EastEnders unveils new family joining Albert Square

EastEnders has announced that a brand new family is joining Albert Square, with a cast of stars TV fans are sure to recognise.On Friday (31 July), the BBC released a first look at the Hawkins family, a six-person (and one dog) clan who will be descending on Walford this summer.The Hawkins are the estranged family of Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), Teddy Mitchell’s (Roland Manookian) recent ex-wife and a mother-of-two who joined the soap in November 2024.Recent storylines have seen Nicola welcome a daughter, Ivy, with boyfriend George Knight (Colin Salmon), and it has now been revealed that the family she’s kept at arm’s length due to their complicated relationship are arriving onto the scene.The Hawkins family, who will be joining Albert Square this summerBBC/Jack BarnesHolby City star Patricia Bamber and Beyond Paradise’s Jamie Bamber will be coming onboard at EastEnders as Gemma Hawkins and Ned Roper, with Amadeus actor Felix Uff playing their son Ryder.Speaking about coming into the cast, Bamber said: “When 12-year-old me rushed home from school in 1985 to catch the very first episode of EastEnders, I could never have dreamed that one day I’d be walking onto the iconic Albert Square as a character myself.“It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly, and I’m thrilled to be making my mark on this crown jewel of my beloved BBC”.Additional new family members will also be played by Trying’s Marian McLoughlin as Rose, and Imposter 22’s Anna Constable as Jodie.Nicola Mitchell’s estranged family are coming onto the sceneBBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarronOf her EastEnders role, Constable, who is autistic, said: “Growing up watching EastEnders I never thought a disabled actress like me could ever land a role like this. But here I am loud and proud and taking no prisoners in mine or Jodie’s wake”.EastEnders executive producer Ben Wadey said that the Hawkins would be a “fantastic addition” to the soap, teasing: “While the family share a fierce loyalty to one another, decades of complicated history and Nicola’s estrangement from them has left fractures within the family that are far from healed.“We’re all very excited for what we have planned for the family, and we can’t wait for the audience to meet them.”