{"id":377794,"date":"2026-01-19T01:53:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377794\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T01:53:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:53:22","slug":"eastenders-recasts-character-on-bbc-soap-after-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377794\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders recasts character on BBC soap after 10 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Bosses have confirmed Mark Fowler Jr, who is the son of Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) will be making his way back to Walford later this month, and fans think it\u2019s a \u201cgreat idea\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  But this time he will be played by Stephen Aaron-Sipple, who actually joined the cast in October.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Viewers were treated to a glimpse of Mark (who returns to be with his older sister Vicki Fowler and the Mitchell family) in the special flash-forward episode, which aired on New Year\u2019s Day, placing him at the centre of the Branning\u2019s unfolding drama.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n    Mark Fowler Jr is heading back to Walford to join his older sister Vicki Fowler and the Mitchell family later this month. Stephen Aaron-Sipple has taken on the role of Mark and joined the cast in October. Full story \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dwgGJbYKR0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/dwgGJbYKR0<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EastEnders?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#EastEnders<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">@BBC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCOne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">@BBCOne<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCiPlayer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">@BBCiPlayer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X6yH0n8q0v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/X6yH0n8q0v<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bbceastenders\/status\/2012631016628957451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 17, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n  Stephen will be replacing Ned Porteous, who took on the role of Mark for a brief period 10 years ago.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Soap fans might recognise Ned as Joe Tate on Emmerdale in recent years.\n<\/p>\n<p>  Is Mark Fowler Jr returning to EastEnders?<\/p>\n<p>\n  Currently, EastEnders has teased that little is known about why Mark has returned to Albert Square and what he has been up to in the time he has been away, but it soon \u201cbecomes clear not all is as it seems\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Mark\u2019s connection to the Brannings is \u201cset to unfold throughout the year\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Stephen shared that having grown up in East London, \u201cEastEnders has been in my life since childhood and I\u2019m excited to be joining not one, but two iconic Albert Square families\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>  EastEnders&#8217; Top 5 Villains\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n  Commenting on his arrival to the BBC programme, he added: \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to viewers seeing why Mark is back, and what Walford has in store for him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Meanwhile, executive producer Ben Wadey revealed: \u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Stephen Aaron-Sipple to EastEnders and bring Mark back to Albert Square.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cViewers had a glimpse of Mark in the New Years Day flashforward episode, with the circumstances around his upcoming involvement with the Brannings set to unfold throughout the year.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Reacting to the announcement, this fan posted on Facebook: \u201cSo that answers everyone&#8217;s questions about the mysterious man with the Brannings.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Another wrote: \u201cThis is a great idea to introduce Mark Jnr back into the square. We need him since losing Martin.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Look forward to learning what the character has been up to &amp; what he brings for future storylines.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Someone else agreed: \u201cGood choice to bring Mark back. After the loss of Martin, 12 months ago &#8211; still not over that.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cHopefully he&#8217;ll fill that Fowler gap. Hopefully he&#8217;ll be back on that stall.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Additionally, this account put: \u201cCan&#8217;t wait to see what Mark&#8217;s return brings to the Branning family and the whole of Albert Square.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Are you happy to see the return of Mark Fowler Jr on EastEnders? Let us know in the comments.\n<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bosses have confirmed Mark Fowler Jr, who is the son of Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and Grant Mitchell&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-377794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}