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Trevor Morgan (EastEnders)
Encyclopedia
Trevor Morgan is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Alex Ferns
. He first appeared in December 2000, and became a regular cast member the following summer, after moving into Albert Square
with his wife Little Mo Slater
(Kacey Ainsworth
).
's (Elaine Lordan
) wedding, he rapes her as a punishment. When she arrives late for Christmas dinner, he pushes her face into her plate and forces her to eat the remains from the carpet. Little Mo's family constantly implore her to leave her husband, despising his treatment of her. Trevor frequently rows with her sister Kat Slater
(Jessie Wallace
), and is attacked by her father Charlie
(Derek Martin
) when he learns that Trevor burned Little Mo's hand with an iron. When Little Mo finally leaves Trevor, he tries to win her back. She resists and he becomes violent, attempting to rape her again. Mo hits Trevor over the head with an iron in self-defence, knocking him unconscious. Mo believes she has killed him, but when she and her family return to dispose of Trevor's body, he has gone. Trevor reports Little Mo to the police and has her charged with attempted murder
.
Despite strong evidence of domestic violence
, corroborated by Trevor's mistress Donna Andrews (Paula Jennings), with whom he has a son, Sean, the jury at her trial find Little Mo guilty and she is sentenced to eight years in prison. Following Little Mo's imprisonment, Donna ends up in hospital as a result of Trevor's abuse. Kat cares for Sean, but Trevor arrives at the Slater family home, determined to take his son. When Kat stands in his way, Trevor attacks her, knocking her to the ground. The police arrive and arrest him, but Trevor makes a deal with Kat, agreeing to retract his statement against Little Mo in return for Kat not pressing charges against him. Little Mo is subsequently released from prison. Little Mo begins dating Billy Mitchell
(Perry Fenwick
), but Trevor again returns in an attempt to win her back. He harasses her, beginning a campaign of intimidation which culminates in him taking Little Mo and his son hostage in the Slater family home and starting a fire. Little Mo and Sean are rescued by her neighbour Tom Banks
(Colm Ó Maonlaí
), who, along with Trevor, is killed when the house explodes. Little Mo begins to plan a funeral for Trevor, but is convinced by Donna that she should be mourning Tom instead.
s whereby abusive characters are never completely integrated into the soap community. Trevor's first appearance in EastEnders occurs months after the introduction of the core Slater family, and he is never given a permanent home on Albert Square
. Boyle observes that Trevor's status as an outsider means that he is also expelled from the community with relative ease, and that there is "a whiff of divine justice" about his eventual death. In Social issues in television fiction, Lesley Henderson furthers the assessment of Trevor as an outsider with the observation that he was one of very few Scottish characters in the soap's history, and the sole Scottish character at the time.
Ferns was surprised by the storyline which saw Trevor rape Little Mo, opining that EastEnders executive producer
John Yorke "really put his neck on the line by doing it." He found the rape and Christmas attack the most difficult scenes of his career, but found Trevor easier to play as he gained a better psychological understanding of the character. Ainsworth found the Christmas scenes equally difficult, and told Cosmopolitan
magazine: "Even though I'm an actress, at that point when I was on the floor, I felt totally and utterly humiliated and sick. I felt Little Mo's degradation at having her head shoved into a plate of food. What was more frightening was I knew this scene could have been real, that it's all part of the power game these men play to make women feel as if they're worthless." At one time, Ferns considered leaving the acting profession to become a counsellor, but felt that he was prevented from doing so by Trevor's high-profile, explaining: "It's difficult enough for people who are grieving without Trevor walking in."
magazine, with 21% of the votes. He won "Best Newcomer" and "Villain of the Year" at the 2002 British Soap Awards
, "Best Actor" at the 2002 Inside Soap Awards
, and both "Best Soap Newcomer" and "Best Soap Storyline" for Trevor's abuse of Little Mo at the 2002 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards. He was also nominated "Most Popular Actor" at the 2002 National Television Awards
, and "Best Actor", "Villain of the Year" and "Best Storyline", again for Trevor's abuse of Little Mo, at the 2003 British Soap Awards.
Karen Price of the Western Mail wrote in 2008 that Ferns as Trevor had "some of the most dramatic scenes in the history of EastEnders". The domestic abuse storyline received critical commedation for its "sensitive account" of sexual violence, however was also condemned for "symbolising the descent of popular television into distressing and inappropriate material." Boyle gave the storyline a mixed review, writing that Little Mo's attempted murder convition served to highlight the inequities of the legal system, yet undermined "the more mundane, persistent realities of domestic violence that the soap - patterned on repetition and the deferral of closure - is otherwise well positioned to deal with."
The episode in which Trevor attacked Little Mo over Christmas dinner was watched by 14.5 million viewers, and voted 57th in Channel 4
's 100 Greatest Scary Moments. The storyline attraced so many complaints from the public that the Broadcasting Standards Commission undertook their first study of sex and violence in soap operas in twenty years. The Commission ruled that the Christmas episode, as well as the New Year's Eve 2001 episode in which Little Mo retaliated by attacking Trevor with an iron, should not have been broadcast before the 9 pm watershed
. It was felt that the latter episode had a "stark and graphic quality unsuitable for pre-watershed transmission", and while the BSC stated that scenes of domestic abuse were permissible, there were "concern[s] about the intense, disturbing and protracted nature of the scenes portraying Trevor's attacks on Mo". A spokesperson for the BBC defended the scenes as "developments in well-established storylines". They claimed the depiction of abuse was consistent for the series, and that EastEnders viewers expected that seasonal episodes such as Christmas and New Year would always be "overshadowed by crises".
Ferns received a death threat whilst working on EastEnders, believed by police to have been sent from a "crazed fan". He was told take extra security precautions, including leaving the EastEnders set via the back exit, and not travelling alone. Ferns was surprised by the strength of reactions to his role, and assessed that it was because of the domestic abuse: "You can have violence on screen and it's kind of an everyday thing but there's something about a man hitting a woman, within the confines of their own home, that people find hard to take." The aggression directed at him by members of the public intensified following Little Mo's imprisonment, forcing Ferns to wear a disguise when travelling on the London Underground
.
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 Alex Ferns
Alex Ferns
Alexander "Alex" Ferns is a Scottish actor and television personality, best known for his EastEnders role as Trevor Morgan, "Britain's most-hated soap villain."...
. He first appeared in December 2000, and became a regular cast member the following summer, after moving into 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...
with his wife Little Mo Slater
Little Mo Mitchell
Maureen "Little Mo" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kacey Ainsworth.-Storylines:...
(Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth is an English actress, best known for playing the long-suffering Little Mo in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Life and career:Kacey Ainsworth, is the only soap actress who has won three Soap Actress awards in one single year in 2002...
).
Storylines
Trevor is introduced as the abusive husband of Little Mo Slater, when she agrees to return to him following a period of separation. Trevor promises to cease his violence towards her, but soon resumes his abuse, often beating and humiliating her. He is regularly apologetic after attacking her, but continues to isolate her from her family. When Trevor discovers Little Mo plans to attend her sister Lynne HobbsLynne Hobbs
Lynne Marie Hobbs is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elaine Lordan. She appeared in the show from September 2000 to July 2004...
's (Elaine Lordan
Elaine Lordan
Elaine Lordan is a British actress.Lordan is most famous for her role as Lynne Hobbs in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which she appeared in from 2000 until 2004...
) wedding, he rapes her as a punishment. When she arrives late for Christmas dinner, he pushes her face into her plate and forces her to eat the remains from the carpet. Little Mo's family constantly implore her to leave her husband, despising his treatment of her. Trevor frequently rows with her sister Kat Slater
Kat Moon
Kathleen "Kat" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001. She appeared in the show from September 2000 to November 2004, then returned in May 2005...
(Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...
), and is attacked by her father Charlie
Charlie Slater
Charles "Charlie" Slater is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Derek Martin, making his first appearance on 4 September 2000. He is played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the...
(Derek Martin
Derek Martin
Derek Martin is a British actor who is best known for his role as Charlie Slater in the British soap opera EastEnders which he played from 2000 to 2011.-Personal life:...
) when he learns that Trevor burned Little Mo's hand with an iron. When Little Mo finally leaves Trevor, he tries to win her back. She resists and he becomes violent, attempting to rape her again. Mo hits Trevor over the head with an iron in self-defence, knocking him unconscious. Mo believes she has killed him, but when she and her family return to dispose of Trevor's body, he has gone. Trevor reports Little Mo to the police and has her charged with attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
.
Despite strong evidence of domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, corroborated by Trevor's mistress Donna Andrews (Paula Jennings), with whom he has a son, Sean, the jury at her trial find Little Mo guilty and she is sentenced to eight years in prison. Following Little Mo's imprisonment, Donna ends up in hospital as a result of Trevor's abuse. Kat cares for Sean, but Trevor arrives at the Slater family home, determined to take his son. When Kat stands in his way, Trevor attacks her, knocking her to the ground. The police arrive and arrest him, but Trevor makes a deal with Kat, agreeing to retract his statement against Little Mo in return for Kat not pressing charges against him. Little Mo is subsequently released from prison. Little Mo begins dating Billy Mitchell
Billy Mitchell (EastEnders)
William "Billy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Perry Fenwick, who made his first appearance on 2 November 1998. Billy was seen when Phil went to visit his godson Jamie. However, he didn't arrive in the Square until 2 August 1999, almost a year after...
(Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick is an English film and television actor. He has one sister, Tracey, and two brothers, Faron and Lee. He is, also, the second cousin of Georgina Hagen, who played Lauren Waters in the series of Britannia High....
), but Trevor again returns in an attempt to win her back. He harasses her, beginning a campaign of intimidation which culminates in him taking Little Mo and his son hostage in the Slater family home and starting a fire. Little Mo and Sean are rescued by her neighbour Tom Banks
Tom Banks (EastEnders)
Tom Banks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Colm Ó Maonlaí. 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...
(Colm Ó Maonlaí
Colm Ó Maonlaí
Colm Ó Maonlaí is an Irish born actor and musician who is best known for his portrayal of Tom Banks in EastEnders, a role which he played from April to November 2002. He has also been featured in other soap operas such as Ros na Rún and Fair City. In 2009, he appeared in a television advertisement...
), who, along with Trevor, is killed when the house explodes. Little Mo begins to plan a funeral for Trevor, but is convinced by Donna that she should be mourning Tom instead.
Development
In her book Media and violence: gendering the debates, Karen Boyle states that Trevor's introduction to EastEnders follows a theme in British soap operaSoap 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,...
s whereby abusive characters are never completely integrated into the soap community. Trevor's first appearance in EastEnders occurs months after the introduction of the core Slater family, and he is never given a permanent home on 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...
. Boyle observes that Trevor's status as an outsider means that he is also expelled from the community with relative ease, and that there is "a whiff of divine justice" about his eventual death. In Social issues in television fiction, Lesley Henderson furthers the assessment of Trevor as an outsider with the observation that he was one of very few Scottish characters in the soap's history, and the sole Scottish character at the time.
Ferns was surprised by the storyline which saw Trevor rape Little Mo, opining that EastEnders executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
John Yorke "really put his neck on the line by doing it." He found the rape and Christmas attack the most difficult scenes of his career, but found Trevor easier to play as he gained a better psychological understanding of the character. Ainsworth found the Christmas scenes equally difficult, and told Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine: "Even though I'm an actress, at that point when I was on the floor, I felt totally and utterly humiliated and sick. I felt Little Mo's degradation at having her head shoved into a plate of food. What was more frightening was I knew this scene could have been real, that it's all part of the power game these men play to make women feel as if they're worthless." At one time, Ferns considered leaving the acting profession to become a counsellor, but felt that he was prevented from doing so by Trevor's high-profile, explaining: "It's difficult enough for people who are grieving without Trevor walking in."
Reception
Ferns won six awards for his portrayal of Trevor, and was nominated for a further four. In 2002, he was named "Most Hated Soap Villain" by readers of What's On TVWhat's On TV
What's on TV is a weekly television listings magazine published by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.-Overview:What's on TV is a weekly UK television magazine. It publishes features, TV listings, news and gossip from soap operas, as well as puzzles and competitions...
magazine, with 21% of the votes. He won "Best Newcomer" and "Villain of the Year" at the 2002 British Soap Awards
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...
, "Best Actor" at the 2002 Inside Soap Awards
Inside Soap Awards
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...
, and both "Best Soap Newcomer" and "Best Soap Storyline" for Trevor's abuse of Little Mo at the 2002 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards. He was also nominated "Most Popular Actor" at the 2002 National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
, and "Best Actor", "Villain of the Year" and "Best Storyline", again for Trevor's abuse of Little Mo, at the 2003 British Soap Awards.
Karen Price of the Western Mail wrote in 2008 that Ferns as Trevor had "some of the most dramatic scenes in the history of EastEnders". The domestic abuse storyline received critical commedation for its "sensitive account" of sexual violence, however was also condemned for "symbolising the descent of popular television into distressing and inappropriate material." Boyle gave the storyline a mixed review, writing that Little Mo's attempted murder convition served to highlight the inequities of the legal system, yet undermined "the more mundane, persistent realities of domestic violence that the soap - patterned on repetition and the deferral of closure - is otherwise well positioned to deal with."
The episode in which Trevor attacked Little Mo over Christmas dinner was watched by 14.5 million viewers, and voted 57th in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's 100 Greatest Scary Moments. The storyline attraced so many complaints from the public that the Broadcasting Standards Commission undertook their first study of sex and violence in soap operas in twenty years. The Commission ruled that the Christmas episode, as well as the New Year's Eve 2001 episode in which Little Mo retaliated by attacking Trevor with an iron, should not have been broadcast before the 9 pm watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
. It was felt that the latter episode had a "stark and graphic quality unsuitable for pre-watershed transmission", and while the BSC stated that scenes of domestic abuse were permissible, there were "concern[s] about the intense, disturbing and protracted nature of the scenes portraying Trevor's attacks on Mo". A spokesperson for the BBC defended the scenes as "developments in well-established storylines". They claimed the depiction of abuse was consistent for the series, and that EastEnders viewers expected that seasonal episodes such as Christmas and New Year would always be "overshadowed by crises".
Ferns received a death threat whilst working on EastEnders, believed by police to have been sent from a "crazed fan". He was told take extra security precautions, including leaving the EastEnders set via the back exit, and not travelling alone. Ferns was surprised by the strength of reactions to his role, and assessed that it was because of the domestic abuse: "You can have violence on screen and it's kind of an everyday thing but there's something about a man hitting a woman, within the confines of their own home, that people find hard to take." The aggression directed at him by members of the public intensified following Little Mo's imprisonment, forcing Ferns to wear a disguise when travelling on the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
.