Eric Mitchell

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Eric Mitchell
Alias	Flash Eric Old Man Boxer (by his sons Phil and Grant) Dad (by his sons Phil and Grant) My husband (by his wife Peggy Mitchell)
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Boxer (formerly) Career criminal
Powers / Skills	Strength Intimidation Charisma Deception
Hobby	Taking his frustrations out on his family. Beating up little kids. Working for notorious mob boss Johnny Allen. Threatening his wife Peggy and their eldest son Phil.
Goals	Take his anger out on Peggy and Phil Mitchell after being taunted and disrespected by Johnny Allen (partially succeeded/gave up).
Crimes	Child abuse Domestic violence Armed robbery Conspiracy to organized crime Murder Assault Death threats Coercion Negligence
Type of Villain	Enigmatic Abuser

“	This one needs a little learning!	„
	~ Eric prepares to abuse his son Phil following their botched armed robbery back in January 1979.

Eric Mitchell is a fictional character and overarching antagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders. He has arguably served as the overarching antagonist in the Mitchell Family's long-running story arc on the show. In 2022, during an episode dated 5th September 2022 that year, Eric finally made an appearance in a flashback surrounding the Mitchells' backstory; he served as the main antagonist in said flashback episode.

Depicted as a member of the established Mitchell Family, Eric was the late father of Sam Mitchell along with her two criminal brothers Phil Mitchell and Grant Mitchell - also known as the Mitchell Brothers - as well as the former husband of their mother Peggy Mitchell. He was also the younger brother of Archie Mitchell, the older brother of Clive Mitchell, and the second son of Phillip Mitchell.

He was portrayed by George Russo in a flashback episode dated 5th September 2022.

Development

While he has never physically appeared on the show despite making an appearance in the 2022 flashback episode, Eric Mitchell has played a significantly impactful role within the Mitchell Family storylines; he was often mentioned by Phil after it transpired that Eric had abused both Peggy and Phil before his death, but he never mistreated Grant since the latter was regarded to be Eric's favourite child.

Biography

1940 - 1985

Eric Mitchell was born in London 1940. He had a older brother named Archie Mitchell, before they later had another sibling called Clive, and together the pair were mistreated by their father Phillip Mitchell. When their father passed away, Eric told Archie that it was a "good day".

Over the years, Eric met a woman named Peggy and they got married. During his youth, Eric worked for his crime boss Johnny Allen while he was focusing on his boxing career - though it soon all went down into a downward spiral. Eric's wife Peggy tried to develop a relationship with Johnny, but he was not interested in her. Johnny would often mistreat Eric, forcing him to do jobs because Eric was a better boxer than him. Eric would later take his anger out on his wife Peggy and their eldest son Phil Mitchell, when he was 9 years old as Phil always mentioned how he would get the belt on Phil every time he upset him. On the other hand, Eric would never hurt his other son Grant Mitchell - with whom was regarded to be Eric's favourite child. Peggy would later try to save her marriage only to be pregnant with her daughter Sam Mitchell, born in 1975.

At some point, Peggy was employed by her boss Kevin Masters work at his own minicab firm but it has been meticulously revealed that they were both having an affair behind Eric's back while he was suffering from cancer. Peggy later quitted her job and she sat by Eric during his final moments as he's about to pass away on his death bed from cancer with his wife Peggy by her side. Eric passed away in 1985.

1990 - 2022

The Mitchells soon came to Albert Square in Walford, a fictional borough in East London, from early 1990; Phil and Grant arrived before Sam and Peggy later joined them. Over the years, Eric has been mentioned by Phil a lot of times during his time in the show when he tried to abuse his son Ben Mitchell the same way Eric abused Phil years ago but it was prevented by Peggy and Archie when they protected Ben after their own family dinner gone wrong. Peggy later regretted ignoring Phil from being abused by Eric, storming off back into her room.

In 2015, Phil found himself targeted by a new adversary: ex-police informant turned crook Vincent Hubbard. The pair got into a scrap when it became clear that Vincent sought retribution against Phil and his family because he believed that his father, Henry, had been murdered by Eric during their criminal partnership years ago. However, it was soon revealed that Vincent's mother Claudette Hubbard was actually responsible for his death; she eventually confessed the truth of her involvement to Vincent, who in turn attempted to kill Claudette until she was stopped by their neighbour Patrick Trueman.

Soon enough, Phil and Vincent along with their respective families found themselves dealing with a common enemy: Eric and Henry's former accomplice Gavin Sullivan. It soon transpired that the duo had previously done criminal jobs together along with Gavin's old partner-in-crime Den Watts, who would become the Mitchells sworn nemesis as well as the adopted father of Gavin's biological daughter Sharon. Over the subsequent years Sharon had coped with her father's initial demise from gangland boss Jack Dalton, the death of her adopted mother Angie, had a disastrous marriage with Grant became romantically involved with her adoptive half-brother Dennis Rickman, and eventually married Phil after a prolonging relationship between the two that involved Sharon learning about Phil's abused childhood from his late father: Eric.

When Peggy was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, she rounded up her family together to cope in her final moments. At one point she scrolled through a box of her old photos with Eric, recapping their marriage back in the old days. Peggy would later pass away from a drug overdose. All of her family members attended her funeral.

In 2020, when Phil confronted his former employee Keanu Taylor for sleeping with Sharon behind his back, he ranted about how Eric "taught" him a lot of things during his rough upbringing; it was mentioned that Eric had given Phil a bloody nose at one stage, but ultimately Phil told Keanu that his father was right about teaching him things. It was then Phil fought Keanu when attempting to kill him, which instead led to a boat crash that resulted in the death of Sharon's son Denny - partly caused by Phil as well as his stepson Ian Beale over the latter's grievances with Denny for targeting his son Bobby.

In 2022, when Phil found himself under pressure from police inspector DCI DCI Samantha Keeble in her quest to get him imprisoned for his latest criminal activities, it soon became clear that her motives against the Mitchell Family was a personal one. This emerged when Krabble issued Phil an ultimatum - either grass up Billy for his involvement in a 1979 armed robbery that the Mitchells were involved in, otherwise Phil would be remanded in custody awaiting trial for his crimes. Phil then recaps a flashback in which he and Grant were forced by their father, Eric, to partake an armed robbery with Billy and his brother Charlie. The robbery ended in disaster when Eric captured and killed a security guard, who later turned out to be Krabble's late father Malcom.

Gallery

A picture of Eric Mitchell from the photo albumns.

Eric Mitchell and his family from 1979.

A poster of Eric Mitchell and his family.

Eric Mitchell with his family.

Eric with his wife Peggy.

Eric with his eldest son Phil.

Eric with his younger son Grant.

Eric with his daughter Sam.

Eric Mitchell with his sons Phil and Grant - the Mitchell Brothers - in 1979.

Eric with his sons and their cousin Billy.

Eric observing the warehouse that he and his family are robbing.

Eric with a shotgun, moments before he kills a security guard named Malcom Keeble following an armed heist.

Eric finds out that Phil has deduced that he killed Malcom Keeble.

Eric threatening to beat up Peggy.

Eric getting punched by Phil in their fight.

Eric after being defeated by Phil in their fight.

Trivia

• Eric Mitchell was 45 years old when he passed away in 1985 after being born in 1940.
• The actor who portrayed Eric Mitchell in the photo is unknown.