Shona McGarty joined EastEnders way back in 2008 when Whitney Dean arrived in
Albert Square with her step-mum Bianca Jackson, along with her siblings.
Viewers could never have predicted the character would go on to become one of
the most iconic characters in the soap.
When Whitney was created as a character, she was to be both an equal to,
and younger version of Bianca.
Whitney has rarely been off our screens, with Shona taking only a couple of
breaks in 2012 and 2017. In 2018 Shona celebrated filming her 1000th episode.
Viewers found out after Whitney's arrival that the youngster was being abused by her step-mum's fiancé, Tony King. The storyline was really groundbreaking and encouraged those who were suffering at the hands of an abuser, to speak out. The storyline went on to win the Royal Television Society Programme Award in March 2009.
Shona then headed a sexual exploitation storyline which see the teenager
groomed by local pimp, Rob Grayson.
Whitney met Rob when she was attempting to pickpocket a man, but the
relationship took a turn for the worse when Rob slowly pulled Whitney away
from her family and friends. The storyline came to a dramatic end when Fatboy
called Whitney's brother Ryan Malloy for help.
We agree with many of you on that point, but you also have to look at it from
the point of the actor playing the character. A happy and content character does
not equal drama.
Now, this may not necessarily be the case, but EastEnders has seen a huge
number of bosses come and go over the last decade, and because Shona gives
such great and powerful performances, it's right that she is given those
storylines. Unfortunately it leaves viewers feeling like nothing positive will
ever happen for Whitney.
After a couple of failed relationships, including Woody Woodward and Lee Carter, Whitney found the man of her dreams. Callum Highway . . . . but we all know how that ended.
Then there was Kush and everything was going great until Gray
Atkins decided to put an end to that (still sobbing).
After every tragedy in her life, Whitney always bounces back stronger than
before. Heartbreaking scenes see Whitney at her lowest ebb when she was
imprisoned after killing Leo King, the son of her childhood abuser Tony.
Whitney is a very maternal character and we have seen this between the
character and her siblings from the very first episode.
So where does the character go from here? Now this is where it gets exciting .
. .
Despite everything that has happened in Whitney's past, the character is in a wonderful position for writers to go in any direction they want. They have thrown everything they can at Whitney, but she comes back stronger than ever.
When a character in a soap is beaten down time and time again, some writers
make the mistake of turning the character into a villain, but that wouldn't
work for Whitney.
This is where we get a little fanatical. Going back a few years, one romance that didn't get a chance to develop
was Whitney's relationship with Arthur 'Fatboy' Chubb.
Fatboy had enormous popularity with viewers, and still does! He was there for Whitney through some of her darkest moments, and despite their short-lived romance coming to an end, we feel this could have gone the distance.
Now this is where we could solve a few problems. Viewers want to see both Dot
Cotton and Fatboy return to EastEnders.
With our fanatic hat on, we see Whitney and Dotty take a break from Walford
and we follow them on-location as they pay Dot a visit, and who's she sat
around the kitchen table with? You guessed it.
It's a possible huge storyline for everyone to get involved with and doesn't
end in more misery for Whitney.
Either way, Whitney has set in stone her place on the soap for many years to
come, but listen up writers . . . give the woman some long-lasting happiness!
Give us your thoughts. How would you like to see Whitney Dean progress in the
future?
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