| Mary Flaherty | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Melanie Clark Pullen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1997–1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 1507 22 September 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 1742 23 February 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mary Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders , played by Melanie Clark Pullen, from 22 September 1997 to 23 February 1999. Her first appearance is in a special week of episodes set in Ireland, first broadcast in 1997.
It was announced in July, 1997 that Pauline Fowler's (Wendy Richard) long lost family were to be introduced into EastEnders. [1] Melanie Clark Pullen secured the role and made her first appearance on 22 September, 1997. [1] There were hints that the character would move to Albert Square in the future, which is what ultimately happened. Richie Taylor of the Daily Mirror said "It will be a huge break for Melanie, 23, who finished college only earlier this year and will make her screen debut in the series." [1]
In November, 2000, Clark Pullen revealed that becoming a celebrity sent her "spiraling into depression". [2] She said "The whole thing terrified the life out of me. It was a real baptism of fire and quite unnerving. I didn't quite know what I was letting myself in for. Coming from Blackrock, near Dublin, I just didn't realise what an obsession EastEnders is over in England. I found it extremely difficult adjusting to London. I didn't know my way around, but everyone knew me. I would ask the way to Marks & Spencers and get: 'Oh, my God—it's Mary off the telly'. 'And I'd get 16-year-old boys going: 'Hello Mary, I'll show you a good time'. I started to suffer panic attacks and felt increasingly isolated. It was worse coming straight from Ireland." [2] She added that it was scary because Ireland and England have different senses of humour. [2]
The fictional character Mary is the granddaughter of Maggie Flaherty (Olivia Shanley), Pauline Fowler's (Wendy Richard) long-lost sister. Her father is Conor (Seán Gleeson), but she doesn't get on with him. When the Fowlers go to Ireland to meet their relatives, Mary is a teenager in trouble. Although she is shown to have a level head on her shoulders, she is having an affair with an older married man, Gerry McCrae (Simon O'Gorman). Mary finds a good friend in her cousin Mark (Todd Carty), and decides to move Walford, and their relationship improves over time.
Pauline initially likes Mary, often remarking that she is like a younger version of her mother, but they cannot live in the same house and Mary often has to find new accommodations. Mary also comes between couple Joe Wicks (Paul Nicholls) and Sarah Hills (Daniela Denby-Ashe), but Joe returns to Sarah after they have a one-night stand, breaking her heart.
Mary breaks her pelvis whilst on holiday in Norfolk and then gets involved with Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom) and Robbie Jackson (Dean Gaffney), before leaving Walford with her father, Conor, and his pregnant lover, Mark's wife Ruth Fowler (Caroline Paterson).
Mark Fowler is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark, an original regular character when the series started in February 1985, became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made brief returns to the role in 1986 and 1987. Scarboro died by suicide in April 1988 and subsequently Mark was recast two years later on his return, with former Grange Hill regular Todd Carty taking on the role. From this point the character was a permanent fixture in the series and Carty remained in the role until the character was written out of the series in early 2003.
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.
Sonia Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on 2 December 1993 and she departed on 2 February 2007. She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson family, and re-appeared in the soap from 8 to 18 February 2010 and again in January 2011. Sonia returned as a permanent character on 14 January 2014, as part of a storyline that saw her mother Carol Jackson develop breast cancer. Cassidy took maternity leave in 2016 and Sonia left on 20 September 2016 for her dream job in Kettering. Cassidy made two guest stints during her maternity leave, on 25 December 2016 via webcam and for a three episode arc from 14 to 18 April 2017. She returned full-time on 27 June 2017. On 29 December 2020 it was announced that Cassidy would take an extended break from the show, with Sonia set to leave the Square to return in spring 2021. She departed on 8 January and returned on 16 April.
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 whodunnit 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/script-editor Tony Holland and directed by co-creator/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 the 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.
Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EastEnders; he was based on a member of Holland's family. Pete is featured in the soap for eight years as the local fruit and veg trader of Albert Square; he is a member of the original focal clan in the serial, the Beales and Fowlers. Pete is portrayed as a macho and somewhat insensitive individual who struggles to cope with emotion. Pete was axed from the soap in 1993 and departed in May that year after over eight years on-screen. The character was killed off-screen later that year, following Peter Dean's public criticism of the BBC.
The Beales and the Fowlers are a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. They were the main family for storylines in early episodes of EastEnders, and remained as such ever since. With at least one member of the family having been a member of the cast from the first episode in February 1985, they are the show's longest serving family. The original Beale/Fowler family consisted of matriarch Lou Beale and her children Pete and Pauline, alongside their families including their children Ian, Mark, Michelle and their spouses Kathy Hills and Arthur Fowler. Additionally, several members of the family have been introduced at a later point, including Pauline and Arthur's son Martin who was the first baby to be born into the show in 1985. The family has been headed with a matriarch first seen with Lou, and over the years, Lou's daughter Pauline, Ian's wife Jane Collins and more recently Pete's wife Kathy, have filled this role.
Tom Banks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Colm Ó Maonlaí from 23 April to 1 November 2002. Introduced in April 2002 as a love interest for Sharon Watts, producers made the decision to axe the character and he was killed off in November 2002. The character was allegedly popular with female viewers who voted him the eighth sexiest male character to appear in EastEnders in a 2005 poll.
Matthew Rose is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Joe Absolom from 26 August 1997 to 3 February 2000. He was introduced in 1997. In a deviation from typical casting protocol, the role of Matthew was constructed for Absolom after he auditioned for the production team; they were looking for new, raw talent and developed the character after they saw him perform. Matthew's most prominent storyline surrounded him being framed for murder and his wrongful imprisonment. The storyline captivated public interest with various newspapers starting nationwide campaigns for the character's release. Absolom decided to leave the soap, believing that the storyline could not be advanced further or bettered. He made his final appearance in February 2000 after taking revenge on his employer Steve Owen, the man who framed him for killing his old girlfriend Saskia Duncan on Valentine's Day 1999. Matthew was not killed off in the serial and producers at the time suggested that the door had been left open for a possible return.
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.
Conor Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Seán Gleeson from 22nd September 1997 to 22nd February 1999. The character first appeared in a special week of episodes set in Ireland, the first broadcast in 1997.
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.
Christine Hewitt is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Power. Introduced in 1992 as a lonely divorcée, she becomes besotted with married Arthur Fowler while he tends her garden. She leaves in 1993 once her affair with Arthur is discovered by his wife Pauline.
Ruth Aitken is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Caroline Paterson from 1994 to 1999. Ruth was Mark Fowler 's ex-wife and she is far more comfortable with his HIV status than many of his other girlfriends. However, their marriage eventually disintegrates due to Mark's habit of shutting her out and his inability to give Ruth a child. They split and she strays with Mark's cousin, Conor Flaherty. Her betrayal deeply hurts Mark but it also gives her the chance to be a mother as she becomes pregnant with Conor's child.
Melanie Clark Pullen was an Irish actress, film producer and writer.
In 1997, the BBC soap opera EastEnders broadcast three singular transmissions that were filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland. The episodes involved the Fowler and Beale family travelling from London to Ireland to meet their long-lost relatives. The episodes were badly received by viewers and heavily criticised in the media. The BBC was inundated with complaints from angry viewers from Ireland for negative stereotyping, portraying Irish people as "dirty, rude, and drunk". Complaints were made by the Irish Embassy and there were fears that the episodes would have a negative effect on the Irish tourist trade. The BBC was forced to issue an apology for causing offence.