Brian Wicks

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EastEnders character
Brian Wicks
Portrayed by	Leslie Schofield
Duration	1988, 1989
First appearance	28 April 1988
Last appearance	11 May 1989
Marital status	Divorced
Occupation	Painter and decorator
Family	Simon, Steven

Brian Wicks was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Leslie Schofield.

Brian Wicks was the second husband of Pat Harris. He only appeared twice on-screen, but the character's history was heavily intertwined with several other key characters within the series, and he was mentioned regularly for the first three to four years. The character was involved in one of EastEnders most complicated storylines, the paternity of Simon Wicks. 2006 saw the introduction of Brian's extended family, but since his first fleeting appearances in 1988 and 1989, Brian has remained an off-screen character, referred to, but never seen. Brian was played by the actor Leslie Schofield, who notably returned to the series for a larger role in the 1990s, playing the character Jeff Healy.

[edit] Storylines

Brian began an affair with Pat in the 1960s, while she was still married to her first husband, Pete Beale. During this time Pat fell pregnant with her second son Simon, and claimed that Pete was the father. When Pat and Pete eventually divorced, Pat latched on to Brian. They married in 1966 and Brian adopted Simon, and Pat's older child David. Both boys took on Brian's surname.

Pat did not have a happy marriage to Brian. He used to beat her and her children, so she eventually left him in 1986, returning to her childhood home in Walford. Upon her return Pat immediately caused havoc by reavealing to her youngest son that Pete was not actually his father. Several other men were put in the frame, including Brian, publican Den Watts, Frank Butcher and Pete's brother Kenny. Furious rows erupted between all concerned, but Pat ominously refused to divulge the father's true identity.

Brian first appeared on-screen on April 28, 1988. He had been informed that his wife had settled down with another man, Frank Butcher, and was running the local pub, The Queen Vic. Brian had allegedly come to see how Pat and Simon were, but seemed more concerned with how much money her businesses were making and his brief reunion with Pat was not a pleasant one. After calling her a tirade of abusive names, and almost getting into a fight with Frank, he warned Frank to keep away from Pat as she was a slag, and then left.

It wasn't until Lou Beale passed away in July 1988 that Pat finally revealed Simon's father's identity. It was the man he had called step-father his entire life, Brian Wicks. Simon was horrified by this, but later decided to visit Brian off-screen, returning to say that his father had been abusive towards him, and he only had four-letter words to describe him. Simon and Brian never appeared on-screen together, although later plots inferred that they did correspond with each other, despite Simon claiming regularly that he hated him.

Aside from this plot, Brian continued to remain a menacing off-screen presence, continuously pestering Pat for money. Brian wasn't seen again until May 1989. Pat had decided that she wanted to marry Frank, and in order to do this she needed to divorce Brian. She met Brian and asked for the divorce, but Brian professed to still be in love with her and would not agree to the divorce, but made it clear that he was open to a monetary bribe. Brian wanted either £1000 or one of Frank's cars as pay-off. Pat had no choice but to get Brian the car. She deceived Frank by claiming that her aunt Mabel's car had been written off and asked if he could provide one for her. Frank agreed to get her the car free of charge. He managed to get hold of a mini, and Pat telephoned Brian to tell him of her success. Although he was slightly annoyed that the car he was getting was only a mini, he nevertheless agreed to give Pat a divorce. However, Ricky Butcher overheard their conversation and proceeded to blackmail Pat in return for his silence. Ricky eventually informed Frank, claiming that Pat was having an affair. Frank was furious and Pat thought he would leave her. However, he shocked her by turning around and proposing to her instead.

Brian has not appeared since.