EastEnders Wiki

NOTE: Please do not add content from the BBC iPlayer's early episodes until it has been aired on television, as it is intrusive to our readers who may not have seen the episode on iPlayer. Repeated intentional offences of this rule could lead to a ban, Many thanks the EastEnders Wiki admin team.

READ MORE

EastEnders Wiki
Register
Advertisement
EastEnders Wiki


Raymond Dawkins (also Mitchell and Fox) is the son of Phil Mitchell and Denise Fox. He was adopted by Jonah and Lydia Dawkins off-screen as Denise is unable to care for him but after they died in a car crash, Raymond is now being brought up by his biological parents and his step-father, Jack Branning.

Storylines[]

2017: Birth and adoption[]

Denise Fox gives birth to her and Phil Mitchell's son, due to a one night stand, and she puts him up for adoption. Phil’s wife Sharon, tells Phil that he is the father of Denise’s baby after people overheard a conversation in the The Queen Vic toilets. Sharon explains she is not mad at Phil as he slept with Denise before they got together. Phil is angry when he finds out that Raymond is his son and marches to the hospital to confront Denise - where she admits the baby is Phil’s. Phil is even more angry when he finds out Denise wants to put Raymond up for adoption and charges through the hospital trying to find what room his son is in. Denise explains that adoption is the best option for the baby as she and Phil are both too old to raise a child and that they both have children already, who are older - (Denise’s daughters Chelsea and Libby Fox and Phil’s son Ben and daughter Louise Mitchell). She then goes on to say that she can’t give the baby the life he deserves and Phil is a recovering alcoholic who could die at any moment. Phil does not want his son to be adopted, however he realises that no court is going to award a recovering alcoholic custody of a newborn baby. Phil tearfully says his goodbyes to his son before walking out of the hospital with Sharon.

A Social worker named Trish Barnes visits Phil and Denise a few weeks later, to inform them how their son is doing with his foster family. She tells them that he's been named Raymond after Ray Charles, the American singer, songwriter and musician as his foster parents are big fans of him. Denise later reads a letter from his adoptive parents informing her that Raymond is living a happy life with them. Months later, Denise gets confirmation that the adoption has been finalised and gives Phil the letter about Raymond's progress. When Phil gets an offer for some land he owns, he tells Sharon that he would like to provide for Raymond and make sure he has the best life. Also in July, Ben is angry when he finds out about Raymond.

2020 to present: Adoptive parents death and living with Jack and Denise[]

After the adoption, Denise had regrets but told herself to live with her decision. However, when Denise heard of a fatal car crash with a three year old boy left orphaned, everything was turned on its head. Denise did some quick thinking and learned that it was her son Raymond's adoptive family who had been in a car crash. Although Raymond survived, his adoptive mother, father and sister were all killed - leaving Raymond with no family left. Denise rushed to the hospital to find her son, where she met his adoptive grandmother Ellie Nixon. Ellie mistook Denise for one of her daughter-in-law's friends and let her into see Raymond, however she didn’t yet know that Denise is actually Raymond’s biological mother. Denise and Ellie unite in joy as they hear that Raymond is expected to recover from his injuries.

Denise comes to the heartbreaking conclusion that she doesn’t want Phil be in Raymond's life so decides to leave him with Ellie, however Phil finds out about Raymond any way and begins to spend time at the hospital with him, lying about his true identity to Ellie. Phil grows suspicious of Ellie’s true motives when he is unable to get hold of her and this leads his son Ben to wonder if Ellie truly is who she says she is. Ben’s husband Callum, who is a police officer, tries to get to the bottom of what’s going on so he asks DI Thompson for some information on Ellie, hoping it will lead him closer to Phil. It is revealed that Ellie has a criminal past and that Raymond's parents were killed by her enemies.

Phil invites Ellie to the Arches in a bid to try and convince her into handing Raymond over to him as Phil wants to keep him safe. Ellie sees through his words - and proves she was just as deadly as he is by telling him that she knew all about his family. She mentions Ben being shot, Louise fleeing the country and even Sharon’s son Dennis' death. Phil explains that he will do anything to ensure his son is safe. Ellie tells Phil that he can have Raymond in exchange for £150k. Phil agrees but could only get his hands on £80,000.

When he turned up to do the handover, Ellie fronts him out and demands the full payment. Phil tries to negotiate, but Ben turns up and convinces him that the only way he would get Raymond back is through the courts. Ellie warns him not to cross her before giving Phil more time to come up with the cash. Phil says that all he wants is his son and warns Ellie that she now has a "war" on her hands.

Things hit a stumbling block when Phil gets his lawyer Ritchie involved, who said Phil would never be able to win a court due to his criminal record. Desperate to get his son back, Phil enlists the help of Denise, who does not have a criminal past and is the biological mother of Raymond. Phil approaches Denise and offers to be a silent partner throughout the court case, agreeing to pay all the legal fees if she agreed to take on Ellie. Should they win, Phil offers to let Denise handle Raymond's upbringing, as long as he can play a role in his life.

Phil plants a substantial amount of drugs at one of Ellie's properties and sent the police after her. Phil says he will have the drugs removed if Ellie agrees to sign over custody to Denise. Raymond is then returned to Denise by Ellie and Ellie leaves Walford. Denise tells her partner Jack that she’s struggling to bond with Raymond so Jack offers to help pay for a specialist for Raymond. He advises Denise to find someone from Raymond’s past to talk to, prompting her to remember that his adoptive father was a pastor at a Pentecostal church. Later in the week, Jack, Denise and Raymond head to the youngster’s family church and Denise is delighted to see Raymond happy for once. After the service ends, Denise speaks to the pastor and asks him if it’d be okay to ask some questions about Raymond’s family.

Through out 2022 and 2023 Denise allows Phil to see Raymond alot more, during one of her secret meetings with Ravi Gulati, who Denise was having an affair with behind Jack's back, Denise asks Phil to pick Raymond up. When Jack discoverers Denise and Ravi's affair, him and Denise break up. Denise and Raymond move out of 27 Albert Square and moves into 20 Albert Square with her sister and Raymond's aunt Kim Fox. When Denise helps Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Kathy Cotton, Stacey Slater and Suki Panesar get rid of Keanu Taylor's body after Linda killed Keanu in defence of Sharon Denise realises she dropped her necklace on Keanu's body. The women refuse to help her and Denise becomes anxious and worried and on her birthday Raymond makes her a card with photo of her with her necklace, as a result Denise freaks out and upsets Raymond but she later says sorry to Raymond for upsetting him.

Background information[]

  • Raymond's adoptive parents named him after Ray Charles, which is revealed on 21 February 2017.
  • On 14 March 2023, Denise states that Raymond has issues when having milk so he has to have oat milk. He may be lactose intolerant.

See also[]

Advertisement