Rose Chapman

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EastEnders character

Rose Chapman
Portrayed by	Petra Markham
Duration	1993
First appearance	7 January 1993
Last appearance	13 May 1993
Date of death	9 December 1993
Marital status	Deceased
Family	Alfie

Rose Chapman (née Hickey) was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Petra Markham.

Rose fell in love with market trader Pete Beale, despite being married to the violent gangster Alfie Chapman. Alfie's family would not condone their relationship, so Rose and Pete fled Walford but were hunted down by the Chapmans and killed several months later in a planned hit and run.

[edit] Storylines

In January 1993, Pete Beale and his sister Pauline were invited to see the ageing rock and roll singer, Danny Taurus, play a gig. While there Pauline spotted Rose, an old friend of hers from her school days. Pete and Rose got on well, particularly when Rose revealed that she'd had a crush on him while they were at school together.

Over the following weeks a romance developed. Despite professing to be very happy with Pete, Rose frequently let him down, standing him up on dates and disappearing for days without word. Eventually Pete confronted her and she revealed that not only was she married, but she was married to a local gangster, Alfie Chapman, who had a reputation for extreme violence. Although Alfie was locked away in prison, his family were not and they made it quite clear that they did not approve of Rose seeing Pete. Pete mulled over what to do but eventually decided to brave the Chapmans and remain with Rose. Alfie's sister Annie warned Rose to finish with Pete, or face severe repercussions from his two brothers'. Rose remained defiant and went to visit Alfie in prison, demanding a divorce. This was curtailed when she discovered that Alfie was suffering with terminal cancer and after a period of contemplation she decided to stop seeing Pete so she could nurse Alfie through his remaining months.^[1]

Rose couldn't manage to keep away from Pete however, and in May 1993 she re-entered his life, telling him that she missed him. When Alfie's brothers' discovered she was seeing Pete again, they beat her so badly that she was hospitalised. Pete went to visit Rose in hospital and they made plans to go into hiding in order to escape the wrath of the Chapmans. The following day Pete smuggled Rose out of hospital with Frank Butcher's help and they then made their get away to start a new life in destinations unknown.

In December 1993, news of Alfie Chapman's death reached Walford. Pauline placed an advert in a newspaper, pleading for his return. Pete replied, and the residents of Walford planned a party to celebrate their homecoming. Before they arrived back, Pauline was contacted by the police with the news that Pete and Rose had been killed by a hit and run driver, almost certainly arranged by the Chapman family.^[2]