List of EastEnders characters (1994)

The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1994, by order of first appearance.

Natalie Evans

Natalie Evans (née Price) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Speed between 1994 and 2004. Natalie first appeared in January 1994, depicted initially as an unhappy, insecure teenager; she was among various regular characters brought in to increase the cast following the BBC's decision to increase episode output to 3 per week. She featured most often with the characters Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson; Natalie's affair with Ricky ending his relationship with Bianca was one of the prominent storylines aired in the Winter of 1995. Despite producers offering to extend Speed's contact, she opted to leave the serial in 1995. Executive producer Matthew Robinson reintroduced the character in 1999 as a business woman and a love interest for Barry Evans. Speed left once again in 2004, with Natalie departing in the wake of Barry's murder by Janine Butcher.

Carmen

Carmen
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Amanda Holden
Duration 1994
First appearance 8 February 1994
Last appearance 22 March 1994
Profile
Occupation Market trader

Carmen was introduced in February 1994, employed by Richard Cole to work on Sanjay Kapoor's clothing stall on Bridge Street market. Carmen began to pester Richard to give her the licence for the pitch on a permanent basis. However, later that month Sanjay returned, having failed to trace the whereabouts of his estranged wife, Gita.

Following this, Carmen began selling heart-patterned boxer-shorts on the market and a pair was sent anonymously to Richard Cole. Richard assumed they were from a secret admirer, until he saw Carmen selling them the following day. She told him that they weren't a popular line and that she'd only had one buyer, Sanjay Kapoor. Sanjay had bought them to prank Richard, but as Bianca Jackson and Natalie Price had spent the last few weeks winding him up in a similar way, he did not find the prank amusing.

Della Alexander

Dougie Briggs

Dougie Briggs
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Max Gold
Duration 1994
First appearance 22 March 1994
Last appearance 12 April 1994
Profile
Occupation ex-soldier

Dougie Briggs appeared for several weeks over the spring of 1994, and was actively involved in the storyline that marked the introduction of EastEnders' third weekly episode, The Queen Vic Siege. He was portrayed by Max Gold, the brother of Louise Gold.

Dougie had been a paratrooper alongside Grant Mitchell in the Falklands War, and met up with him again more than 10 years later, by which time Grant was the landlord of The Queen Vic. Grant allowed Dougie to stay at The Vic, despite his wife Sharon's objections. Sharon began to feel uncomfortable around Dougie after noticing him leering at her on several occasions, but Grant refused to ask him to leave.

Dougie persuaded Grant to help him out with a raid on a supermarket, promising him a vast financial return, but Grant started to have second thoughts when he found Dougie's sawn-off shotgun. After doing some investigating, Grant discovered that Dougie had been discharged from the paratroopers because psychological tests had revealed that he was psychopathic. Dougie tried to stop the Medical Officer from filing the results, and when he refused Dougie shot him in the head and then raped his wife. Realising that he had left Sharon alone in the Vic with a convicted murderer and rapist, Grant fled home and arrived just as Dougie was attempting to sexually assault Sharon. A fight ensued and Grant was knocked unconscious, after which Dougie held Grant, Sharon and barmaid Michelle Fowler hostage with his shotgun, and demanded money.

The gun went off when Grant tried to claim it and Michelle got in the way of a stray bullet and ended up in a pool of blood on the Vic's floor. Grant overpowered Dougie, and beat him unconscious, but he was forced to leave him in the Vic while he took Michelle to hospital. He contacted his brother Phil to get rid of Dougie's body and gun, but by the time Phil arrived at the Vic, Dougie had escaped. Grant was convinced that Dougie would return for revenge, however he was apprehended by the police before he could get to the Vic.

Elizabeth Willmott-Brown

Elizabeth Willmott-Brown
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Helena Breck
Duration 1994
Appears on 7 April 1994
Book appearances EastEnders - Book Eleven: Taking Chances

Elizabeth Willmott-Brown (née Bassett) was the wife of rapist, James Willmott-Brown. One of James' victims, Kathy Beale, began to have a recurring nightmare about her rape in 1994. Her boyfriend, Phil Mitchell, decided to go in search of James to scare him away. He traced him to Elizabeth's home, but she told him that James was not in and she was unsure when he would be back. Phil wouldn't give up however, and when Elizabeth left her house many hours later, he demanded that she tell him where James was because he had raped his girlfriend. Elizabeth then got angry and told Phil she was well aware that James was a rapist, but she was trying to protect her two children from it. She also revealed that James had been imprisoned for the rape of another woman. James Willmott-Brown refers to her as "Anne" over the telephone in the episode involving Kathy's rape.

Geoff Barnes

Blossom Jackson

Binnie Roberts

Jacques Butcher

Jacques Butcher
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Jack Snell
Duration 1994, 1997
First appearance 16 June 1994
Last appearance 15 December 1997
Profile
Date of birth 28 September 1993[1]

Jacques Butcher was born in France[2] to Diane Butcher and an unknown man. Diane left Jacques with her brother Ricky and his pregnant wife Bianca when she followed her boyfriend's band on their tour. Jacques' bad behaviour made Bianca doubt that she wanted children, and she almost had an abortion[3] Jacques later went to live with Diane's sister Clare in Manchester, but then moved back in with his mother. Diane claimed that he refused to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Frank in April 2008.

Maxine Palmer

Maxine Palmer
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Dilys Laye
Duration 1994, 1995
First appearance 11 July 1994
Last appearance 14 November 1995

Maxine Palmer was the mother of Debbie Tyler, who appeared during Debbie and Nigel's courtship. She got on well with Nigel, and he liked her. She returned in 1995 after Debbie's death, to help Nigel look after Debbie's daughter Clare and to support him in his custody battle against Clare's biological father, Liam Tyler.

Ruth Fowler

Wellard

Reg Simpson

Reg Simpson
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Philip Manikum
Duration 1994
First appearance 28 November 1994
Last appearance 1 December 1994
Profile
Occupation Hotelier

Reg Simpson owned the Bed and Breakfast in Eastbourne where Pauline Fowler, Arthur Fowler and Nellie Ellis stayed in November 1994. When Reg noticed Arthur's contempt for Nellie, he sympathised with him about interfering in-laws. On the day of their departure, Nellie went missing, and Reg informed Arthur that he had seen her heading for the beach in a sombre mood. The Fowlers feared for her safety, but she was only having paddle in the ocean.

Louise Ellis

Louise Ellis
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Cate Fowler
Duration 1994
First appearance 29 November 1994
Last appearance 1 December 1994
Profile

Louise Ellis was the daughter of Nellie Ellis's philandering husband, George, who had left Nellie for Louise's mother, Doreen. Louise and her family lived in Eastbourne and Nellie traveled there for George's funeral in November 1994.

Louise was particularly hostile to Nellie, telling her that she was not welcome at the funeral and that Doreen had only invited her to be polite. She believed that Nellie had made her father's life a misery, and dismissed her mother's guilt over the matter.

Doreen Ellis

Doreen Ellis
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Olga Lowe
Duration 1994
First appearance 29 November 1994
Last appearance 1 December 1994

Doreen Ellis (legally Burtle) was a former acquaintance of Nellie Ellis—the woman who Nellie's husband, George, had left her for. Doreen contacted Nellie in November 1994 to inform her that George had died and to invite her to his funeral in Eastbourne, where they had lived for many years. Nellie referred to Doreen as "the biggest tart in the East End" and she decided to go to the funeral just to embarrass Doreen.

Nellie was most annoyed to discover that George and Doreen had an upmarket house and a daughter, because George had always refused to have children with her. After the funeral, Doreen approached Nellie and invited her back to her house for the wake. They reminisced about George, but Nellie's bad memories of him weren't shared by Doreen, and it turned out that they had a happy and fulfilling life together. Doreen gave Nellie George's old wedding ring from when they married, having found it in his sock drawer. Nellie was momentarily touched to discover that George had kept it after all these years.

Doreen felt extremely guilty about taking Nellie's husband away from her. Before Nellie returned to Walford, Doreen met her at her hotel to apologise for all the hurt she'd caused. Despite hating Doreen for many years, Nellie realised that she actually liked and admired her. Doreen offered Nellie a photo of George, which was refused. Doreen then told her that she didn't mind if Nellie contested George's will, as she was still legally his wife and she was only ever a mistress — even though Doreen went by the name Ellis she and George had never married. Nellie promised that she wouldn't.

Stanley Bridge

Stanley Bridge
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Godfrey Jackman
Duration 1994
Appears on 29 November 1994

Stanley Bridge attended the funeral and wake of Nellie Ellis's former husband, George, in November 1994. Stanley was a wheelchair-bound amputee, having lost both of his legs.

Stanley revealed to Arthur Fowler that he and George had been best friends. When he discovered that Nellie was living with Arthur, Stanley offered his commiserations, saying he'd rather have no legs than put up with her. Stanley revealed that he had been the best man at George and Nellie's wedding, and that he had warned George that Nellie would make his life a misery on his stag night. He was full of praise for George's mistress and long-term partner, Doreen. Nellie overheard everything and found his comments hard to take.

Roy Evans

Barry Evans

Andrea Price

Andrea Price
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Cindy O'Callaghan
Duration 1994–95, 1999
Last appearance 31 December 1999
Profile
Date of birth 1952
Occupation Ex-singer

Andrea Price, played by Cindy O'Callaghan who returned to the soap in her second role having previously played Stella, the mistress of Ashraf Karim, from 1989 to 1990, is the mother of Natalie Price. During 1994 and 1995 she lived at 87 George Street with Natalie. Although she wasn't seen often on screen, she was referred to regularly by her daughter and depicted as the "mother from hell". After Natalie had an affair with Ricky Butcher — her best friend's boyfriend — Andrea sent her to her sister's in Basingstoke in February 1995 to avoid the wrath of the Jackson family. Sometime later, Andrea also left Walford to move near to the rest of the Price family. Natalie had not spoken to her mother for several years before they were reunited in August 1999 by Natalie's meddling fiancé, Barry Evans.

Natalie had always had a tempestuous relationship with her boozy mother. Andrea favoured her eldest daughter Susie and would constantly make it clear that Natalie wasn't good enough. Things hadn't improved in the time since they'd been apart, and upon Natalie's arrival Andrea got extremely drunk and proceeded to embarrass and humiliate her in front of Barry. She picked holes in her appearance, branded her a waste of space, and blamed her for her own fleeting looks, her failure to make it as a singer and even for the break-up of her marriage to Natalie's father. Upon witnessing Andrea's true colours and seeing how upset she made Natalie, Barry prohibited her from having any part in their lives.

However, in November of that year, Andrea turned up on Natalie's doorstep. She had won some money playing bingo and wanted to help pay for Natalie's wedding. Natalie was opposed to the idea, but she was struggling to fund the wedding so she begrudgingly accepted. Andrea proceeded to take over the whole organisation of the wedding, concocting themes and colour codes, which only sought to infuriate an already stressed Natalie. Andrea managed to offend Natalie's future father-in-law, Roy, by goading him for not paying anything towards the wedding, which caused a huge row between Andrea and Roy's wife, Pat (who was already offended after Andrea told her that she had bad taste).

On Natalie's joint hen night with Melanie Healy in Amsterdam, Andrea, true to form, got extremely drunk and delighted in making a fool of her daughter yet again. After chatting Barry up (who was also there on his stag night) and cruelly telling Natalie that he was having second thoughts, she proceeded to kiss him right in front of her. Natalie was devastated, but the final straw came when she discovered that her mother had arranged an Adam and Eve themed wedding. Horrified, Natalie called off the wedding, after which Barry banished Andrea from their lives for a second time.

Natalie and Barry managed to patch things up and married on New Years Eve. Andrea attended, but despite her best efforts, she was restrained from having anything to do with the wedding.

References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2010/wk7/feature_eastenders.shtml
  2. ^ "Jacques Butcher", Walford Web. URL last accessed 2007-05-20.
  3. ^ Lock, Kate (2000). EastEnders Who's Who. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-55178-X.