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
Billy Mitchell (EastEnders) Billy Mitchell (EastEnders) Billy Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Perry Fenwick, who made his first appearance on 2 November 1998. Billy was introduced by producer Matthew Robinson as a guest character facilitating the introduction of Jamie Mitchell to the show. In the storyline, Billy is Jamie's abusive uncle and guardian, and Jamie is taken away from Billy by his relative Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). Billy was brought back to the serial on 2 August 1999 and Fenwick was offered a longer-term contract, Billy becoming a regular character. Billy has been described as