Tina Carter
This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (March 2020) |
Tina Carter | |||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Luisa Bradshaw-White | ||||||||||
Duration | 2013–2021 | ||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 4747 18 November 2013 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | Episode 6315 29 July 2021 | ||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
Created by | Dominic Treadwell-Collins | ||||||||||
Introduced by | Lorraine Newman | ||||||||||
Spin-off appearances | The Queen Vic Quiz Night (2020) | ||||||||||
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Tina Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, portrayed by Luisa Bradshaw-White. The character first appeared on 18 November 2013, and was introduced as the sister of established character Shirley Carter (Linda Henry). She was the first of a set of new characters that expanded the Carter family in 2013, It was created by incoming executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins (although Tina was introduced by Lorraine Newman, a month before prior to Treadwell-Collins took over the executive producer role). Tina and Bradshaw-White's casting were announced on 19 September 2013. The character was previously mentioned on-screen due to her daughter, Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny), appearing on the show in 2010.
Tina's storylines mostly revolve around her relationship with her sister Shirley and same-sex relationships with
Storylines
Tina Carter was first mentioned in 2010 by her daughter Zsa Zsa Carter. However, she first came to Walford after her sister Shirley (Linda Henry) was tracked down by her ex-boyfriend Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). It turns out that Shirley has been residing in Tina's rundown flat, after she has been forced out of Walford and threatened by his enemy and ex-convict Carl White (Daniel Coonan) not long ago. Shirley agrees to return with Phil, and gives Tina money to escape her abusive girlfriend. She does this, and joins Shirley in Walford. They struggle to find somewhere to live as Tina and Phil do not get on, and end up sleeping on the floor of the house owned by Phil's cousin Billy (Perry Fenwick). At some point, Billy develops a crush on Tina; however, she rejects his advances before admitting that she is a lesbian - despite having been married to a man in the past and having a teenage daughter, Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny), who previously lived with Shirley in Walford.
Sometime later, Tina encourages Shirley to reconcile with her estranged son Mick (Danny Dyer) - who is initially thought to be Shirley's brother. They visit his wife Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) at her mother's pub in Watford but she is sceptical towards them. Tina later responds by stealing money from a bingo competition one night. Shirley finds out about this and returns the money before going on to reconcile with Mick, who then moves his family to Walford by buying The Vic from Phil at the end of 2013.
In 2014, Tina and Shirley help Mick run the pub, though Tina later gets a second job at the local café soon after. Tina befriends her colleague Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy). Tina sleeps with Billy when drunk, but tells him that she does not have feelings for him and they agree to be just friends. She is delighted when her father Stan Carter (Timothy West), who the rest of the family are estranged from, makes amends with his children and moves into the Vic with them.
Tina realizes she is still in love with her abusive ex-girlfriend,
Tosh becomes pregnant through the insemination and they announce this at Stan's birthday party, although she loses the baby soon after. Depressed at this, Tosh accepts Tina's nephew
(James Bye). Tosh returns home while Sonia is hiding in Tina's room, but she manages to sneak out before Tosh realizes. When Martin fails to turn up to the Christmas party for Sonia's group "Fat Blasters", Sonia decides to announce her actions but Tina urges her not to; however, before she can, she collapses. When the paramedics arrive, Tina reveals Sonia has had an operation to fit a gastric band, which shocks Carol and Martin. Babe leads Tosh to believe that Tina is having an affair with Sonia and when Tina denies this, Tosh viciously beats her. The next day, Tina decides that she cannot forgive Tosh for what she has done and thinks it best to move back to the Vic, while Tosh leaves Walford when Tina breaks up with her. Mick stops Tina assisting Stan's requested suicide. Tina is devastated by Stan's death and delivers the eulogy. Tina and Sonia become partners, splitting up briefly when Tina finds out Sonia cheated with her estranged husband Martin. They reconcile when Sonia helps Linda after she goes into premature labour.Tina and Sonia enjoy their relationship despite Tina's jealously. Sonia realizes that she wants another child and tells Tina. Tina is shocked and tells Sonia that she does not want children after messing up with Zsa Zsa. Sonia is angry when Tina drunkenly embarrasses Sonia's daughter
Tina is fired from the café when her bosses
Tina was attacked by a group of men with knives but she escapes in her car. Shaken, Tina accidentally hits someone with her car but she drives off, thinking it was Dot's cat,
Tina is involved in the break-up of Billy and Honey after a mix-up in the launderette when Honey receives Linda's underwear with her own washing, and sees Billy and Tina hugging, then accuses Billy of having an affair with Tina, forcing Billy to admit to the one-night stand. Shirley sees Honey and Tina talking and assumes that Honey knows Tina hit Janet so reveals this. Tina helps a pregnant girl,
When Linda struggles with alcoholism, Mick decides that they need to sell the Queen Victoria pub and move out, leaving Tina homeless. She and Shirley are taken in by Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith), who begins to be annoyed by Tina's laziness. Tina blames Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), who bought the pub, for her situation, and confronts him. When Ian is later found attacked and unconscious, Tina is a suspect. As Gray is a lawyer, he acts as her defence. However, when Tina begins to damage his reputation by talking about his controlling nature, Gray pays a man to say that he saw Tina at the crime scene. Gray suggests that Tina leaves Walford to avoid being sentenced, but when she discovers that the witness' statement is unreliable, she confronts Gray on his lies. She questions him over the death of his wife Chantelle (Jessica Plummer), and when she learns that Gray abused and murdered her, she attempts to escape, a chase ensues until Gray grabs her as she attempts to get out the front door and strangles her to death. A year later, it is revealed that Gray buried Tina’s body under the floorboards of the Argee Bhajee. In February 2022, Tina's body is discovered by Phil.
Creation and development
Casting and introduction
Tina was introduced as the sister of established regular character Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), who has appeared on the show since 2006. Tina's daughter Zsa Zsa Carter previously appeared in 2010, played by Emer Kenny, and mentioned her mother as living in Spain with her new husband. Two days before the character's arrival was announced, Treadwell-Collins posted a photo to Twitter of a bomber jacket with the name Tina on the back, sparking speculation that Shirley's sister had been cast.[1] The casting of Luisa Bradshaw-White was announced on 19 September 2013, around two months before her first on-screen appearance.[2]
Tina is described as 'loud, brash, cheeky and full of energy', with the potential to lead Shirley astray. Bradshaw-White expressed her excitement over the role, commenting that she was particularly excited as 'the energy between Tina and Shirley is explosive'.
Relationships
Carter family
Tina was introduced as the first of a new set of Carters, the family of Shirley, and therefore has a large amount of on-screen interaction with her family. Executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins compared Tina to her sister Shirley, saying that she was 'loud and brash' like her. She also seems to be a liability like Shirley, having parented Zsa Zsa badly and letting her fly off the handle at times.[2] Despite this, Tina is more forgiving than her sister; for example, she forgives their father Stan Carter, played by Timothy West, for his bad parenting and alcoholism when they were children, whereas Shirley still holds a grudge against him. She has a good relationship with her nephew Mick (Danny Dyer) and his family, and shares a flat at one time with Shirley's son Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo).
Sonia Fowler
Tina became friends with
Tosh Mackintosh and domestic violence
Tina's past relationship with an abusive ex-girlfriend was hinted at when she was introduced. On 9 February 2014, it was announced Rebecca Scroggs would play
Several months into their relationship, Tosh was seen pushing to Tina to have a baby. Bradshaw-White said that Tosh pressures Tina into having a baby, telling her 'either they start a family - or she goes'. Tina was a bad mother to her daughter Zsa Zsa due to being addicted to drugs at the time, but Tosh insisted that Tina would be a better mother now as she 'really mothers everyone in the family'.[6] It was reported that Tosh would become pregnant,[7] but she was seen to lose the baby soon afterwards. This caused Tosh to become violent towards Tina again, hitting her on two separate occasions.[8] Of the latter, more extreme attack, Jo Harvey Barringer of the Broken Rainbow UK commented that 'the violent punch Tosh (dealt) was calculated to put Tina in her place and to punish Tina for challenging Tosh's dominance in the relationship; a reminder that Tosh was in control and held all the power'.
Departure.
In October 2020, confirmation surfaced that Bradshaw White would be departing from the show, with her final scenes slated to air around December. Tina met her demise on December 28, 2020, succumbing to Gray Atkins, who murdered her upon her discovery of his involvement in his wife Chantelle's death. Gray disposed of Tina's body by transporting it out of the square in the trunk of his car. Subsequently, Tina was reported missing, leaving uncertainty over whether she had perished or somehow survived.
Shirley fervently searched for her, eventually abandoning hope in an episode broadcast in January 2022. On February 4, it was unveiled that Gray had concealed Tina's remains beneath the floorboards of the Argee Bhajee. Viewers witnessed her decomposed body onscreen, confirming her tragic demise. [9]
Reception
In a poll from Digital Spy soon after Tina's introduction, Tina was voted the fourth favourite new Carter, behind Mick (Dyer), Johnny (Sam Strike) and Nancy (Maddy Hill).[10] EastEnders and Bradshaw-White have been praised for the Tina and Tosh domestic violence story by the charity Broken Rainbow UK, who said that the story helped "portray the very real experiences our service users tell us about" in the LGBT community.[9] In July 2018, Bradshaw-White was longlisted for the "Best Actress" award at The Inside Soap Awards.[11] She did not progress to the viewer-voted shortlist.[12]
See also
- List of EastEnders characters (2013)
- List of soap operas with LGBT characters
References
- Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (12 November 2013). "'EastEnders' newcomer: 'Tina Carter role was rewritten for me'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ Dainty, Sophie (2 June 2014). "Tina faces the music over Sonia kiss". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Rigby, Sam (9 February 2014). "Rebecca Scroggs cast as Tosh Mackintosh". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (3 June 2014). "Tosh to give Tina baby ultimatum". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Dainty, Sophie (September 2014). "Baby news for Tina Carter and Tosh". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Dainty, Sophie (20 October 2014). "Tosh' violence to Tina a cause for concern". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ a b Love, Ryan (28 October 2014). "LGBT domestic violence plot praised". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Dainty, Sophie (3 January 2014). "Which of the new Carters is your favourite?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (16 October 2018). "Inside Soap Awards 2018: Coronation Street tops the shortlist with 18 nominations". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 October 2018.