Gray’s Return Is Hiding A Secret About His Victims… And Fans Never Saw It Coming

This article contains spoilers from tonight’s episode of EastEnders, which is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

After more than four years away from EastEnders, Gray Atkins, the monstrous lawyer with a murderous streak a mile wide, is set to make a shocking return to Walford.

Before the crazed killer makes his comeback, let’s reacquaint ourselves with one of Walford’s most evil residents…

Who is Gray and who plays him?

Albert Square’s most sinister solicitor first set foot on the Square in Walford in 2019 with wife Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer). They appeared to have the picture-perfect marriage. Behind closed doors, Gray made Chantelle’s every day a waking nightmare by inflicting severe mental, emotional and physical abuse, not to mention coercive control and gaslighting.

The iconic soap villain is portrayed by actor Toby-Alexander Smith, also known for playing Jason Carwell in the BBC medical soap Doctors, and Lor-Ran in SyFy’s Superman spinoff Krypton. He is married to Amy Walsh, best known to Emmerdale fans as Tracy Shankley. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Bonnie, in 2021, and in March this year, they introducedtheir second, Nell.

Toby has spoken openly about his struggle with male post-natal depression, and the importance of being a positive male role models to both his daughters.

Who did Gray kill?

During his three year stint on the Square, Gray racked up a bone-chilling body count of three beloved Walford residents.

His first victim was, tragically, Chantelle.

In a terrifying twist uncommon in a soap domestic abuse story, Chantelle was unable to escape no matter how hard she tried. Even after suffering a miscarriage when Gray pushed her down the stairs, Chantelle was gaslit by her abuser into believing that it was her fault she lost their baby.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, EastEnders took advantage of the break in filming by showing how much Gray’s toxic behaviour had worsened over lockdown. Finally, Chantelle reached breaking point and began secretly consulting a divorce lawyer. Unfortunately, Gray discovered her plans to flee and in harrowing scenes, furiously shoved his wife onto an open dishwasher, causing fatal injuries.

While he managed to play the grieving husband and stage Chantelle’s death as a horrific accident, not everybody was convinced.

Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White) smelled a rat and eventually caught Gray in a lie, using her own history with an abusive relationship to recognize the signs of control. It didn’t take her long to piece all the facts together and realise the awful truth – Gray killed Chantelle.

This discovery sealed Tina’s fate.

Desperate to silence her, Gray attacked Tina and strangled her to death.

Gray hid Tina’s body under the floorboards of the Argee Bhajee and tricked her family into believing she went on the run.

Then came Gray’s third and final victim, Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami).

While Gray’s other murders were committed out of rage and desperation, Kush met his end due to sheer, green-eyed jealousy. The bloodthirsty lawyer developed a dangerous obsession with the hoop-eared darling of the Queen Vic, the iconic Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). Needless to say, when Kush and Whitney got engaged, it drove Gray into a jealous frenzy.

Discovering the couples’ plan to leave Walford to start afresh, Gray followed them to the London Underground. There a violent struggle on the platform ensued which dramatically spilled onto the tracks, where a vengeful Gray claimed his third victim by pushing Kush into the path of an oncoming train.

How did Gray’s reign of terror end?

It would be another year before Gray was finally brought to justice. His downfall came at the hands of Whitney, and his second wife,Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams).

Unaware of his blood-soaked past, Chelsea had a whirlwind romance with Gray, becoming pregnant with his child and getting married soon afterwards.

Then Chelsea discovered that Gray murdered his first wife.

Terrified, she began plotting her escape as Gray started exhibiting coercive and controlling tendencies again. The experience was so terrifying that Chelsea went into labour as a result of her harrowing discoveries and gave birth to their son, Jordan (Izaiah Hagan-Brown).

Assisted by Whitney and Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol), Chelsea gathered evidence and records Gray confessing to all his crimes while on the phone to the police. With his crimes finally exposed to all on the Square, Gray was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

Why is Gray back and what happens now?

Gray might be rotting in prison, but that doesn’t mean he can’t pose a threat. Since Jordan suffered life-changing injuries from a hit-and-run, Chelsea’s been so overwhelmed that she reluctantly accepted assistance from Gray’s grandmother Sheila Atkins (Sheila Ruskin) – who is, of course, still visiting Gray in prison.

In tonight’s episode, the villain is already pushing Sheila to do anything she can to stay in Jordan’s life, so she can provide him with updates about his son.

However, an obstacle to Gray’s twisted plan is Chelsea’s mother, the unstoppable Denise Fox (Diane Parish).

Despite struggling with a heartbreaking leukaemia diagnosis, the no-nonsense Mama Bear of Clan Fox-Hubbard is still very much in charge when she warns Sheila to stay away from her family in tonight’s episode.

Unfortunately, Gray always had a problem with taking no for an answer.

Surely it’s only a matter of time before Gray escapes prison and tries to bring fresh slaughter to the Square… but will he claim victim number four?