EastEnders villain Graham Foster to return after 18 years

As Freddie Slater seeks answers about his paternity, EastEnders will revisit the character of Graham Foster, played by Alex McSweeney.

Graham first appeared on screen back in 2003 as a quiet, unassuming newcomer but he quickly revealed his evil character after he befriended and raped Little Mo whilst she was working as a barmaid in The Queen Vic.

In the following months, Mo discovered she was pregnant, and her insistence on keeping the child (Freddie) led to the breakup of her marriage with Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick).

Last seen in 2005, Graham taunted Billy from behind bars over not being the father of Freddie. McSweeney’s ‘short’ reprisal of the role will begin later this month and the show has worked with Rape Crisis on the storyline.

On returning to EastEnders, Alex McSweeney said:

“I was grateful to be asked back to EastEnders to reprise the role of Graham Foster as I thought it was important for Freddie Slater to be given some answers about his dad. It was great to be back in Elstree and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the talented Bobby Brazier on these scenes.”

Since his return back in 2022, Freddie (Bobby Brazier) has been on a search for answers relating to his paternity, having wrongly suspected Billy to be his father. Later this month, he is set to discover the truth about his father when an unlikely source reveals his name…

Chris Clenshaw, Executive Producer, said:

“It’s great to welcome Alex back to the role of Graham Foster for a short stint. Although we haven’t seen Graham for almost two decades, his character has been heavily linked to the show in the past year with the reintroduction of his son Freddie Slater, played by Bobby Brazier. We felt that it was important for Freddie to find out about the circumstances relating to his conception so he can understand and process the identity of his dad.”

EastEnders airs Monday-Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer