Andy Hunter

Andrew "Andy" Hunter is a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders; serving as one of the main antagonists from 3rd July 2003 until 18th February 2005.

He was a truculent mob boss who originally appeared as the representative of a criminal organization known as "The Firm", which he later took control off after the death of it's previous leader, Jack Dalton. Considered as one of the show's most despicable villains, Andy was recognized for his feud with Alfie Moon after the latter ruined his wedding to Kat Slater - an act which led to the two men becoming enemies; an ill-fated marriage to Sam Mitchell; and ordering the death of Paul Trueman for reporting his criminal activities. After his two-year reign as Walford's kingpin, Andy would eventually met his fatal downfall after nearly conning £750,000 out of fellow crime boss, Johnny Allen.

He was portrayed by Michael Higgs.

EastEnders
Andy is an employee of 'The Firm', of which he takes control after the murder of their old leader: Jack Dalton - at the hands of Dennis Rickman. He had previously been married and divorced to a woman named Bev. He is attracted to Kat Slater, and asks her out on a date in The Queen Victoria pub, but she harshly turns him down. However he keeps trying and she eventually accepts his advances; and after some weeks he falls in love with Kat. He proposes to her while they are in New York and she accepts. On their wedding day, Alfie Moon runs into the church and says he loves her and Kat leaves Andy for Alfie, thus making Andy and Alfie enemies. However Andy gets his revenge as Alfie owes him a large amount of money. Andy blackmails Kat to have sex with him behind Alfie's back, in order to pay off the money and if she refuses, he says he will have Alfie killed. Alfie manages to provide the money, but only after Kat has already slept with Andy. When they are in bed together, Andy secretly films everything with a hidden video camera he sets up, and gives the tape to Alfie.

Alfie later watches the tape out of curiosity and is heartbroken at what he sees, and confronts Kat about it, nearly ending their relationship. Andy hopes for them to split but he doesn't succeed as Alfie and Kat are still going strong, and Alfie also gets his revenge by giving Andy a tape thinking that it is the same tape that Andy sent him. However, as Andy starts to watch it, he is taken aback as he discovers it is a different tape of Alfie and Kat's wedding. It is then that Andy and Alfie become sworn enemies, with the former constantly antagonizing his target on every occasion. As time goes on, Andy begins a relationship with Sam Mitchell, leading to the pair getting married; however, he eventually dumps her when she signs her house over to Andy just after being tricked by Marcus Christile into selling the Queen Vic over to it's original landlord: Den Watts, an ex-member of "The Firm" whom Andy frequently interacts with. By the time their divorce came to light, Andy takes Sam for every penny she has - leaving her homeless.

Throughout the course of 2004, Andy has already made enemies with Den and Ian Beale. He also makes an unlikely friendship with Pat Butcher, and employs drug dealer Paul Trueman into his criminal empire. However, when Paul gets arrested, he reports Andy's criminal activities to the police. Andy responds by taking his revenge and arranges for Paul to be killed on Christmas Eve, the end of 2004. When Paul's body is eventually discovered, his stressful father Patrick reports Andy to the police and later swears revenge on him after the accusations are dismissed.

In January 2005, Andy hires Alfie's newly-arrived cousins Jake and his brother Danny to work for him at the behest of their boss and fellow crime lord, Johnny Allen. A month later, in which his friendship with Pat grows highly crushed due to Andy's schemes, he devises a plan to con Johnny out of £750,000 and has a showdown with Alfie as their conflict reaches it's boiling point. Danny intervenes on Alfie's behalf, but this allows Andy to slip away. However, Jake catches up to Andy and Johnny demands they "have a conversation". As they walk onto a bridge, Johnny offers Andy a handshake - claiming that he is retiring - and gives him a final tip before suddenly forcing him off a bridge, sending Andy plummeting to his death.

Aftermath
Following his death, Andy is reported to have committed suicide according to the police; ironically, he died on the same night as Den when the latter gets bludgeoned to death by his wife Chrissie Watts, who begins a relationship with Jake to cover the truth. Sam is asked to attend Andy's will reading, expecting to get all of his money and assets. However, Andy leaves the house to Pat Evans and the bookmakers to Dennis, leaving Sam with just his wedding ring, "so she can sell it, get her roots done and still be the dumbest blonde I ever knew."

The rest of Andy's business is left to Dennis, who himself embarks on a feud with Johnny upon growing suspicious of Andy's death. It isn't towards 2005's New Years Eve that Dennis discovers this, and he attacks Johnny in revenge; as well as settling an old score between them. In retribution, Johnny hires Danny to kill Dennis. Eventually, Den and Dennis' old enemies Phil Mitchell and his brother Grant work together in bringing Johnny to justice; the crime boss ends up confessing to the deaths of Andy and Dennis, and later dies of a heart attack whilst serving life imprisonment for both murders.

Trivia

 * It remains unclear how Andy took control of The Firm after it's former leader - Jack Dalton - was killed by Dennis Rickman.