User:M.Mario/sandbox:Rob Grayson

Rob Grayson, played by Jody Latham, is a pimp who exploits Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) for financial gain. His first appearance was on 22 February 2011. He is due to return in late July 2011 to finish off the storyline with Whitney and get his come-uppance.

Storylines
Rob first appears when he witnesses Whitney attempting to pickpocket a man but ending up with cuts on her face. Rob rescues her from the situation, and buys her a meal. He gives her his number so she can contact him any time she needs get away, before taking her home. They stay in contact and Rob is seen showing a friend a photo of Whitney. When Whitney either rejects or is rejected by all her friends and family, she contacts Rob and he takes her to stay with him. After Whitney has been missing for several days, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) tries to phone her, leaving several messages. When she finally gets a voicemail back, it is from Rob saying if she calls again, there will be trouble.

Lauren tracks Whitney down to Dartford, but Whitney insists she is fine with Rob, and that they are in love. Rob meets Lauren at their bedsit and invites her out with them, but Lauren leaves. Rob then leaves Whitney alone with Chris (Richard Simons) and it is revealed that Rob is using Whitney to pay off his debts. Rob meets Lauren in a café and again invites her out and calls her beautiful. He then threatens her, saying he does not want to see her again. When Rob returns to the bedsit, Whitney is there with Janine Malloy (Charlie Brooks), who says she is taking Whitney home. Whitney refuses to go and Rob ejects Janine from the building. Rob then tells Whitney they are going out immediately, and drags her to the car as she refuses to go. Lauren and Janine watch as Rob drives away with Whitney.

Rob takes Whitney to a house where she meets Chloe (Georgia Henshaw), another girl being exploited. Whitney realises she is there to have sex with men, so asks Rob if she can leave. Rob says to either be nice to his friends or he will hurt her. He grabs her and locks her in a room. She is unable to open the windows so when she hears people outside the door, she smashes a window, jumps to the ground and runs away with Rob calling after her. She then stops a car and asks for help.She later returns to Walford after being arrested for shoplifting. Her half brother Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) learns of what happened and wants to find Rob but Whitney says he has moved.

Development
In January 2011, it was announced that Whitney would be part of the sexual exploitation storyline. She is left alone and vulnerable, and falls for Rob, who then exploits her. EastEnders worked alongside charity Comic Relief on the storyline, which started planning in 2010. The storyline culminated during Red Nose Day 2011 on 18 March 2011, in a special 10-minute episode. Gilly Green, Head of UK Grants at Comic Relief, said: "It is vital that we continue to alert young people to the dangers if we are to stop them being exploited and the opportunity to work with EastEnders will make a huge audience aware of this issue. We have been working with the EastEnders script writers and some of the young women from projects we support to ensure the story reflects the reality of young people caught up in sexual exploitation." Kevin Cahill, Chief Executive of Comic Relief, added "We have worked over many years with EastEnders in all kinds of ways. It's been a real pleasure this year to work together on a piece of serious drama, in the best traditions of public service, which will highlight an important issue and also, because it occurs on the night of Comic Relief, actually help raise crucial funds to help young women caught up in it." An EastEnders insider spoke of the storyline leading up to Rob's arrival: "Janine's a terrible influence and is soon dragging Whitney into all sorts of shady schemes. Given that Janine used to be a prostitute, it makes sense that she's part of Whitney's journey. Whitney has no idea what she's letting herself in for. Janine is only part of the problem though. It's when she meets Rob—a deeply unscrupulous man—that her life starts to fall apart in a terrifying way." Rob has been called "evil" by The People, by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood, and by Colin Daniels from Digital Spy, a "nasty piece of work" by Orange, "sinister" by Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy and "vicious" and "vile" by The Sun and The People.

McGarty hoped the storyline would raise awareness of the issue for young people, and explained that the storyline would be a continuing one, as "Whitney will live in fear that Rob and his gang are going to come after her when she escapes. That's what these people do. They don't just leave you to get on with your life. In their mind they own you." She also added that she hopes that the storyline will lead to better conviction rates as she said that they aren't 'good enough'. Latham met real-life prostitutes at a drop-in centre as research, which he described as "heartbreaking". Latham revealed after his stint that he hoped to return, saying, "I always say it's better to play the bad guy—everyone remembers the bad guy. They get the best endings. I had an absolutely great time on EastEnders. It was a breath of fresh air. [...] Judging from the way it was left, the door is wide open, so you never know. I would love to come back and cause some trouble."

Return
On 1 May 2011 it was reported by the Daily Star that Latham would return to EastEnders in a couple of weeks time to film the conclusion to the storyline. A source said, "Whitney will not be going back on the streets but the writers felt the storyline needed to be tied up so Jody is coming back for a couple of episodes. Whitney is currently having to come to terms with everything that she did while under Rob's spell and she's not coping very well. She's trying to move on but, with everyone knowing that she worked as a prostitute, she's finding it all very ­difficult. The writers decided it would be good for her to come face to face with Rob again once she's strong enough to do so. They've written the conclusion to her storyline and Jody will be back to film the dramatic ending in a couple of weeks time. Rob is set to finally get his come-uppance." An EastEnders spokeperson confirmed this. Kirkwood said that Rob would return when Whitney is at her most vulnerable, following the reveal of her brother Ryan's affair with her best friend Lauren. Scenes were filmed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, for Rob's return, after Ryan tracks Rob down and finds Whitney with him. It was revealed by the News of the World that Ryan and Rob will have a massive showdown on the pier, and Ryan will murder Rob as revenge for forcing Whitney into prostitution. Ryan will then go on the run from the police, not wanting to get caught for murdering Rob.

Accolades
In May 2011 the storyline involving Whitney and Rob was nominated at the TV Quick awards and for 'Best Storyline' under the name 'Whitney is exploited at the hands of Rob ', though did not make it through to the shortlist.

Critical response
It was reported by The People that Latham had received criticism from viewers who struggled to understand his Burnley accent. He said, "I'm sorry people are having ­difficulty with my accent. I'm sure the great fans of EastEnders will get used to it!" The Citizen said that many viwers could not understand his 'strong' Lancashire accent but some readers defended Latham saying that it was, 'Fine and nice to hear a refreshing change to all the mockney actors'.

Nicola Methven of Daily Mirror guessed that the storyline would be controversial, before the storyline aired. The Daily Record penned it as a "hard-hitting plot". The storyline reportedly recieved criticism from fans. The BBC issued a statement, saying:

"The EastEnders audience would have been aware of the dark situation Whitney was getting into. In the preceding episodes viewers saw Whitney feeling increasingly unwanted and unloved, with her brother and her step-mother absent, her life was taking a downward spiral. [...] It was a natural progression of Whitney's story thus far and we felt it was an important story to tell, and hopefully to raise awareness of amongst our audience. In doing so, we believe it was right to show the—albeit unpleasant—reality of the situation faced by these girls, rather than put a gloss on it. In the episode Whitney is seen to escape and to raise the alarm—we did not leave the audience on a cliffhanger. The menace and danger Whitney is in whilst clear is implied rather than graphic or sensationalised and is in keeping with the audience expectations of how EastEnders would tackle a tough story in a pre-watershed manner and indeed how Whitney's story has evolved over the last few years. We are conscious that Red Nose Day programming includes many different tones and themes, ranging from light comedy sketches to difficult and emotional appeal films, all of which played out around the time the EastEnders episode was scheduled to transmit. We hope that the majority of the audience would have heard the first extended warning and that the serious tone of the introduction, though truncated, pointed to the fact that the upcoming film was a gear change. It was further put into context by the presenters at the end of the piece, when they talked about the Comic Relief-funded charities working to help girls like Whitney.'"

BBC executive John Yorke defended adult storylines, such as Rob and Whitney's, saying they are an "invaluable method of teaching children about the world". It was also revealed after the storyline that it was "being used as a teaching tool by charities".

Speaking about how members of the public reacted to the storyline, Latham told OK!, "Considering Rob makes Phil Mitchell look like a field mouse, I've got to be quite grateful. I've not had a tin of baked beans chucked at me in Asda by some nice old lady. It's just a bit of banter off the public, which I relish. I've not had anyone threaten to beat me up yet, which is a plus point!"