Syed Masood

Syed had been mentioned regularly since the Masoods arrived in Walford in 2007, but was not introduced on-screen until April 2009. Elliott was cast in the role after a successful reading with Ganatra and Wadia. Eliott was told he had been successfully cast just before Christmas 2008.[6]

In an interview with entertainment and media website Digital Spy, Elliott commented on his casting, and the "responsibility" with regard to playing a character that viewers already had preconceived images about: "I hope I'm what everyone expects! I was given a biography when I got the part [...]. It's a process all characters go through to decide what they'd do in certain situations, given certain choices and basic things, for example who they'd like or dislike on [Albert] Square. That helped to cement the character in my head [...]. He's such a complex character. It's such a collaborative experience. I'm discovering things about Syed at the same time as the rest of the team."[6] To prepare for the role, Elliott watched documentaries such as A Jihad for Love which focus on the ways in which gay Muslims reconcile their faith with their sexuality.[7]

Shortly after his arrival, Syed's girlfriend, Amira Shah, was introduced played by Preeya Kalidas. Elliott has described the relationship between the characters and Syed's motivation: "Well, she's a rich daddy's girl and it's hard not to make the association between Syed and money. There's certainly an honest attraction there and I think he does love her. But the money that her father has might be an additional aspect of their relationship. Amira comes in and ruffles a few feathers, especially Zainab's. Obviously with Syed being a mummy's boy, she has to have her say. I don't think Zainab would be happy with anyone that Syed's with – they'd have to be absolutely perfect. Mummy Masood will be doing a lot of meddling and locking horns with Amira."[11]

In June 2009, Syed begins an affair with gay character Christian Clarke, played by John Partridge, a storyline that will see Syed "torn between his feelings and [his] faith".[12] The storyline is said to be controversial, as homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam.[13] However, Santer explained that the storyline will not be a moral tale, but one of human interest, adding: "In this regard, it's not dissimilar to the story we told when Dot Cotton's deeply-held Christian beliefs came into conflict with her desire to alleviate Ethel's suffering [in a euthanasia plotline]. To all intents and purposes, Syed is a 'good' Muslim man: he doesn't drink, smoke or engage in sex before marriage. But he struggles with his sexuality when he finds himself drawn to Christian and he believes this goes against his faith. This is not a story about Syed and Christian's physical relationship – we don't see anything beyond one kiss. It's more about the inner turmoil and conflict Syed endures trying to remain true to his faith while questioning his sexuality. Syed has already been ostracised from his family and community once and if he's true to his heart he risks losing his family again."[12] Santer also said that EastEnders always tries to "reflect modern life in multicultural Britain and [tell] social issue stories relevant to [its] diverse audience."[12] Elliott commented on the storyline, saying: "I think EastEnders would be doing the programme a disservice if they didn't give a voice to various communities. I think that's really important because I think London is a very ethnically diverse multicultural place, and EastEnders has a job to reflect that in the story lines it gives people and the characters they have on board."[14] This plot was researched with help from academics, gay Muslim support groups and members of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, and will contain a "balance of opinions" from various other characters, including Syed's mother Zainab.[15]

When asked in a BBC interview in September 2009 if Syed is gay or bisexual, Elliott answered: "I think at this stage there's confusion about his sexuality. He knows he likes Christian but it hasn't really been stipulated. He wants to settle down and have children with Amira because that's what's expected of him, but he finds himself unavoidably attracted to Christian so that's what's going on in his head."[7] He went on to say that Syed is still attracted to Amira but only because "that's what he’s meant to do", adding that "he's probably conning himself."[7] Christian's friend James Mackie, played by Paul Keating arrives and when Syed refuses to break up with Amira, Christian starts a relationship with James to forget Syed. Elliott says that this is the moment when Syed realises his feelings for Christian go beyond sexual attraction.[7] Elliot explains that Syed and Amira have never been intimate, in theory because of their religion, but adds that Syed is probably scared to get intimate with her and is merely hiding behind his religion.[7]

In December 2009, Santer was asked what his favourite story line of the year had been. He replied "I'm really pleased with the Christian/Syed story line. It's bold and we thought long and hard before we did it to make sure we got it right and I'm really proud with what we've done. Marc [Elliott] and John [Partridge] have absolutely stepped up to the plate and like all good EastEnders stories, we're not even half done with it yet. There's miles to go."[16]

Syed and Amira's wedding takes place on screen on 1 January 2010. They have a traditional Pakistani wedding featuring horses, drummers and dancers. Scriptwriters researched by watching videos of a real British Pakistani wedding. BBC Asian Network reporter Shabnam Mahmood also advised on the wedding. The wedding and its build-up were filmed over a two-week period and Elliott required three two-hour riding lessons before he could film the horseback scenes. He revealed: "I was quite proud of myself, though, as I managed to canter although I don't do that around the Square as it's not that big. During rehearsals the horse, Storm, was really well behaved and it all went fairly smoothly. But as soon as it came to the actual filming and all the drums and banners came out, it wasn't so easy. I think she walks sideways for quite a bit of the time. But I'm just pleased that I didn't end up impaled on the railings in Albert Square. I think avoiding that was quite an achievement."[17] John Partridge choreographed the dance scenes and Elliott took six weeks to learn the dance, saying: "I couldn't have done it without him [Partridge]. He had me practising in every spare moment, even in the hallways by myself as he wanted to see a marked improvement on my routine. Preeya kept getting occasional glimpses of me practising in the hallways and she didn't look too impressed with what she saw. Johnny did a great job with that routine, although I added in the back flip myself! By the end of it, I ate, slept and dreamt that dance."[17]

Before the wedding, Syed's affair with Christian is revealed to his mother Zainab and he admits to her that he is gay.[18] She urges him to go ahead with the wedding and only a small number of people know about Syed and Christian. Elliot said he was pleased that the affair came out this way, as "it's far more realistic this way".[19] He added that the writers would have "done the story a disservice" if Syed and Christian had ended up with their 'happily ever after', saying "they need to show the life after the wedding and show how Syed will cope living with a wife who he loves, but not in the way he loves Christian. He has to live with the fact that he's not being true to himself over his sexuality."[19] Elliott noted a change in Syed's personality, saying "Syed's starting to show signs of being quite a cruel character but it's only through his own bitterness and resentment that he starts acting the way he does – it's the way he deals with it. Poor Amira's none the wiser, so Syed's not acting right and she has no idea why."[19]

In 2011, a same-sex parenting storyline which sees Christian and Syed finding a surrogate mother was reported by the Daily Mirror. If true, it will form one of the year's biggest plots, expected to controversial and a ratings hit.[20] In March 2011, it was reported that a Syed would be among characters sustaining injuries when the roof of his parents' restaurant, The Argee Bhajee, collapses. The scenes, to air in April 2011, were filmed in February, and a spokespoerson said "Despite the ill-feeling between him and his parents, Syed is in the building when the disastrous party takes place. But what the accident could mean for the family feud remains to be seen."[21] The plot could see Syed and Christian share more screentime with the rest of the Masood family, as Partridge commented that the issues may start to be resolved, though not necessarily leading to the outcome viewers will want.[21]

A scene showing Syed and Christian naked in bed together prompted over 100 complaints to the BBC. EastEnders executive producer Bryan Kirkwood was forced to defend the scenes. The mixed response from viewers to the scenes confirms the findings of a BBC survey last year, which showed that gay relationships are still a divisive issue. On the other hand, some other viewers praised the BBC for showing "the fabulous portrait of the relationship between Syed and Christian". The viewer said the gay bed scene was a "big step towards equality". The BBC stated in response The BBC's statement said: "EastEnders aims to reflect real life, and this means including and telling stories about characters from many different backgrounds, faiths, religions and sexualities".[22]

Critically, both Syed's gay storyline and Marc Elliott's acting were well received, with Elliott winning Best Newcomer at The British Soap Awards in 2010.[26] From its inception, however, Syed's gay storyline was criticised by Asghar Bokhari of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, who said "The Muslim community deserves a character that represents them to the wider public because Islamophobia is so great right now. There's a lack of understanding of Muslims already and I think EastEnders really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public."[14] One British Muslim fan of EastEnders reportedly told the Al Arabiya news channel that the storyline "is not a true reflection of the majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom."[13] Another British Muslim said "I think it's bad, it is going to give a bad impression about Islam. The type of people that watch EastEnders are going to be very naïve about such a portrayal of Muslims," but added that Muslims probably would not boycott the show as "generally practicing Muslims don't really watch EastEnders."[13]

Diederick Santer responded to the criticisms of Muslim viewers by saying "It's really important that [...] we give the Masoods big stories. Sometimes there's a danger of being too careful with black or Asian characters that we might go into territories that might offend. But it seems to me if we steer away from any controversy, they don't stand a chance of being a great EastEnders family – they'll just be in their kitchen unit making curries for years and years and that's not going to be very interesting." Yusuf Wehebi from LGBT Muslim advocacy group Imaan said: "It is high time that the invisible minority became a visible minority. It is entirely possible to be Muslim and gay and there [are] many of us in Britain today. It is great that the BBC have had the courage to raise such an important social issue in our society today."[14] The kiss between Syed and Christian was watched by 7.9 million viewers.[27] Elliott told Soaplife magazine that he has received no negative feedback from the show's fans for the storyline.[28]

The 1 January 2010 episode in which Syed marries Amira in a Pakistani wedding received overnight ratings of 11.64 million viewers, an average audience share of 39.3%. The ultimate five minutes of the episode, in which Christian and Syed share an emotional goodbye, received a peak of 12.34 million viewers.[29] The wedding was criticised by a writer for Asian Image, who said "With so much resources at hand they couldn't even get a Muslim wedding right. It was colourful and noisy but the priest couldn't speak the lingo properly and the wedding vows were all wrong. What was the priest doing sat between the bride and groom? At least attempt to make it as realistic as possible. It was Indian and then Pakistani – what on earth was going on! For a prime-time show which was watched by millions at least try to get as close to a real Pakistani Muslim wedding as possible. The whole thing reminded me of one of 1960s botched jobs put together by some middle-aged white man who 'thought it happened this way so it must!'"[30] A Channel Five retrospective on soap weddings in 2010, however, deemed the "dramatic Bollywood-style wedding" to be "spectacular".[31]

In July 2010, viewers complained after Syed was seen dropping his Qu'ran in frustration. The BBC responded by saying "It was not intended to be a disrespectful act, rather a totally spontaneous one, symbolic of Syed's utter confusion and frustration at what feels like an impossible situation. It wasn't our intention to cause any offence." Additionally, Ofcom received 23 complaints from viewers who said the gay Muslim storyline was offensive to their faith.[32] In the same month, the Syed-Christian storyline was commented on in Stonewall research, which found that positive and realistic gay characters appear in just 0.6% of broadcast television.[33] Stonewall noted the romance storyline was a predominantly violent and unhappy one.[34] Among readers of Inside Soap, Syed and Christian came second in a poll of characters favoured to marry on-screen in 2011.[35]

In January 2011, Elliott was nominated for Serial Drama Performance at the 2011 National Television Awards for his portrayal of Syed.[36] Inside Soap readers voted Syed their favourite member of the Masood family.[37] Kate White from Inside Soap ran a feature on what Christmas presents she would give to soap characters. White said she would buy Syed a backbone in the hope he would stand up for himself, as his "lack of will power" drove Christian away.[38] Following the storyline where Syed causes his family to lose their restaurant, Heat called him "clinically stupid".[39]

• List of EastEnders characters (2009)
• List of LGBT characters in television and radio
• List of soap operas with LGBT characters
• List of soap opera villains