Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985. The character appeared in his 2,000th episode in the show on 26 March 2007, and his 3,000th on 27 May 2016. Since January 2021, Woodyatt has been on an extended break with his return date set in 2022 at the earliest.