Entry 6 - Stereotypical Characters

characters who are a part of the Matriarch. These are mainly female characters such as Peggy Mitchell and Pat Butcher who take the role of controlling and protecting the family and looking out for their children. Such modern matriarchs like Tanya Branning have been introduced as the female head of the family is usually in their 50's or 60's. The matriarch character is a high earning, controlling and independent woman.

One of the biggest matriarchs is Peggy Mitchell as she has been involved with Eastenders by being one of the longest running female characters since 1991-2010. With family rivals such as Pat Butcher, who had cheated with Peggy's husband Frank. This type of rivalry brought many different elements to Eastenders, mainly violence towards each other with witty retorts and sharp come backs to keep the fury between them alive. However in some episodes where a big serious event happens, Peggy and Pat almost become sisters and can turn into a very nasty team once allied.

A part from this, Peggy's main concern are her boys, especially since they have had a rollercoaster of a life, from prison to drug addiction and even murder. One of Eastenders greatest 'whodunnits' being 'Who shot Phil?' where he had created so many enemies, it ended with his 'close demise'.

Another matriarch character is Pat Butcher, who has had many husbands and is seen as the strong and brassy character and is known as Peggy's nemesis. Her involvement with Frank (one of Peggy's husbands) caused such disrupt between these two characters, even though they were both very similar characters. almost at one point in a story line, regarding Franks disappearance, they began to share more warm and friendly emotions towards each other and discovered that the two feisty enemies make feisty allies, however this doesn't usually last a lot in Eastenders as something always happens to disrupt the peace.


As well as important female characters, known as the Matriarch, there are some typical male characters which are the 'hard nuts' of the programme. These characters are very threatening and send out dangerous vibes. The most popular male characters who have also been the long running are mainly the Mitchell brothers, Phil and Grant. These two brothers were always in and out of trouble and causing fights between other males in East enders.

Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) has been in many serious stories such as drug abuse, crime and even child abuse. His character is based on all the elements of a East-end man, which is to be; tough, strong and nobody's fool. Very similar characters such as Johnny Allen is a typical strong male characters with high status. These men can be seen as gangsters.





Johnny Allen