the following is a list of characters that first appeared in the bbc soap opera "eastenders" in 2001, by order of appearance. all characters were introduced by the show's executive producer, john yorke. the first character to be introduced was jill marsden, a detective chief inspector who investigates the shooting of local hardman phil mitchell (steve mcfadden). april saw the introductions of: ritchie stringer (gareth hunt), an associate of phil, paul trueman (gary beadle), the son of audrey trueman (corinne skinner-carter) and brother of anthony trueman (nicholas bailey), and donna andrews (alison senior; paula jennings), the mistress of trevor morgan (alex ferns). harry slater (michael elphick), the brother of charlie slater (derek martin), and gary bolton (bruce byron), the father of robbie jackson (dean gaffney), made their debuts in may, whereas margaret walker (susan george), a love interest for terry raymond (gavin richards), and angel hudson (goldie), a gangster, made their first appearances in june.