Harry Slater

""What were you doing Kat, waiting until I had nothing left to lose!?""

- Harry Slater confronts his victimized nice, Kat, after she exposes their past to their family; that Harry raped Kat when she was 13 and got her pregnant to who initially started out as his youngest niece and her little sister - Zoe

Harry Slater is a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the BBC British soap opera drama EastEnders.

He first appeared in 3 May 2001 and became the show's quaternary antagonist until his departure on 4 October that year. The character later made a posthumous appearance as a minor antagonist on Christmas Day 2018.

BACKSTORY
Harry Slater was born in January 1946 and grew up in the Slater Family, which consists of his parents Frederick and Mary; older brother Charlie; and their two sisters, Olive and Violet. He occasionally bonded with Charlie and later supported him when his brother married his first wife Viv, who would later give birth to Charlie's four daughters - the second one of whom they named Kat. Over the year, Harry grew somewhat affectionate with Kat and groomed her as a child. This continued in Kat's early adolescence, up to the point where Harry ended up raping her when she was 13 years old. Harry later emigrated to Spain to avoid being caught out for what he did to Kat, who would later get pregnant and ended up giving birth to their daughter - Zoe. By then, Charlie was never aware of Harry raping Kat and being the father of Zoe - who ended up being raised as his youngest daughter and Kat's little sister. Harry remained in Spain until Charlie informed him that their sister, Violent, died in 1988. After attending at their sister's funeral, Harry departed the country once more.

2001
On 3 May 2001, just thirteen years since his last contact with Charlie back in 1988, Harry visits his older brother in Albert Square - the community of Walford, a fictionalized borough in East London. There, he finds himself reacquainted with Kat and meets Zoe alongside the rest of their family - consisting of Kat's two sisters Lynne and Little Mo, as well as their grandmother Mo Harris. While Charlie and Zoe join their family in welcoming Harry with open arms, Kat remains openly hostile towards him. This continues as whenever Harry and Kat cross paths, she promptly walks away from him without an explanation. Harry soon befrienders Charlie's neighbour Peggy Mitchell after meeting her at Walford's local public house, "The Queen Victoria", and they soon become engaged following a number of dates between them. On the eve of their wedding, Harry proposes that Peggy joins him in going to his place in Spain and she agrees. He also invites Zoe when she falls out with Kat, and requests to Harry for help on her future.

That night, while Charlie celebrates with Harry on his stag party, the rest of the family join Peggy on her hen event - where Zoe announces her plans of joining Harry in going to Spain. Everyone supports her decision apart from Kat, who refuses to let her go and the two end up arguing. This escalates as Zoe storms out and Kat peruses her onto the street, where Kat finds herself pressured to tell Zoe the truth of her past with Harry. This ultimately proved to be the case when Zoe tells Kat she can't tell her what to do because she isn't her mother, only for Kat to then blurt out to Zoe that she is her mother - which shocks Zoe just as she is about to storm off from Kat again. Zoe proceeds to pester Kat for answers about her past, despite Kat's attempts to cover-up her past. Eventually, Kat explains to Zoe how Harry raped her and later got her pregnant. They once more argue when Zoe demands that Kat tell her family about what Harry did and Kat desperately objects, only for Charlie - having learned about the incident between Kat and Zoe - to walk in on the pair squabbling. Ignoring Kat's insistence, Zoe tells Charlie about how Harry raped Kat and she later gave birth to her as their daughter. This deeply shocks Charlie, who then confronts Kat to confirm that Harry did rape her and she tearfully does so. Charlie then goes to confront Harry and punches him to the ground. He continues to pound Harry until the guests, including Peggy's son Phil, separate them. Charlie then leaves, but not before telling Harry that he'll kill him if they ever cross paths again. Charlie and Peggy's friend, Roy Evans, later arranges for Harry to speak with his brother in order to sort out their differences. Charlie, after telling the rest of the family about what Harry did to Kat and how he got her pregnant with Zoe, agrees. When Harry comes through to the house, Charlie confronts him about what he did to Kat and Harry explains his actions. Shortly afterwards, Charlie disowns his brother and threatens to kill Harry the next time he sees him again. When Harry asks about his engagement to Peggy, not wanting her to know the truth as well, Charlie tells him to write her a letter that states he has broken up their engagement. Harry agrees and then goes on to admit Viv knew what happened as well, thereby ruining Charlie's idealized image of Viv in the process. Harry then goes to shake Charlie's hand to say goodbye, but Charlie - disgusted by him - spits in his face and calls him a monster.

Moments later, Harry and Kat cross paths once more. Harry accuses Kat of hating him, but she denies this and calls Harry a "fat old perv". They argue about the past regarding Kat's rape, before she then surprises Harry by telling him about both her pregnancy and the identity of their child - Zoe. When he questions her about this, Kat tells Harry that she Zoe about the rape incident and that she hates him because of it. Harry then calls Kat a "bitch" and leaves in a taxi, just as Kat taunts him for the way how he dismissed her meant that she "wasn't his special girl anymore". Kat later attempts suicide upon growing traumatized with her secret being discovered, but is found in the park by Zoe and rushed to hospital. Elsewhere, Peggy finds out about the letter and is heartbroken with the supposed news that Harry left her; she eventually learns the truth about what he did to Kat and is subsequently relieved that Harry has left the square for good.

The following year in 1 February 2002, Charlie receives news that Harry has died from a heart attack in Spain. He soon informs the family about this, which satisfies Kat due to her ordeal with Harry in the past. They later discover that Harry has left £18,000 to Zoe in his will, but when Zoe sees how much the idea of taking anything from Harry is upsetting Kat, she burns the cheque - saying she doesn't need his money.

LEGACY
Over a decade later, Mo receives a cheque from Harry's will for £19,500 to Kat and gives it to her. This upsets Kat, who doesn't her husband Alfie Moon about this. When Alfie tells her to consider using the cheque to make a fresh start for their children, she ponders it and later tears up the cheque in front of Alfie. It later emerges Harry had abused other young people when Kat is visited by a compensation lawyer requesting her to give a statement. It also transpires that Kat's long-lost son, Dermott Dolan, is in fact Zoe's twin-brother – meaning that Harry has another child. Later on, Kat confines about her past with Harry to the nun who previously helped her give birth to Zoe and Dermott. The follow-up of their conversion leads to Kat finally giving the police a statement on Harry. From then onwards, Kat has managed to overcome her traumatic past with Harry and any legacy that he had left is gone for good.

Trivia

 * While the character merely appeared in 2001 and was the show's quaternary antagonist throughout that year, Harry Slater served as the overarching antagonist in the story arc that revolved on his family - with the Slaters becoming one of the show's longest-standing families in the process.
 * This was particularly the case for Harry's niece Kat Slater and older brother Charlie, due to the fact that Harry impacted them more than the rest of the family when he raped Kat at the time she was thirteen and indirectly got her pregnant with their daughter Zoe - who had initially appeared to be Kat's little sister and Charlie's youngest daughter; henceforth, Charlie endured his brother's betrayal and Kat endured her past over the course of their respective story arcs.