Steve Elliot
Encyclopedia
Steve Elliot is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Mark Monero
between 1991 and 1996.
in October 1991 as an old school friend of Hattie Tavernier
and Sam Mitchell
. He initially works as a pizza
chef
, but his talents are noticed by Ian Beale
who quickly gives him a job as head chef at his catering business, The Meal Machine.
In 1992, after much flirting, Steve and Hattie start dating. In contrast to Hattie, Steve is less keen on commitment, but nevertheless he accepts Hattie's marriage proposal on New Year's Eve 1992. Hattie makes plans for the wedding, but Steve begins to have second thoughts when he loses his job and begins to listen to Mandy Salter
, who persuades him he is not ready for marriage. He decides to take a job as a chef on an ocean liner and neglects to tell Hattie to her face that the wedding is off. Unbeknown to him, Hattie is pregnant; she follows him and tries to persuade him to stay, although she refrains from telling him about the pregnancy, fearing he would stay out of obligation and not love. Steve decides to leave anyway. Hattie is heartbroken and has a miscarriage
soon after.
In 1994 Steve returns to Walford
with the hope of reuniting with Hattie, but finds that she has left Albert Square. After an ill-fated attempt to win her back Steve resigns himself to the fact that she is gone. Grant Mitchell
gives him a job as a barman in The Queen Vic and Steve then falls for new arrival, Della Alexander
. Della moves to the square to open a hair salon and she coaxes Steve into becoming a partner in the fledgling business, named 'Kool for Kutz'. After some problems at home Della moves in with Steve at The Vic, and Steve begins seeing Della as more than just his business partner. He actively pursues her, but is shocked to discover that Della is a lesbian
when he catches her in bed with her girlfriend Binnie Roberts
. Steve throws Della out as a result, which prompts a feud between him and Binne.
In 1995 Steve buys shares in the Bridge Street cafe and opens a night bistro, sparking a feud between him and Ian, who views him as competition and tries to get him closed down. Later in the year Steve is approached by a criminal firm, who talk him into holding an illegal gambling
night in his cafe. Several Walford residents attend, including Mark Fowler
, who gets lucky and wins a sizable sum. Mark promptly gives his winnings to his father, Arthur
, to repay a prior loan. However, Arthur is later falsely accused of embezzlement
, and he is assumed guilty due, in part, to the unaccountable sum of money he has been given by Mark. Steve is faced with a dilemma when asked by his friend, Mark, to testify as a character witness for his father and corroborate Arthur's story about the origins of the money. Admitting to the illegal gambling will threaten Steve's trading licence, but also implicate the criminal firm who use stolen money to fund the gambling. When the firm find out that Steve is going to testify and implicate them, they try to dissuade him. After idle threats fail, they take a different approach and kidnap Steve's girlfriend Lydia instead. Steve is frantic, but he eventually finds a distraught Lydia after the mobsters had attempted to drown her. They threaten to kill Lydia if Steve does not back out of testifying. Fearful for their lives, Steve packs his things and he and Lydia leave Walford in February 1996.
). Described by writer Colin Brake
as a "young black cook with ambitions to see the world", Steve was originally paired storyline-wise with Ian Beale
(Adam Woodyatt
) when he became involved in his catering service "The Meal Machine", as well as the character Hattie Tavernier
(Michelle Gayle
) with whom he had a relationship.
From 1991 to 1994, Steve made two exits and returns to the soap. In 1993, The Independent
reported that the character was being written out of EastEnders. Steve was one of several characters to be written out that year in what the press dubbed the "Albert Square Massacre". However, as Colin Brake summised in the book EastEnders: The First 10 Years, "since like Frank Sinatra
[Steve] always seems to make another comeback, perhaps we will list this as a temporary disappearance." In the storyline, Steve, faced with an imminent marriage to Hattie which he did not want to commit to, jilted her, not knowing she was pregnant with his child. Actress Michelle Gayle quit the serial towards the end of 1993, and Steve was used in an unrequited-lust storyline with a new character, Della Alexander
(Michelle Joseph
) upon his return early in 1994. Initially, writers lead the audience to believe that Della was designed to be a new love interest for Steve, however as the plot developed it was revealed that she was actually the soap's first lesbian character.
Steve Elliot has been described by author Kate Lock as "a bit of a dilettante where women were concerned", while Josephine Munroe has described him as "laid-back". Steve's portrayer Mark Monero
has described Steve as a transient character because he did not have a screen family. This, he says, enabled him to have more autonomy in how the character developed. BBC News
reporter Katy Lewis has suggested that although Steve Elliot was a black character in the soap, his ethnicity was never important with regard to storylines stating, "[Steve] lived [his] life and had [...] storylines and it didn’t matter what colour he was." Monero has said that he tried his best "not to stick to any kind of stereotypes, except the fact that Steve was a Cockney. He was in EastEnders and he lived in the East End
. It just so happened that he was black. I tried not to make it a big deal so after a while [the producers] let me have that freedom."
The character remained on-screen till February 1996 when he fled after getting on the wrong side of some mobsters. In reality, Monero quit the soap. In 2006, he revealed why: "I didn't think I was going to be in EastEnders that long. I was 23 [when I started] and was working quite a bit before I joined. I never really watched that much television but I knew of it. It's not the route I expected to go down, but I did and enjoyed most of it. Then, it was a little bit like being in school. People weren't as relaxed as they should be in TV. You're only acting, so it was like saying 'get a grip' to them." When asked about his exit, Monero commented, "I drove off into the darkness. I can’t remember why now, but they gave me a really nice car to drive off in. It was a Mercedes
, a lovely old classic merc. It was really nice. I suppose that leaves it a bit open ended. I could come back - or maybe not!"
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Mark Monero
Mark Monero
Mark Monero is a British actor. He has had various roles including parts in Babylon, Wilt, Prayer for the Dying, Sid and Nancy and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , although he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles.-Acting:Monero...
between 1991 and 1996.
Storylines
Steve is first seen in Albert SquareAlbert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
in October 1991 as an old school friend of Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Gayle between 1990 and 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson. The Taverniers were the first collective black family to join the soap at the same time...
and Sam Mitchell
Sam Mitchell (EastEnders)
Samantha Margaret Priscilla "Sam" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. The third member of the Mitchell family to be introduced, Sam entered as a 15-year-old school girl in July 1990, played by Danniella Westbrook. Westbrook quit in 1993, but was reintroduced...
. He initially works as a pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, but his talents are noticed by Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
who quickly gives him a job as head chef at his catering business, The Meal Machine.
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylines about homelessness, child and drug abuse. Her relationship with Aidan Brosnan was one of the...
, who persuades him he is not ready for marriage. He decides to take a job as a chef on an ocean liner and neglects to tell Hattie to her face that the wedding is off. Unbeknown to him, Hattie is pregnant; she follows him and tries to persuade him to stay, although she refrains from telling him about the pregnancy, fearing he would stay out of obligation and not love. Steve decides to leave anyway. Hattie is heartbroken and has a miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
soon after.
In 1994 Steve returns to Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
with the hope of reuniting with Hattie, but finds that she has left Albert Square. After an ill-fated attempt to win her back Steve resigns himself to the fact that she is gone. Grant Mitchell
Grant Mitchell (EastEnders)
Grant Anthony Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. Grant first appeared in 1990, introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show. Kemp remained until 1999 when he opted to leave...
gives him a job as a barman in The Queen Vic and Steve then falls for new arrival, Della Alexander
Della Alexander
Della Alexander is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Joseph 1994–1995. Della is the first lesbian character to be featured on the show.-Storylines:...
. Della moves to the square to open a hair salon and she coaxes Steve into becoming a partner in the fledgling business, named 'Kool for Kutz'. After some problems at home Della moves in with Steve at The Vic, and Steve begins seeing Della as more than just his business partner. He actively pursues her, but is shocked to discover that Della is a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
when he catches her in bed with her girlfriend Binnie Roberts
Binnie Roberts
Binnie Roberts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sophie Langham.Binnie was an out and proud lesbian, which was in stark contrast to her shy and retiring girlfriend.-Storylines:...
. Steve throws Della out as a result, which prompts a feud between him and Binne.
In 1995 Steve buys shares in the Bridge Street cafe and opens a night bistro, sparking a feud between him and Ian, who views him as competition and tries to get him closed down. Later in the year Steve is approached by a criminal firm, who talk him into holding an illegal gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
night in his cafe. Several Walford residents attend, including Mark Fowler
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
, who gets lucky and wins a sizable sum. Mark promptly gives his winnings to his father, Arthur
Arthur Fowler
Arthur George Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Bill Treacher.The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man, but he made some foolish choices and he always ended up paying dearly for them, also being bossed to the brink of insanity by...
, to repay a prior loan. However, Arthur is later falsely accused of embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
, and he is assumed guilty due, in part, to the unaccountable sum of money he has been given by Mark. Steve is faced with a dilemma when asked by his friend, Mark, to testify as a character witness for his father and corroborate Arthur's story about the origins of the money. Admitting to the illegal gambling will threaten Steve's trading licence, but also implicate the criminal firm who use stolen money to fund the gambling. When the firm find out that Steve is going to testify and implicate them, they try to dissuade him. After idle threats fail, they take a different approach and kidnap Steve's girlfriend Lydia instead. Steve is frantic, but he eventually finds a distraught Lydia after the mobsters had attempted to drown her. They threaten to kill Lydia if Steve does not back out of testifying. Fearful for their lives, Steve packs his things and he and Lydia leave Walford in February 1996.
Creation and development
Steve Elliot was the second of only two regular characters to be introduced into EastEnders in 1991, the other was Rachel Kominski (Jacquetta MayJacquetta May
Jacquetta May is a British actress, writer and theatre director.The Kent born actress worked in theatre for ten years after leaving Bristol University, with one short television role as a vengeful wife in the ITV police drama The Bill...
). Described by writer Colin Brake
Colin Brake
Colin Brake is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programs such as Bugs and EastEnders. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series Doctor Who...
as a "young black cook with ambitions to see the world", Steve was originally paired storyline-wise with Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
(Adam Woodyatt
Adam Woodyatt
Adam Brinley Woodyatt is an English actor and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders...
) when he became involved in his catering service "The Meal Machine", as well as the character Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Gayle between 1990 and 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson. The Taverniers were the first collective black family to join the soap at the same time...
(Michelle Gayle
Michelle Gayle
Michelle Patricia Gayle is a British recording artist, actress and author. Gayle had success as a Soul and R&B singer in the 1990s. She achieved seven Top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart, her two biggest hits to date being "Sweetness" and "Do You Know"...
) with whom he had a relationship.
From 1991 to 1994, Steve made two exits and returns to the soap. In 1993, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported that the character was being written out of EastEnders. Steve was one of several characters to be written out that year in what the press dubbed the "Albert Square Massacre". However, as Colin Brake summised in the book EastEnders: The First 10 Years, "since like Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
[Steve] always seems to make another comeback, perhaps we will list this as a temporary disappearance." In the storyline, Steve, faced with an imminent marriage to Hattie which he did not want to commit to, jilted her, not knowing she was pregnant with his child. Actress Michelle Gayle quit the serial towards the end of 1993, and Steve was used in an unrequited-lust storyline with a new character, Della Alexander
Della Alexander
Della Alexander is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Joseph 1994–1995. Della is the first lesbian character to be featured on the show.-Storylines:...
(Michelle Joseph
Michelle Joseph
-Acting career:Joseph is most famous for playing Walford's first lesbian resident, Della Alexander, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1994 - 1995.Other acting credits include:*As Time Goes By *The Bill *So What Now?...
) upon his return early in 1994. Initially, writers lead the audience to believe that Della was designed to be a new love interest for Steve, however as the plot developed it was revealed that she was actually the soap's first lesbian character.
Steve Elliot has been described by author Kate Lock as "a bit of a dilettante where women were concerned", while Josephine Munroe has described him as "laid-back". Steve's portrayer Mark Monero
Mark Monero
Mark Monero is a British actor. He has had various roles including parts in Babylon, Wilt, Prayer for the Dying, Sid and Nancy and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , although he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles.-Acting:Monero...
has described Steve as a transient character because he did not have a screen family. This, he says, enabled him to have more autonomy in how the character developed. BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
reporter Katy Lewis has suggested that although Steve Elliot was a black character in the soap, his ethnicity was never important with regard to storylines stating, "[Steve] lived [his] life and had [...] storylines and it didn’t matter what colour he was." Monero has said that he tried his best "not to stick to any kind of stereotypes, except the fact that Steve was a Cockney. He was in EastEnders and he lived in the East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
. It just so happened that he was black. I tried not to make it a big deal so after a while [the producers] let me have that freedom."
The character remained on-screen till February 1996 when he fled after getting on the wrong side of some mobsters. In reality, Monero quit the soap. In 2006, he revealed why: "I didn't think I was going to be in EastEnders that long. I was 23 [when I started] and was working quite a bit before I joined. I never really watched that much television but I knew of it. It's not the route I expected to go down, but I did and enjoyed most of it. Then, it was a little bit like being in school. People weren't as relaxed as they should be in TV. You're only acting, so it was like saying 'get a grip' to them." When asked about his exit, Monero commented, "I drove off into the darkness. I can’t remember why now, but they gave me a really nice car to drive off in. It was a Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, a lovely old classic merc. It was really nice. I suppose that leaves it a bit open ended. I could come back - or maybe not!"