<Tr> <Th> Duration </Th> <Td> 1990--</Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> First appearance </Th> <Td> Episode 526 20 February 1990 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Mitchell family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders . They were first introduced in 1990, when brothers Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) bought the local garage, the Arches . Since then, they have been developed significantly to include both the immediate and extended families of these characters . McFadden remains as the longest running Mitchell in the show currently, but the family has expanded significantly in the years since, and they still remain a large presence on the square . </P> <P> The Mitchells have always been a power force in the soap; Phil and Grant's mother, Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), was landlady of the local pub, The Queen Victoria, intermittently from 1994 to 2010 . In 2010, EastEnders celebrated Windsor's exit from the soap with "Queen Vic Fire Week", which saw a fire engulf the long - standing pub, risking the lives of Walford regulars including Peggy and Phil . In 2016 Barbara Windsor, Ross Kemp and Danniella Westbrook briefly reprised their roles as Peggy, Grant and Sam as part of a major storyline which would see matriarch Peggy killed off . </P>

When did the mitchell's first appeared in eastenders