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
Sharon Watts Sharon Watts Sharon Mitchell (also Watts and Rickman) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera "EastEnders", played by Letitia Dean. Sharon is one of "EastEnders" original characters, appearing in the first episode broadcast on 19 February 1985. The character was conceptualised by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, the creators of "EastEnders". Sharon was a teenager when the programme began: the adoptive daughter of Den and Angie Watts. Sharon remained a prominent character into the 1990s due to romantic pairings with brothers Grant (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). In a long-running storyline dubbed "Sharongate", Sharon, married