Six EastEnders stars axed

Some of the soap's long-serving characters will exit Walford...

08:32 19 April 2010

The BBC has confirmed that six EastEnders members will be axed from the show as producers shake-up the long-running soap opera.

Characters Charlie Slater (played by Derek Martin), Minty (Cliff Parisi), Liz Turner (Kate Williams), Danny Mitchell (Liam Bergin), Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu) and Adam Best (David Proud) will all leave Albert Square.

The BBC has refused to reveal how the stars will depart but promised that "they'll all have exciting exits - and hopefully a few happy endings".

But, new characters are also on their way in. Zoe Lucker and Martin Jarvis are set to join the BBC soap later in the year.

Jarvis will play journalist Harvey Freeman, while Lucker will portray a confident businesswoman who Max Branning falls for.

Stars returning to the EastEnd include Jessie Wallace and Shane Ritchie, who reprise their roles as Kat and Alfie Moon.

The drastic changes have been made by the show's new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. Kirkwood joined Eastenders last month after the soap celebrated its 25th anniversary with a live episode in February.

Kirkwood's previous jobs include working on rival soaps Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "It's sad to see characters leave the Square but obviously when a new executive producer comes on board they're always keen to refresh the show and make some changes.

"It's the way soaps work, characters run their course and new characters come along."