Watford include most interior and exterior church scenes of various churches, the snooker club, the County Court and Magistrates' Courts courtrooms, and the cemetery.
Sam Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The third member of the Mitchell family to appear on the soap, Sam was introduced as a 15-year-old schoolgirl in July 1990, originally played by Danniella Westbrook. Westbrook quit in 1993, but Sam reappeared from 1995 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2000. In both stints, Sam was written out earlier than the producers intended due to off-screen controversies surrounding Westbrook. In January 2002, Sam was introduced for a fourth time, but the role was recast to Kim Medcalf, who stayed in the role until November 2005. Diederick Santer later decided to reintroduce Sam for a brief stint in 2009 and opted to bring Westbrook back. Westbrook briefly reprised the role once again in 2016 for the funeral of Sam's mother Peggy Mitchell. In January 2022, it was announced that Sam would be returning to the show, this time played by Medcalf again. Medcalf’s return scenes aired on 18 April 2022. Medcalf took an extended break from the show in 2023, with Sam departing on 13 April 2023 and returning seven months later on 21 November 2023. On 18 January 2024, Sam made an unannounced departure from the show following Medcalf's decision to leave indefinitely.
Steve Owen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Martin Kemp. He first appeared onscreen from 28 December 1998 and remained in the series until 1 March 2002. Introduced by series producer Matthew Robinson, the character Steve was a shady businessman who originally came into Albert Square to buy the local Market Cellar club – which he then renovated and later renamed the E20. He soon became one of the show's primary villains when the character's first major storyline saw Steve murder his old flame Saskia Duncan during the opening night of his E20 nightclub on Valentine's Day 1999, after which he ended up framing his DJ employee Matthew Rose for the crime. The eventual episode in which Matthew enacted revenge on Steve drew in outstanding viewing figures and brought a storyline that had gripped the nation to a close.
Grant Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. He was introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show, and originally served as one of the show's leading protagonists throughout the 1990s; with the character first appearing in 22 February 1990 and then departing on 25 October 1999 after Kemp had opted to leave the show. He then returned to the show on 24 October 2005 for a few weeks and returned again between March and June 2006. Kemp was persuaded to return to the role for brief stints during a period of heavy media criticism aimed at EastEnders. The return proved to be a ratings success. Kemp reprised the role of Grant for various guest stints in 2016, appearing in twelve episodes between 13 May and 9 September. An archived recording of his voice was heard on 25 January 2022. On 26 July 2022, it was announced that Grant would feature in a flashback episode focusing on the Mitchell family in 1979. Teddy Jay played the role of Grant for this special episode, which aired on 5 September 2022.
Johnny Allen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Billy Murray. He first appeared on 4 January 2005 and became the show's primary antagonist until the character was killed off on 20 October 2006.
Frank Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mike Reid. Frank makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987, but due to a positive viewer reception, he is reintroduced in 1988 as a regular. Reid took a long hiatus from EastEnders in 1994 and Frank remained off-screen for over a year and a half. Frank made his return as a recurring character from December 1995 to January 1998. Frank eventually becomes a regular once again from May 1998 to November 2000, when Reid quit the show. Frank makes three brief reappearances after that, the final one in December 2005. Following Reid's death in July 2007, Frank died off-screen and the character was celebrated with a special week of episodes in April 2008.
Roy Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tony Caunter from 26 December 1994 to 18 March 2003. Introduced by executive producer Barbara Emile in 1994, Roy is scripted as a love interest for Pat Butcher. Caunter remained a regular character until new executive producer Louise Berridge axed him in 2003, a decision which she later stated she regretted.
Dan Sullivan is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Craig Fairbrass. He was first introduced to the series as a regular character from 7 June 1999 to 10 July 2000 before returning as one of the show's primary antagonists from 26 February to 16 August 2001.
Beppe di Marco is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by British actor Michael Greco. He made his first appearance on 29 January 1998, but was axed by executive producer John Yorke in 2002; with his final scene airing on 4 June 2002.
Annie Palmer is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nadia Sawalha, from 6 May 1997 to 10 June 1999.
Gianni di Marco is a fictional character from the BBC serial drama EastEnders, played by Marc Bannerman from 1998 to 2000.
Rosa di Marco is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Louise Jameson from 29 January 1998 to 3 August 2000. She is the mother of Beppe, Gianni, Teresa and Nicky di Marco. Rosa died off-screen in 2002, to coincide with her son Beppe's departure from the square.
Conor Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Seán Gleeson from 22nd September 1997 to 22nd February 1999. The character first appeared in a special week of episodes set in Ireland, the first broadcast in 1997.
Polly Becker is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Victoria Gould from 25 March 1997 until 22 September 1998.
Bruno and Luisa di Marco are fictional characters from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played respectively by Leon Lissek from 29 January to 17 December 1998 and Stella Tanner from 29 January to 26 November 1998. They were two of many characters to be axed by the executive producer of EastEnders, Matthew Robinson.