Samantha Keeble

This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	Samantha Keeble
Alias	DCI Keeble
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Detective chief police inspector
Powers / Skills	Intelligence Deception Vast resources Exceptional intimidation
Hobby	Doing her job as a decorated policewoman. Making arrests.
Goals	Solve the case regarding the murder of Lucy Beale (succeeded). Get Phil Mitchell imprisoned for his crimes unless he agrees to work for her as a police informant (succeeded for a while/later failed). Force Phil to get his cousin Billy Mitchell imprisoned for a robbery in which his father Eric had killed her late father Malcolm. Get revenge on Phil for sabotaging her plot against him (all failed).
Crimes	Corruption Blackmail Attempted incrimination Coercion Harassment Kidnapping
Type of Villain	Vengeful Anti-Villain

DCI Samantha Keeble is a major character in the BBC British soap opera EastEnders. She debuted as a minor character in 2008 and later served as a main character of 2014-2016 during the course of a long-running storyline dubbed Who Killed Lucy Beale? She later reappeared as one of the main antagonists of 2022 and the first half of January 2023.

She is portrayed by Alison Newman.

Biography

DCI Samantha Keeble is known to be a highly decorated policewoman stationed in Walford, a fictional borough in East London, and it's market town Albert Square.

In 2008, Keeble was assigned to find out who had ran over local resident Max Branning after the latter had survived in a hit and run driven by an unknown assailant. She began inspecting Max's estranged wife Tanya Cross for a motive due to the fact that they fell out following Max's affair with his daughter-in-law Stacey Slater, who was also questioned by Keeble over the incident. Attention was later turned to Max's youngest daughter Abi Branning as well as his son Bradley, also Stacey's husband.

Thereafter, Keeble began questioning both Max's brother Jack Branning, a former police officer himself, and their love rival Sean Slater for motives. At first Tanya was implicated as the culprit, but it soon turned out that she was in fact covering the true assailant - her and Max's eldest daughter Lauren Branning. Regardless of the circumstances, the case ended up collapsing much to Keeble's dissatisfaction.

In 2014, Keeble was assigned to find out who had murdered Abi and Lauren's closest friend - Lucy Beale. It soon became apparent that Keeble had grown determined to complete the case and became obsessed with the matter herself. During this time, Keeble visited the Brannings' surrogate matriarch Dot Cotton to question her supposed involvement in the death of her villainous son Nick Cotton. In the end Dot was tried and charged for Nick's death, in which Keeble testified against her, but the case ultimately collapsed when Dot was released from police custody months later.

By 2015, Keeble had begun making personal inquiries regarding Lucy's murder and went as far as to inform the victim's grieving father Ian Beale about the circumstances. She later collaborates with her subordinate DS Cameron Bryant and fellow policewoman DCI Jill Marsden to complete the investigation. They initially implicated Ian's half-brother Ben Mitchell as the culprit, but later ended up arresting Max for the murder; Max was later charged and tried for the murder, in which he was found guilty.

Shortly afterwards, Max escaped police custody by punching Bryant for attempting to stop him; Keeble was left frustrated over the fact that she spent 18 months with Lucy's murder investigation. She later confronted Max's sister Carol Branning over his whereabouts, and was later satisfied when the police catch up to Max and take him back to jail; Max was later sentenced to 20 years life imprisonment for Lucy's murder and given an extra 1 year sentence for assaulting a police officer. In 2016, however, Keeble was left shocked when Ian's youngest son Bobby Beale confessed to killing Lucy himself; Bobby was later arrested and charged for the crime before being sentenced to 4 years in prison, whereas Max was released for wrongful imprisonment. Thereupon Keeble saw her career jeopardized by the entire situation.

In 2022, Keeble resurfaces when she takes on her most daring police assignment yet - bringing Ben's father, Phil Mitchell, to justice for his criminal activities. Keeble first visits Phil at the police station after he is apprehended for his involvement in crimes perpetrated by drug lord Aidan Maguire, who included the murders of both their associate Vincent Hubbard and also Ben's ex-boyfriend Luke Browning on different occasions. Keeble threatens to get Phil imprisoned unless he agrees to work for her as a police informant. Phil initially refuses to collaborate with Keeble, and she in turn threatens to allow his prison inmate Craig Erskine to have him killed in a riot. This forces Phil to make a last-minute choice to agree with Keeble's offer, and he is released from prison after surviving a riot in which Erskine is the one who gets killed in the end.

However, it soon turns out that Phil merely agreed with Keeble's offer in order to find something incriminating against her. It also becomes clear that Keeble has a somewhat personal motive against Phil when the pair end up having private meetings about their "agreement". Keeble forces Phil to keep in line with her demands and even refuses to help him out when he reports that Ben was raped by his supposed friend, Lewis Butler, during his time in prison.

In September 2022, Keeble summons Phil for a favour - he is to grass up his own cousin Billy Mitchell for a robbery in which they were involved in years ago. When Phil questions Keeble for her motives, her intentions are thereupon revealed in a flashback surrounding his family. It transpires that Phil and his brother Grant were forced to join Billy and his own sibling Charlie in an armed robbery that was perpetuated by Phil's father Eric Mitchell. The robbery was successful until a security guard obstructed their getaway; Phil was ordered by Eric to shoot the guard dead, but Phil refused and so Eric killed the guard instead. It is later revealed that the dead guard was in fact Keeble's father Malcolm when his colleagues informed Keeble and her unnamed mother about his death. Consequently, the death of Keeble's death is what led her to become a police officer and thus she had been biding her time to exact vengeance against Phil and his family for their role in her father's demise.

Back in the present, Keeble informs Phil that he will go back to prison unless Billy takes the fall for the robbery instead. Phil is forced to reluctantly comply and Keeble later arrests Billy in The Queen Victoria public house. Keeble then has Billy charged for the crime and forces Phil not to intervene with her plans to get Billy sent down, otherwise Phil would go back to jail instead. Phil then leaves the square to come up with a plan against Keeble. Soon enough, Keeble learns that he has absconded the country and confronts his fiancé Kat Slater for his whereabouts; it soon becomes clear at this rate that Keeble has turned corrupt as part of her own quest to complete her plan against Phil. She threatens to go after Kat and their family unless Phil comes back to the square.

In Christmas 2022, Phil returns to the square and Keeble confronts him for his actions. It is at this point that the pair have been reacquainted with Phil's former employee Keanu Taylor, who has previously been in hiding from Phil's wrath due to having an affair with the latter's former lover Sharon Watts and cheating on Phil's daughter Louise not long after getting the pair pregnant in the process. At first Keanu is in cahoots with Keeble and her plan against Phil, but it soon turns out that he has actually joined forces with Phil to help bring Keeble down in exchange for resolving their differences. This initially works after Keanu records Keeble instructing him to plant a loaded gun in order to implicate Phil for the robbery as well, which in turn gives Phil the evidence he needs against Keeble. However, Phil later goes back against his word on Keanu and threatens to have him killed unless he leaves the square for good - due to Keanu having slept with Phil's sister Sam not long ago.

On New Year's Day 2023, Keeble finds out that Phil has possession of the loaded gun that she is planning to use against him. She confronts him in front of Billy to demand the gun back, but Phil in turn reveals that he has evidence of her corruption and taunts her about it. Keeble realizes that Keanu has turned against her and blames him for allowing Phil to sabotage her plan. Outraged that her plan has fallen apart, Keeble vows retribution against Phil and arranges for Kat to be taken captive to an abandoned warehouse. Her plan comes to fruition when Kat is indeed abducted and taken captive, but Keeble is unimpressed when Kat's young preteen son Tommy is captured as well. Nevertheless, Keeble holds them hostage and issues Phil - who had earlier found out about the situation - an ultimatum; either he gives up the recording that would expose her corruption and let Billy go to prison, otherwise she would execute Kat and Tommy without hesitation. Phil attempts to call her bluff, but Keeble rebukes him before hanging up on him.

The next day, Phil manages to extract Keeble's location and reluctantly teams up with Keanu to confront her and rescue both Kat and Tommy from her clutches. They arrive just as Keeble begins losing patience with Kat and Tommy, ranting about Phil's nature and his family's criminal history. Keeble begins threatening them when Kat charges at her, and they scuffle for a gun. Just then a gunshot rings up in the moment Phil and Keanu find Tommy in the room. They find out that Kat had accidentally shot Keeble in the scuffle. Phil then orders Keanu to get Kat and Tommy out of the warehouse, intending to sort his conflict with Keeble out for good.

Despite being shot and critically wounded, Keeble is unwilling to give into Phil's demand that he can provide medical assistance in exchange for dropping her case against Billy. At first Keeble attempts to stand by her threats, but Phil ultimately tells her that he has won and she just has to accept defeat because that's the way it goes - henceforth making it clear to Keeble that she has lost either way. Keeble begins crumbling in despair until Phil tells her that he merely became the criminal he is today because of Eric, before reminding her how they have both suffered until his father. Phil also points out that Eric killed her father because Phil had refused to do it at his bequest, as well as stating that both he and Grant were forced by their father to join him in the robbery - otherwise he'd continue to abuse them and their mother Peggy for a long period of time. Because of this, Keeble realizes that Phil too is a victim of the same man who killed their father and realizes the error of her ways. Keeble eventually decides to drop her case against Billy, prompting Phil to seek out medical attention until the ambulance arrives to rush her into treatment; Keeble recovers and, after telling her superiors a fabricated story about how criminals shot her instead of Kat, later decides to retire from her police work.

Trivia

• In a flashback episode revolving on the Mitchell Family back in January 1979, dated in September 2022, the character Samantha Keeble was played by Phoebe Rose Gordon as a child.