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
Dean Gaffney Theatre Company, performing "The Unexpected Guest". He played Jan, a 19-year-old murder suspect with learning difficulties. He appeared in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's Christmas 2007 Special of "Extras", playing a fictionalised version of himself, working at the Carphone Warehouse with Merchant's character, Darren Lamb, and former "EastEnders" co-star Shaun Williamson. In August 2008, Gaffney did some work for MTV, sharing some of his favourite songs which aired on MTV Hits. The show was named "Dean Gaffney's Well Ard Hits", referring to his fictional dog Wellard on "EastEnders". In September 2008, Gaffney appeared in an advert for the washing powder