| Gray Atkins | |||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Toby-Alexander Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2019–2022 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 5893 29 March 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 6649 10 March 2022 | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Kate Oates | ||||||||||||||
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Gray Atkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Toby-Alexander Smith. He was introduced by executive producer Kate Oates in episode 5893, broadcast on 29 March 2019, as the patriarch of the Atkins family, which included Gray, his wife Chantelle (Jessica Plummer), and children Mia (Mahalia Malcolm) and Mackenzie (Isaac Lemonius). Before his introduction and during the beginning of his time on the show, Gray was depicted as a charming and confident businessman, as well as a loving husband and committed father, before Gray and Chantelle became the focus of a storyline about domestic abuse. The show worked with charities such as Refuge and Women's Aid to depict the storyline in an accurate and sensitive manner. In September 2020, EastEnders announced that the storyline would end with Gray killing Chantelle to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence, which included a sharp increase in spousal murders.
Following the conclusion of his story with Chantelle, Gray served as the show's main antagonist. He murdered Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) before entering a second marriage to Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), with the two having a son together, Jordan Atkins. The relationship began to sour as Gray became physically abusive towards Chelsea shortly before the show announced that Smith had been axed from the show in February 2022 for storyline purposes. Smith admitted that he enjoyed the challenge that came with playing a character as deceitful as Gray. In episode 6649, broadcast 10 March 2022, Gray's departure was depicted as his arrest after his murders were finally uncovered, a downfall Smith considered "a long time coming".
The character of Gray was highly disliked by viewers due to his depraved actions, frequently being described by the media as "evil" and "vile". Smith was subjected to online harassment on social media from people who struggled to differentiate him from his character, which he noted saw a peak during Gray and Chantelle's domestic abuse storyline. Smith opined that the backlash was "worth it" if televising a domestically abusive relationship helped a victim escape one in real life. Despite the mixed reactions to his character, Smith received various awards and nominations for his portrayal of Gray, including a British Academy Television Award nomination for "Must-See Moment".