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
Peggy Mitchell a comic actress, notably appearing in the long-running "Carry On" films. Scott Matthewman of "The Stage" commented on the recast in 2006: "Quite the biggest – and most inexplicable – transformation is that of Peggy Mitchell in "EastEnders". While Barbara Windsor has dominated the role...first appearing in [1994], the character had appeared briefly [three] years earlier, played by Jo Warne, a lady who physically is as different from our Babs as it's possible to get." Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp had attempted to persuade "EastEnders" writer Tony Jordan to develop a spin-off for their characters, which would star Windsor as