List of EastEnders characters introduced in 2021

EastEnders is a BBC soap opera that first aired on 19 February 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2021, in order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive producer, Jon Sen. The first character to be introduced in 2021 is Caleb Malone (Ben Freeman), who joined as part of a storyline involving Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) and Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet). Zack Hudson (James Farrar) made his debut in March, followed by Dana Monroe (Barbara Smith) and Estelle Jones (Sue Holderness) in April. Vi Highway (Gwen Taylor) was then introduced in May. Tom "Rocky" Cotton (Brian Conley) made his first appearance in May pretending to be Terry Cant, the father of Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy). Dani Dyer guest-starred as Jeanette in June and Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) made his debut in July. Kate Robbins was then cast in the guest role of music agent Jen Glover, making her first appearance in August. In October, Delroy Atkinson, Charlie Wernham and Heather Peace made their debuts as Howie Danes, Aaron Monroe and Eve Unwin, respectively, as well as Alyssa, the child of Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith) and Dennis Rickman (Bleu Landau). Additionally, multiple other characters appear throughout the year.

Caleb Malone, played by Ben Freeman, first appears in episode 6209, originally broadcast on 25 January 2021. The character and Freeman's casting details were announced on 12 January 2021. Caleb is introduced as part of a story with Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) and her father, Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet), although details regarding the story were embargoed. Rianne Houghton from Digital Spy suggested that Caleb could be involved in Chelsea's plot against her father. Freeman was contracted for multiple episodes, appearing in a small stint. A Heart reporter called Caleb "a very mysterious new character". The character departs in episode 6238, originally broadcast on 16 March 2021.

Caleb arrives in Walford to meet Chelsea, having spoken previously on the phone about a "job" in which Cheslea is using Lucas as a "courier". Caleb comments to Chelsea that her clothes appear expensive so she clearly knows how to spend the money she took from him. She insists he will get it back and he says to make sure nothing goes wrong, making a veiled threat towards her.

Stan "Stas" Saunders, played by Adam Young, is an associate of Phil (Steve McFadden) and Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), who first appeared in Episode 6225, which originally aired 22 February 2021. He comes to the Mitchell's to launder money but also speaks to Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol), who offers to do it cheaper and faster. However, Phil's girlfriend, Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), tells him that Stas met Kheerat so Phil is able to secure the business with Stas by revealing that his meeting was leaked. Kat sees Stas and later, Stas does not go to his meeting with Ben, revealing that he dislikes the Mitchells' nickname for him, "Shell Suit Stan", which he heard from Kat, who was upset by something Phil said about her. Phil tells Ben to let Kheerat have the deal with Stas because he will mess it up. Stas increases the amount of money to be laundered from £50,000 a week to £100,000 and Kheerat agrees. Kheerat allows Ben to work with him and Stas because the Panesar name is not well known but the Mitchells are. Stas says he cannot trust Ben because of his relationship with a police officer, Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and asks Ben if he and Phil have called him "mad" behind his back, threatening to shoot someone if he does not tell the truth. Ben admits that they have, so Stas then says because he cannot trust Ben, he now cannot trust Kheerat and the deal is off, demanding his money back or he will shoot someone. Kheerat calls his brother, Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) to bring the cash but Vinny is confronted by a thief. With Callum's help, Vinny escapes the thief. Stas threatens to shoot someone when Vinny arrives, giving Stas his cash. Stas agrees to keep to the deal but confirms to Ben that Kat told him about the Mitchells' "mad" comments about him. Later, Kheerat decides to give Vinny a job to look after one of Stas's associates. Vinny agrees to drive the man and sees he has gold bars in a bag in the boot of the car. Vinny then sees the man has died suddenly so he calls Callum and shows him the gold. Callum contacts Ben, who delivers the gold to Stas. When Ben returns, he says Stas thinks the man stole some of the gold and it will not be found and he congratulates Vinny on his good job. Vinny then reveals to his family that he stole the gold. Kheerat's mother, Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), later agrees to launder money for Stas but Kheerat says it is too much and turns him down. He made his final appearance in Episode 6280, which originally aired on 28 May 2021.

Zack Hudson, played by James Farrar, first appears in episode 6237, originally broadcast on 16 March 2021. The character and Farrar's casting details were announced on 31 January 2021. Zack is introduced as the son of Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) and half-brother of established character Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), although this is embargoed until his first appearance. The character is billed as a "unpredictable troublemaker who lives life in the fast lane". He is described as "forever the ladies' man" and Jon Sen, the show's executive producer, called him a "charming rogue". Farrar noted that Zack becomes a "heartthrob" who causes tension with the Carter family. The character's backstory states that he experienced a challenging childhood which gave him attachment issues and turned him into a "lone wolf". Farrar expressed his delight at joining EastEnders and hoped to bring his experience as "a born and bred Londoner" to the role. He liked Zack's backstory and commented, "there is a real depth to him that I can't wait to explore." He found the role of Zack different to other roles he has portrayed. Sen dubbed Farrar "a wonderful addition" and teased that "trouble is always just round the corner" for Zack.

Dana Monroe (initially credited as Dana Adams), played by Barbara Smith, first appears in episode 6247, originally broadcast on 1 April 2021. She is introduced as a love interest for Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell), who meets her under a false alias. Smith previously appeared on EastEnders in 2019 as Ellie. Smith auditioned for the role of Dana over Zoom due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television and despite thinking that she had not performed well, Smith was cast as Dana. She was initially cast in a 6-month guest stint, but was promoted to a regular cast member and had her family introduced to the soap. Dana has been shown to be a bubbly and likeable character and critics have noted that it has been refreshing to have a character with good intentions on EastEnders.

As well as her on-off relationship with Bobby, her tumultuous relationships with her relatives have been central to Dana's storylines. Father Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) is shown to be a strict father to Dana and attempts to control her, while brother Aaron Monroe (Charlie Wernham) disgusts Dana with his racist and Islamophobic attitudes. Smith noted that despite Dana being at the bottom of the Monroe family's power hierarchy, it would not stop her from attempting to change their family's old-fashioned mindsets. Smith's departure was announced in June 2022, having been written out by new executive producer Chris Clenshaw. Dana made her departure in episode 6549, originally broadcast on 1 September 2022. The character's relationship with Bobby has been well received by viewers and critics, with one of their scenes nominated for Feel Good Moment at the 2021 Inside Soap Awards. Smith was also nominated in the newcomer categories at the 2021 I Talk Telly Awards and the Digital Spy Reader Awards for her portrayal of Dana.

Molly Ellis, played by Juliette Alexandra, is the owner of a dog that Bailey Baker (Kara-Leah Fernandes) and Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) have been taking care of. She first appears in Episode 6250, which originally aired 6 April 2021.