EastEnders is one of the most beloved soaps on the small screen after it catapulted to fame following its big debut back in 1985. Since then it has gone from strength to strength with several memorable moments including Dirty Den’s downfall, Sharon Watt’s affair and Lucy Beale’s death.
More than 40 years on, EastEnders continues to deliver award-winning performances with the BBC soap clearing up at the British Soap Awards earlier this month. But it hasn’t been plain sailing for the show, which has seen the departure of some of their most beloved character due to a conflict of interests. As the show prepares for another award-winning year, let’s take a look back at some of the actor’s most explosive departures.
David Scarboro (right) rose to fame on EastEnders
David Scarboro
Mark Fowler may be one of the most memorable faces from EastEnders, having been part of the BBC soap since its inception in 1985 all the way through to the character’s emotional exit in 2003.
Back then, he rode off into the sunset on his motorbike before sadly dying of AIDS. The role was originally played by David Scarboro for 10 years before Todd Carty took over, and there was one glaring reason why.
David was part of the original cast when the show launched in February 1985 but his stint on the show was short lived. Almost immediately after joining EastEnders, he grew uncomfortable with the direction his character was taking.
The scriptwriters had planned a storyline where Mark would become racist, and a key scene required David to hurl racial slurs at fellow character Kelvin Carpenter, played by Paul J. Medford.
David strongly objected to this portrayal, and ended up refusing to shoot the scene, which reportedly led to his abrupt departure from the show in April 1985.
His character was written out quickly, with Mark Fowler leaving his family one night without warning – the Fowler family simply woke up one morning to discover he’d left in the night.
Despite making a handful of appearances up in 1987, David never came back for hood. His final appearance on the show ai
Connie Skinner-Carter
Connie Skinner-Carter is best known for her role as Audrey Trueman in EastEnders, moving into Albert Square in the year 2000. But the actress only starred in 32 episodes until September 2001, when her character was killed off.
Seven years later, Connie shared her belief that her character was killed off because of the creative differences she had with the writers about Audrey’s backstory.
She told press at the time: “I received a script and it was all about how Audrey’s first job in England had been as a lavatory cleaner, how she had worked her way up from that to become a B&B owner.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate, and I told them so – she may have come from the bottom but not from the bottom of a toilet!”
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Danny Dyer
Beloved soap star Danny Dyer left the BBC soap back in 2022 after nine years on Albert Square. He made his dramatic exit as Mick Carter at Christmas, which his character seemingly drowning at sea while trying to save his wife Linda.
Two years on, the actor has broken away from the cockney typecasting and has gone on to star in the Disney+ sitcom Rivals alongside David Tennant and Aiden Turner.
Speaking at a charity event last month, the 47-year-old actor claimed he didn’t get a warm welcome on Albert Square. “I will be honest, it is a very clicky place to work.
“We took over the pub from Jessie Wallace and Shane Ritchie. Kat and Alfie had an 11-year run and then they wanted to get rid of them.
“So they brought us and they had the hump. That was tricky. I was like, ‘What’s the matter with these people? I’ve not made this call’. So there was a lot of people blanking us up when we turned up.”)
Whilst he looks back fondly on the first three years of working on the show, he said it went downhill from there. “I really cherish those first three years. Then a new producer came in and sacked every f***er. It is a very ruthless job. I learned a lot. Nine years was enough for me.”
In 2025, the actor revealed that he left the show after his character Mick was paired up with Janine, played by Charlie Brooks during an appearance on the Channel 4 TV show, The Audience.
He revealed: “A new producer came in and he didn’t like the Carters. He started to sack people – my son, my daughter – they’ve still got Kellie Bright in it, who plays my wife, Linda Carter.
“But then they split me up from Kellie and put me with Janine. When they told me, I said, ‘Janine? But she murders people!’ I thought, ‘Oh no, if I stay too long, she’ll kill me – I’ve got to get out’. And basically, I went in the sea and was never found again.”
Nina Wadia left the show after due to the ‘ridiculous’ storylines (Image: BBC)
Nina Wadia
EastEnders legend Nina Wadia played the iconic Zainab Masood from 2001 until 2013 and was involved in some huge storylines throughout her stint, including learning that her son was gay and a harrowing domestic violence plot.
Now, Nina has explained her reasons for leaving the show, telling Vanessa Feltz on Jeremy Vine that they storylines were a major deciding factor behind her exit.
She told viewers: “When the storylines get so ridiculous and so difficult, you kind of think, ‘I’m out’. The reason I left was because the storylines were getting ridiculous.
“That was one of the reasons I left. There were several, but that one was on the main reasons. My husband Masood was going to have yet another affair, and I was like, ‘How can I react any differently to the way I reacted before when he told me he was having an affair?’”
She went on to explain how the initial brief for the character was ‘Pauline Fowler but funny’, and that for the first two years she was able to flex her comedy talents.
She said: “Then they gave me a domestic violence storyline and I thought, ‘How can I be funny with that storyline? I don’t understand’.
“I think what happens is that when you have a change at the top with the execs, they bring in their vision, someone who hasn’t really been paying attention to what your character’s been doing, and all of a sudden you’re asked to do something absolutely ridiculous.”
Despite this, the actress added that she’s not ruled out returning to the show, adding: “Hopefully at some point if they invite me back, it will be for something a bit more interesting to do.
“She’s still alive. They wouldn’t kill her off. I did ask to be killed off because I thought, ‘Yay, I’ll get a big storyline if I get killed off!’ But they were like, ‘No, we want her back someday’. So who knows?”
