Paul Priestly

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EastEnders character

Paul Priestly
Portrayed by	Mark Thrippleton
Introduced by	Mike Gibbon
Duration	1989, 1990
First appearance	20 April 1989
Last appearance	1 March 1990
Status	Single
Home	Leeds
Occupation	Builder

Paul Priestly was a fictional character in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. He was played by Mark Thrippleton.

Paul, a builder, came to London with a building firm he worked for, then decided to go it alone. He found work around the Square — the money wasn't great but there were benefits — for instance, Julie Cooper discussed his estimates in bed. He was a ladies man and a heart-breaker, as sixteen year old Diane Butcher discovered. When their relationship grew too serious, he scarpered and a devastated Diane ran away from home shortly afterwards.

[edit] Character creation and development

1989 was a year of big change for EastEnders, both behind the cameras and in front of them. Original production designer, Keith Harris, left the show, and co-creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, both decided that the time had come to move on too; their final contribution coinciding with the exit of one of EastEnders most successful characters, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).^[1] A new producer, Mike Gibbon, was given the arduous task of taking over the show and he enlisted the most experienced writers to take over the storylining of the programme, including Charlie Humphreys, Jane Hollowood and Tony McHale.^[1]

The departure of two of the soap's most popular characters, Den and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), had left a massive void in the programme, which needed to be filled.^[1] In addition several other long running characters left the show that year including two original cast members, Sue and Ali Osman (Sandy Ratcliff and Nejdet Salih) and their family; Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler); Carmel Jackson (Judith Jacob) and her family and one of the show's more controversial characters, Colin Russell (Michael Cashman). So, it was decided that 1989 was to be a year of change in Walford. EastEnders script-writer, Colin Brake, has suggested that "it was almost as if Walford itself was making a fresh start".^[1]

At the time the programme had come under criticism in the British media for being too depressing; arguably a reputation that it has never been able to shake.^[1] The programme makers were determined to change this. In 1989 there was a deliberate attempt to increase the lighter, more comic aspects of life in Albert Square. This led to the introduction of some characters who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted.^[1] Such characters included Paul Priestly, a northern heartbreaker, and his sidekick Trevor Short (Phil McDermott), "the nearest thing to a village idiot that Walford had seen in many years";^[1] Julie Cooper (Louise Plowright), the man-mad hairdresser; Marge Green — a batty older lady played by veteran comedy actress Pat Coombs; wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham) and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell), who became Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) sparring partner.

Paul Priestly was a cheeky, carefree romeo, whose principal purpose was to become Walford's latest teen heartthrob. Since 1985 this role had been occupied by the hugely popular Simon Wicks (Nick Berry), but as the character aged and took on a more mature role, the programme needed a new teen pin-up to appeal to the younger audience. The actor Mark Thrippleton shared many similarities with the character of Paul. Like Paul he came from Leeds, had a strong Yorkshire accent, and before taking up acting he was a builder. As he also looked the part Thrippleton was given the role.^[2]

Humour was an important element in the storylines during 1989, with a greater amount of slapstick and light comedy than ever before. The character of Paul was regularly used for comic effect in conjunction with his dim-witted sidekick Trevor Short, who Paul compassionately employed as a labourer. Emphasis was placed on the obvious differences between the two friends, as well as Trevor's tendency to idolise Paul and fail at every task he was given. Paul would despair over Trevor's ineptitude, but although Trevor was more of a liability than a labourer, Paul remained his loyal defender and persisted in helping him out and taking responsibility for his errors.

1989's changes were a brave experiment and while some found this period of EastEnders entertaining, many other viewers felt that the comedy stretched the programme's credibility somewhat.^[1] Although the programme still covered many issues in 1989, such as domestic violence, drugs, rape and racism, the new emphasis on a more balanced mix between "light and heavy storylines" gave the illusion that the show had lost a "certain edge".^[1]

By the end of the year EastEnders had acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson, who had previously been a successful producer on ITV's The Bill. Ultimately, Ferguson was responsible for bringing in a new sense of vitality, and creating a programme that was more in touch with the real world than it had been over the last year.^[1] A new era began in 1990 with the introduction of the Mitchell brothers, Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant (Ross Kemp), two hugely successful characters, who would go on to dominate the soap there after. As the new production machine cleared the way for new characters and a new direction, a number of characters were axed from the show at the start of the year.^[1] Among them was Paul, as well as every other "comedic" character that had been introduced to the show in 1989. By March 1990 they had all gone. Several of the actors were upset to be leaving the programme so soon, but with the show's new direction there was no place for characters "whose prime function was to be comic relief".^[1]

[edit] Storylines

Originally from Leeds, Paul came to London with a building firm he worked for. He arrived in Walford in April 1989 in search of a place to stay and soon began lodging with the Butcher's at The Queen Vic.

Paul had quite an impact on the ladies of Walford, particularly the school girl Diane Butcher, who was instantly attracted to him. Her father Frank became extremely worried about all the attention she gave Paul. His fears were mistakingly realised when Paul took Diane to a Deacon Blue concert and they were both assaulted on their way home by a gang of violent thugs. As the gang teamed up on Paul, Diane was struck while attempting to fend them off. She ran home to the Vic to get help, however Frank immediately assumed that Paul was the one who had struck her. When Paul escaped the thugs and returned to the Vic, he was greeted by a furious Frank, who knocked him to the floor with a punch. Only after Paul had fled in fear did a hysterical Diane manage to explain what had really occurred. Frank was forced to apologise for his overreaction and as Paul was relatively laid back, he didn't bear him any grudges. Paul and Diane began dating, although spending time alone together was almost impossible with Frank watching their every move, not to mention Mo Butcher — who took to standing guard outside their bedrooms at night to stop any secret liaisons. While Diane quickly fell in love with Paul, it wasn't nearly as serious for him.

In June 1989 Paul's friend Trevor Short came to Walford in search of him. He and Trevor had shared a room together briefly at a youth hostel. Trevor was a dim-witted, needy individual who idolised Paul. Paul wasn't exactly thrilled to see Trevor initially, but soon came round to the idea of having him around. When Paul decided to take on some freelance work, he employed Trevor as a builder's aid, although he was more of a liability than a labourer and made many disastrous mistakes. Paul found a fair bit of work around Walford, his first big job being the conversion of Julie Cooper's salon. Julie took a shine to Paul and while Diane was waiting for Paul to take her on a romantic date, Julie seduced him and coaxed him into her bed. Paul continued to mess Diane around, standing her up on several occasions to be with Julie. Diane was devastated by his sudden rejection, but she placed the blame entirely on Julie. Meanwhile, Paul soon began to feel that Julie was merely using him in order to get a cheap deal for his labour and he began to take against her flirtatious behaviour towards other men. He dumped her and refused to finish the salon conversion. Julie, who only saw their fling as a bit of fun, wasn't particularly bothered about the end of their affair, but refused to pay him for his prior work unless he finished the salon, so Paul was forced to continue. Immediately after finishing with Julie, Paul returned to Diane and she willingly took him back. She would not forgive Julie however, and played various vengeful tricks on her as payback.

Paul found work redecorating Ashraf Karim's property, which was hindered somewhat by the ineptitude of Trevor, who caused the property's ceiling to collapse. Paul and Diane's relationship continued, but it soon became obvious to everyone that Paul was losing interest in her. Oblivious to this, Diane's feelings only strengthened and she even invited him away for a weekend alone together, indicating that sex would be on the agenda. Paul, who still had Frank watching his every move, declined the offer, but Diane wasn't perturbed and by the end of the year she had got it into her head that Paul wanted to marry her. In actual fact the relationship had grown far too serious for Paul's liking. He began to tire of living in London and longed for his old life and the people back up north. After finishing the Karim's property he broke the news that he was leaving to Trevor and hinted that it was unlikely he would return. Meanwhile, Diane was adamant that Paul was about to propose and even instructed Trevor to show Paul the engagement ring she wanted. Trevor tried to convince Paul to tell Diane that he was leaving, but Paul couldn't pluck up the courage to do it and said his goodbyes to everyone but her. Eventually Trevor informed Diane that Paul was leaving and she reacted with anger and disbelief. She went in search of him and saw him waiting at a bus stop. She called out to him, but Paul merely glanced at her before getting on a bus and leaving.

Diane was devastated to lose Paul and in January 1990 (on her sixteenth birthday) she ran away from home without trace. Frank blamed Paul for her disappearance and went to Leeds to track him down thinking that Diane was with him, but his search was fruitless. He was told that Paul had not been there recently and no one knew where he was. Frank became so desperate to find Paul that he hired a private detective, and was in the process of being conned by him when Paul coincidentally turned up in Walford. He revealed that he had spent some time in America, and knew nothing of Diane's whereabouts. He felt guilty about the way he'd treated Diane and came back to put things right. After some heavy interrogation from Frank, Paul revealed that he spoke to Diane on the day she ran away. She had asked to come to Leeds to see him, but Paul had refused and promised to come to Walford when he had more time. Frank eventually accepted that Paul was telling the truth.

Trevor was overjoyed to see Paul again, but his happiness was fleeting as Paul soon announced that he was leaving once again, and this time for good. Seeing how upset Trevor was about this, Paul asked him to join him in his home town of Leeds. Trevor gratefully accepted and left with Paul in March 1990.