The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1989, by order of first appearance.
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| Maxine Roberts | |||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Ella Wilder | ||||||||||
| Duration | 1989 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 26 January 1989 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 March 1989 | ||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||
| Occupation | Nurse | ||||||||||
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Maxine Roberts was the selfish sister of Carmel Roberts, who first appeared when she attended Carmel's wedding to Matthew Jackson in January 1989. Maxine worked as a health care worker and she was highly ambitious. When Maxine's elderly parents could no longer cope with the responsibility of caring for her brother's two children, Maxine refused to take over as their guardian. She lived in a single room at the hospital where she worked, and made it clear that her career was more important. She tried to persuade Carmel to take the children in and when she initially refused, Maxine threatened to put them into care.
Carmel had no choice but to allow the children to live with her, although her husband was extremely opposed to this and it caused many arguments. When Carmel's father suffered a stroke in March 1989, Maxine brought her nephew Junior and niece Aisha to the Jacksons, insisting that they take them immediately. Matthew was furious, but he eventually relented.
| Clare Butcher | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Lucy Foxell (1989) Caroline O'Neill (2002) |
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| Duration | 1989, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 22 June 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 31 May 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1959 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Clare Butcher was the eldest child of Frank Butcher. She was only seen twice in Walford. She is married and has children but neither her husband or her children have ever been seen.
She first appeared for her father's wedding to Pat Wicks in 1989 and left her sister Janine with Frank. She had been looking after Janine for most of Janine's childhood until she got promoted at work and moved to Manchester, deciding to leave Janine with Frank as he had settled with Pat. After Frank abandoned Janine and left Walford in 1996, Janine started to become hostile towards Pat so she was sent to Manchester with Clare off-screen. Clare also looked after her other sister Diane's son Jacques, also off-screen, when he was abandoned by Diane in 1997.
Janine returned to Walford permanently in 1999 and over the years she started growing out of control, getting involved in drugs and prostitution. Clare returned to Walford briefly in 2002 and was shocked that Janine had stooped so low. Clare left again a few days later, after giving Janine some money to get back on her feet.
On 1 April 2008, shortly before the funeral of her father Frank, Dot Branning asked Clare's sister Diane of her whereabouts, Diane said that Clare had already said goodbye to her father after visiting him whilst he was ill and was now living in Australia with her family.
| Danny Whiting | |||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Saul Jephcott | ||||||
| Duration | 1989–90 | ||||||
| First appearance | 3 August 1989 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 22 February 1990 | ||||||
| Profile | |||||||
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In July 1989 Dr. David Samuels decided to modernise Walford's surgery by introducing computers. The surgery's receptionist, Michelle Fowler, struggled with the new system, but found help in the form of the computer salesman, Danny Whiting. Michelle and Danny were instantly attracted to each other and went on a date together off-screen and in August 1989 Danny made his first on-screen appearance.
Danny was suave, middle classed and a lot older than Michelle, but despite their differences Michelle fell for his charms instantly. Their relationship progressed quickly and Michelle was so smitten that she agreed to go away with him for the weekend. However she was given a shock when she telephoned his home and was greeted by a woman's voice. Danny came clean and confessed that the woman was his wife, Mandy, the mother of his two children. Danny claimed that he was no longer in love with Mandy and told Michelle that he wanted to continue their relationship. Michelle was devastated and refused to consider the idea. Danny's poor treatment of Michelle upset the locals and Simon Wicks and Ricky Butcher sought revenge on her behalf by graffitying his car with the words "Love Rat". Danny held Michelle responsible for the vandalism and stormed off leaving her perplexed and lonely.
The following month Danny contacted Michelle hoping to reconcile with her. She refused, but when Danny crept into her house late one evening she was seduced by the gesture and agreed to be his mistress. Michelle fell in love with Danny, but he would frequently let her down in order to be with his wife and children and she began to tire of sharing him. In order to appease her Danny lied to his wife, telling her that he was attending a computing course, and moved in with Michelle for a few days to spend some quality time with her. While he was living in Walford, Danny became an accidental hero after he anonymously rescued Marge Green from a gang of muggers. Danny refused to give testimony to the police however, fearing that his wife would discover his whereabouts. Michelle was furious about this, especially when she discovered that his testimony could lead to the muggers' imprisonment. Danny eventually relented and told the police what he had witnessed, but deceived them by using Michelle's address as his own, leaving her answerable when they called in search of him.
Michelle was infuriated by Danny's dishonesty and cowardice and he exasperated the situation by avoiding her for several weeks. Michelle's family and friends advised her to finish with him, but she defiantly refused to do so. Danny eventually contacted Michelle and promised to spend Christmas Eve with her. However he turned up extremely late and then soured the evening further by giving Michelle a Christmas card that was intended for his wife.
Danny continued to mess Michelle around in 1990 by avoiding all contact with her, which turned her into an emotional wreck. Just when she had given up hope, Danny returned to Walford claiming that he had informed his wife about their affair and left her. He moved in with Michelle, much to her parents' dismay, and told her that he wanted to be with her permanently. Michelle was overjoyed, but Danny's true colours eventually emerged when his estranged wife showed up in Walford shortly afterwards to confront Michelle. Danny apprehended his wife before they could meet and took her to the launderette where he begged her to take him back. Danny had been given a promotion in Newcastle and he wanted Mandy and their children to go with him. Mandy told him that moving was not an option, but she said she would take him back if he finished with Michelle and returned to her. Danny refused to give up his job however, and he promptly went to Michelle and made her the same offer. Despite an array of objection, Michelle agreed to leave her family and friends and move to Newcastle. While Michelle organised the move, Danny made various attempts to change his wife's mind, all of which were greeted with rejection.
On the day of the move, just as they were about to depart, Michelle changed her mind about leaving. Danny was stunned and attempted to forcibly place her in the moving van. Michelle, fearful of Danny's sudden aggression, locked herself in her flat and refused to let him in. Danny kicked down the door to confront her, but was forced to admit defeat after Michelle confessed that she did not really love him. He departed in a fury, throwing all of Michelle's belongings from his van in the process. A week later Michelle discovered the extent of Danny's duplicity when Mandy arrived in Walford and informed her that he'd been attempting to reconcile with her all along.
| Vince Johnson | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |
| Portrayed by | Hepburn Graham |
| Introduced by | Mike Gibbon |
| Duration | 1989–90 |
| First appearance | 3 August 1989 |
| Last appearance | 15 March 1990 |
Vince Johnson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, EastEnders, played by Hepburn Graham. Vince Johnson first appeared in August 1989, but was one of many characters to be axed early in 1990, following the introduction of the serial’s new executive-producer, Michael Ferguson. He made his last appearance in March 1990.[1]
Vince Johnson was a friend of Darren Roberts. Darren had abandoned his two children, Junior and Aisha Roberts, in 1988; Vince came to Walford in August 1989 bringing money for them.[2] Vince and Junior bonded, and when the Roberts family moved away, Junior would return to Walford to spend time with Vince.
Vince regularly liaised with Darren by telephone, and was involved in various illegal money making schemes. Vince and Darren conned car-salesman Frank Butcher by selling him a stolen BMW, which was subsequently confiscated by the police. Unaware of Vince's involvement, Frank tried to reclaim his lost money, so Vince and a gang of hooded thugs advanced on Walford with sledgehammers and began smashing up Frank's car lot to warn him off. When the police arrived, many of the vandals were arrested, but a masked Vince managed to escape thanks to Junior, who directed the chasing police elsewhere. Frank was forced to drop the matter after Vince sent him an anonymous letter threatening to harm his daughter Diane unless he did so. However, when Frank discovered that he had sold another stolen car to Julie Cooper, he realised Vince was responsible and attacked him. Despite his rage, Frank refused to involve the police, which earned Vince's respect, and he compensated Frank for his monetary losses, ending their feud.
Growing weary of a life of crime, Vince attempted to go into legitimate business, hosting themed nights at Walford's community centre with the help of his old friend, Rod Norman. When Rod decided to leave Walford, he sold his African statues to Vince, which Vince attempted to sell on for a profit. When Frank discovered his money making scheme, he harassed Vince to pay off the rest of the money he owed from the stolen car debacle. In order to get out of his debt, Vince gave Frank the statues, believing their worth to be less than what he owed, but he was later infuriated to discover that he had underestimated their real value. By this time, Frank had sold them on cheaply to Grant Mitchell for £100. Both Frank and Vince tried to con Grant's brother Phil into selling back the statues for a cheap price; Phil eventually did so, but the deal was void when Grant revealed that he had already sold them for £300 (their real value was £850). Furious, Frank tried to force Vince to compensate him for his lost profit, but Vince refused and amidst Frank's threats, Vince left Walford in March 1990, saying he was sick of Walford.
| Marie Davies | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |
| Portrayed by | Vicky Murdock |
| Duration | 1989 |
| First appearance | 10 August 1989 |
| Last appearance | 7 December 1989 |
| Profile | |
| Date of birth | 1973 |
| Occupation | Hairdresser |
Marie Davies was a sixteen year old trainee hairdresser who worked for Julie Cooper at her salon. She was pursued by Ricky Butcher, but took a liking to Paul Priestly. She accidentally dyed Cindy Williams' hair pink, and attended Cindy's wedding to Ian Beale.
She left Walford in December 1989, when she overheard Julie say that she was going to sack her in the new year.
| Christine Pretis | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |
| Portrayed by | Vivien Heilbron |
| Duration | 1989–90, 1992 |
| First appearance | 31 August 1989 |
| Last appearance | 12 March 1992 |
| Profile | |
| Occupation | Bookkeeper |
Christine Pretis did the bookkeeping for Frank Butcher at Frank's Autos, from August 1989 until 1990, when he decided to sack her, after deeming her services too expensive.
Christine later came to Frank's rescue when he had a visit from the Inland Revenue. She told him he could apply for an appeal, but in the meantime would have to give them £4,000–£5,000. She persuaded Frank to sell his Mercedes, telling him that the bailiffs would sell it at auction if he didn't.
| Reggie Thompson | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |
| Portrayed by | John Rutland |
| Duration | 1989 |
| First appearance | 31 August 1989 |
| Last appearance | 14 December 1989 |
| Profile | |
| Occupation | Retired |
Reggie Thompson lived in sheltered accommodation, along with Ethel Skinner. Reggie and several other senior residents from Prosper Estate, were intending to go on a coach trip to Clacton in December 1989 and Reggie asked Ethel to go along too. Reggie was a bit of a cad and initially told Ethel that he couldn't commit to being her dance partner as he had too many other female suitors he didn't want to disappoint. However, when Ethel heard news that her former fiancé, Benny Bloom, had died, he chivalrously agreed to be her partner. Ethel was very excited and she even showed Reggie a saucy nightdress she had bought for the trip. She and Reggie practised their dancing at the community centre for many months and they even performed their dance at the Vic's talent contest in October 1989, in preparation for the big event.
During the trip Reggie preoccupied himself with another woman, Gladys, and spent most of his time getting extremely drunk with all of his friends. This infuriated Ethel and she accused Reggie of "carrying on" with Gladys, which he denied. However, Ethel later found him and Gladys together and she furiously chased Gladys out of the hotel while Reggie followed in hot pursuit. Reggie failed to show up to partner Ethel for the dance competition because he and Gladys had checked out of the hotel and ran away to be together.
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