Little Ben Mitchell, the son of Phil Mitchell the EastEnders thug, has come a long way since he arrived in Albert Square. When his mum, Kathy, died in South Africa in 2006, Ben came to Walford to live with his brother Ian Beale, and, at that time, wouldn't have said "Boo!" to a goose.
In tonight's Christmas Day episode, however, Ben witnessed his dad pinning-down Suzy Branning who was involved in a dispute with the thug. Rather than turning away and crying, Ben looked disgustedly at Suzy and coolly asked Phil:
"Is she going?"
and when told she was, replied
"Good."
The youngster, who is clearly learning the East End ways from his dad, then calmy and menacingly told Suzy:
"You've got two minutes to get out of here, you slaaaaaaaag."
It's the first sign that Ben might be thinking of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a member of the East End underworld, rather than take some poncey job in a bank or on a fruit stall.
Peggy Mitchell, who plays Ben's gran, Barbara Windsor, in the soap, laughed:
"Aaaah, our little Ben. He's a Mitchell now - a chip off the old block!"
