| Lynne Hobbs | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elaine Lordan as Lynne Hobbs (2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Elaine Lordan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Tony Jordan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | John Yorke | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2000–04 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 18 September 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 July 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | EastEnders: Slaters In Detention (2003) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 August 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Café worker | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Lynne Marie Hobbs (née Slater) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elaine Lordan. She appeared in the show from September 2000 to July 2004
Lynne was a fierce judge of right and wrong, although she wasn't always able to practice what she preached. She had a turbulent relationship with husband Garry, but despite her complaints about him, it ended up being Lynne's adultery that put their relationship in jeopardy long before Garry strayed.
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Lynne is the eldest daughter of Charlie and Viv Slater, and arrived on the Square with her maternal grandmother Mo Harris, sisters Kat and Little Mo and her niece Zoe Slater. Unlike Little Mo and Zoe, Lynne was aware that Zoe was in fact Kat's daughter, and helped keep the family secret until Kat revealed the truth to Zoe. Lynne was described as being feisty and loud, she made an enemy in Janine Evans.
Lynne is the eldest of the Slater sisters and she arrived in Albert Square in 2000 with the rest of her family: father Charlie; sisters Kat, Little Mo and Zoe, and grandmother Mo.
Lynne was in a relationship with hapless mechanic Garry Hobbs and she spent much of her time despairing over Garry's inability to fully commit to their relationship. All Lynne really wanted was to marry Garry, settle down and raise a family. But although Garry loved Lynne he was initially hesitant to lose his 'bachelor status' and he in turn spent much of his time dodging Lynne's less than subtle hints about marriage. However, Lynne (and the rest of the Slaters) wore Garry down and the two eventually got engaged.
Lynne worked in Ian Beale's café and she often clashed with co-worker Janine Butcher, who would regularly slack off work and flirt with Garry to wind her up. This culminated in Lynne eventually getting Janine fired and the two were sworn enemies thereafter.
In 2001, Lynne became friendly with womanising club owner Beppe di Marco and she would often be put upon to babysit for his son Joe. The pair soon became attracted to each other and shared several kisses. She even had a one night stand with Beppe on the eve of her wedding to Garry. Beppe felt that Garry didn't deserve Lynne and he attempted to stop Lynne from marrying him by turning up at the register office and starting a fight with Garry. Lynne was tempted, but she decided to go through with the wedding in the end.
The marriage did not go smoothly, however, and in 2002 Lynne strayed again, this time with her ex-lover Jason James. Jason was Lynne's ex-fiancé, who had ditched her at the altar the day of their wedding and then fled to Dubai. After a chance meeting, the two rekindled their affair. Jason wanted to make another go of things with Lynne and almost persuaded her to leave Garry and live with him away from Walford. However, just at the last minute, Lynne changed her mind, opting to stay with her family instead of following her heart. Garry forgave Lynne as he was desperate to hang onto her, but the trust had gone from their relationship following Lynne's second betrayal.
In 2003, another affair jeopardised Lynne's marriage, but this time it was Garry who strayed. A drunken one night stand with the married Laura Beale culminated in Laura falling 'supposedly' pregnant to Garry, and after Laura's husband Ian threw her out, she came knocking on Garry's door for money. Lynne had been desperately trying for a baby during this time and she was unable to forgive Garry for fathering a child with another woman. Lynne promptly threw Garry to the curb and the two remained separated for some time after. During their separation, Garry continued to 'upset the apple cart' by moving in with Laura and having a one night stand with Lynne's other sister, Belinda Peacock.
Despite this, Lynne was eventually persuaded to give Garry another chance and in 2004 she too fell pregnant. A pre-natal scan confirmed that she was expecting a girl, who Lynne planned to name Vivian after her dead mother. However, disaster struck later that year, when a badly put together fairground ride collapsed in the Square and Lynne was buried under the debris. Lynne survived but later in hospital she started getting severe pains in her abdomen. The doctors informed Garry that if they didn't perform a caesarian section, then both baby and mother would die. Garry knew that Lynne wanted a natural birth, but he nevertheless agreed to the caesarian section. Lynne survived the operation, but unfortunately her baby died and as a result Lynne was no longer able to have children. When Lynne awoke from the surgery and was told the tragic news, she became devastated and blamed Garry for the whole mess. She was furious with him for consenting to surgery and couldn't even bring herself to look at him. On the day of her daughter's funeral, Lynne decided that her marriage to Garry was over. She felt there was nothing left for her in Walford as everything there was just a bitter reminder of what she'd lost. She left that day to go and stay with her aunt Jean and her departure left Garry a broken man. Lynne's last appearance was in July 2004.
Lynne and Garry have since divorced and in 2007 the Slaters heard news that Lynne was engaged. In January 2011, Charlie leaves Walford to live with Lynne.
In 2000, EastEnders' executive producer John Yorke decided to introduce the "classic" Slater family.[1] He felt the show needed to go back to its roots and bring back some traditional values.[1] BBC's head of drama, Mal Young commented, "We do not have enough solid families in the soap, there were a lot of fractured families and people who were alone."[1] The family were created as a replacement for the di Marco family, who were axed by Yorke. The family consisted of, grandmother Mo Harris (Laila Morse), father Charlie (Derek Martin), his four children, Lynne (Elaine Lordan), Kat (Jessie Wallace), Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth), Zoe (Michelle Ryan), as well as Lynne's boyfriend Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves). It later transpired that Kat was the mother of Zoe, after being raped by her uncle Harry Slater (Michael Elphick).
Lordan was cast in the role of Lynne after the character was developed at an improvisation session for thirty actors and actresses earlier in the year. The character was described as "feisty", "a loud mouth" and "lazy".
The character of Lynne Hobbs has been spoofed in the cartoon sketch show 2DTV.
Also, impressionist Alistair McGowan has impersonated Lynne working in the cafe, in his comedy show, The Big Impression.
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