Peggy Mitchell
Peggy Mitchell (also
Butcher) is a fictional character from the
BBC soap opera ''
EastEnders''. Peggy was initially played by
Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. Peggy was reintroduced in 1994, recast to
Barbara Windsor, who made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 7 November 1994. Peggy became a regular character, and Windsor played the role until she was forced to take a long break due to poor health and departed on 23 May 2003. She returned for two episodes broadcast on 16 and 17 September 2004, before rejoining as a regular character on 8 September 2005. Windsor announced in October 2009 that she would be leaving the show and departed on 10 September 2010. Windsor returned to the show for guest appearances on 20 September 2013, 25 September 2014, 17 February 2015 (as part of the show's
30th anniversary celebrations) and 15 January 2016. She then appeared in six episodes between 9 and 17 May 2016, where the character was killed off. Her voice is last heard in the following episode, on 19 May 2016. Peggy's funeral aired on 4 July 2016. An archived recording of her voice was heard on 25 January 2022. On 26 July 2022, it was announced that Peggy would feature in a
flashback episode set in 1979, alongside her husband Eric and their children Phil, Grant and Sam.
Jaime Winstone played the role of Peggy for this special episode, which aired on 5 September 2022. She returned again in 2025 to appear as part of a mental health storyline for Phil and she made a guest appearance on 13 February.
Peggy is fiercely protective of
her family and the Mitchell name, and is famous for her catchphrase "Get outta my pub!", used when ejecting people from The Queen Victoria during her reign as the landlady. Her storylines have included a series of failed romances, most notably a non-lasting marriage with established character
Frank Butcher (
Mike Reid) and then a short-lived wedding to her brother-in-law
Archie Mitchell (
Larry Lamb). She has also been central to several plotlines revolving around health issues; launching a hate campaign against the
HIV positive character
Mark Fowler (
Todd Carty) before later going on to make amends with him when she is later diagnosed with
breast cancer, which she recovers from; a longstanding feud with daughter-in-law
Sharon Watts (
Letitia Dean); an on-off rivalry and companionship with her frenemy
Pat Evans (
Pam St Clement); and clashing with many
villains such as Frank's troublesome daughter
Janine Butcher (
Charlie Brooks) and gangland boss
Johnny Allen (
Billy Murray). It was then Peggy's final storyline saw her cancer return in May 2016, which ultimately leads to the character being killed-off when she commits suicide.
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