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
Tom Banks (EastEnders) Sean (Oliver Bradley). He rescues Mo and Sean and returns for Trevor, reaching him just as a petrol can explodes, killing them both instantly. The character was introduced in 2002 by executive producer John Yorke as part of Sharon Watts's (Letitia Dean) returning storyline to "EastEnders". Despite first appearing in April 2002, the character was given a backstory linking him with several original characters in the series, a childhood acquaintance of Sharon, Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) and Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Irish actor Colm Ó Maonlaí won the role after the casting director remembered him from a previous audition. Five