Mo Harris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| EastEnders character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mo Harris | |
| Portrayed by | Laila Morse |
| Duration | 2000— |
| First appearance | 18 September 2000 |
| Date of birth | 18 February 1936 |
| Marital status | Widowed |
| Home | 23 Albert Square |
| Occupation | Market trader (clothing) |
| Family | Viv, Billy, Jean, Jimmy, Stan |
Maureen "Mo" Harris (née Porter) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, who has been in the series since 18 September 2000. She is played by Laila Morse. Mo was also played by Lorraine Stanley in a soap 'bubble' EastEnders: Pat and Mo, delving into the her past with Pat Evans, which aired in 2004.
Mo provides a background of light entertainment for the harrowing rape and incest that characterise the Slater family.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Mo was born into an impoverished East End family, so she quickly became a fighter who wouldn't take nonsense from anyone.
She had her daughter, Vivian, in her early teens. She was the product of a one-night-stand with a man called Stuart Mullins.
Pat Evans was Mo's best friend when she was younger. Johnny Allen had also riled Mo in the past, when they were youngsters. When Johnny moved to Albert Square in 2005, she said that no matter what Johnny was then, she would always remember him for being a "sap" when they were younger. Mo was married to Pat's brother Jimmy, and helped Pat through her turbulent relationship with Frank Butcher, and when Pat began prostituting herself. She had two children by Jimmy, called Billy and Jean. Mo later had an affair with club owner Tony Cattani, and Pat exposed it to Jimmy, causing a rift in their relationship.
Jimmy disowned Pat because of this, but when was in the final stages of cancer he wanted to see her again. He wrote a letter to her but Mo didn't post it, and when he died in 1979, Mo didn't invite Pat to his funeral.
[edit] Storylines
Mo moved to Albert Square in September 2000, a year after the death of her daughter Viv, with her son-in-law Charlie Slater, and granddaughters, Lynne, Kat, Little Mo (who is named in her honour) and Zoe. It was later discovered that Zoe was actually Kat's daughter, conceived when Charlie's brother Harry raped Kat, who Viv and Charlie raised as their own.
Upon her arrival in the Square, her rivalry with Pat Evans arose again. They would make snide remarks at each other, but eventually they buried the hatchet at Jimmy's grave, when they planted a tree in his memory on the tenty-fifth anniversary of his death. Mo later went to Pat's flat to give her the letter Jimmy wrote her on his deathbed, but halted at the door and decided not to.
On 26 October 2000, Mo delivered Sonia Jackson's unexpected daughter Chloe.
Much of her time is spent wheeling and dealing with other residents of Albert Square, usually selling stolen goods. She has been assisted at this by both Mickey and Darren Miller in the past. She once set up a sex chatline on her mobile phone, calling herself "Madam Whiplash".
She works on Stacey's clothes stall on Bridge Street market, which has previously been owned by Kat, Zoe and Kelly. She suffers from piles, which she refers to in Cockney rhyming slang as her "Farmer Giles". At Christmas 2005, one of Mo's dodgy deals backfired, when she thought she was buying a cheap turkey, but ended up with a live parrot, who she named Corky.
She had a brief relationship with Bert Atkinson, but ended it because Bert was sleeping with her friend, Ina. They got back together but broke up again when Bert's ex-wife Evie arrived in Walford, terminally ill.
After a trip to see her granddaughter, Belinda, in Lanzarote, Mo brought some duty free cigarettes back to England and sold them around the market. She sold some to Pat, and some to Lauren Branning, who claimed they were for her father, Max. Lauren's mother Tanya later caught her smoking them with Jay Brown, and was angry with Mo when she learnt where she got them from.
On 6 March 2007, two customers on the stall told Mo that they had heard she could sell them some cheap cigarettes. When Mo produced the cigarettes, they revealed that they were Revenue and Customs officers. They searched Mo's house and found nothing, until Charlie came in with a bundle of cigarette boxes for recycling. She was summoned to a magistrates' court for tax evasion, where she was sentenced to 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty. She vowed to make Tanya pay, as she suspected her of informing the authorities.
On 9 March she was playing darts with Charlie and Carly Wicks in The Queen Vic. Carly was having an argument with her mother, Shirley, when Shirley grabbed Carly's hand, resulting in the dart Carly was holding flying out of her hand and landing in Mo's buttock. Phil Mitchell had to remove the dart and perform first aid on Mo, including rubbing cream into her buttock.
[edit] Family
- Brother: Stan Porter
- Husband: Jimmy Harris (deceased)
- Son: Billy Harris
- Daughters: Viv Slater (deceased), Jean Harris
- Granddaughters: Lynne Hobbs, Kat Moon, Mo Mitchell, Belinda Peacock
- Great grandson: Freddie Mitchell
- Great granddaughters: Zoe Slater, Viv Hobbs (deceased)
[edit] In popular culture
The character of Mo Harris has been spoofed in the cartoon sketch show 2DTV.
[edit] External links
- EastEnders character profile
- Laila Morse, BBC actor profile
