Eastenders - Ben Mitchell Regenerates (Again)

Ah, it's been a while since I've done a soap blog and once again, it's an EastEnders one. This time, it seems we've got another character returning in Kate Oates's era but not one I was particularly keen on seeing again to be candid.

Despite departing in January 2018 with Harry Reid in the role after four years, it seems that Ben Mitchell will be back in the Spring of 2019, this time around played by Max Bowden (Waterloo Road). Going by the press release, it seems Ben's return will coincide with Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) and daughter Lexi as Kate Oates seems determined to rebuild/expand upon some family units in Albert Square as her tenure takes place from next month onwards, with executive producer Jon Sen. Other returns include a brief stint for Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky) as well as the introduction of Masood's (Nitin Ganatra) nieces, Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar) and Iqra Ahmed (Priya Davdra) next month.

In the space of 23 years and now taking Bowden's casting into account, the character of Ben Mitchell has been played by six different actors with Matthew Silver and Morgan Whittle playing him as a baby and an infant while Charlie Jones (2006-2010) and Joshua Pascoe (2010-2012) played the character as a kid/teenager before Harry Reid (2014-2018) assumed the role as adult Ben.

I've got to admit that I think Ben Mitchell is one of the worst gay characters ever to befall a soap with some of the most dreadful storylines (coming out and going back into the closet, relationship with Abi, killing Heather, his general sociopathic tendencies etc) and his last two significant relationships - Paul Coker (Jonny Labey) and Luke Browning (Adam Astill) both left a lot to be desired. A recast is one thing but in order for Ben to possibly work as a character, a serious overhaul of the character in general is somewhat needed.

Going by some of the statements in the press release, perhaps we might finally get a version of Ben that audiences can actually root. Kate Oates has a good record with LGBT characters, being somewhat responsible for Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) in Emmerdale and Kate Connor (Faye Brooks) and Rana  Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia) in Coronation Street and EastEnders has been sorely lacking in some decent LGBT content in a long while. Maybe just maybe along with her plans to have a gay bar on Albert Square, Ben's imminent return as well as Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) recently coming out and both Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) and Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White), this might be the turnaround we need.

Still, though Max Bowden's casting must set a record for the amount of recasts one soap character can actually have. Here's hoping this time, the show can finally get the character right.

Press Release: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46947232

Thoughts on the recast, anyone?