Family Affairs - 2003 Cast Revamp

2003 Cast Revamp

In September 2003, another drastic cast revamp occurred as new series producer Alison Davis arrived, presented with the onerous task of finally getting viewing figures up to an acceptable standard.

Martin Delaney who played Paul Webb left the series to take a role in New Zealand serial Shortland Street. Following Paul's departure, all members of the related Webb, Warrington and Ellis families were slowly written out of the story and original character Claire Toomey left Charnham after a long return stint.

Robert Davenport and co-worker Fern Farmer were killed when a runaway car ploughed into the shopfront of Robert's catering business. The driver was Dave's recently arrived stepson Jake Walker (Seb Castang) who lost control of the stolen car during a police chase, following a botched deal by Gabriel Drummond. However, the biggest casualty of Davis's arrival was the show's only remaining original character to have appeared continuously for the entire run of the series, Roy Farmer, who was killed in a fire in his internet café business.

These departures left just a handful of old characters on board, with Pete, Sadie, Yasmin, Cat and the returning Dave as the only pre-2002 characters remaining in the show (Pete had joined in 1997, the others in late-1998). Pete Callan was now the show's longest-serving character. Pete and Eileen were married, however, she had in fact, married him for strategic reasons in a long-term plan for revenge.

Indeed, it was Eileen, in league with the sinister Mike Shaw (Tony O'Callaghan), who had set the fire in the internet café that killed Roy. It was done in an attempt to frame Pete for arson. No one knew Roy was inside when the fire was set and when Pete was arrested for setting the fire the charge was arson and murder. Pete was sent to prison on remand and was absent from the series for many months. He was seen in only a few isolated episodes where other characters visited him in prison. He eventually returned to the storyline with his trial. He was acquitted and returned to Charnham and to running the pub with Eileen, who had become licensee while he was in custody.

On Pete's first day back, one of his tasks was to dispose of the body of Mike Shaw, who, in an incident somewhat similar to the death of Josh Matthews, had been accidentally killed by Lucy Day upstairs at the pub, after he had tried to rape Eileen. The story became even more complicated as Eileen's son she had adopted out, Sam Taylor (Leon Ockenden), had made a reappearance in her life. Sam was Eileen's son from a previous relationship with Mike. Pete secretly learned that Eileen and Mike had set the fire in an attempt to frame him for arson, and he plotted a slow and satisfying revenge.

Meanwhile, another series of new characters were brought in to remould Family Affairs once again. Undoubtedly, the most significant of these were the Costello family. Gary Costello (Gary Webster) was a businessman who lost a lot money in a failed business deal, and was forced to move from a far more expensive neighbourhood in Chigwell, Essex to the comparatively modest Stanley Street, much to the shame and embarrassment of his snobbish, socialite wife Chrissy (Kazia Pelka). Their daughters, teenager Melanie (Rebecca Hunter) and Chloe (Leah Coombes), were more concerned about leaving behind their school friends. The family was later joined by Gary's dependable mother Myra (Kate Williams).

Other important newcomers in 2003, included the fractious Boulter family who opened a restaurant on the site of Roy's destroyed café. They consisted of moody, judgemental father Les Boulter, caring mother Denise who harboured a secret about a long-ago affair, closeted bisexual son Brendan, and teenage daughter Kelly. Also, moving in to Stanley Street was a young 'couple' comprising nurse Tanya Woods (Carol Starks) and her gay best friend Sean Steel (Sam Barriscale). Another new arrival, Doug MacKenzie (Gareth Hale), became Cat's third husband, while his womanising son Marc (Michael Wildman; later Graham Bryan) married Yasmin. Meanwhile Doug's younger son and Marc's half-brother Justin (Ryan Davenport) provided comic relief as the local clown, however, no one was laughing when his fling with Kelly Boulter led to an unplanned pregnancy. Kelly went on to have the child, and the couple began living together.