List of minor EastEnders characters (1986)

The following is a list of minor characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1986, by order of first appearance.

Neville Agard
Neville Agard, a corporate lawyer, began a relationship with Hannah Carpenter in 1985. Hannah and her daughter Cassie moved in with Neville and despite the fact that Neville admitted beating Cassie for misbehaving, Hannah planned to marry him.

Hannah was unaware of the extent of Neville's aggression towards Cassie, but when she discovered that he'd beaten her with a riding whip, she confronted him and he turned violent towards her. Hannah left him and returned to her former husband, Tony. Tony confronted Neville off-screen, and returned home covered in his blood after giving him a severe beating.

John Fisher
John Fisher was a drag queen hired by publican Angie Watts in January 1986 to perform for the premier drag night at The Queen Vic. Following the publicity over Angie's drink driving case, she and her husband, Den, worried that the brewery who owned the Vic might find cause to cancel their tenancy, and 'free entertainment' was seen as a way to bolster the evening trade.

The first drag night was a roaring success until Pete Beale started heckling the performer. John mistook Pete's intent, thinking he wanted to join in with the act. John playfully took Pete's pint on-stage and Pete leapt after it, causing a tussle to ensue. Seconds later, Den found himself on the floor untangling the pair. The surprise arrival of Den's mistress, Jan Hammond, prompted Den to close the pub early, so the act was halted prematurely.

Sharon Watts was quite impressed with the drag artiste and thought him to be a caring and sensitive person. When he mentioned that his other job was delivering 'kiss-o-grams', she hatched a plan for starting her own business. John performed several more drag evenings in The Vic. His last appearance was on 27 February 1986.

"Uncle"
"Uncle" (real name unknown) was a Jewish pawnbroker and friend of Albert and Lou Beale from the war years. He was a semi-regular character and his first appearance on screen was in February 1986, when he visited Lou after 20 years to return Albert's watch, which Lou had recently given to her grandson, Simon Wicks.

Simon had pawned it to pay loan sharks after he borrowed £1,500 for his failed band and after he could pay no more, he came to Walford to hide from them. However, they followed him and he was subsequently forced to pay twice that amount.

While Lou's son-in-law Arthur was in prison, Uncle loaned his wife Pauline money and he later helped Lou on her will. His last appearance was in July 1988 when he attended Lou's funeral.

Nigel Dean
Nigel Dean was a carpet salesman who visited Pauline Fowler and her mother Lou Beale at number 45 Albert Square on 17 April 1986.

Jestis Scanlon
Jestis Scanlon was a protection gang leader who appeared on 6 May 1986.

Lizzie Burton
Lizzie Burton was a patient on the maternity ward along with Michelle Fowler. She was having her fourth child. Michelle, who was facing the future as a single mother, asked Lizzie if she had ever contemplated life without her husband. Lizzie said she had thought about it, but it scared her too much to dwell upon it.

Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith was wanted by the police for the armed robbery of a bank in Walford. Trevor had the protection of the East End criminal organisation known as The Firm. They contacted publican, Den Watts, and instructed him to hide Trevor in his pub for several days, in order to escape the police. Den was against this, but he had little choice in the matter.

Albert Square was packed with policemen, who were all hunting for Trevor. This made Den and his wife Angie extremely nervous. Trevor made himself comfortable in the Queen Vic’s living quarters, and he had no qualms about ordering Den around in his own home. Eventually The Firm arranged for Trevor’s getaway. Two men dressed as gas men arrived at the Vic, where one swapped clothes with Trevor and he sped away from Walford in the back of a gas van.

Johnny Earthquake
When Simon Wicks decided to form a band, he auditioned several musicians to join. Johnny Earthquake was one of the hopefuls and he had once had his own band called "Johnny Earthquake and the Tremors." Simon and the other members of the band weren't impressed with Johnny's audition or his obvious penchant for alcohol, so he was not asked to join.

Irene Holloway
Irene Holloway was the aunt of Lofty Holloway — his mother's sister. Lofty did not have a close relationship with his stern mother, but he doted on his auntie Irene and she was the only relative he had contact with.

Auntie Irene first appeared in July 1986, when her nephew Lofty and his fiancée Michelle Fowler visited her in the nursing home where she lived. She had been told that she only had six months to live, as she had terminal cancer. She told Michelle that she had been in love with a man in 1938, but he was killed in an accident and she had never married.

She attended Lofty and Michelle's wedding in September 1986, only to see her beloved nephew jilted at the altar. Later in the year Lofty and Michelle sorted out their differences and finally got married. Irene worried that Michelle was merely using Lofty, but Michelle promised she would not hurt him. Satisfied, Irene gave their union her blessing and also paid for their honeymoon as a wedding gift.

Irene visited Lofty and Michelle in March 1987, giving Lofty instructions about her funeral. Irene worried that Lofty would not cope once she was gone and tried to make him accept that she would soon be dead. Lofty was distressed at the prospect of losing his aunt and cried into her lap. In June 1987 Lofty went to visit Irene at the hospital. She was in obvious pain and could no longer see. The following episode Lofty heard that his aunt had finally succumbed to the cancer that had been slowly killing her for years. He attended her funeral on 23 June 1987.

Family

 * Nephew: Lofty Holloway

Owen Hughes
Owen Hughes was Mark Fowler's Welsh friend who returned to Albert Square with Mark after they worked together on a farm in Wales. He was first introduced sleeping rough in the Fowlers' doorway with Mark, waiting for the family to wake up and let them in.

Owen's most notable characteristics were his obsession with the band Pink Floyd, his 'out there' conversations (particularly about marrows) suggesting he was permanently stoned, and the fact that he had body odour.

Owen and Mark were soon hounded out of Albert Square by Tony Carpenter, after he discovered his 11-year-old daughter Cassie smoking cannabis, which she stole from them. They left in a hurry on Owen's motorbike and Owen was never seen again.

Sandra Marsh
Sandra Marsh was a nurse who worked at the same hospital as Andy O'Brien. When she was informed that Andy had been killed in a motor accident, she identified his body and contacted his parents in Glasgow to inform them of his death.

Sam Sangers
Sam Sangers was a conman who was tried to con Debbie Wilkins out of her deceased boyfriend, Andy O'Brien's possessions, until Pauline Fowler got involved and sent him away.

Monty Krietman
Monty Krietman was a solicitor who was blackmailed by Dr. Harold Legg to handle Dot Cotton's shoplifting case.

Jaggat Singh
Doctor Jaggat Singh first arrived in Albert Square in November 1986. He was employed by Dr. Harold Legg to cover the surgery for him several days a week.

Naima Jeffery showed a romantic interest in Jaggat and they went on several dates. Naima's cousin Rezaul Gabir was furious as Jaggat was a Sikh and Naima was Muslim and he tried to provoke Jaggat into a fight in The Queen Vic one night. However, Jaggat just laughed off Rezaul's aggression and they eventually became friends. In the end nothing serious ever developed between Jaggat and Naima anyway, as Naima ended the relationship to marry Farrukh - a suitor from Bangladesh.

Having Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner and Dot Cotton as patients sharpened his interest in the elderly and Jaggat left the Square in December 1987 for full-time work with old people in a Northern home. Shortly before leaving, he persuaded Ethel to move into sheltered housing at Prosper Estate.

Dario Chimisso
Dario Chimisso — an Italian lawyer — was the romantic interest of Jan Hammond. He took her away on a business trip to Venice, Italy so she could get over her recent split from Den Watts. Here she accidentally bumped into Den, who was there on a second honeymoon with his wife Angie. Den was jealous of Jan's friendship with Dario, even though she claimed it was platonic on her part. However, in August 1987, Jan sent Den a letter informing him that she and Dario had got married on a gondola in Venice. This news upset Den, although it amused his ex-wife, Angie.

Family

 * Wife: Jan Hammond

Rezaul Gabir
Rezaul Gabir arrived in Albert Square in December 1986. He was Naima Jeffery's cousin and had been sent by Naima's family to help her run her grocery store, First Til Last. Naima was extremely angry about Rezaul's arrival, but her family were adamant that he had to stay, so she begrudgingly put up with his presence.

Rezaul was rather bossy, pretentious, chauvinistic and arrogant, and instantly tried to take over the running of the shop. On his first night, Rezaul put forth a scheme to increase the shop's profits and asked for a month's trial. Naima agreed to the trial. Rezaul then proceeded to mark up the shop's items to unreasonably high prices as well as steal money from the till. Naima was furious and to make matters worse it soon became clear that Rezaul had amorous intentions towards her. Naima wasn't remotely interested in Rezaul so she set about finding herself a new boyfriend to put him off. She started dating the Square's new doctor, Jaggat Singh. Rezaul, a Muslim, became very envious when he saw them together and told Naima that she was making a fool of herself, smiling and fawning over a Sikh. This culminated in Rezaul trying to pick a fight with Dr. Singh in The Queen Vic one night, almost getting himself barred in the process.

In April 1987, Naima and Rezaul got into a shouting match when he told her that her family had decided she had to marry him. He was furious when she flatly refused, but later admitted that he was actually relieved and told her he didn't want to marry her either. Naima's defiance displeased her family and they subsequently broke all ties with her. Rezaul, it seemed, was rather impressed with Naima and told her that she was no ordinary Bengali girl as he'd first thought.

Things between Naima and Rezaul improved after this, and when Naima's family eventually sent over another of her cousins for her to marry, he went out of his way to help their blossoming romance. After Naima left England to live in Bangladesh, Rezaul ran The First Til Last in her place for a while. Whilst managing the shop, he caught Charlie Cotton shoplifting and made a citizen's arrest. Charlie then had to appear at the Magistrates' Court and was given a hefty fine. When Naima's family sold the shop to Ashraf Karim at the end of the year, Rezaul left Walford to resume his studies. His last appearance was December 1987.

Family

 * Cousin: Naima Jeffery