EastEnders boss Ben Wadey has teased the arrival of another member of the Hawkins family.
It was confirmed earlier this year that Nicola Mitchell’s (Laura Doddington) extended family would be making their way to Walford.
The new clan is made up of Nicola’s sisters Gemma (Patricia Potter) and Jodie (Anna Constable), mum Rose (Marian McLoughlin), plus Gemma’s partner Ned (Jamie Bamber) and their son Ryder (Felix Uff).
Previous scenes have allowed viewers to discover that Nicola doesn’t have the best relationship with her family. She’s chosen to keep them at a distance due to their complicated and troubled childhood, which was largely impacted by Rose’s abusive husband.
Discussing the arrival of these characters and Nicola Mitchell herself, producer of the show Ben Wadey was very intrigued by Nicola when he first joined the BBC One soap.
‘Nicola is such an interesting character. She just arrived when I first came in. As well as seeing Laura Doggington’s sheer talent and amazing performance in every episode, I was also fascinated by this woman who can lie so easily and is responsible for the death of her son’s girlfriend’, he said.
‘This woman who happily sent her husband to prison. But also, this woman who is so fiercely loyal to her children. We discussed in the story office and with the writers what made Nicola that way. I was desperate to uncover those layers and uncover what made Nicola the woman she is now. What made Nicola the mum she is now.
‘And also give some surprised to the audience and have some things that make us fully get her, and I think the best way to do that is surround her by people who have known her for many years. She has a very complicated relationship with her mum and a very nuanced relationship with everyone else within this family unit.
‘As you see them in their first weeks, there will be a lot of change ahead and things aren’t as they seem.’
As if the introduction of all of these characters wasn’t enough, we will meet another Hawkins family member after Christmas.
She is called Megan, and is Gemma’s daughter.
‘Megan is out there’, Ben teased.
‘We will meet her down the line. Not for a little bit. She has her own storyline coming, currently offscreen but in time it will very much be on screen.
‘The story is about what gets passed down the generations. We have established a character and done quite a lot of work already in terms of what that character will look like.
‘Not even (the Hawkins cast) know all the details. Megan will be an exciting post Christmas arrival.’
How intriguing!
