Colin Russell (EastEnders)

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Colin Russell
EastEnders character
Portrayed byMichael Cashman
Duration1986–1989, 2016, 2022
First appearanceEpisode 153
5 August 1986 (1986-08-05)
Last appearanceEpisode 6608
13 December 2022 (2022-12-13)
ClassificationFormer; regular
Introduced byJulia Smith (1986)
Sean O'Connor (2016)
Chris Clenshaw (2022)
Book appearancesA Single Man
In-universe information
OccupationGraphic designer
MotherEna Russell
BrothersBill Russell
HusbandEddie Tsang (2016–?)

Colin Russell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michael Cashman. The character appears between 5 August 1986 and 23 February 1989 and on 8 and 9 September 2016.[1][2] Colin is originally portrayed as a middle-class yuppie with a kind heart. The character is Walford's first on-screen gay resident and he featured in the UK's first homosexual kiss on a soap opera, which caused controversy in the British press. Cashman reprised the role of Colin for the funeral of Dot Cotton (June Brown) for two episodes broadcast on 12 and 13 December 2022.

Storylines

1986–1989

Guido were responsible for the first mouth-to-mouth gay kiss on a British television soap opera (24 January 1989). The Sun newspaper writer Piers Morgan branded it a "love scene between yuppie poofs".[3]

Colin, a

AIDS. Some of the community shun Colin, refusing to speak to him as a result. Despite this altercation, Colin and Dot forge a close friendship when Colin supports Dot following her husband Charlie Cotton's (Christopher Hancock
) bigamy.

Colin and Barry. Their gay relationship was one of the more controversial storylines in 1987. Colin's kiss on Barry's forehead (17 November 1987) caused numerous complaints.

Barry causes Colin problems by interfering with his work, deliberately making him jealous, and engaging in criminal antics with villainous

Brad Williams
(Jonathan Stratt). Colin calls the police, but they are more concerned about Colin's relationship with Barry than actually catching the vandals. They discover that Barry was under the age of legal sexual consent for homosexual sex when he and Colin began living together, and the police decide to inform Barry's parents (in 1987 the legal age of sexual consent for gay men was 21). Barry is petrified of his homophobic father and decides to end his relationship with Colin.

Colin grows depressed, which worsens when he is mugged in an alley and beaten up, and he suffers a spell of poor health in 1988 after his eyesight starts giving him trouble, he gets unexplained dizzy spells and occasionally cannot move his legs. Colin fears he has AIDS, however tests confirm that he has

Guido Smith
(Nicholas Donovan), who becomes a romantic interest and moves in with Colin.

However, in January 1989, Colin's health deteriorates, and Legg finally reveals that he has MS. Colin is furious at Dr. Legg for lying and threatens to report him to the authorities. Colin spends weeks coming to terms with the news, but Guido stands by him and Colin eventually accepts his condition. Problems arise in Colin and Guido's relationship in 1989; Colin begins to believe that Guido is only staying with him out of pity. Colin decides to move to his brother's house in Bristol. He opts not to tell Guido that he is going, but a surprise visit from Barry stalls his departure and Guido comes home to see Colin packed and ready to leave. Colin tells Guido that he needs some space and asks him to look after his flat whilst he sorts himself out. He then leaves Walford whilst his friends wave him goodbye.

2016-2022

Twenty-seven years later, in September 2016, Dot discovers that Colin is marrying a man called

Johnny Carter (Ted Reilly), of the homophobia in the world, but is comforted by the majority of gay acceptance. After exchanging memories, Dot agrees to attend the wedding, much to Colin's delight. He attends Dot’s funeral in December 2022 and reunites with Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean
). He reveals that Eddie has died and has reunited with Barry.

Character creation and development

Colin was EastEnders' first

).

Colin was one of the most controversial characters of his time — mainly because gay-orientated content was still relatively rare on

pre-watershed BBC programme was unheard of before Colin and Barry's introduction.[6] The licence funded BBC held a far greater audience share than the commercially funded Channel 4, thus public reaction to EastEnders' gay characters was much stronger and more widely documented in the British press.[6]

Colin was a middle-class, well-meaning, slightly uptight yuppie, and his inclusion was an attempt to portray the gentrification of the East End of London. The openly gay actor and gay activist Michael Cashman, who had roots in the East End, was chosen to play the role. Cashman initially resisted playing Colin, but was persuaded by his boyfriend, Paul Cottingham, and after receiving his parents' backing, he accepted the part.[7]

The makers of EastEnders decided that Colin's partner needed to be in stark contrast in order to prevent Colin from becoming too rarefied (up until this point middle-classed characters had been relatively unsuccessful and had failed to fully integrate into EastEnders predominantly working-class community).

in the closet'; loud and brash instead of shy and retiring, and in addition the age difference between the two was substantial — Colin being roughly fifteen years Barry's senior.[8]

A relationship between Colin and Barry was quickly developed and the residents of

AIDS was sweeping the country.[10]

Despite the initial negativity, the storyline had a powerful impact on public attitudes and the show's handling of Colin and Barry's relationship was deemed by many gay activists as something of a breakthrough.

AIDS. The episode featuring the kiss was watched by over 17 million viewers,[10] and Colin and Barry remained on-screen for several years, accessing millions of viewers each episode — the gay community were finally being represented on mass audience mainstream television.[6] Gradually, negative assumptions began to lessen, public opinion began to shift in Colin and Barry's favour and even Dot got used to the idea of having gay neighbours. Michael Cashman has commented: "This was a flagship BBC show, the most popular series in the country, and Colin and Barry were there day in, day out. The relationship wasn't sensationalised, and the public devoured it."[10] The importance of Colin was so great in the gay community at the time that Cashman was asked to lead a march against Section 28, which prohibited local authorities
from promoting homosexuality or the acceptability of homosexuality.

Barry and Colin remained an on-screen couple until the end of 1987. Their characters were used to highlight many other gay issues, such as homophobia, gay bashing and gay legal inequality — i.e. the legal age of gay sexual consent (which at the time was 21 instead of 16 as it is today). Eventually, the differences between Colin and Barry became too great for them to overcome, they split and Barry left Walford for a job on a cruise ship.

Colin had a health scare during the autumn of 1988 and for a moment it looked like EastEnders might have been about to do an

HIV positive — particularly as it happened at a time when misconceptions and fear about AIDS were rife.[4] Colin was eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
, although this fact was kept from him by his doctor for the remainder of the year and he lived out 1988 with the belief that he was in perfect health.

Cashman as Colin during his 2016 return.

Towards the end of 1988 Colin found new love, with a fellow yuppie —

MPs last night demanded a ban on EastEnders as the BBC soap showed two men kissing full on the lips".[3]

Cashman decided to quit the show in the early part of 1989. While still on the cast of EastEnders, Cashman had founded the influential gay campaign group

EastEnders Handbook by Hilary Kingsly, Michael Cashman looked back fondly on Albert Square and his character, commenting: "Quite a few gay activists thought Colin too nice, but I thought he was just right. There was a fuss about his kiss with Barry which was sad — people should be upset by demonstrations of hate, not love".[12]

On 25 August 2016, it was announced that Cashman had reprised the role for two episodes to air the following month.[13] Colin shared scenes with Dot Cotton (Brown), but full details of the storyline were initially held back.[13] Of his return to EastEnders, Cashman stated: "It was a real joy, indeed a privilege, to return to my old home of Albert Square. To be amongst so many friends again, and to be back in the place where 30 years ago I started an amazing journey. An amazing journey which incredibly helped to change the country, and certainly its attitude to lesbian, gay and bisexual people."[13]

Reception

In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Colin 85th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time, commenting on how he was the soap's first gay character and how his storylines highlighted homophobia, as well as his kiss with Barry being the first gay kiss on a British soap opera.[14]

See also

  • List of LGBT characters in television and radio
  • List of soap operas with LGBT characters

References

  1. ^ "BBC One - EastEnders, 08/09/2016".
  2. ^ "BBC One - EastEnders, 09/09/2016".
  3. ^ a b "Tipping the Velvet". BBC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2002. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ "Gay TV Characters", RainbowNetwork.com. URL last accessed on 2006-12-30.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ "The Gay Team", The Guardian. URL last accessed on 2006-12-30.
  8. ^ .
  9. ^ a b "EastEnders star turned MEP to hold gay marriage Archived 2006-10-14 at the Wayback Machine", Pinknews.co.uk. URL last accessed on 2006-12-30.
  10. ^ a b c "Without prejudice", The Guardian. URL last accessed on 2006-12-30.
  11. ^ "Gay weddings on The Archers! Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine", Outfront. URL last accessed on 2006-12-30.
  12. .
  13. ^ a b c Kilkelly, Daniel (25 August 2016). "EastEnders brings back the show's first ever gay character as Lord Michael Cashman returns as Colin Russell". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  14. ^ Sara Wallis; Ian Hyland (12 June 2020). "100 Best EastEnders characters ever". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

External links