The following is a list of characters first appearing in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1988, by order of first appearance.

Sufia Karim

Sufia Karim is played by Rani Singh. Sufia makes her first appearance in Walford in 1988, when she moves to Walford with her husband Ashraf (Aftab Sachak) and their children Shireen (Nisha Kapur) and Sohail (Ronnie Jhutti). In 1989 she discovers that Ashraf is having an affair with a woman named Stella (Cindy O'Callaghan). This affair is eventually exposed to the community, leading to the family leaving Walford for Bristol in June 1990.

Melody

Melody (initially credited as Junior's Girlfiend), played by Lyanne Compton, is introduced in 1988 as the troublesome school friend of Junior Roberts (Aaron Carrington), on whom she has a crush. They are mischievous, doing things such as stealing dogs from their owners and then claiming rewards when they return the dogs, professing to have found them, or charging children to see a free Punch and Judy show. Melody attends the local Brownies, where she is particularly troublesome for the Brown Owl, Marge Green (Pat Coombs).

During her time in Walford, Melody is approached by a potential paedophile, who offers her sweets and a ride in his car; Melody responds by biting his hand. She reports the man to the police, but subsequently, her father prohibits her from seeing Junior for a while, though this does not last.

Melody is upset when Junior and his family move away in August 1989; they think about running away together, but are unable to set their plan in motion. Junior still visits Melody occasionally and on Halloween 1989, she and Junior dress as ghosts and throw eggs at Dot Cotton (June Brown) for refusing to offer anything desirable during their game of Trick or Treat. Following a chastising from Dot for this, Melody disappears with no explanation. Off-screen, the show acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson, and many characters were dropped. According to writer Colin Brake, the storyline involving Melody and the unruly Brownies was intended to be fun, but references to Brownies behaving badly caused great offence to the Brownie movement, and an official complaint was made and upheld. The broadcasting commission said the EastEnders Brownie episodes "came near to parody," were unfair to the Brownies and harmed the Girl Guides' image. The BBC had to make a public apology for the misinterpretation of the movement. Brake has suggested that the mishap was a "salutary lesson to those [...] in the script department to be very vigilant in ensuring, as far as possible, that no group or individual was offended by an unintentional slight in a script."

Kenny Beale

Kenny Beale, played by Michael Attwell, is the older brother of Pauline (Wendy Richard) and Pete Beale (Peter Dean). He had a guest stint in 1988. He was born and raised in Walford, 1941, to Albert (Gary Olsen) and Lou Beale (Anna Wing), where he lived with his family at number 45 Albert Square.

Kenny was banished from Walford in 1965, at the age of 24, when his mother caught him in bed with his brother's wife Pat (Pam St. Clement). He went to live in New Zealand, set up a business selling swimming pools, and married a New Zealander named Barbara. He didn't speak to any of his family for five years after emigrating, and after that it was only Pauline who corresponded with him.

He returns to Walford in 1988 with his daughter Elizabeth (Lucy Bayler), after his marriage has hit a rocky patch. He visits his ill mother and finds out that he has been named as the father of Pat's younger son, Simon Wicks (Nick Berry). After a month in Walford, he returns to New Zealand, saying goodbye to Simon, whose paternity has come into doubt again. He tells Simon that he hopes he is his father, although it is later revealed that Pat believes Brian Wicks (Leslie Schofield) is Simon's father.

Kenny remains off-screen following his 1988 departure and has a car accident in June 1992, prompting Pauline to travel to New Zealand and care for him. Upon Pauline's death in 2006, he sends a wreath to commemorate.

It is revealed in "CivvyStreet" that Kenny is named after his paternal grandfather, Kenneth Beale.

Elizabeth Beale

Elizabeth Beale, played by Lucy Bayler, was born in New Zealand to Kenny (Michael Attwell) and Barbara Beale, and comes to Walford with Kenny when they visit her sick grandmother Lou (Anna Wing).

Elizabeth arrives in Walford with Kenny when Kenny's brother, Pete Beale (Peter Dean), finds out he is not the biological father of Simon Wicks (Nick Berry). Kenny had an affair with Pete's ex-wife, Pat Wicks (Pam St. Clement), and could be Simon's father, however, neither of them are Simon's father. Elizabeth begins an unlikely, but brief liaison with her cousin Ian (Adam Woodyatt). She stays with Pete and her aunt, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), when her father returns to New Zealand. She soon angers Ian by flirting with other men, and Pete, who is in a bad mood after arguing with Kathy, throws her out of his house when she tries to bring a friend home to stay. She returns to New Zealand and Kathy contacts Elizabeth and Kenny when Lou dies.

Lewis Knight from Radio Times opined that Elizabeth had a "regrettable romance" with Ian.

Little Ali Osman

"Little" Ali Osman, played by Omer Mustafa Salih, is the second son born to café owners Sue and Ali Osman (Sandy Ratcliff and Nejdet Salih). He is born in March 1988 and is delivered in his parents' flat, 47B Albert Square, by Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) and Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard).

Following his parents' split, he and his mother leave Walford in April 1989 but Ali snatches him in May, causing Sue to have a breakdown and be sectioned. Little Ali lives with his father, who struggles as a single parent and employs an unregistered child minder to look after Little Ali while he works. When health visitor Carmel Jackson (Judith Jacob) notices that Little Ali is not being looked after properly, she investigates and finds that the child minder is neglecting the children in her care, leaving them alone all day. Unable to look after his son, Ali sends Little Ali to live with relatives.

Ali's financial problems continue and he leaves Walford in October 1989 when he loses his home and business. Little Ali now lives in Northern Cyprus with his father.

Brian Wicks

Brian Wicks, played by Leslie Schofield, is the second husband of Pat Wicks (Pam St Clement). He only appears twice on-screen, but the character's history is heavily intertwined with several other key characters within the series, and he is mentioned regularly for the first three to four years. The character is involved in one of EastEnders most complicated storylines: the paternity of Simon Wicks (Nick Berry).

Brian began an affair with Pat around 20 years earlier, while she was married to her first husband, Pete Beale (Peter Dean). During this time Pat became pregnant with her second son Simon, and claimed that Pete was the father. When Pat and Pete eventually divorced, Pat latched on to Brian. They married and Brian adopted Simon, and he and Pat's older child David Wicks (Michael French) both took on Brian's surname. They moved from Walford to Romford, after David was beaten up by Derek Branning (Terence Beesley), for getting his sister Carol (Lindsey Coulson) pregnant resulting in the birth of David and Carol's daughter, Bianca (Patsy Palmer).

Brian was mostly absent and used to beat Pat and her children, so she eventually left him after several years and returns to Walford. Pat causes havoc by revealing to Simon that Pete is not his father. Several other men are put in the frame, including Brian, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) and Pete's brother Kenny Beale (Michael Attwell). Furious rows erupt between all concerned, but Pat ominously refuses to divulge the father's true identity.

Brian first appears in April 1988. He has been informed that Pat has settled down with Frank Butcher, and is running The Queen Vic pub. Brian is interested in Pat's monetary affairs and their brief reunion is not pleasant. After calling Pat a slag and almost getting into a fight with Frank, Brian leaves. It isn't until a dying Lou Beale (Anna Wing) pressurises Pat in July 1988 to give Simon peace of mind regarding his paternity, that Pat finally reveals that Simon's biological father is Brian, the mentally unstable man Simon grew up assuming was his stepfather. Simon and Brian never appear on-screen together, although later plots imply that they do correspond with each other, despite Simon (who left Walford in December 1990) claiming regularly that he hates him and describing to Frank that growing up with Brian was like "living with a nutter".

Aside from this plot, Brian continues to remain a menacing off-screen presence, continuously pestering Pat for money. Brian isn't seen again until May 1989. Pat has decided that she wants to marry Frank, and to do this she needs to divorce Brian. She meets Brian and asks for the divorce, but he makes it clear that he will only divorce her if she gives him either £1000 or one of Frank's cars as pay-off. Pat has no choice but to get Brian the car. She deceives Frank by claiming that her aunt Mabel's car has been written off and asks if he can provide one for her. Frank agrees to get her the car free of charge. He manages to get hold of a mini, and Pat telephones Brian to tell him of her success. Although he is slightly annoyed that the car he is getting is only a mini, he nevertheless agrees to give Pat a divorce.

In 2006, Brian's nephew Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels) and his stepchildren Deano (Matt Di Angelo) and Carly (Kellie Shirley) come to live with Pat.

David Samuels

Dr David Samuels is played by Christopher Reich. David first appears in April 1988 as Dr. Harold Legg's (Leonard Fenton) nephew who is visiting from Israel. David has fallen on hard times in Israel. He was being shunned by the locals because he had treated a wounded terrorist, who was guilty of bombing a bus that had killed his best friend. He had also split from his fiancée Ruth (Nitza Saul), and wanted a new start. When his mother Hester (Barbara Shelley) comes to visit Harold she asks him if it would be possible for David to join him in England for a while. Dr. Legg thinks it is a great idea, and David comes over the following month. On his arrival, he tends to Colin Russell (Michael Cashman) when he is attacked. David helps his uncle out with the practice and lives in the flat above the surgery.

Despite being extremely fond of each other, the new partners argue about almost everything. David wants to modernise the surgery and bring in computers, but Harold is set in his ways and is opposed to any obvious changes. Dr. Legg also disagrees with David's friendship with their secretary, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully). Particularly when the two get drunk one night at a Christmas party, leave together and end up in the same bed. David awakes the next day not remembering a thing, but is reassured when Michelle informs him that he had been too drunk to do anything untoward anyway. Harold is not convinced however, and berates David for the degradation he'd brought upon himself and the surgery.