peter beale, played by francis brittin-snell from 1993 to 1996, alex stevens from 1997 to 1998, joseph shade from 1998 to 2004, james martin from 2004 to 2006, thomas law from 2006 until 2010 and ben hardy from 2013 onwards, is the son of ian (adam woodyatt) and cindy beale (michelle collins). he is the twin brother of lucy (hetti bywater), and has three half siblings, older brother steven (edward savage, aaron sidwell), younger sister cindy (eva sayer) and younger brother bobby (alex francis). peter left "eastenders" on 24 december 2010, with a return not ruled out but unconfirmed. peter was introduced in 1993 along with his twin sister lucy, and was originally played by francis brittin-snell as a baby and toddler from 1993 to 1996. in 1997, the role was given to alex stevens and he played peter until 1998. joseph shade took over until 2004 and james martin played him from 2004 until 2006. it was announced on 17 august 2006 that actor thomas law had been cast as peter. law said of the role: "i couldn't believe it when i heard that i got the part, i'm really excited as i am a big fan of "eastenders"." he made his first appearance on 31 august 2006. he is described on the "eastenders" website as being laid back, and ian's "golden boy". in may 2009, executive producer diederick santer praised the younger cast of "eastenders", including law. stuart heritage from "the guardian" expressed a dislike for peter in april 2010, saying he should be written out, "before his increasingly spectacular haircut goes power mad and starts to colonise the entire set. also, his voice has been breaking for what seems like seven full years, so he could probably use his new-found free time to consult a doctor or something."