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
Ross Kemp that Kemp would be returning to "EastEnders" later that year after six years away. It was co-star Barbara Windsor who convinced him to go back for a brief period. His first comeback lasted just a few weeks from the late autumn of 2005, but he returned for a period of three months in 2006, before departing once again in June that year. Kemp has won various awards for his portrayal of Grant. In January 2016 it was confirmed that Kemp would make a brief return to the show for the death of Grant's on-screen mother, Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), appearing