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Clyde Tavernier 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

Steven Woodcock Steven Woodcock (born 23 February 1964) is an English actor, best known for his role as Clyde Tavernier in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''; a role that he played from July 1990 to July 1993. Other television credits include ''Grange Hill'' (1 ...

. Introduced on 5 July 1990, Clyde featured in prominent storylines including an inter-racial relationship with

Michelle Fowler Michelle Fowler (also Holloway) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Susan Tully from the show's first episode on 19 February 1985 up until the character's departure on 26 October 1995. She returned on 24 De ...

(

Susan Tully Susan Tully (born 20 October 1967) is an English actress, television producer, and television director. Her most prominent television acting roles were those of rebellious teenager Suzanne Ross in ''Grange Hill'' and single mother Michelle Fowl ...

) and being framed for the murder of publican

Eddie Royle The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1990, by order of first appearance. Harry Osborne In January 1990, a mysterious old man (John Boswall) is seen lingering around Albert Square. ...

(

Michael Melia Michael Melia (born 1945) is a British actor best known for his work on television. He appeared as Queen Vic landlord Eddie Royle in BBC One soap opera EastEnders between 1990 and 1991. Early life Melia was born in Berkshire and attended St Mar ...

). The character was written out in 1993 and was given a happy ending, leaving on 22 July 1993.

Storylines

Backstory

Clyde was the first-born son to Etta and

Celestine Tavernier Celestine and Etta Tavernier are fictional characters from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Leroy Golding and Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence respectively. Both appear primarily in the serial as a married couple between 1990 and 1992. Celest ...

(

Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence is a British former actress, most famous for playing the role of Celestine and Etta Tavernier, Etta Tavernier in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. She no longer acts and as of 2008 works in criminal law. Career She train ...

and

Leroy Golding Celestine and Etta Tavernier are fictional characters from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Leroy Golding and Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence respectively. Both appear primarily in the serial as a married couple between 1990 and 1992. Celest ...

). After his birth in Trinidad in 1968, his family moved to the UK. Growing up in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Clyde was subject to racism and police harassment, which made him angry and somewhat bitter. In adulthood, Clyde struggled to find direction. He lazed around, did odd jobs, and took up boxing. Clyde met a woman named Abigail Chadwick and they had a child together, a son named Kofi. Clyde and Abigail split up and Kofi was taken to Bristol by his mother to live with his grandparents. When Abigail was killed in a car crash, it was agreed that Kofi would remain living with his maternal grandparents.

1990–1993

Clyde moves to Albert Square in July 1990 with his family. Clyde gets a job working 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. Clyde becomes prime suspect for a series of thefts that were occurring in the pub. Clyde's boss,

(

), suspects Clyde is behind the incidents as he is the only black barman. However, Clyde is later cleared of any wrongdoing. Clyde desperately misses his son,

Kofi Tavernier The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1990, by order of first appearance. Harry Osborne In January 1990, a mysterious old man ( John Boswall) is seen lingering around Albert Square ...

(Marcel Smith), and when he discovers that Kofi's grandparents are planning to take his child to live permanently in Jamaica, he tails them to the airport to stop them. Despite initial uncertainty Clyde is given custody of his son and Kofi moves in with Clyde. Clyde starts a relationship with

(

); their inter-racial relationship causes a stir in the community. Clyde resumes boxing, spurred on by

Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...

(

Steve McFadden Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...

) and Grant Mitchell (

Ross Kemp Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...

), who hope to exploit him in the ring by pitting him against a superior fighter and betting against him. However their plan backfires when an overfaced Clyde manages to win the fight, despite the odds being severely stacked against him. Clyde is later trained to box by Eddie, but animosity between him and Eddie resurfaces when Eddie attempts to get Clyde to throw a fight in a betting scam. Clyde refuses, but his altercations with Eddie come back to haunt him when he becomes the prime suspect in Eddie's murder soon after. Clyde discovers Eddie's bloody body in the square and unwittingly picks up the knife that has been used to kill him. Panicking, Clyde leaves the scene and disposes of the murder weapon, but is seen by the real murderer,

Nick Cotton Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia ...

( John Altman), who proceeds to frame Clyde for the deed. With a clear motive and a key witness, Clyde finds it difficult to convince anyone of his innocence. Clyde feels that he was the victim of a racist conspiracy and sensing his imminent arrest he decides to go 'on the run' with Kofi. Michelle sticks by him and she and her daughter

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 ...

(

Samantha Leigh Martin 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 ...

) leave Walford with Clyde, with the hope of starting a new life together in France. Their bid for freedom is not to be as Clyde is apprehended in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before he can leave the country; he is subsequently imprisoned. He only secures release several weeks later when a witness, Joe Wallace (Jason Rush) comes forward and identifies Nick as Eddie's real killer. Upon Clyde's release, his relationship with Michelle abruptly ends when he catches her in bed with another man, Jack Woodman (

James Gilbey James Gilbey is a former British actor. He is possibly best known for playing the character Jack Woodman in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' during the early 1990s. Gilbey has since given up performing to work "behind the camera" and worked as ...

). The Taverniers are visited by

Gidea Thompson The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 1993, by order of first appearance. 1994 was a historic year for ''EastEnders'', as in April, a third weekly episode was introduced. Due to the p ...

(Siân Martin), a friend of Jules' family back in Trinidad. Clyde and Gidea grow close and embark on a relationship, forcing Jules to admit Gidea is his granddaughter from an adulterous affair he had in his 20s, meaning the pair are cousins. Gidea wants to break things off with Clyde, but he persuades her they can still have a relationship. Jules disapproves, but Clyde ignores his protests, and in July 1993 he decides to leave Walford to start a new life with Gidea in Trinidad.

Creation and development

In the latter part of 1989, Michael Ferguson became the new executive producer of ''EastEnders'', taking over from

Mike Gibbon John Michael Gibbon (born 27 January 1942) is an English television producer and Television director, director. He directed and produced the BBC televised soap opera, ''EastEnders''. He began directing the programme in 1985 and began producing t ...

. Ferguson had previously been a producer on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' – a hard-hitting, gritty and successful police drama, which seemed to be challenging ''EastEnders'' in providing a realistic vision of modern life in

. Due to his success on ''The Bill'',

Peter Cregeen Peter Cregeen (born 28 January 1940 in London, England) is a British television director, producer and executive. He was the original director of ITV's successful police drama, ''The Bill'', and made a substantial contribution to the series the ...

, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become the executive producer of ''EastEnders''. Following a relatively unsuccessful inclination towards comic storylines throughout 1989, Ferguson decided to take the soap in a new direction in 1990. Big changes were implemented both off-screen and on-screen. Ferguson altered the way the episodes were produced, changed the way the storylines were conceptualised and introduced a far greater amount of location work than had previously been seen. ''EastEnders'' scriptwriter

Colin Brake Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programmes such as '' Bugs'' and '' EastEnders''. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series '' Doctor Who''. He lives and w ...

said that it was a challenging period, but "the results on-screen were a programme with a new sense of vitality, and a programme more in touch with the real world than it had been for a while". As a consequence of these changes, a large number of characters were axed in early 1990 as the new production machine cleared way for a new direction and new characters. Among the new characters were the Jamaican Tavernier family, who collectively arrived on-screen in July 1990, composed of grandfather

Jules Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

(

Tommy Eytle Thomas Daniel Hicks Eytle (16 July 1926 – 19 June 2007)Wilmer, Val"Tommy Eytle" (obituary) ''The Guardian'', 27 July 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2017. was a Guyanese calypso musician and actor. Although born in Guyana, Eytle's career was based in ...

), his son and daughter-in-law Celestine (

) and Etta (

), their eldest son Clyde (

), and their twins Lloyd ( Garey Bridges) and

Hattie Hattie or Hatty may refer to: People *Hattie Alexander (1901–1968), American pediatrician and microbiologist *Hattie Helen Gould Beck, birth name of burlesque dancer Sally Rand (1904–1979) *Hattie Bessent (1908–2015), American psychiatric ...

(

Michelle Gayle Michelle Patricia Gayle (born 2 February 1971) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and writer. Gayle had success as a soul and R&B singer in the 1990s, having achieved seven top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart. These include "Sweetness" ...

). Later Clyde's son

was introduced. Colin Brake described the Taverniers as the major new additions that year, and it heralded the first time that an entire family had joined the serial all at once. Their introduction was also described as a well-intentioned attempt to portray a wider range of black characters than had previously been achieved on the soap. It took a long time to cast the complete Tavernier family. Once ''EastEnders'' became a success, the producers had no difficulties in finding "good actors" who wanted to join the cast; however, what became hard was finding families—combinations of performers who "look and sound as though they could be related." According to producers

Corinne Hollingworth Corinne Ann Hollingworth (born 25 May 1952) is a British television producer and executive, best known for her contributions to British soap operas, including BBC's ''EastEnders'' and five's ''Family Affairs''. Hollingworth has gained a reputatio ...

and Pat Sandys, the Taveriner family were especially difficult as four generations of the family were being featured. Hollingworth has commented "The most difficult job we've had was finding six black actors who fitted the bill for the Tavernier family. Here we needed two teenagers who looked around fifteen but were actually older, had left school and had mature attitudes to work. They had to love music, hanging around in tracksuits and most important, they had to look as if they could be twins. And for Clyde, we needed someone who looked as though he'd been a boxer but also seemed thoughtful." Author Hilary Kingsley described Clyde as someone who "has never accepted that black people have to tolerate prejudice without protest." She added that "Clyde has good reason to feel bitter, thanks to years of being harassed by the police. Yet he had never broken the law". She suggested that he was a character "who sometimes lacked sense.". Rupert Smith has classified Clyde as a "poster boy" the type of character whose principal purpose "seems to be to please the show's sizeable straight female and gay audience". Woodcock was a keen boxer, and this was utilised on-screen in 1991, when Clyde took up the sport. Smith has claimed that this gave the programme-makers the opportunity to allow Clyde to take his shirt off on-screen, which according to Smith, "he did at the drop of a hat". Clyde's most prominent storyline surrounded his seeming involvement in the murder of publican

(

). Colin Brake has stated that it was the biggest storyline of the year. In the storyline, Clyde was framed for the murder by the real killer,

( John Altman). As prime suspect, Clyde decided to flee the country with his son and his girlfriend Michelle. They went to Portsmouth with the hope of catching a private ferry to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

so they could start a new life together, but they were arrested whilst trying to board the boat. Brake has nominated one of the episodes focusing on Clyde's attempted police escape as 1991's "pick of the year". The episode was written by

Tony Jordan Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. He was listed as the number one television screenwriter in the United Kingdom by ''Broadcast'' magazine in 2008 and among British broadcasting's top twenty in ''The Stage'' in 200 ...

and was played as if it was the actual last appearance of Michelle, who had been pivotal in the series up until that point. Brake suggested there "was a strong sense of tension as the episode built to the inevitable ending, with Michelle and Clyde arrested by the police on the verge of boarding a private boat that would have taken them to France." The episode was directed by Mike Dormer and aired on 14 November 1991. Brake described it as "the most exciting thriller episodes of ''EastEnders''" and suggested that it "allowed a new side of both Clyde and Michelle to be seen, and put real pressure on their already fragile relationship". Clyde's time in the soap came to an end in July 1993. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' reported that the character was being written out of ''EastEnders''. Clyde was one of several characters to be written out that year in what the press dubbed the "Albert Square Massacre". Clyde was given a happy ending on-screen; he departed after falling in love with a second cousin, and moved to live in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Reception

Writer Rupert Smith has suggested that Clyde's purpose was "almost entirely decorative" and that Clyde had little else to do in ''EastEnders'' except take his clothes off, other than to "dally improbably with Michelle and to do the odd bit of kidnapping." In the 1992 book ''Come on down?: popular media culture in post-war Britain'', the authors have referenced Clyde and the rest of the Tavernier family as non-white characters who appeared to have been integrated into part of the predominantly white communal setting of the soap. However, they suggested that this attempt at inclusion "is the single clue to an understanding of why ''EastEnders'' is a development of an old form of representation of working-class life. The ethnic minority households are accepted in the working-class community, but the black, white and Asian families remain culturally distinct." They suggested that there was no attempt to portray hybridity between black-white cultures. Robert Clyde Allen has discussed the Tavernier family in his 1995 book ''To be continued--: soap operas around the world''. He suggested that black characters in ''EastEnders'' were incorporated into the

working-class culture Working-class culture is a range of cultures created by or popular among working-class people. The cultures can be contrasted with high culture and folk culture, and are often equated with popular culture and low culture (the counterpart of high ...

of the soap as opposed to offering something different from it. He noted that the Taverniers, the focus of black characters in the early 1990s, for a while had the same mixture of generations and attitudes that characterized the Fowlers, one of the soap's core white families who had a dominant position in the series. However he stated that "somewhat typically ..the family broke up".

References

External links

Clyde Tavernier
at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavernier, Clyde EastEnders characters Fictional Black British people Fictional bartenders Fictional boxers Fictional taxi drivers Television characters introduced in 1990 Male characters in television