Charlie Slater

Charlie Slater

Charles "Charlie" Slater is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Derek Martin, making his first appearance on 4 September 2000. He is played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the spin-off EastEnders: E20. He departed from EastEnders on 13 January 2011. Martin returned for a two episode guest stint on 19 and 21 April 2011.

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". Martin returned for a two episode stint in April, his return saw 10.31 million people watch on 19 April and on the 21 April, 8.43 million.