| Jags Panesar | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Amar Adatia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2019–2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 6001 4 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 6144 9 October 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Jon Sen | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Jags Panesar is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Amar Adatia. Jags was introduced alongside brothers Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol), and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) in episode 6001, broadcast on 4 October 2019. Billed by executive producer Jon Sen to bring "charm and chaos", the trio of brothers were also marked as soap's first Punjabi Sikh family in its history. Sen was also vocal about his eagerness to introduce stories from different cultures through the brothers. Adatia expressed excitement to join the soap as he never expected to be cast on it. Jags's storylines included abducting Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), his prior connection to Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer), his romance with Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar), and being framed by his mother Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), resulting in his imprisonment.
After Jags tells his family about his relationship with Habiba, which Adatia considered a landmark moment for his character, Suki's fury leads her to frame Jags for attacking Martin Fowler (James Bye), despite knowing Jags's brother Vinny was responsible. Despite Adatia having prior commitments to other projects, and knowing from his casting that his time on the soap was limited, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television meant the actor could stay on the show for longer to finish filming his character's storylines. Jags was arrested in October 2020, making his final on-screen appearance in episode 6144, broadcast on 9 October 2020. Eight months later, it was revealed that Jags had been murdered off-screen in a prison attack. Jags's exit story and eventual death were met with a mixed critical response.