Charlie Slater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Derek Martin as Charlie Slater (2011) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Derek Martin (2000–2016) Jason McGregor (2001 flashback) Richie Daysh (2018 flashback) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2000–2011, 2013, 2016, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 1997 4 September 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | Episode 5385/5386 25 December 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Tony Jordan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by |
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Spin-off appearances |
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Charlie Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Derek Martin. Charlie's first appearance is in the episode first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2000. He was played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001 and Richie Daysh in a 2018 flashback. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the spin-off EastEnders: E20.
In April 2010, the character was axed among five others by new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of a plan to "breathe new life into the show". The reaction to Charlie's axing was negative, with Stuart Heritage from The Guardian saying that it "should be a national day of mourning" and Phil Daniels, who had previously played Kevin Wicks, also criticised the axings, stating that Charlie was a "good character". He departed from EastEnders on 13 January 2011. Martin returned for a two-episode stint in April; his return saw 10.31 million people watch on 19 April and 8.43 million on 21 April. On 3 November 2013, it was announced that Martin would return again,[1] this time on 24 and 25 December 2013.[2][3] It was announced in October 2015 that Charlie would make another guest appearance in 2016,[4] appearing in five episodes from 4 to 7 January.[5] It was confirmed that Charlie would die from a heart attack during this stint.[6] The character very briefly appeared in a flashback on 25 December 2018.
2016 return
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).