charlie, a taxicab driver who is widowed from viv slater (april martin), arrives in walford with viv's mother mo harris (laila morse) and charlie's five daughters: lynne slater (elaine lordan), kat slater (jessie wallace), little mo morgan (kacey ainsworth), and zoe slater (michelle ryan), plus lynne's boyfriend garry hobbs (ricky groves). it soon emerges that kat is actually zoe's mother and that it has been kept a family secret until zoe finds out. demanding to know the identity of her birth father, zoe and charlie are stunned to discover that it was charlie's brother harry slater (michael elphick), who raped kat when she was a teenager. little mo, now married to billy mitchell (perry fenwick), is raped by graham foster (alex mcsweeney). when charlie finds out, he attacks graham after locking him in his taxi. charlie is arrested and remanded in custody for grievous bodily harm, to which he pleads guilty but the family has to pay graham £10,000 compensation. charlie's cab license is revoked, but is later restored. lynne, now married to garry, leaves walford after her baby, vivienne, is stillborn. charlie's great-niece stacey slater (lacey turner) moves in, and charlie becomes a father figure to her, helping her curb her rebellious and wayward attitude. at the same time, he comforts zoe after she has an abortion. zoe eventually leaves, soon followed by kat who is now married to alfie moon (shane richie). however, stacey's mother jean slater (gillian wright) moves in with the family.