List of East Enders Characters (2002) - Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts, played by David Kennedy, is an applicant for the position of bar manager at Peggy Mitchell's (Barbara Windsor) pub, The Queen Victoria. He wins Peggy over by claiming to know her son, Grant (Ross Kemp), and starts the job on 28 October. However he invites his dodgy friends to the pub, worrying Peggy about the type of customers he may attract.

He makes it up to her by offering to check the fire alarms in the pub, but annoys her further by going through a drawer full of her personal documents and asking her about her daughter Sam's (Kim Medcalf) love life. He goes on to question Sam about her relationships with Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen). He later berates Sam for cancelling the pub's bonfire party in the aftermath of the deaths of Tom Banks (Colm Ó Maonlaí) and Trevor Morgan, but praises Peggy for the cancellation. Sam becomes suspicious of Dave when he allows one of his friends to smoke cannabis in the pub.

After one of Dave's friends barges into Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) in the pub, Peggy threatens to bar anyone who upsets her regular customers. Later that night, Sam catches Dave scheming with his friends to have a lock-in after hours. She threatens to call the police when they dont leave, but Dave grabs her and starts to pull her shirt off. Sam knees him in the groin and runs away. The next morning, the pub and the living quarters above are found to be trashed. Peggy is angry, but cannot get rid of Dave until his contract ends. Sam urges her to sack him sooner. Later in the bar, Dave starts getting close to Sam, at which point she tells Peggy what had happened the night before. Peggy tells her daughter that Dave wont get away with it.

After Dave's friends caused more havoc in the pub, this time upsetting Roy Evans (Tony Caunter), Dave claims that Walford is "soft" without Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell around, which enrages Peggy further. Peggy confronts Dave and tells him that she is terminating his contract with immediate effect. When Dave refuses to leave, Peggy tries to round up some of Phil and Grant's associates, but to no avail. When Dave's friends trash the floral tributes to Tom, Roy steps in and tries to stop them, after Sharon (Letitia Dean) becomes distraught at the sight. The rest of Walford's male residents unite to drive the thugs out of town, and they are closely followed by Dave, who tries to steal some money from the pub's till, but is stopped by Sam wielding a baseball bat.