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Binnie Roberts 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

Sophie Langham Sophie Louise Langham (born 1976) is an English actress who was born on the Isle of Wight. She is most famous for playing one half of Walford's first lesbian couple, in the popular BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. Her character, Binnie Roberts, ...

from 9 June 1994 until 16 May 1995. Binnie is an out and proud

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, which is in stark contrast to her shy and retiring girlfriend,

Della Alexander Della Alexander is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' played by Michelle Joseph from 1 March 1994 until 16 May 1995. Della is the first lesbian character to be featured on the show. Storylines Della arrives in Walford ...

(

Michelle Joseph Michelle Joseph (born May 1970) is a British actress. Acting career Joseph is most famous for playing Walford's first lesbian resident, Della Alexander, in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' from 1994–1995. Other acting credits include: * ...

Storylines

Binnie arrives in

Albert Square 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 ...

in June 1994. She is the secret girlfriend of hairdresser

(

). Whilst Della prefers to keep her sexuality hidden, Binne is out and proud and wants everyone to know. She refuses to put up with anyone's bigotry and defends her sexuality to anyone that dares to pass judgement. Della had been 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 ...

for a few months before Binnie's arrival, and in this time she'd sparked up a close, flirtatious relationship with the barman,

Steve Elliot Steve Elliot is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Monero between 8 October 1991 and 12 February 1996. Storylines Steve is first seen in Albert Square in October 1991 as an old school friend of Hattie ...

(

Mark Monero Mark Monero (born 1968) is a British actor and musician. He has had various roles including parts in ''Babylon'', ''Wilt'', ''Prayer for the Dying'', ''Sid and Nancy'' and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera '' ...

). Steve has become a partner in Della's hair salon and has begun to think that he and Della will soon be more than just friends. Binnie is adamant that Della should tell Steve about her sexuality, but Della finds the prospect of 'coming out' extremely daunting. Several days later, the situation is brought to a head prematurely, when Steve accidentally walks in on Della and Binnie in bed together. Steve is furious, as he feels Della has been leading him on. He throws her out of his home, prompting several arguments between him and Binnie. Steve and Binnie are sworn enemies thereafter, although they do manage to put aside their differences later in the year. Binnie and Della soon move into a bedsit on the Square and Binnie gets a job working as a barmaid in

The Queen Victoria 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 developmen ...

public house alongside Steve. She and Steve bicker constantly, mainly because Steve refuses to accept that Della is gay and regularly tries it on with her, leaving Binnie fuming with jealousy. More problems arise when

Natalie Price Natalie Price may refer to: * Natalie Evans Natalie Evans (also Price) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', between 18 January 1994 and 10 May 2004, played by Lucy Speed. Natalie first appeared in January 1994, depi ...

(

Lucy Speed Lucy Renee Speed (born 31 August 1976) is an English actress best known for her television roles as Natalie Evans in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1994 to 1995 and again from 1999 until 2004, and as DS Stevie Moss in the ITV police ...

) hears a rumour that Binnie and Della are lesbians. She starts telling anyone who cares to listen about how disgusting and unnatural the pair are. This reaction increases Della's trepidation about living as a lesbian and she starts denying the rumours; claiming that she'd never slept with a woman before in her life. Infuriated by Della's shame, Binnie threatens to leave the Square, which forces Della to prioritise. In order to convince Binnie to stay, Della kisses her in the middle of Bridge Street, which really gives the gossips something to talk about. Binnie spends most of her time on the Square trying to force Della to conform to her lesbian ideals. She regularly pressurises her to 'come out' to her mother and generally bosses her around making demands, which often causes blazing rows between them. Despite this, Binnie usually has Della's best interests at heart and the two genuinely love each other. In 1995, Binnie and Della decide that they have had enough of Walford and they decide to make a new start of things in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

. They both depart in May 1995.

Character creation and development

Binnie and her girlfriend

were the first lesbian couple to be featured in ''EastEnders''. Their inclusion was an attempt to portray positive examples of characters who just happen to be

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

. Their lesbian kiss accounted for some 45 percent of viewer complaints to the BBC regarding ''EastEnders'' in 1994; provoking more complaints than any other television programme that year (according to research published by the Broadcasting Standards Council in 1995).Broadcast Concerns 1994-1995
, ''Broadcasting Standards Council''. URL last accessed on 2006-11-06. In 2005 their lesbian kiss was featured in E4's ''X Rated: Top 20 Most Controversial TV Moments''; a documentary examining British TV's most talked about on-screen moments. It was placed at number 11 in the chart and, according to the poll, received an estimated 486 viewer complaints and 180 column inches in the British press. In 1995, bisexual actress

Pam St. Clement Pamela Ann Clements (born 11 May 1942), known professionally as Pam St Clement, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Pat Butcher in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' from June 1986 until January 2012, with a guest appe ...

, who plays Pat Evans, was asked if ''EastEnders first lesbian storyline suffered from "seeming to follow the pack rather than lead it". She commented, "I think they realised there was something missing, but having given themselves that brief they didn't know what the fuck to do with it. I think

Michael Cashman Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. ...

made Colin Russell so successful because he is a gay man. I'd never argue for somebody having to be a part to do it - you don't have to be a murderer to play

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

- and I think the two young girls

ho played Della and Binnie Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri M ...

did what they could, but they couldn't really give the programme any help."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Binnie EastEnders characters Fictional bartenders Fictional lesbians Television characters introduced in 1994 Female characters in television Fictional LGBT characters in television

Storylines

Character creation and development

See also

References