Bruno di Marco

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EastEnders character
Bruno di Marco
Portrayed by Leon Lissek
Duration 1998
First appearance 29 January 1998
Last appearance 14 December 1998
Profile
Date of birth 1 August 1927
Status Married
Home Italy
Occupation Retired

Bruno di Marco was a fictional character that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, from January 1998 to December 1998.

He was played by Leon Lissex in 1998. Bruno was one of many characters to be axed by the newly appointed executive producer of EastEnders, Matthew Robinson.

Contents

[edit] Character creation and development

The Italian di Marco family were introduced early in 1998 by executive producer Jane Harris.[1] The di Marcos were a family of eight, consisting of grandparents Bruno and Luisa, their daughter-in-law Rosa, her children Beppe, Gianni, Teresa and Nicky, and Beppe's young son Joe.[2] They were heralded as the "family that would rival the Mitchells", who are one of the most successful and long-running families to have been featured in EastEnders.[3]

The di Marcos "landed with an almighty thud in January [1998], turning out in force for the funeral of patriarch Giuseppe", who was Bruno's son and an old business associate of the character George Palmer (Paul Moriarty).[4] The following month, the family moved to the area in which the soap is set, Walford, to run an Italian restaurant, which was named Giuseppe's.[5] Bruno and his wife Luisa were portrayed as Italian patriots "for them…being Italian was everything".[6] The characters were traditionalists with exaggerated "foreign mannerisms", often expressing the importance of family and a love of their "homeland".[7]

However, only six months after their introduction, the newly appointed executive producer of EastEnders, Matthew Robinson, made the decision to axe Bruno di Marco and his wife Luisa (Stella Tanner). They were among a large number of characters to be axed by the producer shortly after his introduction, reportedly in a bid to reverse EastEnders' plummeting ratings.[8] Other axed characters included Sanjay, Gita and Neelam Kapoor, George Palmer, Ruth Fowler, Michael and Susan Rose and Chris Clarke. At the time it was the biggest cast cull in the soap's history.[8] In total, 26 characters were culled over a period of 21 months, which earned Robinson a reputation for being "ruthless".[9] On-screen Luisa suffered a stroke, and so she and Bruno decided to travel to Italy to see their "homeland" before it was too late. Once there, they liked it so much that they decided to stay. Bruno's last appearance was in December 1998.

The rest of the di Marcos remained with the show until 2000, when the new executive producer, John Yorke, decided to cull the majority of the family.[10] All except Beppe (Michael Greco) and his son Joe (Jake Kyprianou) were written out.[11] They were reportedly "slaughtered because of a shortage of ideas for what to do with them."[3] However a spokesperson at the time commented: "These changes…are just part of [John Yorke's] plans to revamp the series and give it a new look."[12] The cuts paved the way for the arrival of the "hugely popular" Slater family.[13] Beppe and Joe remained until 2002, when they were axed too.[14]

[edit] Storylines

Bruno di Marco was the father of Rosa di Marco's husband, Giuseppe. Bruno and his wife Luisa were Italian but London raised. They were extremely patriotic, even though they actually knew very little about their homeland.

Bruno—like his father before him—had been the owner of an Italian restaurant in London's Soho, which he later gave to Giuseppe as a wedding present. The restaurant began to struggle financially, and when Giuseppe died in 1998, the di Marcos were forced to close it down. Giuseppe's friend George Palmer—who had bailed the restaurant out of debt several times in the past—recruited the di Marcos to run his new Italian restaurant in Walford, which he named Giuseppe's. Bruno's family referred to him as Nonno, which is Italian for grandfather.

Bruno was stricken with bronchitis due to years of heavy smoking, which meant that he was unable to work or help out in the restaurant. He liked to drink, play cards and hold family meetings at his favourite table. Luisa suffered a stroke shortly before Bruno's birthday in July 1998. She recovered but remained frail and in December Bruno and Luisa decided to take a trip to Italy to discover their homeland together, before it was too late. When they got there they liked it so much that they decided to stay. They telephoned Rosa to tell her they weren't returning to Walford a few weeks later.

[edit] Reception

The di Marcos are now deemed as something of a failure for EastEnders. Since their departure, the family has even been mocked in an EastEnders official book, entitled EastEnders 20 Years In Albert Square. In the book, the author, Rupert Smith, writes :"Nobody really knew what to do with the di Marco family, who had been languishing in the pizza restaurant without a decent storyline between them. Finally, there was nothing else for it: the di Marcos would have to go. All of them…it was as if they'd never been".[4]

Matthew Baylis of The Guardian has commented on their lack of success: "Thank heaven for off-screen uncles. As we saw during the hurried departure of the di Marco family from Albert Square, there's nothing like a fictitious relative when you need to get characters off the screen…The di Marcos' departure had its dodgy elements. A hitherto unheard-of uncle needs help in his restaurant, so the whole family ups sticks. Including Teresa - who'd always fought for independence from her family? Rosa, who presumably owned the house she'd transformed into something resembling an Imperial Palace, is suddenly prepared to leg it with a couple of suitcases? There was plenty that didn't ring true. But few viewers minded. There was, if anything, more sympathy for the programme-makers, trying valiantly to dispose of this singularly unpopular family while retaining an element of drama."[7]

The di Marcos have been dismissed as "unconvincing characters", and Bruno and Luisa were ridiculed, with Baylis suggesting that their "foreign mannerisms would have gone down great in any production of Fiddler On The Roof".[7] Baylis goes on to highlight a problem that he feels "dogged the whole family", their occupation as restaurateurs. Baylis believes this kept them "self-contained", and prevented them from establishing meaningful links with other characters. He explains: "[The di Marcos] had an ambiguity, heightened by the job they did. Soapland has no place for grey areas. Bad things happen to bad people. They also happen to good people, of course, but not for very long. To make this predictable universe work on the screen, you need characters who are relatively stable (even if they are unstable). The writers and the viewers buy into a myth that people aren't particularly complex, that the full range of their feelings and actions can be revealed in a few hours on the TV. And a quick, visible way of revealing characters is to mirror them in their occupation. Thus we have Pauline Fowler, long-suffering drudge and matriarch. What better job than folding pants all day in the launderette? Or Peggy Butcher - tough but fun-loving and gregarious. So she runs the pub. But what attributes spring to mind when we think of Italian restaurants? Fond of pasta, perhaps? Permanently overworked? The job never provided an easy route into understanding the di Marcos' characters…The most visible jobs tend to be taken by the strongest, most vivid characters. Confined to their restaurant, the di Marcos could only become involved in Walford life when other characters came over to eat a carbonara. And how often do working-class East End people do that? If any di Marco wanted a night out, a pint in the Vic, a clandestine liaison, then an excuse had to be found as to why they weren't working. Transforming Giuseppe's into a daytime sandwich bar, and sending Teresa onto the market were bold rescue attempts, but they came too late. The viewers had already decided they didn't much care…Because of their jobs, the di Marcos became a largely self-contained unit…"[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "EASTENDERS: 29 January 1998", BBC programme catalogue. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  2. ^ "Priest in 'stop the suicides' plea over EastEnder Nadia's husband", Sunday Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  3. ^ a b "Farewell my luvvies", The Northern Echo. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  4. ^ a b Smith, Rupert (2005). EastEnders: 20 years in Albert Square. BBC books. ISBN 0-563-52165-1. 
  5. ^ "ALBERTO SQUARE", Daily Record. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  6. ^ Lock, Kate (2000). EastEnders Who's Who. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-55178-X. 
  7. ^ a b c d "Easy come, easy go", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  8. ^ a b "ALBERT SQUARE MASSACRE; EastEnders axe 10 as ratings plunge", Daily Record. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  9. ^ "The EastEnders' boss is a secret poet..but does the world want to", Sunday Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  10. ^ "BBC 'supremo' John Yorke hits the Sage", northernmedia.org. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  11. ^ "EASTEND OF THE ROAD FOR STARS", Daily Record. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  12. ^ "Axe falls on five EastEnders", BBC. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  13. ^ "EastEnders producer steps up", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  14. ^ "Interview Michael Greco: I'm gutted at being axed", Sunday Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
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The di Marco family in EastEnders