EastEnders (Mark Thrippleton); wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham) and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell), who became Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) sparring partner. The majority of "EastEnders" characters are working-class. Middle-class characters do occasionally become regulars, but have been less successful and rarely become long-term characters. In the main, middle-class characters exist as villains, such as James Wilmott-Brown, May Wright, Stella Crawford and Yusef Khan, or are used to promote positive liberal influences, such as Colin Russell or Rachel Kominski. "EastEnders" has always featured a culturally diverse cast which has included black, Asian, Turkish, Polish and Latvian characters. "The expansion of minority representation
Steve Owen (EastEnders) Steve Owen (EastEnders) Steve Owen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Martin Kemp. He appeared onscreen from 28 December 1998 until 1 March 2002. Introduced by series producer Matthew Robinson, Steve was a shady businessman who soon became one of the show's primary villains. His first major storyline saw him murder old flame Saskia Duncan and frame Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom) for the crime. The episode in which Matthew enacted revenge on Steve drew in outstanding viewing figures and brought a storyline that had gripped the nation to a close. Afterwards Steve became embroiled