Minty Peterson

Rick "Minty" Peterson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Cliff Parisi. He made his first appearance on 11 March 2002. In his initial appearances, he was credited with the name "Rick". His nickname was given to him because he was always late for work, turning up "after eight" when he was an apprentice mechanic. In April 2010, it was reported that the character was to be axed, and his last regular appearance was broadcast on 21 September 2010. Minty made an unannounced return on 12 February 2025 with Garry Hobbs who attended Billy and Honey Mitchell's joint stendo. Minty was originally scripted as a guest character in 2002. He was only due to appear in a few episodes, but actor Cliff Parisi's contract was extended and Minty was turned into a series regular. Originally scripted as a less sympathetic character than he went on to become, Minty was given a backstory linking him to the character Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). Parisi has indicated that he was brought back in 2003 to be the friend of Phil, something that he enjoyed as off-screen Parisi and Phil's actor, Steve McFadden, are long-time friends.