Derek Branning

Derek Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Terence Beesley in 1996 and then Jamie Foreman from 2011 to 2012. Derek is the eldest child of Jim (John Bardon) and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham). He made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 29 April 1996 for his sister April's (Debbie Arnold) wedding and departed on 2 May. The character returned as a regular in the episode broadcast on 24 November 2011 played by Foreman. In October 2012, it was announced that Foreman would be leaving EastEnders in December 2012 as part of a Christmas storyline. On 20 December, it was revealed that Derek was the person who Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) had an affair with. He died of a heart attack in the episode broadcast on 25 December 2012.

Derek is originally portrayed as racist and he was not pleased when his sister Carol (Lindsey Coulson) married Alan Jackson (Howard Antony). Upon his return, Derek was described as a "charmer" and "proper East-End". In an interview with Daybreak, Foreman said he wanted viewers to like Derek. Derek has been described as "dodgy" and a "psycho". The Guardian's Sarah Dempster said that Derek played by Foreman has the "face of a dyspeptic pug and the charm of an abandoned Threshers". Foreman confirmed that viewers could expect "danger" and "destruction" from his character as his time progresses on the show. The BBC describe Derek as "proper East End" and "old school".

Derek

Derek is a male name. It is the English language short form of Dederik, the Low German form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".

Common variants of the name are Derrek, Derick and Derrick, more rarely also Deryck or 'Derrok'. The Dutch language short form of the same Low German / Low Franconian name is Dirk (popularised by the actor Dirk Bogarde) and the Low German Di(e)rk (Dierk Hoff).

History

The English form of the name arises in the 15th century, via import from the Low Countries. The native English (Anglo-Saxon) form of the name was Deoric or Deodric, from Old English Þēodrīc, but this name had fallen out of use in the medieval period. During the Late Middle Ages, there was intense contact between the territories adjacent to the North Sea, in particular due to the activities of the Hanseatic League. As a result, there was a lot of cross-pollination between Low German, Dutch, English, Danish and Norwegian. The given name Derk is found in records of the Low Countries from the early 14th century, and in the spelling Derck becomes rather common in name lists compiled in the Habsburg Netherlands during the early 16th century. An early bearer of the name Derek was lord of Keppel, Gelderland, in the early 14th century. A Derek van Keppel, lord of Verwoelde, died in 1495 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called Derek van Keppel. A later Derek van Keppel died in 1646, succeeded by Asewolt van Keppel, the father of Arnold van Keppel, who in 1688 was created Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England.

Phil Mitchell

Philip James "Phil" Mitchell is a long-standing fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden. Phil was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990, and was followed by his brother, Grant (Ross Kemp), sister Sam (Danniella Westbrook/Kim Medcalf) and mother Peggy (Jo Warne/Barbara Windsor). Phil was one of the major introductions made by executive producer Michael Ferguson, who wanted to bring in some macho, male leads. Phil and his brother Grant became popularly known as the Mitchell brothers in the British media, with Phil initially portrayed as the lesser of two thugs. Storylines featuring the Mitchell family dominated the soap opera throughout the 1990s, with Phil becoming a popular and long-running male protagonist into the 2000s and the 2010s. McFadden was written out of the series in late 2003. He returned in March 2005 for a short stint, before making a permanent return in October 2005.

List of EastEnders characters (2012)

The following are characters who first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders during 2012 listed by order of first appearance. New characters were introduced by Bryan Kirkwood, executive producer. He stepped down from the role in April. His last episode was on 13 July 2012. From 16 July, characters were introduced by his successor, Lorraine Newman.

The first character to be introduced was the undertaker, Les Coker. The next main character to be announced was Ray Dixon, the father of Morgan Butcher, followed by Alice Branning, the daughter of Derek Branning and, Alice's brother, Joey. June 2012 also saw the first birth of the year: Janine Butcher and Michael Moon's daughter, Scarlett. July saw the arrival of Masood Ahmed's brother, AJ. July also saw the second birth of the year: Lola Pearce's daughter Lexi, Newman's first introduction. After the announcement that Sharon Rickman was returning, her son Dennis Rickman, was introduced, along with guest character, Sharon's fiancé John Hewland. Danny Pennant arrived in September, as part of a love triangle storyline involving Syed Masood and Christian Clarke. Ava Hartman, the long-lost daughter of Cora Cross was introduced in November and Kirsty Branning, Max's wife, made her first appearance on Christmas Day. December also saw the arrival of Zainab Masood's family friend, Ayesha Rana.

2012

2012 (MMXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (dominical letter AG) of the Gregorian calendar, the 2012th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 12th year of the 3rd millennium, the 12th year of the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2010s decade.

2012 was designated as:

Events

January

February