Lofty Holloway | |||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Tom Watt | ||||||||||
Duration | 1985–1988, 2019, 2022 | ||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 3 26 February 1985 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | Episode 6608 12 December 2022 | ||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
Created by | Tony Holland and Julia Smith | ||||||||||
Introduced by | Julia Smith (1985) John Yorke (2019) Chris Clenshaw (2022) | ||||||||||
Book appearances | Hopes and Horizons A Place in Life | ||||||||||
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George "Lofty" Holloway is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders , played by Tom Watt. Lofty is one of the serial's near-original characters, making his first appearance in the third episode, which was first broadcast on 26 February 1985. Lofty is generally depicted as a meek, luckless, hapless victim. A long-running storyline concerns his relationship with the character Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully). Lofty departed in episode 334, first broadcast on 19 April 1988. Watt reprised his role in 2018 for the funeral of Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton). Lofty appears in episode 5871, originally broadcast on 19 February 2019. He reprised the role again in 2022 for the funeral of Dot Cotton (June Brown); Lofty appears in episode 6608, first broadcast on 12 December 2022.
George Holloway, nicknamed "Lofty" for his above-average height, serves in the Army but must leave because he suffers from chronic asthma; he settles in Walford and gets a job as a barman at The Queen Victoria public house.
Lofty is devoted to his aunt Irene (Katherine Parr), who lives in a hospice, stricken with inoperable cancer. He takes on the task of looking after and visiting her and is devastated when she eventually dies in 1987. He grows close to Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) after she becomes pregnant in 1985 and refuses to name the father: Lofty's employer, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), is the actual father although Lofty never discovers this. Michelle finds the prospect of bringing up a child daunting. Lofty struggles to see Michelle unhappy and chivalrously offers to marry her and help bring up her baby, Vicki, as his own. Although Michelle does not love Lofty, she accepts his proposal, realising that she can never be with her baby's real father. However, on their wedding day, Michelle is visited by Den in secret, which makes her reconsider her options; she jilts Lofty at the altar, devastating him.
When Michelle changes her mind months later, Lofty is overjoyed and sneaks Michelle away for a secret wedding. Money is sparse for the couple and Michelle is never truly happy; she quickly tires of Lofty. When Lofty begins pressuring Michelle to have a baby with him and to allow him to adopt Vicki, she is unwilling. She discovers that she is pregnant with Lofty's child and has an abortion. Lofty is devastated by Michelle's betrayal and their marriage breaks down. He grows depressed about losing the child he wanted so badly and amidst continued hostility with Michelle, he leaves Walford and take a job working as a handyman in a children's home in Bedfordshire, leaving in April 1988 with only Den witnessing his departure. It is subsequently revealed that Lofty has become a social worker.
Over thirty years later in 2019, Lofty returns for the funeral of Dr. Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton), where he reunites with old friends, Dot Branning (June Brown), Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean), and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), and explains that he now owns 15 pubs across London. They reminisce and before leaving, Lofty hands Michelle's brother, Martin Fowler (James Bye), a cheque for £20,000 to be given to Vicki. Lofty returns again three years later, in 2022, for Dot's funeral. He arrives late after initially going to the wrong church.
Lofty is one of the original 23 characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, who felt that to help complete the community there was a need for a character in his early twenties. He had to be someone a bit different; not brash and confident like a lot of the older men, and not boisterous like the younger ones. A loner, maybe someone forced to be a loner. A person who "stuck out like a sore thumb". Someone who was happiest in a group but still couldn't find one that he fitted in with. Tony Holland had previously been in the army and found that ex-soldiers had these problems when they tried to reintegrate as civilians. So they decided that Lofty would be an ex-soldier, forced to quit because of his asthma. He was happiest in the army and felt incomplete without the group setting, the all-male camaraderie and even the security of the uniformity that the army provides. [1]
Lofty's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story .
The invention of Lofty had been an afterthought, and during the casting he was still considered as something of an "enigma" to the creators and writers alike. This had made casting difficult as Holland and Smith were unsure about what they were looking for. The actor Tom Watt was suggested by one of the writers. Holland and Smith liked that his physical appearance (gauche and childlike) made him stand out (they likened him to the accident-prone sitcom character, Frank Spencer). It was decided that these attributes fitted the character perfectly and Watt was subsequently cast in the role. [1]
The BBC's official EastEnders website describes Lofty as "a mug although a lovable one". [2] In 1987, Bob Shields of the Evening Times described Lofty as a "portable funeral". He added, "Beneath the facade of his National Health glasses smoulders the fire and passion of a cold toilet seat." [3]
One of the most notable storylines Lofty was involved with was his marriage to teenage mother Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully). Michelle and Lofty's church wedding was a massive target of press speculation before the episodes aired. They wanted to know two things, firstly the design of Michelle's dress, and secondly whether or not she would jilt Lofty at the altar. [1]
Anticipating a press furore, it was decided to shoot the wedding in a church in private grounds where journalists would not have access. [1] However the press still turned up in large numbers, and security men had to be hired to keep photographers away from the story action. Huge lorries were parked in front of the entrance to the church so that nothing could be seen, and the cast arrived in disguise. Finally strong lights were shone into the eyes of the journalists and photographers, making them extremely angry, and they constantly tried to gain access to the grounds by breaking the security barrier and telling the production team that they were really extras needed inside the church. [1]
The episode was written by David Ashton, and was devoted to Lofty and Michelle's wedding day. At the time it was deemed as one of the best cliffhangers of the series, with the episode ending as the bride arrives at the church door and hesitates. [4] Michelle and Lofty's eventual marriage helped to consolidate a fast-growing audience. The young couple had come together under enormously difficult circumstances. The subsequent storylines were purposefully built to keep the audience guessing about the future of their relationship. Were they married for the wrong reasons? Would the relationship survive? and what would happen if Lofty wanted a child that was their own? [1]
The character remained in the show for three years, and eventually departed in 1988 when Watt decided to move on. On screen, Lofty, heart-broken after Michelle's abortion, moves on to become a handyman in a children's home. [5]
In 2009, when asked if there was a chance he would return as Lofty, Watt told Patrick McLennan of What's on TV : "I get the feeling that people think I'm ashamed of EastEnders; like it's some dirty thing in my past. But I had a fantastic time on that show and Lofty was loved by nobody more than the person who played him. I cannot think of anybody who had a better character to play. But I haven't been beating a path to their door, they haven't been beating a path to mine." [6]
The BBC confirmed that Watt would reprise his role as Lofty, alongside Linda Davidson as Mary Smith, over 30 years after they departed, on 18 December. [7] The characters returned for the funeral of original character Doctor Legg (Leonard Fenton), who returned to the soap in 2018. [7] Lofty appears in one episode broadcast in 2019. [7] Executive consultant John Yorke invited Watt to reprise the role and described Lofty as a "hugely iconic character, and a central part of the show's DNA". [7] He added that he was excited to have the characters return for one episode. [7] Watt was pleased to be invited back to the soap and thought that it was "fitting" that Lofty returns for Doctor Legg's funeral. [7] He commented, "I have nothing but good memories from my time on EastEnders so it will be lovely to set foot back in Albert Square all these years later." [7]
Speaking to the Metro about his return to filming, Watt said: 'We saw Letitia [Dean], Gill [Taylforth], June [Brown], Len [Fenton], some of the market stall holders are still the same people. You sort of pick up where you left off. You just start taking the piss again. We did have a laugh. 'It was that kind of an introduction back into the story, although Letitia is fantastic. We just have a couple of little scenes. When John [Yorke, producer] explained it, I thought 'that sounds really good' and then the script came through and "yeah still sounds really good."' [8]
In 1988, actor Kevin Kennedy who played Curly Watts in soap opera Coronation Street , which was EastEnders' biggest television rival, criticised the character of Lofty. Kennedy claimed that Lofty was a direct copy of his character Curly: "As far as I'm concerned, Lofty was a straight lift. It really annoyed me when I saw it. Lofty even had the same hairstyle and glasses as Curly, he had the same caring but dithering nature. It was a perfect copy." [9] Curly first appeared in Coronation Street in 1983, just under two years before Lofty first appeared in EastEnders in 1985.
Steve Tooze of the Daily Mirror branded the character a "daft, clueless geek who married 'Chelle Fowler, even though she was pregnant with Dirty Den's baby, and was duly dumped for his kind-heartedness." [5] In 2020, Tooze's colleagues, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland, placed Lofty 76th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time and wrote that he was "cruelly betrayed" by Michelle. [10] In 2022, Luke Weir from Surrey Live called Lofty a "loveable" and "luckless" whose storyline with Michelle got "viewers to root for him". [11]
Susan Tully is an English actress, television producer, and television director.
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996.
Dr. Harold Legg is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Leonard Fenton. Dr. Legg is Walford's original GP. He is widely trusted within the community, and is always on hand to dish out advice. Dr Legg appears as a regular character between 1985 and 1989, but continued to appear in a recurring role until 1997. He was officially retired in 1999 by executive producer Matthew Robinson, but made brief returns in 2000, 2004 and 2007. He returned for a longer storyline from 18 October 2018 and departed on 15 February 2019 when he died of pancreatic cancer.
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer Julia Smith as one of EastEnders' original characters. She made her debut in the soap's first episode on 19 February 1985, and remained for twenty-one years and ten months, making her the second-longest-running original character to appear continuously, surpassed only by her nephew Ian Beale. Since then, she has been surpassed by Letitia Dean who plays Sharon Watts.
Angie Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anita Dobson from the first episode of the series until 1988, when Dobson decided to leave, and the character was written out.
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia Smith demanding he was written out after he opposed a decision to make his character gay. After Smith's departure, the character made numerous brief or more protracted stints until his onscreen death in February 2015, which was written to coincide with the 30th anniversary of EastEnders.
Vicki Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Emma Herry from the character's birth in 1986 to 1988, Samantha Leigh Martin from 1988 to 1995, and Scarlett Alice Johnson from 2003 to 2004. She is the daughter of Michelle Fowler and Den Watts. The character is born in the serial, conceived in a controversial storyline about teenage pregnancy. Exploiting a whodunit angle, at the time of the first showing, viewers were not initially told who was the father, and press interest in the fledgling show escalated as journalists attempted to guess. The audience finally discovered his identity in October 1985 in episode 66. Written by series co-creator and script editor Tony Holland, and directed by co-creator and producer Julia Smith, it was considered a landmark episode in the show's history. Early suspects were Ian Beale and Kelvin Carpenter, but then four possible suspects are seen leaving Albert Square early in the episode: Tony Carpenter, Ali Osman, Andy O'Brien, and Den Watts. As Michelle waits by their rendezvous point, a car pulls up and the fluffy white legs of the soap landlord's poodle Roly leap out of a car to give it all away: Den Watts is the father of Michelle's baby. After this storyline the programme started to appear in newspaper cartoons as it moved more and more into the public mainstream. Vicki's character was written out in October 1995, after Susan Tully, who played Vicki's mother Michelle, decided to leave the soap.
Michelle Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Susan Tully from the show's first episode on 19 February 1985 up until the character's departure on 26 October 1995. She returned on 24 December 2016, with Jenna Russell taking over the role, before leaving the serial once again on 17 April 2018.
Mary Smith, also known as Mary the Punk, is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Linda Davidson, from 5 March 1985 to 26 May 1988. Punk Mary is Walford's original wild child. She often makes life difficult for herself due to her stubborn, defensive nature and she tends to feel that everyone around her is out to get her. In fact, Mary is her own worst enemy and most of her misfortune is down to her irresponsible behaviour and her inability to heed good advice. Davidson's return to the soap for a single episode was announced in December 2018. She returns for the funeral of Doctor Legg in episode 5871, originally broadcast on 19 February 2019. Davidson reprised the role of Mary again in 2022 for the funeral of Dot Cotton.
Sue Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sandy Ratcliff. She is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 19 February 1985 and departing on-screen in May 1989. Created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, Sue is portrayed as argumentative, insecure and tragic. A pivotal storyline in the character's narrative is the cot-death of her son, which was one of the show's first controversial plots. During her four years on-screen, the character contends with a phantom pregnancy, marital breakdown and finally insanity. Ratcliff left the role in 1989.
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, after which the character was killed off. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, CivvyStreet, set during the Second World War. She appears in 232 episodes.
Kelvin Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul J. Medford from 12 March 1985 to 3 September 1987.
Thomas Erickson Watt is an English actor, writer and broadcaster, known for portraying the role of Lofty Holloway in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. He is also known for his appearances on the BBC radio show Fighting Talk and his documentary films for BT Sport.
Nellie Ellis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Kelly. Nellie is introduced as the interfering relative of Pauline Fowler in 1993 and appears regularly until 1998. She makes a further appearance in 2000 for the funeral of Ethel Skinner. She moves in with the Fowlers in early 1994, and appears to be extremely annoying and interfering. However, she proves useful in getting Michelle Fowler's money back from Frank Butcher, who had unwittingly sold Michelle a stolen Austin Metro, which was subsequently apprehended by the police.
Colin Russell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michael Cashman. The character appears between 5 August 1986 and 23 February 1989 and on 8 and 9 September 2016. Colin is originally portrayed as a middle-class yuppie with a kind heart. The character is Walford's first on-screen gay resident and he featured in the UK's first homosexual kiss on a soap opera, which caused controversy in the British press. Cashman reprised the role of Colin for the funeral of Dot Cotton for two episodes broadcast on 12 and 13 December 2022.
The Banned is a fictional band in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The storyline first aired in 1986 and although it was considered to be a failure on-screen, it nevertheless became a successful part of the serial's extensive merchandising industry that year, as it spawned two hit singles on the UK singles chart.
"Every Loser Wins" is a 1986 song performed by English actor and singer Nick Berry. Written and produced by Simon May, Stewart James and Bradley James, the song was heavily featured in the BBC soap opera EastEnders throughout the summer of 1986, sung by Berry's character Simon "Wicksy" Wicks.