Carol Jackson

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EastEnders character

Carol Jackson
Portrayed by	Lindsey Coulson
Duration	1993–1997, 1999
Date of birth	3 October 1962
Marital status	Married
Occupation	Unemployed
Family	Jim, Reenie, Max, Derek, April, Sue, Alan, Bianca, Robbie, Sonia, Billy

Carol Jackson (née Branning) was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Lindsey Coulson.

Carol was a tough grafter and there was nothing more important to her than her kids. This made it all the more painful when she was eventually betrayed by her own daughter.

1 The early years
2 Carol's return
3 Family
4 External links

[edit] The early years

Carol first arrived on Albert Square in 1993, working alongside Pauline Fowler as Dot Cotton's replacement in the launderette. It wasn't long before she acquired a house on the Square and was joined by the rest of the Jackson clan - boyfriend Alan and his grandmother Blossom, sons Robbie and Billy, and daughters Bianca and Sonia. Of her four children, only Billy was fathered by Alan, the other three children all having had different fathers. Carol seemed to share the strongest bond with Bianca. It turned out that she'd had Bianca at a very early age and whilst everyone around her tried to persuade her to have an abortion, Carol fought hard to keep her. Because of this, she felt especially close to her eldest child.

Right from the start, Carol and her wayward children began to cause trouble in the Square. Carol seemed to be particularly hostile to both David Wicks and his mother Pat Butcher and they often argued. It was later revealed that Carol had been involved in a relationship with David when she was just fourteen, which ended, in part, due to Pat's interference. In another twist, it was also revealed that David had got Carol pregnant during this time, and although he and Carol decided that she should have an abortion, Carol couldn't go through with it. Unbeknown to David, she kept the baby and his daughter, Bianca, was right under his nose in Albert Square. Despite Pat knowing at the time that David may have been the father to Carol's unborn child, she never informed David of the child's existence, preferring to believe that one of Carol's many other lovers had fathered the child instead. This sparked a major feud between the Wickses and the Brannings, hence the prickliness between Pat and Carol. Carol didn't want David to ever find out that Bianca was his daughter, but she was forced to rethink the situation when it looked like he and Bianca were about to become sexually involved. She told Pat to tell David to keep away from Bianca, insisting that he was her father, but Pat refused to believe this and watched idly as David and Bianca's attraction grew stronger. Eventually Carol was forced to tell David herself in March 1994 and made him promise not to tell Bianca the truth. However Bianca continued to try and seduce David and after she kissed him one eveing he was forced to tell her why they couldn't be together in that way. Despite Carol's misgivings, Bianca and David began to form a father/daughter relationship, although David frequently let his daughter down.

In 1996 Carol and Alan attended Carol's sister, April's wedding. Carol's father Jim Branning and her brother were opposed to Carol's interacial relationship, and made constant attempts to provoke Alan into violence. In spite of Carol's family's prejudices, Alan decided that he wanted to marry Carol there and then, and the two were married in place of her sister after she was jilted.

However, things turned sour in Carol and Alan's relationship later that year. Alan, jealous of Carol's renewed frendship with David Wicks and tiring of her constant bitching, embarked on an affair with singer Frankie Pierre and moved out of the Jackson house for a while. This left Carol to reignite a romance with old flame David. Both their affairs were short-lived, however, and Carol and Alan were soon back together.

In 1997 Carol's youngest son Billy was witness to an armed robbery at a local building society. Because he was the only witness, Billy was kidnapped in order to prevent him from testifying in court, leaving Carol frantic with worry. Billy was later returned safely, but Carol and the rest of the Jackson family (bar Bianca) were placed in a witness protection programme and moved away from Walford for their own safety.

[edit] Carol's return

Carol's children Robbie and Sonia returned to Walford and in 1999, Carol returned too, without Alan or Billy. Now separated from Alan due to his mental breakdown, Carol had met a new man who she planned to marry, named Dan Sullivan. With the hope of bringing her family back together, Carol moved back into her old residence and introduced her fiancé to her children. However, Dan turned out to be an old flame of her eldest daughter Bianca (with whom he had had an affair while he was married, when she was just 15 years old) and upon realising her mother was planning to marry her ex, Bianca decided to keep their past relationship a secret. Carol was happier than she had ever been and she wanted the family to spend some time away together so they could get to know Dan. However, whilst on holiday with the entire family (including Bianca's huband Ricky and son Liam), Dan and Bianca couldn't keep their hands off each other and they soon began an affair behind their partner's backs.

Carol, Bianca and Dan

The affair continued for months until Carol became pregnant with Dan's baby (her fifth child to a fifth father). Upon hearing this news, Bianca and Dan decided to call a halt on their affair. Bianca had decided to move to Manchester to attend fashion college and Carol was going to stay in Walford with Dan and bring up their new baby. However, Carol discovered an old photo of Bianca and Dan together and questioned Dan for answers. Dan only partially told the truth, pretending to Carol that they had met years ago and that their fling was over long before he had ever met Carol. Although Carol believed him, she was furious with Bianca for keeping this information from her and went to question her in The Queen Vic, where she was staying. Unaware that Dan hadn't told the entire truth, Bianca confessed that she had been having an affair behind her mother's back for months. Carol was devastated to learn that her precious eldest daughter betrayed her in such a way. Her devastation soon turned to anger as she informed Ricky of Bianca's infidelity, slung Dan out, and disowned her daughter all in one night.

Carol was unable to cope with the thought that she was pregnant with Dan's child and she made the difficult decision to abort the baby shortly after his departure. Weeks later Carol heard news that her mother was dying so she left Albert Square for a second time in October 1999, leaving her children in the care of her father Jim. Since leaving it has been reported that she has got back together with former husband Alan and lives with him and Billy in Balham.