Glenda Mitchell

Glenda Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Glynis Barber. The character first appeared in the programme on 7 January 2010. She left the show on 8 March 2011, and returned for two episodes in January 2016 and three in May 2016. She made an unannounced return on the 30 December 2016 episode for the departures of her two daughters. She made her second departure from the show on 10 February 2017. Glenda has been described as "complex", "vulnerable"," "demure, dynamic and assured". She is the former wife of Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb); and mother of both her son Danny Mitchell (Liam Bergin) and Archie's two daughters Ronnie (Samantha Womack) and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons).

Glenda is the mother of Roxy and Ronnie Mitchell, who she left 21 years before her appearance in the series. In mid-2010, it transpires that Glenda knew about Archie abusing Ronnie. She had sex with her nephew-by-marriage Phil (Steve McFadden) and his stepson Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), before later being accused of having stolen Roxy's money – although it is later revealed that Phil actually stole it. When Glenda reveals Phil's affair to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), Shirley intimidates Glenda, leading her to leave Walford in March 2011. She returned in January 2016 after Roxy's attempted rape by Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and in December 2016 for Ronnie's wedding, before leaving again on 10 February 2017.

A younger version of Glenda appeared in a flashback episode that aired on 5 September 2022, being portrayed by Rose Reynolds, with the episode focusing on the Mitchell family in the 1970s.

On 17 October 2009, it was announced on the EastEnders website that veteran actress Jill Gascoine had been cast as Glenda, and would appear in 2010. She is the mother of established characters Ronnie (Samantha Womack) and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), and former wife of Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb). On casting, the show's executive producer Diederick Santer stated: "I'm so looking forward to welcoming the hugely talented Jill to EastEnders. I have a very clear memory of watching C.A.T.S. Eyes every Friday night, [and] Jill's character, Maggie Forbes, was always my favourite – tough, glamorous, and exciting – perfect qualities for Glenda Mitchell." On joining the show Gascoine added: "I'm thrilled to be joining the cast of EastEnders and I am really excited to be back on British TV." However, it was announced on 23 October 2009 that Gascoine withdrew from her filming commitments during her first day on set, as she felt that she "lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama". She said "I was so looking forward to playing Glenda but having spent the last 15 years working in America [...] I felt, on arrival, I lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama. I have tremendous respect for EastEnders and the cast, so I didn't want to let the show or my fellow cast members down."

"I rushed in, they gave me Glenda's back-story and I didn't even have time to read all the scripts before I started filming. I didn't even know all the storyline, so in the first week, I filmed the character on a need-to-know basis. Each day I filmed, I learned a little more about her, so I had to make decisions about how to play her based on the information I had each day. It was very interesting to do as I've never had to do that before."

The part was subsequently recast to Glynis Barber. Barber said in an interview with media website Digital Spy: "I think they originally cast Jill [Gascoine] because she's of a similar age to Barbara [Windsor] and on screen, they're sisters-in-law, so it made total sense. The fact that they then cast me was a sign of the complete desperation to get someone quickly! To be perfectly honest, though, I think it worked out really well." She added "Glenda's very important in the whole Mitchell saga and because I had to come in at such short notice, within 24 hours of meeting [the cast], I was on set shooting 38 pages of dialogue! If someone had said to me beforehand, 'You're playing this really important character, Ronnie and Roxy's mum, you're a Mitchell, you have tons and tons of dialogue', I'd probably have been so nervous and completely freaked-out. It's a real blessing that I had no time to have a single nervous thought. There was no time for nerves and no time to over-think it." She explained that on her first day, she was told Glenda's backstory and had no time to read all the scripts, filming the character "on a need-to-know basis." Barber initially appeared in nine episodes in January 2010, and returned again on 2 April 2010.

The character is described as "polished, demure, dynamic and assured"—a complete contrast to the nervous and quiet woman the Mitchell family knew previously—and is said to cause a shock when she turns up in Walford unannounced. In December 2009, Santer hinted that Glenda would provide intrigue for fans of the Mitchell family following Archie's murder, saying "The question for the audience—and for the rest of the Mitchells—is what does she want? On the face of it, she wants Archie's money because his will is read—and she's the original Mrs Mitchell. But is there more going on than just her being a gold digger? I'd suggest that there is." Barber described Glenda as having "a real edge, but at the same time, she's very vulnerable. She's such a complex character, too. Generally, what she's saying is true but the words she's encasing them in are lies." Soap opera reporting website Holy Soap describe Glenda as having "cougar qualities", being a "glamorous granny", "feisty" and a "blonde bombshell".

In August 2010, Barber told Inside Soap that although the character comes across "as devious or a bitch", she simply tries to portray her as genuine, but the more genuine she attempts to make Glenda appear, the more devious she appears. Barber later said that she dislikes her character and would not trust Glenda as a friend as she is only interested in men, and Glenda was described by Carol on screen as "not a woman's woman". However, Barber said that Glenda would be fun to be with on a night out.