charlie slater is a fictional character from the bbc soap opera "eastenders", played by derek martin. charlie's first appearance is in the episode first broadcast in the united kingdom on 4 september 2000. he is played by jason mcgregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001 and richie daysh in a 2018 flashback. he also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the spin-off "". in april 2010, the character was axed among five others by new executive producer bryan kirkwood as part of a plan to "breathe new life into the show". the reaction to charlie's axing was negative with stuart heritage from "the guardian" saying that it "should be a national day of mourning" and phil daniels, who had previously played kevin wicks, also criticised the axings, stating that charlie was a "good character". he departed from "eastenders" on 13 january 2011. martin returned for a two-episode stint in april; his return saw 10.31 million people watch on 19 april and 8.43 million on 21 april. on 3 november 2013, it was announced that martin would return again, this time on 24 and 25 december 2013. it was announced in october 2015 that charlie would make another guest appearance in 2016, appearing in five episodes from 4 to 7 january. it was confirmed that charlie would die from a heart attack during this stint, making 7 january 2016 the character's final episode.