Tiffany Mitchell

Introduced in 1995 by series producer Barbara Emile, Tiffany Raymond was conceptualised by EastEnders' scriptwriter Tony Jordan as a school friend of already established character Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer).[1] Actress Martine McCutcheon was cast in the role. McCutcheon has revealed that she was initially hesitant about auditioning for the part, commenting to The Guardian, "An agent called me and said there was a part on EastEnders and I said, very offhandedly, 'I don't really want to do soap, because I want to do movies, and nobody I know goes from soap to movies, and it's just not the sort of actress I want to be [...] this agent said to me, just let me send you a synopsis of the character and see what you think, and I thought she was fantastic. And I watched EastEnders that night and I realised just how many people talked about it. So I told my agent, 'All right, I'm going to go for it, I'm not in a position to be fussy".[2]

In Larry Jaffee's book, Albert Square & Me: The Actors of Eastenders, McCutcheon discussed the auditioning process at the BBC in December 1994, saying that the casting directors liked the way she read, but did not feel that her dress sense tallied with their vision of Tiffany.[3] They asked her to return in a few days dressed like their vision, in "flashy clothes and junk jewelry" and showing a "bit of cleavage". McCutcheon attended "gangster clubs" to research the type of clothing worn by women that frequented them. She returned to the BBC wearing fishnet stockings, a tight lycra skirt, junk jewelry, orange lipstick and fake tan. She was told that her look was "perfect" and several days later she was informed that she had been given the role.[3]

McCutcheon's final competitor for the role of Tiffany was actress Claire Goose, who later appeared in EastEnders in a minor role as a hairdresser before achieving fame in the BBC drama series Casualty.[4][5]

Tiffany has been described as a "tart with a heart".[6] According to McCutcheon, Tiffany's original character outline, as described by the casting directors, portrayed her as a "feisty and quite bitchy character, quite worldly."[3]

McCutcheon has claimed that she partly based her portrayal of Tiffany on her own mother, Jenny; her mother gave her advice on how to play the character.[2] McCutcheon claims her mother told her "to wear the dangly earrings with the short skirts and the low, V-neck tops, because that's what the barmaids wore. She was very open about it all. She'd say you need to lean over and say in a breathy but firm voice, 'Hello! What d'you fancy?' And, hopefully, they'll say, 'You', and you'll get free drinks all night."[2] McCutcheon has described Tiffany as "fun and sassy". She added, "She has also got a lot of her morals wrong and she's a bit back to front. But she means well!"[7]

A volatile relationship between Tiffany and her boss, landlord Grant Mitchell, was scripted in the show. It began with a one-night stand on-screen, which led to "a sizzling undercurrent between them".[8] McCutcheon felt in 1996 that there was a lot of chemistry between Grant and Tiffany and was keen for the characters to have a legitimate relationship.[8] However, plots went on to pair Tiffany with another character, the sexually confused Tony Hills (Mark Homer). In the storyline, Tony struggles with his homosexuality and, fearful of these urges, begins a relationship with Tiffany.[9] This facilitates several plot twists, when Tiffany discovers she is pregnant she is uncertain as to whether the baby is Tony's or Grant's, and simultaneously, Tony begins an affair with Tiffany's brother Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford).[10] When Tony and Simon's affair is uncovered, Tiffany reunites with Grant after telling him her baby is his and they elope off-screen.[11]

Depicted as a problematic marriage, according to a show insider in 1996, "The marriage runs into trouble before the ink has even dried on the wedding certificate". In the storyline Grant falls for another barmaid, Lorraine Wicks (Jacqueline Leonard), and the Mitchell partnership ends in separation the same year when Grant is informed that Tiffany's baby might not be his. Later, Grant begrudgingly reunites with Tiffany in 1997 when he is confirmed as the father, but attempts to brand Tiffany as an incompetent mother.[12][13] The Mitchell baby saga was a ratings success for EastEnders.[13] Commenting on the storyline and her character, McCutcheon said in 1997, "Tiffany will be really upset that Grant is trying to make out she's not a good mother. It's so unjust, she adores [her daughter] Courtney. She's changed completely since the birth. She used to be hard and selfish, only interested in men and clothes, being free and having a wild time. Now all she wants is to settle down. Grant can't complain if he feels his daughter isn't being looked after properly. He hasn't given Tiff the support she needs."[14]

Tiffany's determination for the marriage to succeed despite upset was a repetitive theme and in 1997, McCutcheon discussed Tiffany's motivation and development as Tiffany and Grant prepared to have the marriage blessed in a more formal ceremony aired on-screen: "Tiffany sees [her marriage to Grant] as her last chance to grab some happiness. She never wants to suffer again the way she did. The pair of them gave their all in an effort to try to make it work. So delighted to have Grant back that this should be the best day of her life." McCutcheon claims that this spelt a new phase for Tiffany's character as she made a determined effort to win Grant back but under her own terms: "Now Tiffany is much more assertive. She loves Grant, but this time round she will never allow him to rule her life. Grant has to remember that now she sees it as equally important to be a mother as well as a wife. Having her daughter Courtney, she knows she will never be alone and does not need to follow meekly in Grant's shadow."[15] McCutcheon added, "[Tiffany]'s changed completely since the birth [of her daughter]. She used to be hard and selfish, only interested in men and clothes, being free and having a wild time. Now all she wants is to settle down."[16]

In September 1997, it was leaked to the press that McCutcheon was considering leaving EastEnders in order to pursue a singing career.[16] Rumours about her exit continued throughout early 1998, with sources suggesting that McCutcheon was hoping to remain on EastEnders while also releasing music. In an interview with website Walford Web, Matthew Robinson, the executive producer at the time, gave his account of what happened. He stated that McCutcheon demanded that "the BBC allow her to come and go within the series at her behest, making it impossible for storyliners to write coherently for her character."[17] Because of this, the show's bosses made the decision to kill the character of Tiffany off. McCutcheon was displeased with this and went public with her criticism of the decision, stating that she was not informed by the producers but heard the news on the radio after a tabloid newspaper ran a front-page story with the headline "Tiff's a stiff". Robinson suggested that this was due to an unsanctioned leak to the press.[17]

On-screen, Tiffany's exit storyline centred upon another break-up with husband Grant after she discovered that he had slept with her mother Louise (Carol Harrison). Leading up to her final scenes in December 1998, Tiffany and Grant were involved in a row that left Tiffany hospitalised after falling down the stairs; Tiffany attempted to frame Grant for pushing her.[18] 20 million viewers watched the episode. Matthew Robinson said he was delighted by the figures, saying they showed "our stories just get better and better. It's a great tribute to EastEnders' storyliners, writers and cast, particularly Martine McCutcheon as Tiffany."[19] Viewing figures remained high throughout the Christmas 1998 week as the storyline climaxed in Tiffany's exit on the New Year's episode, when Tiffany was killed after being hit by a car while trying to retrieve Courtney from Grant.[20] Her exit was watched by over 12 million viewers.[21]

McCutcheon publicly slammed the BBC's "Controller of Continuing Drama Series", Mal Young, who was one of the executives who made the decision to kill her character. She accused him of treating her unfairly and bringing her role in the soap to an end so irrevocably, merely as punishment for leaving.[2] In turn, Young has hit back at McCutcheon, saying her anger only arose because she wanted him to keep her role in EastEnders open as a 'safety net', in case her pop career failed, and he was not prepared to do this. McCutcheon subsequently wrote an autobiography entitled Who Does She Think She Is?: My Autobiography, which depicts Young less than favourably.[2]

Robinson defended the decision to kill the character, telling Walford Web, "Far from hasty, the decision was carefully made, not just by me, but by the trio of Mal Young, Peter Salmon (BBC1 Controller) and me. We knew exactly what we were doing and it was exactly right for the show at the time, whatever Martine continues to say about it. Sometimes, actors want to have their cake and eat it. This is not possible in a streamlined production factory, like EastEnders."[17] McCutcheon commented, "I wanted to be written out but not in such a final way. I was very upset. Even if I become the most successful singer in the world, I would still have loved it if I could have walked back into the Queen Vic."[22] In a subsequent interview she added:

What I wanted to do was come back, no matter what happened. To come back, walk into the Vic and say, `Hello Grant'. I told them that even if I had a number one single I would sign a contract to say I'd turn up in the Vic one last time because people would love it. I knew the BBC producers had given time off to other cast members. I thought they might do the same for me. But they wouldn't budge. They just said: `No - you either stay with it as it is or we're going to kill you off'. I said: `Don't you think that's a little drastic? We've got the best writers in Britain. There are loads of wonderful, dramatic things we can do. It doesn't mean you have to kill her off forever. That leaves no hope for me, for the public as far as the character goes, and no hope for the show as far as Tiffany is concerned [...] they knew I would make my singing career work and they wanted to get their pound of flesh from me before I went.[23]