George Knight (EastEnders)

Casting and creation (pictured) plays George Knight. On 28 March 2023, the show announced that established actor Colin Salmon had been cast as George, and would join the show as the patriarch of the Knight family, which included George, his partner Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe), and his daughters Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna (Molly Rainford). Salmon was pleased to join the show and expressed excitement to explore George's character, believing he was able to embody some of George's characteristics. He continued by commenting that he had a "great affinity" for the show and that he was excited to become part of its history. The actor recalled some people warning him against working on a soap opera, but he detailed that he enjoyed the work ethic of it. George, alongside the rest of the Knight family, was set to arrive in early Summer 2023. Clenshaw revealed that the family were created in January or February 2023, and commented that the show began the early stages of their development for much longer. The Knight family were the first dual heritage family to run a pub in a British soap opera. Salmon confirmed via his Twitter account that, after Elaine had entered in May, the remainder of the Knight family would make their first appearance on 1 June 2023, which was the 6708th episode of the serial. Ahead of the family's arrival, Clenshaw praised the actors and promised that the characters were written really well but will be even more extraordinary when seen on the screen. Radio Times described George as the leader of the Knight family, and a new "lord of the manor", due to inheriting The Queen Victoria. They billed him as being "Impossibly tall and endlessly charismatic", with a reputation that proceeds him. George's backstory stated that he was once a successful London-based professional boxer under the name "Nightmare", before leaving London to run a bar in Marbella, Spain. Salmon explained that George turns to it as a way to decompress. Helen Daly of Radio Times commented that while George appears to be a man of integrity, he hid "multiple secrets". Explaining this, the actor continued and stated that unlike most people, Elaine looks George "in the eye", with George developing as a human being due to being told when he is wrong, concluding that it's why "Elaine is good for George". Stefania Sarrubba of Radio Times characterised George and Elaine's relationship as healthy and balanced. It was stated that Phil liked George due to his history in professional boxing. He later added that George values Phil's respect, After it was revealed that Rose was Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), it was said that Cindy would become an obstacle for his engagement to Elaine as George still has latent feelings for her. George was set to be shocked by Rose's return and identity reveal. Salmon said that it will become evident how significant George's platonic relationship with Cindy is to him. George's relation to his estranged son was billed as a difficult one spanning decades. With Junior's introduction followed the arrivals of his wife Monique (Busayo Ige) and son Xavier (Chase Dean-Williams), which would take George aback, yet he was set to become close with Monique over their Ghanaian heritage. Balfour opined that George and Junior's complicated relationship was because they were similar people. He added that their relationship was not beyond repair, as it was evident they could rebuild it, but noted that even a single comment or action by either was enough to pull up the walls between them. Clenshaw teased that it would be obvious why George avoided them. Eddie's racism was to fracture relationships in the Knight family. It was later announced that Eddie and Gloria had adopted George through a process known as baby farming, where parents are paid to adopt children. The news was set to begin a storyline following George's identity struggles, with the two keeping secrets from George. The episode was teased to uncover George's true origins, with Eddie and Gloria's lies all being exposed. The actor commented that a running theme of the storyline is being able to tell someone's deeds before making a judgement. Salmon commented that during Eddie's murder trial, George still loved his adoptive father, despite it being seen as insane. Around this time, Salmon noted his character was lacked much knowledge about his family and lack of connections, commenting that the character is aware of his ignorance and ready to learn more. Discussing Eddie's decision to withhold information about George's biological mother unless George testifies in his favour, Salmon explained that George was tempted by this, as Eddie would be the only one with this information. He added that Eddie knows how to aggravate George and compared the characters' dynamic to fighters in a boxing ring. The actor admitted his sympathy for Gloria as her freedom from Eddie was immediately eclipsed by her fatal heart attack. On 14 August 2024, it was announced that George's biological brothers would join the soap, with actors Dayo Koleosho and Jonathan Nyati being cast to play the characters, to continue unravelling George's identity. Both actors expressed excitement to join the soap and be a part of the storyline. Clenshaw teased the brothers would need to work through a lot of complex emotions after being "torn apart by tragedy". Salmon admitted feeling a personal connection to the story, as both Kojo and his son live with autism. He stated that: "it means a lot to me that we're representing that in the show". ==Storylines==