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Ali Osman is a fictional character from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', played by

Nejdet Salih Nej Adamson (born 23 December 1958), also credited as Nejdet Salih, is a British actor. Career Born in London, Adamson is of Turkish Cypriot descent. He played Ali Osman in the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', a role he played from the series' ...

. 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 last appearance on 10 October 1989. Ali was scripted as happy-go-lucky, which was in stark contrast to his highly strung wife, Sue (

Sandy Ratcliff Alexandra Ratcliff (2 October 1948 – 7 April 2019) was an English actress, model and counsellor. She made an impression as a model and film actress in the 1970s, but she became known for being one of the original cast members of the BBC soap o ...

). Central to his storylines were his penchant for

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

, his tempestuous marriage, and the loss of his son to cot death, which was one of the first controversial storylines covered by the soap. He was created by Julia Smith and

Tony Holland Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life Holland was the oldest of ...

, the creators of ''EastEnders''.

Storylines

Ali, a

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

, runs Bridge Street Café in

Walford Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...

with his wife,

Sue Osman Sue Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sandy Ratcliff. She is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 19 February 1985 and departing on-screen in May 1989. Create ...

(

), and also drives a taxicab. He is a gambler and frequently holds poker games in the café after closing time and wages bets at the bookies, which is a huge source of concern for Sue. Ali rashly decides to wager his business on a bet in 1985 and wins a substantial amount of money. The Osmans are overjoyed but the next day their infant son,

Hassan Osman The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 1985, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by executive producer Julia Smith. The first episode of ''EastEnders'' was broadca ...

(Michael Evangelou), is found dead in his cot. Ali and Sue spend months coming to terms with their son's death. The marriage is tested further when they try for another baby but Ali suffers impotence and questions his masculinity, resulting in him attempting to seduce other women; the desperation for a baby causes problems until Sue learns that she is pregnant again in 1987. Their second son,

Little Ali Osman The following is a list of characters first appearing in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1988, by order of first appearance. Sufia Karim Sufia Karim is played by Rani Singh. Sufia makes her first appearance in Walford in 1988, when she ...

(Omer Mustafa Salih), is born in 1988. When Sue begins to tire of life in Walford, Ali tries to get funds together to facilitate their move. In doing so, he runs up huge gambling debts to Joanne Francis (

Pamela Salem Pamela Fortunee Salem (born 22 January 1944) is a British film and television actress of Anglo-Indian descent. She was born in Bombay, India, and educated at Heidelberg University in Germany and later at the Central School of Speech and Drama i ...

), manager of Strokes wine bar, also a member of the criminal underworld known as The Firm. Desperate for money to hide his losses from Sue, Ali asks

Ian Beale Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the drama's longest-serving main character and, following the departure of Pauline Fowler ( Wendy Richard) in 2006, became the only one ...

(

Adam Woodyatt Adam Brinley Woodyatt (born 28 June 1968) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Ian Beale in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', which he played between 1985 and 2022. Early life and education Woodyatt was born on 28 June 1968 in W ...

) for a loan. Ian agrees and charges him 10 percent interest. Ali continues to gamble, struggling to pay Ian until he manages to win. Pleased with himself, Ali's boasting catches the attention of

Donna Ludlow Donna Ludlow is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Matilda Ziegler. She appears between episodes 265 and 437 of ''EastEnders'', originally appearing on screen from 27 August 1987 to 13 April 1989. Donna was sc ...

(

Matilda Ziegler Matilda Ziegler (born 23 July 1964) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Donna Ludlow in ''EastEnders'', Irma Gobb in ''Mr. Bean'', and Pearl Pratt in ''Lark Rise to Candleford''. Television and film career Ziegler's first screen r ...

); she seduces Ali and after they have sex, Donna blackmails Ali, threatening to tell Sue unless he pays her. Ali pays but Donna tells Sue regardless when Sue insults her. Devastated, Sue turns to Ali's brother,

Mehmet Osman Mehmet Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Haluk Bilginer. Mehmet is portrayed as a charmer, rogue and a serial womaniser, and makes recurring appearances in ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 1987, and the ...

(

Haluk Bilginer Nihat Haluk Bilginer (; born 5 June 1954) is a Turkish actor. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera ''EastEnders'' ...

), for comfort and wanting revenge, she kisses him in front of Ali. Thinking that his brother has been sleeping with his wife, Ali attacks Mehmet and banishes him from his life and after much rowing, Sue and Little Ali leave. Ali searches for Sue and eventually finds her visiting Hassan's grave and snatches Little Ali back. Losing another son makes Sue have a breakdown and she is sectioned. Now a single father, Ali struggles to keep his businesses afloat. He cannot afford the rent increase and attempts an insurance scam by torching his cafe. Ian works out that Ali started the fire deliberately and uses the situation to his advantage, forcing Ali to sign the cafe over to him. This causes a feud between them when Ali neglects to mention that the kitchen utilities were bought on hire purchase and are later repossessed. Ali struggles with juggling work and parental responsibilities. He has to resign from

Frank Butcher Frank Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mike Reid (actor), Mike Reid. Frank makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987, but due to a positive viewer reception, he is reintr ...

's ( Mike Reid) car lot when he discovers his child-minder is neglecting his son. He takes up mini-cabbing but when his car is stolen, he can't work so he is forced to send Little Ali to live with his parents. With no money, Ali attends a game of poker but loses to his landlord Alan McIntyre (Pip Miller), whom Ali had feuded with since 1987. As a result, Ali is evicted when he can't pay the rent. In a fury, Ali smashes up the flat with a crowbar, breaking all the windows and doors, until his family send him and Little Ali to Northern Cyprus in October 1989.

Creation

Ali Osman was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of ''EastEnders'',

and Julia Smith. Ali, a

, was originally intended to be named Chris. His name was changed to Ali when it dawned on Holland that he had given a

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

to a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Ali was a well-intentioned attempt to represent the proportion of Turkish Cypriots who had immigrated to England and settled in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. 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. Ali'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 Ali is referred to as "Chris". :"Chris is a Turkish Cypriot, his wife Sue is English, and they run the cafe just off the Square. In the evenings, Chris is also a minicab driver. They have a nine-month-old son named after Chris' dad - Hassan - and they are devoted to him....Chris was born in Cyprus in 1957. But, as it turned out in 1974, he was a Turk in a Greek zone. A refugee-camp followed. Then, the family was resettled in a Turkish zone. But, it never felt like home, and there was no money so, in 1975 they came to London...Chris married Sue in 1982...Chris is basically lazy, and a gambler. Not (yet) a compulsive gambler - but he is a passionate one...He's a bit of a peacock. He expects to be waited on hand and foot...Chris is always having to prove himself." (page 59) The casting of Ali was a huge problem for Holland and Smith. During that time in the 80s only three Turkish-speaking actors could be located in London, and one of those was considered unsuitable. The other two,

and

, were possibilities. Deciding which to cast caused major rows between Holland and Smith. Holland favoured Bilginer as he looked the part. He felt Salih did not have the physical presence needed and also believed that

(the actress playing his on-screen wife) would "make mincemeat out of him". Smith disagreed. As Salih was actually an East Londoner whose parents were Turkish Cypriots (whilst Bilginer was Turkish) she felt he would have actual knowledge to bring to the character and wouldn't have to act the part as "he was the part". He also lived in the East End, as did his large family. To resolve the conflict both actors were given readings with Sandy Ratcliff and Salih eventually won the role following a cheeky, sexist remark aimed at Ratcliff and her tardy time-keeping. Both Holland and Smith felt this typified the character perfectly. Ironically, both actors eventually featured in the series, as Bilinger was brought back to take on the role of Ali's older brother. Peter Batt, one of ''EastEnders original scriptwriters, has alleged that he created the character of Ali, and that he was based on himself: "a lunatic fucking gambler".

Development

Before the show aired, Holland and Smith had already decided that Sue and her husband would be parents to a young baby named Hassan. However, as further characters were invented they realised that there would be a total of four babies in the show: Annie Smith, Martin Fowler,

Vicki Fowler Vicki Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Emma Herry from the character's birth in 1986 to 1988, Samantha Leigh Martin from 1988 to 1995, and Scarlett Alice Johnson from 2003 to 2004. She is the daugh ...

and Hassan. It was decided that it would be impossible for the studios to cope with four babies, and so they invented a storyline to eliminate one of the young babies from the cast. During this time in the 1980s, the issue of

cot death Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usual ...

was extremely prominent in the British press, partly due to an increase in casualties, but also because a doctor had gone public with the accusation that parents were to blame for the tragic occurrence. Holland and Smith decided that covering this subject in the soap would be a good way of 'setting the record straight', and so it was decided that Sue and Ali's baby would die from cot death in the early months of the show. This was the first of many controversial storylines in ''EastEnders history. After the storyline aired in June 1985, the show was praised by audience and press alike for the sensitive and unsensational way this harrowing subject was treated. The sudden tragedy came as a surprise to the audience, especially since the bereaved parents were a couple whose feuding, fighting ways had made them appear rather comic in the early episodes of the show. The British Cot Death Foundation initially feared that a soap opera would trivialise the subject and frighten new parents. They tried to stop the episodes from airing, but in the end they were pleased with the way the subject was handled, and provided back-up support after transmission to many viewers who wanted more information on the subject. The character of Ali lasted in the show for over four years, remaining after the mental breakdown of his highly strung wife and depicting the plight of a single-parent father. Ali was eventually written out of the serial in 1989 following the departure of Smith and Holland from the series and the introduction of a new producer, Mike Gibbon.

Reception

It has been suggested by Comedy Central that "the tempestuous relationship between Sue and Ali Osman kept many an EastEnders viewer on the edge of their seat." The couple were described by the website as a

Diet Coke Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on ...

version of the popular ''EastEnders'' couple, Den and Angie "running the café rather than

the Queen Vic The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20. Appearance and developme ...

". In 2011, an ''EastEnders storyline aired featuring the character

Ronnie Branning Veronica "Ronnie" Branning (also Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by Samantha Womack. She and her younger sister Roxy Mitchell (played by Rita Simons) were introduced by executive producer Diede ...

's (

Samantha Womack Samantha Zoe Womack (''Birth name, née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the Unite ...

) baby dying of a cot death and the mother subsequently swapping her dead baby with another character's child. This plot has been compared unfavourably to the Osman cot death of 1985.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Ali EastEnders characters Fictional businesspeople Fictional gamblers Fictional Turkish Cypriot people Television characters introduced in 1985 Male characters in television Fictional taxi drivers