Aunt Sal

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Aunt Sal
EastEnders character
Portrayed byAnna Karen
Duration
  • 1996–1997
  • 2001–2004
  • 2007–2011
  • 2013–2017
First appearanceEpisode 1266
21 March 1996 (1996-03-21)
Last appearanceEpisode 5428
20 January 2017 (2017-01-20)
ClassificationFormer; recurring
Introduced by
In-universe information
Other namesSal Martin
OccupationRetired
FatherJack Martin
MotherLilly Martin
Sisters
Albie Watts

Aunt Sal[1] is a recurring fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Karen[2] Introduced in 1996, she appeared sporadically from 21 March 1996 until 29 December 1997, then from 28 September 2001 until 17 September 2004, 19 July 2007 until 4 April 2011 and 22 November 2013 to 20 January 2017.[3] She appears for just a few episodes at a time and has been collectively featured in 58 episodes of the show.

The character has, on occasion, been credited as Sal Martin,

Harold Martin.[7]

Creation and development

In February 1996, it was announced that comedy actress Anna Karen would be joining the cast of EastEnders as Peggy Mitchell's sister Sal. Anna Karen and the actress who had played Peggy, Barbara Windsor, were "best friends" in real life and Windsor had expressed how happy she was to have Karen on the cast of EastEnders [8][9]

Producers decided to hire Karen after Michael French, who played "romeo" David Wicks decided to quit. They reportedly failed to lure back June Brown, who played Dot Cotton between 1985 and 1993 (although they were successful in doing so a year later). They asked Karen to audition and decided she "was just the ticket".[10]

Commenting on her casting, Karen said, "It's great to be back on the box and a real treat to be working alongside my old mate [Barbara Windsor]."[1]

Kate Lock brands Sal as "Peggy's blabbermouth sister" and "She has a hide thicker than Peggy's, a penchant for interfering and a tendency to become loud and hideously embarrassing after a couple of drinks".[11]

Storylines

Sal is the older sister of

Harry Slater's (Michael Elphick) engagement party in 2001, Louise Mitchell's naming party in October 2002, Jamie Mitchell's (Jack Ryder) funeral in January 2003, and Sam Mitchell's (Kim Medcalf) wedding to Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs
) in September 2004.

She returns in July 2007 for her nephew Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) wedding to Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson) and portentously notes that Stella would never be a Mitchell. She also returns when Peggy throws her a birthday party on 17 December 2007 and again on Christmas Day 2007 when she drunkenly infuriates Phil. On 8 July 2008 she returns again to keep an eye on Billy (Perry Fenwick) and Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) whilst they look after The Queen Vic as Peggy is away. She makes another appearance on 14 August 2008 for Peggy and Archie Mitchell's (Larry Lamb) engagement party. Sal straight away speaks her mind about Archie, not knowing that he is next to her. She spends Christmas Eve 2008 with Peggy, complaining about the price of her taxi and joking about Jean Slater's (Gillian Wright) health condition. She is next seen on 2 March 2009 when Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) invited her to dinner. Janine gets her drunk before extracting information about Peggy's past, so she can use something to humiliate Peggy. Sal reveals to Janine that she and her sister, Peggy were involved in pole dancing for the gangland in the 1960s. Janine couriers a huge photo of Peggy pole-dancing to ruin her political campaign. Peggy is humiliated and everyone finds out about her past.

Sal attends Peggy's hen night later in the month and following Peggy's wedding to Archie in April 2009 and

Bahamas. She returns again in June and attends a meal at Ronnie Mitchell's (Samantha Womack) with Peggy. They snoop around and find an engagement ring. On 17 December 2009, she arrives at The Queen Vic as it is her 70th birthday. Everyone forgot, but the family tell her of a special lunch in her honour in the community centre, which is actually a Christmas lunch event to try to raise money for the debt-stricken Mitchells. She complains about the food and tells another diner she hopes there will be entertainment. She guesses that Ronnie is pregnant and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons
) tells her about the Mitchells' debt problems. When the diners demand entertainment, she helps out by performing her fire eating routine. She later accidentally reveals that Ronnie is pregnant.

Peggy invites Sal to a family dinner in August 2010, but Sal manages to insult Ronnie, Roxy, Billy, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Pat Evans (Pam St Clement) and all of Peggy's children and grandchildren in the space of three minutes, leading them to argue, so Peggy throws her sister out. In November, she arrives uninvited for Ronnie and Jack's wedding. In April 2011, Ronnie goes missing, after she becomes depressed. Sal rings Roxy to let her know that Ronnie is with her. Sal appears when Roxy and Jack come to talk to Ronnie and take her home.

Sal returns again in November 2013, when she turns up uninvited for Roxy's hen party, before her wedding to

Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas
), and as Sal is leaving Walford, she reminds Claudette that she knows a secret from her past, and that one day it will be revealed.

In January 2016, Phil contacts Sal, asking for Louise's (now played by

Death. Roxy exclaims to Sal and Ronnie that Sal does not know what she is doing. Sal attends Ronnie and Jack's wedding on New Year's Day 2017, after which Roxy and Ronnie die after drowning in a hotel swimming pool. Later that month, Sal attends Ronnie and Roxy's funerals, where she berates their mother, Glenda Mitchell (Glynis Barber
), for walking out on them when they were children, resulting in Glenda fleeing the church in tears. In January 2022, Sharon mentioned that Phil was likely to be hiding in Sal's holiday home while on the run from the police.

In January 2024, Phil receives a call informing him that Sal has died. Sal leaves Phil, Grant and Sam £100,000 in her will.

Reception

In late 2015, Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap wrote "Dear Walford bosses. Please just make Aunt Sal a regular character. She'd be brilliant in the Mitchell house, nagging Phil and Sharon to death."[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Bosom pals for 30 years". The Mirror. 16 March 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  2. The People
    . 19 January 1997. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  3. ^ Director: Michael Owen Morris; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Matt Evans (22 November 2013). "Episode dated 22/11/2013". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
  4. ^ "BBC One - EastEnders, 01/04/2011".
  5. ^ "BBC One - EastEnders, 04/04/2011".
  6. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (9 January 2024). "EastEnders reveals sad funeral storyline in 61 new spoiler pictures". Digital Spy.
  7. ^ Harp, Justin (8 January 2024). "EastEnders casts Bridgerton star to play off-screen character". Digital Spy.
  8. ^ "Asthma Campaign - Actors and authors put weight behind the". The Independent. 31 March 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2008. [dead link]
  9. The People
    . 3 February 1996. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  10. ^ "EastEnder Olive". The Mirror. 13 February 1996. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  11. ISBN 978-0-563-55178-2
    .
  12. ^ "Thursday 23 January 1997[dead link]", walford.net. URL last accessed 2008-09-21.
  13. ^ Tyler, Laura-Jayne (5–18 December 2015). "Hits & misses!". Inside Soap (48/49): 130.
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