Sam Mitchell (EastEnders)

Sam Mitchell (also Butcher and Hunter) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The third member of the Mitchell family to appear on the soap, Sam was introduced as a 15-year-old schoolgirl in July 1990, originally played by Danniella Westbrook. Westbrook quit in 1993, but Sam reappeared from 1995 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2000. In both stints, Sam was written out earlier than the producers intended due to off-screen controversies surrounding Westbrook. In early 2002, Sam was introduced for a fourth time, but the role was recast to Kim Medcalf, who stayed in the role until late 2005. Diederick Santer later decided to reintroduce Sam for a brief stint in 2009 and opted to bring Westbrook back. Westbrook briefly reprised the role once again in 2016 for the funeral of Sam's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). In January 2022, it was announced that Sam would be returning to the show, this time played by Medcalf again. Medcalf’s return scenes aired on 18 April 2022. Medcalf took an extended break from the show in 2023, with Sam departing on 13 April 2023 and returning seven months later on 21 November 2023. On 18 January 2024, Sam made an unannounced departure from the show following Medcalf's decision to leave indefinitely.

Sam was initially portrayed as a young, naïve girl who had initially relied less upon her mother Peggy than her older brothers Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), although she gradually evolved into becoming more flirty, headstrong, and charismatic, with a penchant for dating the wrong men and a determination to be taken more seriously. As a teenager, Sam falls in love and elopes with Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen). Later, she feuds with Den Watts' (Leslie Grantham) wife Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman) after she incriminates both Sam and Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) for Den's murder, which led to Sam leaving Walford to escape punishment for perverting the course of justice. Amongst various feuds with many characters, other storylines have seen her take control of the Mitchell empire leading to a feud with the Watts family, key involvement in Den's and her uncle Archie's (Larry Lamb) murders, as well as struggling to cope with motherhood after giving birth to Ricky Mitchell (Henri Charles/Frankie Day). Sam's return in 2022 saw her struggle to be taken more seriously by her family, causing her to scheme with Phil's nemesis Jonah Tyler (Mark Mooney) in taking over Phil's assets, and discovering that Ricky is becoming a father at twelve years old.