- This article is about the soap opera character. For the real author, see Margaret Mitchell.
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell (née Martin; previously Butcher) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the series on 30 April 1991. Peggy was at this time seen on a recurring basis over several weeks. Peggy was reintroduced to the series in 1994, this time played by Barbara Windsor. From this point, Peggy became a regular character, and Windsor continues to play the role to this day.
Peggy is bossy, fast-talking, and nobody's fool. She has always done things her own way, and heaven help anyone who crosses her. She is fiercely protective of her family and the Mitchell name, and has become famous for her catchphrase "Get outta my pub!", used when ejecting people from The Queen Victoria, of which she is the landlady.
History
Peggy is the mother of Phil, Grant and Samantha Mitchell and she was first seen in Walford in April 1991.
She married Eric Mitchell because she was pregnant with Phil, and soon began a life of hardship. Eric began to work for the gangster Johnny Allen as a heavy, and Johnny also trained with him in boxing, however he would taunt Eric and often make him do the most embarrassing of jobs, merely because Eric was a better boxer. Feeling humiliated at work, Eric began to take his angst out on Peggy. He was often violent towards her, and it wasn't the glamorous life she'd hoped for. She thought about leaving when the boys were teenagers and once even tried to seduce her husband's boss, but he knocked her back; something Johnny said he had regretted ever since. Then along came Sam, an unplanned pregnancy, so she had to stay, even though she rather resented Sam because of it.
Later she met Kevin Masters, when she went to work for his minicab firm, and she made a play for him. They had a secret affair, but Eric developed cancer so Peggy had to give up work to care for him. When Eric died, Johnny gave Peggy a large sum of money to look after her children, which Peggy snatched, saying it was compensation. The two never spoke again until over 20 years later when Johnny turned up on the square in 2005. Kevin came back on the scene promptly after her husband's death and her children took against him. Sam in particular resented Kevin's interference and constantly attempted to leave the Mitchell fold, often running away and sleeping at her brothers' house. Sam's desire to escape eventually resulted in her eloping at the age of 16 with the hapless mechanic, Ricky Butcher. Peggy was furious and tried to put a halt to her daughter's blossoming romance, even tracing them to the registry office in Scotland. She was too late though, as the union had already taken place before she got there. She needn't have worried as the marriage was short-lived, and Peggy's relationship with Kevin also ended in 1994[1].
Landlady of The Queen Vic
Peggy was not seen again until November 1994, when she returned to Walford to sort out her sons, who had fallen out due to Phil's affair with Grant's wife, Sharon. She became acting landlady of The Queen Victoria pub in March 1995 and was soon making her presence felt around Albert Square. She made no secret of the fact that she blamed Sharon for the mess her family was in and she was largely responsible for chasing Sharon away from Walford later in the year, but not before forcing Sharon into signing over her share of the pub. This left the Mitchells as the sole owners, with Peggy very much in charge.
Peggy as she appeared in 1994 after the recast.
In 1996, Peggy was courted by the shady businessman George Palmer. George's original motive for wooing Peggy was pragmatic — he was trying to stop her petition against the Cobra Club (an arm of his money laundering operation), but he soon found that he was genuinely attracted to her, and Peggy seemed quite smitten too. George tried hard to protect Peggy from the illegal side of his work and for a while she remained blissfully unaware of his criminal dealings. They got engaged and would have married if Phil had not informed his mother about George's true identity. Peggy gave George the boot and he then left Walford for a while, leaving Peggy to be menaced by masked men looking for him in his absence. After this, a furious Peggy would have nothing more to do with George.
Despite professing to be right about everything, Peggy's ignorance is often painfully obvious. Never more so than in 1996, when she discovered that the local fruit and veg trader, Mark Fowler, was HIV positive. Peggy instigated a boycott on his fruit and veg stall, refusing to eat anything he'd touched, or serve him in her pub. This caused a major feud between Peggy and Mark's mother Pauline, but even she couldn't diffuse the prejudice. Mark was forced to confront the bigotry of the locals by educating them on a few facts about his illness. Peggy remained uncertain, but was forced to realise that Mark might appreciate some support, when, at the end of the year, she went through her own health problems.
In December 1996, Peggy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Peggy had always prided herself on her glamorous appearance and the discovery that she had breast cancer initially devastated her, particularly when she discovered that she would have to undergo a mastectomy. With the support of her family, she managed to square up to it with typical stoicism and has managed to come through it a stronger person.
Peggy and Frank
Frank and Peggy marry.
In 1998, Peggy became more than just friends with the wily car salesman, Frank Butcher. Their blossoming romance did not go smoothly as a false rumour, spread around by Barry Evans, led Peggy to believe that Frank had been cheating on her with his ex-wife Pat. This prompted a feud between Pat and Peggy, with the two trading slaps around the Square. Eventually, the warring women managed to call a truce and even become good friends. As well as this, Peggy and Frank's relationship was met with disapproval from her two sons. Grant loathed Frank after he accidentally killed his wife, Tiffany, in a motor accident, and Frank and Phil had past issues concerning the torching of Frank's car lot years earlier. Despite this, Peggy married Frank in April 1999, after winning her battle against breast cancer. The loss of her breast nearly made her cancel the wedding, as she felt that her husband-to-be would find her unattractive and incomplete. She changed her mind just at the last minute, much to Frank's relief, and the two ran the pub together.
Peggy began to grow disillusioned with Walford when Grant fled to Rio de Janeiro in October 1999, after hijacking a drug deal and escaping from gangsters. After much prompting from Frank, she decided to sell the pub and emigrate to Spain. Peggy blamed Phil for Grant's departure, as the two had been involved in a violent altercation concerning Grant sleeping with Phil's wife Kathy before he left, and during this time they were often at loggerheads with each other. Phil had always felt the least favoured of Peggy's children and had begun to resent this. The animosity between them became so bad that when Grant gave Phil his share of the Vic on Christmas Day 1999, he maliciously sold it Dan Sullivan for £5, just to spite Peggy. Peggy was forced to share her precious pub with a man she loathed, and this also meant that she and Frank could no longer afford to move to Spain. Peggy and Dan battled with each other over the running of the pub, and the two were often involved in games of one-upmanship, which only sought to increase animosity and make their working life unbearable. Eventually, Phil and Peggy managed to patch up their differences, and as a reunited force, they chased Dan out of Walford.
Peggy finds out about Pat and Frank's affair.
More heartbreak was to come for Peggy in November 2000, when she discovered that Frank was going to leave her and run away with his ex-wife Pat. Frank wrote Peggy a letter explaining that he was leaving, but just at the last minute, Pat had a change of heart, so Frank desperately tried to reclaim the letter before Peggy had a chance to read it. Unfortunately, he was too late. Peggy had already discovered it and on Guy Fawkes Night, when The Queen Vic was packed with most of Walford's residents, Peggy shamed the cheating duo by reading the letter to the entire pub, and then famously slapped both Frank and Pat in full view of everyone. She threw Frank out and he left Walford without Pat. Peggy has never really forgiven Pat for her betrayal and reminds her of it at every opportunity [2].
Peggy's woes
Peggy spent the rest of 2000 in a dazed depression and began to rely heavily on tranquillisers. She attempted to forget her problems by having a family Christmas, which ended in disaster. She spent Christmas Day alone in the Vic. Things were made worse when Frank's evil daughter, Janine, showed up to taunt her about her father finding love with a new woman. A furious Peggy then began drinking heavily and in a violent fit of rage, she smashed up the Vic with a baseball bat. Things were soon to get worse, as in 2001, not only was Phil shot in an attempted murder, but Peggy was also forced to sell The Vic after Frank had left her with massive debts. She begrudgingly gave up her tenancy, but immediately regretted it when she discovered that the new owner was none other than her arch-nemesis, Sharon Watts. Peggy and Sharon were often involved in bitchy arguments and Peggy found it difficult to keep her nose out of the running of the pub, even though it was no longer hers.
Meanwhile, Peggy began dating Harry Slater. Harry owned a bar in Spain, and it wasn't long before he'd managed to convince her to uproot and move there with him. They got engaged, but a disgusted Peggy was forced to call it off when she discovered that Harry was guilty of sexually abusing his niece, Kat Slater.
Peggy managed to get her feet back under the table at The Vic when Phil started dating Sharon again, and bought back half of the Vic. Her feud with Sharon continued with both regularly sniping at each other and forcing Phil to choose between them. She ended up being the sole licensee once again in 2002, when Sharon sold her half of the Vic back to her.
Peggy was reunited with Frank again when she travelled to Spain for his supposed funeral in January 2002. She discovered he was actually alive and had faked his death to avoid debtors. She and Frank had a chance to put their past behind them before Peggy returned to Walford.
Peggy was hastily written out of the series in 2003 when Barbara Windsor was diagnosed with Epstein Barr. Peggy went to Brazil to tend to Grant, who had been crippled in an accident. She returned briefly for the wedding of Sam and Andy Hunter, in September 2004, leaving Sam in charge of the Vic. However, foolish Sam was conned into selling the Vic to Den Watts for a pittance.
Peggy's return
Peggy came back permanently to Walford in September 2005 and was furious to learn that her precious pub was once again in the possession of the Watts family. To make matters worse, Chrissie Watts, the licensee, was the woman responsible for framing Sam of Den's murder. Sam was on remand while Chrissie, the real killer, was a free woman and living in the pub. Peggy confronted her in front of everyone at Den's funeral, revealing the truth (though no one believed her) and let fly with a smack to Chrissie's face, resulting in Chrissie falling into Den's grave.
As well as trying to get her daughter out of prison, Peggy set about trying to get her pub back. This sparked a feud between her and the resident gangster, Johnny Allen, when he made an offer on The Vic. It was soon discovered that there was a certain degree of history between the two. Peggy's deceased husband, Eric, had worked for Johnny many years earlier. Johnny had mistreated Eric, which Peggy felt was the reason for Eric's violent behaviour towards her. Peggy also had knowledge of Johnny's past crimes, such as cutting the fingers off of a prostitute's hand and beating a man for merely misspelling his name on a birthday cake. Peggy made things worse when she started to ally herself with his daughter, Ruby. Peggy informed Ruby of all Johnny's past misdemeanours and even hinted that he was to blame for the death of Ruby's mother and sister. Johnny responded by assaulting Peggy; crushing her fingers in her front door and threatening her safety unless she kept her nose out. He then hired a mobster to rough her up and teach her a lesson, which was stopped only by the return of her sons, Phil and Grant. As well as sorting Johnny out, they were also instrumental in unveiling Chrissie as Den's real killer. Chrissie was arrested, Sam was released and Peggy returned to the Mitchells' spiritual home, The Queen Victoria, with Phil and Sam, though Sam soon fled to Brazil to escape a prison sentence as she still faced charges for perverting the course of justice.
Phil briefly left Walford with Sharon in January 2006 after the murder of her husband, Dennis Rickman. In his absence, the Mitchell matriarch focused on a new romance with Jack Edwards, but when Jack soon left, Peggy started focusing on her precious family once again. She wasn't very good at controlling her granddaughter Courtney, but her grandson Ben has been much easier.
In September 2006, Jack returned to Walford for the wedding of his daughter, Honey, to Peggy's relative, Billy. Jack made it clear that he was interested in rekindling their romance and although Peggy was hesitant at first, she decided to 'throw caution to the wind', and enjoyed the beginnings of a new romance. However, Peggy later discovered that Billy and Honey's newborn baby, Janet had Down's syndrome. She was sceptical and voiced her opinion that the couple should give the baby up for adoption, causing friction between her and Jack. Because of their differing opinions Jack decided to end their romance, and has since left Walford for a second time. Peggy has recently come to accept Petal (now renamed Janet by Honey; her own mother's name who died whilst giving birth to her) and is now proud to call her a Mitchell.
Peggy has since been on a three-week cruise to celebrate her sixty-fifth birthday, and had the upstairs flat of The Vic redecorated by interior designer, Marco.
Following the crash and burn of Phil and Stella's wedding, Peggy, Phil and Ben have gone to visit Grant and Courtney in Portugal for a while. Leaving Shirley, Ronnie and Roxy in charge of the Queen Vic until they return.
However, only Peggy and Ben came back. Ben immediately started asking where Phil was, which Peggy claimed he was staying over for a few more days. Peggy was struggling to take care of Ben, but when Roxy got Ben and his friend Abi Branning lost, Peggy gave her nieces Roxy Mitchell and Ronnie Mitchell their marching orders. However, when asked to help out at Janet's 1st birthday party, she fell off a ladder and the person who helped her up was Ronnie! It turned out Charlie Slater's cab had the engine stolen and the sisters had stayed. It was revealed Roxy had flirted with Garry Hobbs to persuade him to steal it. When Phil returned in the middle of Janet's birthday, he fell into the cake as he was drunk. Peggy kelped Ben away from Phil as she was worried he would end up like his father. She then threw Phil out of the Queen Vic, so he could clean up his act.
On 18 October 2007 Peggy revealed to Ronnie and Roxy that, because of her cruise, pub refurbishment and Phil's wedding, she is £40,000 in debt. Peggy got Sean Slater to rough the pub up so she could claim insurance but the plan backfired.
In popular culture
Peggy Mitchell, spoofed in 2DTV.
The character of Peggy Mitchell has been spoofed in the ITV cartoon sketch show 2DTV.
The character has also been spoofed by the Scottish impressionist Ronni Ancona in BBC's Big Impression. In the sketches, Ancona shuffles around on her knees to exaggerate Barbara Windsor's petite height, and she is regularly heard using the catchphrase "Get outta my pub!".
And impressionist Jan Ravens has also spoofed her in BBC's Dead Ringers, also mimicking her cheeky laugh.
In November 2005, Peggy appeared in a sketch for Children in Need, which was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show. The sketch featured Peggy, Little Mo Mitchell, Stacey Slater and Catherine Tate as her well-known character Lauren Cooper. The 2006 episode of Doctor Who, entitled "Army of Ghosts", features a scene of EastEnders where Peggy tells the "ghost" of Den Watts to "get outta my pub!"
Family
References
External links
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