"Sharongate" is the term used for a storyline in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , which reached its climax on 24 October 1994, attracting 25.3 million viewers. The plot was written by EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan. [1] In the storyline, Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) confessed on tape that she had had sex with her brother-in-law, Phil (Steve McFadden). The truth comes out in the middle of The Queen Victoria pub. Sharon's husband Grant (Ross Kemp) attacked Phil and he was lucky to survive.
One of the most notable and popular EastEnders storylines is a love triangle between the characters Grant Mitchell, his wife Sharon and his brother Phil. The plot has been described by former Executive Producer of EastEnders and BBC's Head of Drama Serials, John Yorke, as a "Tristan and Isolde story". [2]
Despite the fact that Sharon marries Grant initially, EastEnders writer Tony Jordan has revealed in The Mitchells – The Full Story that the love-triangle storyline had been planned since Phil and Grant's introduction in 1990, after the writers came to the realisation that Sharon was perfect for them both. [3]
This storyline was slow burning and was spread over several years, providing a plethora of dramatic tension along the way. The episode in which Phil betrays his brother with Sharon occurred in September 1992 in one of the soap's notorious three-handers. Sue Dunderdale directed the episodes and the performances of McFadden, Kemp and Dean have been described as memorable and filled with high-tension drama. [4] Things finally came to a head in October 1994 with some of EastEnders' most popular and renowned episodes, which have been dubbed "Sharongate". [5]
The episodes—which were watched by 25.3 million viewers [6] —turn on Grant's discovery of the affair and his startling reaction. On-screen Grant accidentally hears Sharon unwittingly confessing to the affair on tape. He reacts by playing it to a pub full of people at Phil's engagement party and then beats his brother unconscious. [7] The aftermath of the storyline eventually sees Sharon depart Walford after ten years in the show and the repercussions of Phil's betrayal contribute to many subsequent storylines involving the Mitchell brothers throughout the 1990s.
Writer of Sharongate, Tony Jordan, has stated that of all the storylines he has penned for the soap, Sharongate is the one he is most proud of. He comments "Three of the strongest characters that have ever been in EastEnders are the Mitchell brothers and Sharon... when we actually blew that story it was incredible... being able to reach that many people with your work is what makes EastEnders exciting." [8] Sharongate's success with viewers was not equalled until six years later, in 2001, when EastEnders screened the highly publicised Who Shot Phil? storyline. [9] Sally Vincent, a journalist for The Guardian, wrote that Sharongate's success "wasn't so much the guilt-stacked, long-drawn-out business of Sharon 'n' Phil's helpless lust for each other – all that unseemly face-sucking while her hubby/his brother, the ape-like Grant, languished in gaol for trying to set fire to everyone – that broke the ratings record, nor was it the ingenious ruse of using a tape to broadcast Sharon's poignant little confession to the entire clientele of Walford's Queen Vic ... it was the fact that we'd all watched Sharon grow up. We knew that she was a nice little person, vulnerable, brave, sweet-natured and kind to the dog. We were sorry for her...Neither of those Mitchells deserved her, so when one punched the other into the garage pit and half-killed him for tampering with his lady-wife, we didn't much care. We were sorry to see [Sharon] go." [9]
Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) becomes part of the Mitchell family when she marries Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) in December 1991. But months later the couple begin rowing. Grant wants a wife who behaves like one, and Sharon refuses to comply. He also wants a baby but Sharon prefers to concentrate on making The Queen Victoria pub a success to honor her late father Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), The Vic's previous landlord.
During a major row in July 1992, Sharon confesses that she has carried on taking the contraceptive pill because she doesn't want to have a baby with Grant. He loses his temper, and after smashing The Vic up he disappears for a few weeks, leaving brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) to comfort a devastated Sharon. Sharon begins to wonder if she has married the wrong brother. Grant returns, and despite promises to try harder he immediately returns to his old ways, staying out with his friends all night and leaving Phil to help Sharon run the pub in his place. Grant's thuggish behaviour only brings Sharon and Phil closer together. Sharon confides in Phil while clearing glasses away and one night they both kiss, and this eventually leads to Phil and Sharon beginning their affair; however, Sharon cannot bring herself to leave Grant, and upon his return she chooses him rather than Phil.
Grant's reign of terror continues, and he begins to get involved with crime. He intimidates Sharon and her friends; he smashes up The Vic again and later, sets fire to it in an insurance scam, unaware that Sharon is inside. Sharon is furious when she discovers his involvement in the fire at her beloved pub and when Grant realises his marriage is over and wants to sell The Vic, she decides to take a holiday to visit her mother Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) in America in January 1993. Upon her return three months later, she attempts to seize Grant's half of The Queen Vic and gain full control. More arguments follow and after another heated argument Grant hits Sharon across the face. Sharon tries to hide her injuries, but both Phil and Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), Sharon's best friend, notice there is something wrong.
When Grant's behaviour does not improve, Michelle calls the police, but when they arrive Grant loses his temper and begins attacking them. He badly injures one policeman and Michelle gets punched by Grant. Grant is arrested and sent to prison on remand. With Grant out of the way, Sharon's affair with Phil resumes. While he is serving his prison sentence, Grant begins to suspect that his wife may be seeing someone else, and threatens to kill the man if he ever finds him. Phil then has to mediate between his brother and his lover. However, Sharon and Phil are both tormented with feelings of guilt, and neither want to tell Grant the truth. When Grant is finally released from prison, Sharon takes pity on him, and by the end of June that year they reunite. Phil, still in love with Sharon, marries Nadia Borovac (Anna Barkan), a Romanian refugee so she can gain a visa, though their marriage is short-lived. After Phil's first marriage collapses, he begins a relationship with Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and the two are eventually engaged. When Sharon learns of the engagement and visits Phil, with the hope of reigniting their affair, they kiss, but Phil suddenly stops himself and throws her out.
The storyline eventually comes to a climax in October 1994. Sharon has put her affair with Phil behind her and she and Grant are even thinking about starting a family. Michelle's boyfriend, Geoff Barnes (David Roper), has an idea about interviewing local girls for his book about the 'social and economic importance of women in the East End'. Sharon agrees to contribute, so long as Michelle conducts the interview. During the autumn of 1994 the interview takes place, with Michelle taping the conversation on a tape recorder. However the girls forget to turn the tape recorder off after the interview finishes, and prompted by Michelle, Sharon begins to reveal the full details of her affair with Phil, leaving the incriminating evidence in the tape machine, which eventually finds its way into the glove compartment of Grant's car - for him to find later.
Weeks later, on the night of Phil and Kathy's engagement party, Grant goes on an errand to collect some beer from a nearby pub. On his drive home, he searches through the glove compartment to find a cassette to put on, and by chance chooses the one containing the incriminating interview. On hearing Sharon's confession that she had sex with Phil, Grant goes into a state of shock and anger. He arrives at The Queen Vic pub, where the party is taking place, stops the music and then plays the tape to the crowded pub. Kathy reacts by slapping Sharon and calling her a slut, whilst Grant goes to The Arches garage, later followed by Phil who tries to explain. Grant then beats him up, leaving him hospitalised with a ruptured spleen.
Phil spends some time in intensive care, but goes on to make a full recovery from his injuries. He and Grant reconcile after Grant coerces him into blaming Sharon for their affair. Grant makes Sharon's life a misery. He constantly humiliates her in public, branding her "the pub whore", and acts in an aggressive manner, which includes smashing plates on the table where she is sitting. Sharon wants to reconcile so she puts up with the abuse for several months, refusing to give in to his demands for a divorce. However, Grant finds ever more inventive ways to humiliate her and by Christmas Day that year Sharon finally agrees to sign the divorce papers. She moves to the United States to live with Angie. This leads to the return of Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), the mother of Phil and Grant, who takes over as acting landlady in Sharon's place.
Sharon returns in March 1995 to hostility from Grant, Phil and Peggy. Sharon is not perturbed and her gutsy behaviour eventually earns her the respect of her ex-husband Grant, who begins to realise that he is still in love with her. Sharon is determined to get revenge for her mistreatment, so she leads Grant on, while confessing to Michelle that it is really her plan to publicly humiliate him. She leads him to believe that a public proposal of remarriage would seal their reunion. Grant decides to pop the question at The Queen Vic pub quiz night, and Sharon is ready to turn him down in front of the packed pub and his family. However, in the end, she cannot go through with it, and stops him from proposing before he humiliates himself. She then confesses to him that she still loves him, before heading for America to join her mother, leaving Grant devastated. Before she returns to Angie in America, Sharon reluctantly sells her half of The Queen Vic to Peggy.
"Sharongate" has proven to be a popular storyline with viewers. In 2001 it was voted the second "Best Ever Soap Moment" in an ITV televised poll, [10] and it was voted the sixth top soap opera moment of all time in a poll of 17,000 people for What's on TV magazine in 2003. [11] In 2010, Michael Hogan from The Telegraph ranked it the sixth of the top ten "unforgettable moments" of EastEnders. [12]
In September 2014, Sharon eventually marries Phil. EastEnders later made several nods to the storyline throughout 2018 and 2019, when Sharon has an affair with Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters). Fans also noted that the affair was almost revealed through a sound system in November 2019, in a similar way that "Sharongate" was ended.
Den Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den".
Peggy Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the episode broadcast on 30 April 1991, featuring in 10 episodes. Peggy was reintroduced in 1994, recast to Barbara Windsor, who made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 7 November 1994. Peggy became a regular character, and Windsor played the role until she was forced to take a long break due to poor health and departed on 23 May 2003. She returned for two episodes broadcast on 16 and 17 September 2004, before rejoining as a regular character on 8 September 2005. Windsor announced in October 2009 that she would be leaving the show and departed on 10 September 2010. Windsor returned to the show for guest appearances on 20 September 2013, 25 September 2014, 17 February 2015 and 15 January 2016. She then appeared in six episodes between 9 and 17 May 2016, where the character was killed off. Her voice is last heard in the following episode, on 19 May 2016. Peggy's funeral aired on 4 July 2016. An archived recording of her voice was heard on 25 January 2022. On 26 July 2022, it was announced that Peggy would feature in a flashback episode set in 1979, alongside her husband Eric and their children Phil, Grant and Sam. Jaime Winstone played the role of Peggy for this special episode, which aired on 5 September 2022.
Dennis Rickman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nigel Harman. He made his first appearance on 14 April 2003 at the funeral of his late mother, Paula, before going on to become one of the show's central protagonists from 1 May 2003 up until his last appearance in the episode broadcast on 30 December 2005, when the character was fatally stabbed at the start of the New Year Fireworks.
Sharon Watts is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera, EastEnders, played by Letitia Dean. Sharon was one of EastEnders' original characters conceptualised by creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith. She first appeared in the first episode broadcast on 19 February 1985 as the teenage adopted daughter of pub landlords Den and Angie Watts. Dean originally quit the role in 1995 after ten years, with Sharon departing following the breakdown of her marriage. In May 2001, Sharon was reintroduced by producer John Yorke, before departing in January 2006. Dean's return was announced in February 2012, and she later made her on-screen return on 13 August 2012 in a special week of episodes involving her wedding day to John Hewland and Ben Mitchell being arrested for killing Heather Trott. Dean took a temporary break from the show and departed on 9 January 2024, and Sharon returned on 1 April 2024.
Chrissie Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tracy-Ann Oberman. She first appeared on 29 April 2004 and transpired to be the second wife of the show's "most enduring character", Den Watts - and thus became a prominent regular for the next 18 months. In 2005, Chrissie was the focus of one of "the programme's biggest and most high-profile narratives" when she killed her husband in self-defence at the end of the special 20th anniversary episode. The broadcast, airing on 18 February, was watched by 14.34 million people - with "almost 60% of possible viewers" tuning in to see Chrissie killing Den. The character was credited by former head of BBC Drama Serials, Mal Young, as "anchoring the success of the anniversary storyline", and was described on the news programme BBC Breakfast as the "centrepiece" of the show, with the on-screen drama playing out over the course of 2005 and culminating in Chrissie's departure on 9 December 2005. On 3 July 2024, it was announced that Oberman would be reprising the role later in the year for a short stint. Chrissie's return aired on 5 September 2024 in prison, and she departed the show on 12 September, following her reunion with Jake Moon and release after serving nearly 19 years for the murder of Den.
Steve Robert McFadden is an English actor whose career has spanned three decades. He rose to prominence for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, which he has played since 1990. Regarded as one of the show's most popular characters, he has received numerous accolades including the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement. McFadden was also the presenter of the game show Britain's Hardest (2004).
Sam Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The third member of the Mitchell family to appear on the soap, Sam was introduced as a 15-year-old schoolgirl in July 1990, originally played by Danniella Westbrook. Westbrook quit in 1993, but Sam reappeared from 1995 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2000. In both stints, Sam was written out earlier than the producers intended due to off-screen controversies surrounding Westbrook. In January 2002, Sam was introduced for a fourth time, but the role was recast to Kim Medcalf, who stayed in the role until November 2005. Diederick Santer later decided to reintroduce Sam for a brief stint in 2009 and opted to bring Westbrook back. Westbrook briefly reprised the role once again in 2016 for the funeral of Sam's mother Peggy Mitchell. In January 2022, it was announced that Sam would be returning to the show, this time played by Medcalf again. Medcalf’s return scenes aired on 18 April 2022. Medcalf took an extended break from the show in 2023, with Sam departing on 13 April 2023 and returning seven months later on 21 November 2023. On 18 January 2024, Sam made an unannounced departure from the show following Medcalf's decision to leave indefinitely.
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother, Grant, sister, Sam and mother, Peggy. Phil was one of the major characters introduced by executive producer, Michael Ferguson, who wanted to bring in some macho male leads. Phil and his brother Grant became popularly known as the Mitchell brothers in the British media, with Phil initially portrayed as the more level-headed of the two thugs. Storylines featuring the Mitchell family dominated the soap opera throughout the 1990s, with Phil serving as one of the show's central characters and protagonists since the 1990s. McFadden temporarily left the series in late 2003, then returned in April 2005 for a brief appearance before making a permanent return in October 2005, and has now overtaken Dot Cotton as the second-longest-serving character in EastEnders – surpassed only by original character, Ian Beale. A teenage version of Phil, played by Daniel Delaney, appeared in a flashback episode broadcast on 5 September 2022, which focuses on the Mitchell family in the 1970s.
Grant Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. He was introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show, and originally served as one of the show's leading protagonists throughout the 1990s; with the character first appearing in 22 February 1990 and then departing on 25 October 1999 after Kemp had opted to leave the show. He then returned to the show on 24 October 2005 for a few weeks and returned again between March and June 2006. Kemp was persuaded to return to the role for brief stints during a period of heavy media criticism aimed at EastEnders. The return proved to be a ratings success. Kemp reprised the role of Grant for various guest stints in 2016, appearing in twelve episodes between 13 May and 9 September. An archived recording of his voice was heard on 25 January 2022. On 26 July 2022, it was announced that Grant would feature in a flashback episode focusing on the Mitchell family in 1979. Teddy Jay played the role of Grant for this special episode, which aired on 5 September 2022.
Johnny Allen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Billy Murray. He first appeared on 4 January 2005 and became the show's primary antagonist until the character was killed off on 20 October 2006.
Kathy Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gillian Taylforth. Portrayed as "an attractive, bright, caring and highly moral woman", Kathy is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in the first episode of EastEnders on 19 February 1985. She is created as the second wife of Pete Beale and mother of their son Ian Beale. Taylforth was originally dismissed for the role of Kathy due to her young age, but was reconsidered when she impressed show bosses. The actress opted to leave the serial in 1997 and Kathy departed on 10 April 1998 after deciding to move to South Africa with her second son Ben Mitchell. Kathy returned for two separate guest stints in 1999, making her departure on 6 January 2000. Despite reports that Taylforth would be returning to the serial, Kathy was supposedly killed off-screen in a road collision in 2006 to facilitate Ben's reintroduction to the serial. Taylforth reprised the role for a charity special in 2014. In the episode broadcast on 19 February 2015 to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary, Kathy made a surprise return to the serial - despite being presumed dead. It was confirmed that Kathy would be making a permanent return, and – after a guest appearance on 19 May 2015 – Kathy returned permanently on 17 August 2015. Taylforth was initially hesitant about her reintroduction storyline, which was inspired by the John Darwin disappearance case. In May 2019, it was announced that Kathy would open Walford's first gay bar. Taylforth appeared in her 2,000th episode on 22 May 2023. On 29 July 2024, it was announced that Taylforth would be going on a temporary break in the episode aired that night. Kathy returned to the serial on 19 August, after just three weeks off-screen.
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.
"Get Johnny Week" is a week-long storyline in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which was first screened at the end of March 2006. The storyline refers to the character of Johnny Allen, the show's main antagonist, and also features the characters of his daughter Ruby Allen ; enemies Grant and Phil Mitchell ; and former henchmen Jake and Danny Moon.
Roly is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Roly is an apricot coloured standard poodle, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remained in the show until 19 October 1993.
The Mitchell family is a fictional family in the UK soap opera EastEnders. They were first introduced in February 1990, when brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell bought the local garage, the Arches. Their sister Sam was introduced later in 1990, and their mother Peggy shortly after in 1991, before being reintroduced as a regular character in 1994, with the role recast to Barbara Windsor. Since then, the family has been significantly expanded to include both the immediate and extended families. Phil has been the longest running Mitchell on the show, and the family has expanded significantly in the years since, remaining a large presence on the square.
The Watts family are a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The family consists of Den, Angie, Sharon, Dennis, Chrissie, Vicki, Dennis Jnr, Albie and Alyssa.