Billy Mitchell (EastEnders) revealed in 2006 that the role was extended by "coincidence and chance": "I was offered four episodes and here I am, about 800 later. [...] Ross Kemp (Grant) said that he was leaving, and there was a gap in the Mitchell family, so they brought me back to do stuff towards his leaving. After that they offered me a year." Billy was reintroduced in 1999, making recurring appearances. He was involved in the leaving storyline of Grant Mitchell in October 1999, before returning later in the year as a regular character. When Billy was first introduced, he was depicted as
Tom Banks (EastEnders) Tom Banks (EastEnders) Tom Banks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Colm Ó Maonlaí from 23 April to 1 November 2002. Introduced in April 2002 as a love interest for Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), producers made the decision to axe the character and he was killed off in November 2002. The character was allegedly popular with female viewers who voted him the eighth sexiest male character to appear in "EastEnders" in a 2005 poll. Tom was a Merchant Marine who was friends with Mark Fowler and Sharon Watts when they were children. He also