Tony Carpenter
Encyclopedia
Tony Carpenter is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Oscar James
.
Happy go lucky Tony tried to carve himself a successful business and steady home for his family, but nothing he did was ever good enough for his nagging wife.
ian born Tony, married his wife Hannah after being divorced from his first wife. He and Hannah had two children, Kelvin
and Cassie.
Tony's second marriage was not a happy one and Hannah soon lost all tolerance for her fun-loving husband. She began to look down upon his less than lucrative job as a carpenter
and his inability to provide for her and her children. They separated in 1985, after which Tony bought a house in disuse at Number 3 Albert Square
and set about making it habitable, leaving Hannah to move in with another man. Kelvin soon joined Tony on the square, although it took him a lot to persuade his wife to allow him custody of their son.
Tony was amiable and easy-going and was unmistakable in his sheepskin jacket and beret
, which he rarely took off, even indoors.
Tony had various run-ins with the local villain Nick Cotton
, and was understandably furious when he discovered that Nick had joined a racist organisation. After Nick taunted Kelvin about the colour of his skin, Tony went to teach him a lesson, which at least managed to scare him out of spreading his racial hatred for a while.
In February 1985, Tony secured himself a job renovating The Queen Victoria public house and gave the unemployed Arthur Fowler
a job as his aid. It was whilst he was working here that Tony caught the eye of the married landlady Angie Watts
. Angie had grown tired of her cheating husband, Den
, and whilst he was away on a holiday in Spain
with his lover, Angie set about seducing Tony and the two embarked on an affair
. Tony took it seriously, but Angie was only using him to get back at Den and make him jealous. The affair was conducted in secret, but after Angie initiated a kiss in The Vic with Tony, she was caught by her daughter Sharon. Angie was forced to use bribery in order to keep her daughter from informing her husband, and even informed her about Den's current infidelity. Upon Den's return Angie called off the affair but it wasn't long before Sharon had disclosed her seedy shenanigans to her father. Unfortunately for Angie, Den cared more about his reputation than her and told her that he didn't care about the affair, so long as it was done discreetly. Tony was very hurt by the whole ordeal, but he was even more concerned for his own safety, should Den find out that it was him his wife was seeing. Fortunately for Tony his identity was never disclosed.
In the spring of 1986, Tony's wife Hannah arrived on his doorstep, with the disturbing news that her new lover, Neville Agard, had been beating both her and their daughter Cassie. Tony was furious and promptly went to confront Neville, returning later covered in blood. Despite their past problems, Tony and Hannah decided to give their marriage another shot and both she and Cassie came to live in Albert Square. Problems still persisted, however, and Hannah would regularly nag Tony and make it clear to him that Walford was not good enough for her. Things came to a head when Tony thumped Mehmet Osman
in February 1987 for making a pass at Hannah. Hannah was furious and couldn't condone his violent actions, despite willingly allowing him to assault her ex-lover months earlier. Hannah subsequently decided that the marriage was over and she left Walford to live with her sister.
Tony spent the rest of the year doing odd-jobs and driving a car for Ali Osman's
cab firm. He got himself into bother when he bought some stolen silver-ware from Nick Cotton, who later tried to blackmail him for money in return for his silence. Tony soon started to tire of life in Walford and a few months later he departed the Square for Trinidad, leaving his son in charge of his property. His last appearance was in May 1987.
In 1993, it was mentioned that Tony and Kelvin had sent some flowers to Pete Beale
's funeral.
and Julia Smith
. Tony was originally intended to be named Alan, and his son Kelvin Carpenter
was originally named Kevin. They were the first black characters to appear in the soap. Black and Asian characters were two ethnic minorities that had previously been under-represented in British soap before EastEnders aired. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their contacts to relay information about their origins and lifestyles and were then able to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically.
Tony's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story
(In this passage, Tony will be referred to as Alan).
Alan's name was later changed to Tony following the development of the character of Ali Osman
and Holland and Smith decided they couldn't have two male characters with such similar sounding names.
Oscar James
, an experienced television and theatre actor, was chosen to play the role. James was physically much bigger than they'd originally had in mind, however they felt that his interpretation of Tony would be expansive and get noticed. They also thought it was a nice idea for father and son to be not only different in ages, but different physical types as well. Storywise it was felt it would be possible to build on this and also give them different attitudes. Oscar James was full of praise for the way the team had chosen to depict a black family.
Tony's storylines mainly centred around his developing relationship with his son, and marital issues with his wife. Before the series began it was decided that Hannah (Tony's wife) plus their other child, would come back into Tony's life for the sake of the family - but not stay around too long because the neighbourhood would appal her. This was eventually recreated on-screen.
Tony Carpenter lasted in the show for two years and was the third of the original cast to leave the show; returning to Trinidad to search for his roots.
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 Oscar James
Oscar James
Oscar James is a Trinidadian actor, who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the BBC soap opera EastEnders, where he played original character, Tony Carpenter, for over two years...
.
Happy go lucky Tony tried to carve himself a successful business and steady home for his family, but nothing he did was ever good enough for his nagging wife.
Storylines
TrinidadTrinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
ian born Tony, married his wife Hannah after being divorced from his first wife. He and Hannah had two children, Kelvin
Kelvin Carpenter
Kelvin Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul J. Medford.Kelvin was a bright spark and full of initiative. He opened several businesses in Albert Square and even formed a band. He was a bit of a heartbreaker in EastEnders early years, but he ended up...
and Cassie.
Tony's second marriage was not a happy one and Hannah soon lost all tolerance for her fun-loving husband. She began to look down upon his less than lucrative job as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and his inability to provide for her and her children. They separated in 1985, after which Tony bought a house in disuse at Number 3 Albert Square
Albert 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...
and set about making it habitable, leaving Hannah to move in with another man. Kelvin soon joined Tony on the square, although it took him a lot to persuade his wife to allow him custody of their son.
Tony was amiable and easy-going and was unmistakable in his sheepskin jacket and beret
Beret
A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
, which he rarely took off, even indoors.
Tony had various run-ins with the local villain Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a recurring basis from the soap's debut episode in February 1985, through to his last appearance to date in 2009. Nick is the son of characters Charlie and Dot Cotton, and the father of Ashley and...
, and was understandably furious when he discovered that Nick had joined a racist organisation. After Nick taunted Kelvin about the colour of his skin, Tony went to teach him a lesson, which at least managed to scare him out of spreading his racial hatred for a while.
In February 1985, Tony secured himself a job renovating The Queen Victoria public house and gave the unemployed Arthur Fowler
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...
a job as his aid. It was whilst he was working here that Tony caught the eye of the married landlady Angie Watts
Angie Watts
Angela "Angie" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anita Dobson from the first episode of the show until 1988 when the actress decided to quit and the character was written out....
. Angie had grown tired of her cheating husband, Den
Den Watts
Dennis Alan "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"....
, and whilst he was away on a holiday in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
with his lover, Angie set about seducing Tony and the two embarked on an affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
. Tony took it seriously, but Angie was only using him to get back at Den and make him jealous. The affair was conducted in secret, but after Angie initiated a kiss in The Vic with Tony, she was caught by her daughter Sharon. Angie was forced to use bribery in order to keep her daughter from informing her husband, and even informed her about Den's current infidelity. Upon Den's return Angie called off the affair but it wasn't long before Sharon had disclosed her seedy shenanigans to her father. Unfortunately for Angie, Den cared more about his reputation than her and told her that he didn't care about the affair, so long as it was done discreetly. Tony was very hurt by the whole ordeal, but he was even more concerned for his own safety, should Den find out that it was him his wife was seeing. Fortunately for Tony his identity was never disclosed.
Mehmet Osman
Mehmet Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Haluk Bilginer. Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, rogue and a serial womaniser, played as a recurring character until 1989.-Storylines:...
in February 1987 for making a pass at Hannah. Hannah was furious and couldn't condone his violent actions, despite willingly allowing him to assault her ex-lover months earlier. Hannah subsequently decided that the marriage was over and she left Walford to live with her sister.
Tony spent the rest of the year doing odd-jobs and driving a car for Ali Osman's
Ali Osman
Ali Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nejdet Salih. He was a member of the original EastEnders cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985. He remained with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his final appearance on 10 October...
cab firm. He got himself into bother when he bought some stolen silver-ware from Nick Cotton, who later tried to blackmail him for money in return for his silence. Tony soon started to tire of life in Walford and a few months later he departed the Square for Trinidad, leaving his son in charge of his property. His last appearance was in May 1987.
In 1993, it was mentioned that Tony and Kelvin had sent some flowers to Pete Beale
Pete Beale
Peter "Pete" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He made his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was created by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EasEnders; he was based on a member of...
's funeral.
Character creation and development
Tony Carpenter was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony HollandTony Holland
Anthony John "Tony" Holland was an English television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early career:...
and Julia Smith
Julia Smith
Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...
. Tony was originally intended to be named Alan, and his son Kelvin Carpenter
Kelvin Carpenter
Kelvin Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul J. Medford.Kelvin was a bright spark and full of initiative. He opened several businesses in Albert Square and even formed a band. He was a bit of a heartbreaker in EastEnders early years, but he ended up...
was originally named Kevin. They were the first black characters to appear in the soap. Black and Asian characters were two ethnic minorities that had previously been under-represented in British soap before EastEnders aired. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their contacts to relay information about their origins and lifestyles and were then able to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically.
Tony's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story
EastEnders books
This is a list of books about or relating to the British soap opera EastEnders.-Non-fiction books:* EastEnders: The Inside Story* Public Secrets: EastEnders and its Audience* EastEnders Special...
(In this passage, Tony will be referred to as Alan).
- "Alan is Caribbean: one of the "came here when ten" from an idylic life in Trinidad with his gran....A confusing childhood and, at first, he hated England. He felt different, felt coloured, suffered abuse from the white kids...He met Hannah. She was several cuts above him socially. He liked the idea of a "princess" and she liked the idea of a "a bit of rough". In the beginning this made their marriage all the more exciting...But he was short on staying power...In and out of jobs...Boredom always setting in early...A constant desire for change at any price...Hannah meanwhile became more and more stubborn...They set themselves on a collision course...Hannah became too housebound, houseproud, too disciplined with the two children, too rigid, not seeing the wood for the trees. Alan became too anarchic, too sleeping-around, too devil-may-care and up-yours, frequently not seeing the wood for the booze...Perhaps if they split, they could find themselves again?...Alan has bought a house in the Square. His sixteen year old son Kevin wants to stay with his dad...How would Alan react to the discovery that Kevin's visiting his mother? How would Kevin react to his father trying to smuggle a woman for the night? And, how would dad react to son doing the same thing? What happens when they're competing for the same woman? As he wants to leave his mark - physically - on the walls of the building, so he wants to leave his mark on his son. Will Kevin take it, or leave it?...The house is the framework. The container...It will change its personality as the owners find theirs..." (page 58-59).
Alan's name was later changed to Tony following the development of the character of Ali Osman
Ali Osman
Ali Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nejdet Salih. He was a member of the original EastEnders cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985. He remained with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his final appearance on 10 October...
and Holland and Smith decided they couldn't have two male characters with such similar sounding names.
Oscar James
Oscar James is a Trinidadian actor, who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the BBC soap opera EastEnders, where he played original character, Tony Carpenter, for over two years...
, an experienced television and theatre actor, was chosen to play the role. James was physically much bigger than they'd originally had in mind, however they felt that his interpretation of Tony would be expansive and get noticed. They also thought it was a nice idea for father and son to be not only different in ages, but different physical types as well. Storywise it was felt it would be possible to build on this and also give them different attitudes. Oscar James was full of praise for the way the team had chosen to depict a black family.
Tony's storylines mainly centred around his developing relationship with his son, and marital issues with his wife. Before the series began it was decided that Hannah (Tony's wife) plus their other child, would come back into Tony's life for the sake of the family - but not stay around too long because the neighbourhood would appal her. This was eventually recreated on-screen.
Tony Carpenter lasted in the show for two years and was the third of the original cast to leave the show; returning to Trinidad to search for his roots.