The Hawkins family EastEnders arrival is already causing chaos, and they haven’t even properly unpacked. BBC soap EastEnders has released a first-look clip of the incoming Hawkins clan, and it involves a car crash, a shattered peacock statue, and a sister who really needs the loo.
Gemma Makes Quite the Entrance
Nicola Mitchell, played by Laura Doddington, gets a shock on Monday’s episode (17 August) when her sisters Jodie and Gemma descend on Walford unannounced. The clip, shared by the soap on X, wastes no time setting the tone. Gemma, played by Patricia Potter, is seen driving erratically as she enters the Square, eventually ploughing into the front of Peacock Palace and sending one of Elaine’s prized statues flying.
Gemma’s explanation for the crash? Her foot got stuck on the pedal because of her shoes. She then picks up the broken bird, takes one look at it, and delivers what may be the line of the week: ‘Oh no, your poor turkey.’ It is, of course, a peacock.
The scene closes with Elaine bursting out of the door and screaming ‘My peacock!’ as Gemma stands there, holding the pieces. It’s a lot for a Monday evening. Nicola, watching the whole thing unfold, doesn’t look entirely surprised.
Beyond the comedy of the entrance, things quickly get more serious. Gemma tells Nicola she is in ‘so much trouble’, and admits she has done something ‘really stupid’, saying she didn’t know where else to go. The details of what exactly Gemma has done are being kept under wraps for now, but the implication is clear enough: this visit isn’t a casual catch-up.
Jodie, Ned and the Rest of the Hawkins Family EastEnders Fans Will Soon Meet
Jodie, played by Anna Constable, arrives alongside her sister but has slightly more pressing concerns on arrival: she is desperate to find a toilet. Nicola, who has just put baby Ivy down for a nap, is not about to let her sister through the front door, and directs her to The Vic instead. It’s a small moment, but it tells you something about the dynamic between these siblings from the off.
Recent episodes have already been laying the groundwork. Nicola has been heard speaking to Gemma on the phone, and has opened up to Eve about her childhood and her complicated relationship with her mother. Those conversations are about to become a lot more real now that the family are physically on the Square.
The Hawkins family EastEnders arrival will not stop at two sisters, either. Gemma’s husband Ned Roper, played by Jamie Bamber, and their son Ryder, played by Felix Uff, are set to follow. So is family matriarch Rose, played by Marian McLoughlin, whose series Trying streams on Apple TV+. Patricia Potter is known to viewers of Holby City, while Anna Constable appeared in ITV thriller Imposter.
What the Producers Are Promising
EastEnders executive producer Ben Wadey has been clear about the ambition behind this storyline. ‘The Hawkins family are a fantastic addition to Walford,’ he said. ‘While the family share a fierce loyalty to one another, decades of complicated history and Nicola’s estrangement from them has left fractures within the family that are far from healed. We’re all very excited for what we have planned for the family, and we can’t wait for the audience to meet them.’
The soap has also teased that the arrival will bring up ‘old wounds and complicated family dynamics’ as the Hawkins clan are ‘set to make an explosive impact on the Square’. Given that they managed to destroy a decorative bird within minutes of parking up, that impact appears to have already begun.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One, with most episodes available from 6am on BBC iPlayer ahead of broadcast. The Hawkins family storyline begins on Monday, 17 August.
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