User:M.Mario/sandbox:Whitney's Story

"Whitney's Story" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which involved regular character Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) and guest character Rob Grayson, played by Jody Latham. In the storyline Rob tries to sexually exploit Whitney. Although the term 'Whitney's Story' was specifically used for an special 10-minute episode during Red Nose Day 2011, directed by Jennie Darnell and written by Simon Ashdown, the term was later used for the whole storyline, which begun on 18 January and ended on 26 August 2011.

Plot
Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) starts a relationship with Connor Stanley (Arinze Kene) not knowing that he is also seeing Carol (Lindsey Coulson), who is Whitney's adoptive grandmother. When it is revealed that Connor has been sleeping with them both, Whitney's adoptive mother Bianca (Patsy Palmer) attacks him and gives herself into the police. Whitney and Carol argue over Connor, and Whitney feels she is not wanted by her family so decides to move out, and stays with her half brother's Ryan (Neil McDermott) estranged wife Janine (Charlie Brooks), against half brother Ryan wishes. Janine and her go out where a drunken Whitney takes a man, David Priors (Daniel Coonan) back home, though Janine tries to put her off, as he thinks they are prostitutes. Janine takes money from Daniel before he and Whitney have sex. The next morning, Whitney discovers this and is upset, even more so when she finds out Janine used to be a prostitute. Whitney and Janine meet David again with his friend Gary Dewsbury (Daniel Husbands) at the club, but Whitney is left alone with David. Not wanting to sleep with him again, she steals his wallet when he is at the toilet and runs back to Janine's house. He goes to their flat and threatens to call the police but Janine persuades him not too. Whitney moves out when she and Janine argue about this and Whitney sleeps rough, but Janine allows her to move back in. Whitney gets a job at the Queen Vic, after Janine persuades Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) to give her a job, though is later sacked for stealing. Whitney sees Janine successfully pickpocket someone, she decides to try it herself, but ends up being hit in the face. A man called Rob Grayson (Jody Latham) helps Whitney, buys her food and returns her to Albert Square, giving her his phone number.

Whitney tries to kiss Max (Jake Wood), causing Whitney to fall out with best friend Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa), as this is her father. Whitney again argues with Carol, rejects Ricky (Sid Owen), Bianca's husband, and is rejected by Liam (James Forde), Tiffany (Maisie Smith) and Morgan (Devon Higgs) for ruining Ricky's birthday cake days earlier. Upset, Whitney contacts Rob and asks to stay with him, which he accepts. She throws her phone away and tells no one that she is going with Rob. Janine lies about Whitney's whereabouts but when she admits she does not know where Whitney is, Tiffany reveals Whitney told her where she was going and Lauren and Janine attempt to find her. Lauren sees her in Dartford going into a club, so goes back with her to her bedsit, but Whitney does not want to go, saying she and Rob are in love. Lauren is then thrown out by Rob. Whitney has sex with a man called Chris (Richard Simons) and it is revealed that Whitney has been having sex with Rob's friends in order to pay off his debts to them. Janine tries to get Whitney to come home but she refuses, and Rob ejects Janine Rob then drags Whitney out of the house and into his car, while Janine and Lauren see them driving off. They go to a house where Whitney meets another girl, Chloe (Georgia Henshaw), who is also being exploited. Whitney tells Rob she wants to leave, but he says to either be nice to his friends or he will hurt her. He locks her in a room so she breaks the window and escapes, stopping a car and asking for help, while Rob shouts after her. The following month, Ricky goes looking for Whitney on the streets and meets Tammy (Emma Carryl), a prostitute. Tammy wants payment to help search for Whitney, but she leaves when the police arrive to question Ricky, believing him to be picking up prostitutes. Whitney sends Lauren a message and meets her outside the police station, looking rough, as Whitney has been arrested for shoplifting by PC Lance (Giles New). She returns home with Lauren, who calls Ricky to collect her. However, Whitney opts to live with Dot Branning (June Brown) instead of her close family, Dot later convinces her to move back to Ricky's. When it is revealed Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) stole Kat's baby, a reporter named Steve Merryman (Richard Pepper) gets Whitney's to give a story to the newspaper, but Steve twists her words, making her family dislike her more than before. Aswell as this, Mr Lister (Nick Wilton) offers Whitney a drink in the Queen Vic. Lister gets drunk and accidently falls on top of Whitney. He is called a pervert by Ricky and Janine, so Whitney moves back in with Dot. When Ryan returns from a holiday, he learns of Whitney's ordeal and urges her to go to the police and get tested for sexually transmitted infections. She says she is not ready to go to the police but agrees to the test, which shows she has a chlamydia infection.

Whitney starts a relationship with Lee (Mitchell Hunt), a friend of Rob's, unbeknown to Whitney. She agrees to meet Lee by text, but Rob takes control of Lee's mobile phone. She goes to meet Lee and is shocked to see Rob instead. She is taken in by his charm until she texts Lee not to come, and then sees the message on Rob's phone. Whitney allows Rob to take her home but then tells him to wait outside while she escapes through the back door and gets a lift to Southend-on-Sea with Dot and Fatboy (Ricky Norwood), amongst others. She leaves him a voicemail message not knowing that he has followed her. He finds her in her hotel room and tells her how much he loves her, but when Fatboy comes in, Rob attacks him, so Whitney tells him to leave. Fatboy calls Ryan, who comes to Southend to look for Rob. When he finds him, they fight and fall over the edge of the pier. The next day, Whitney is visited by DC Blake (Sally Orrock) who tells Whitney that a body has been recovered from the sea, which is later revealed to be Rob's. Whitney thinks Ryan may also be dead until Whitney meets him. Whitney tells Ryan that she has told the police everything about Rob, including Ryan's fight with him, so Ryan tells Whitney he has to leave. They say an emotional farewell. The next day, Lee returns and warns Whitney not to tell the police about his involvement with Rob, though Whitney tells him to leave, deliberately causing a scene. Lauren, Ricky, Janine and Carol apologise for neglecting Whitney, concluding the storyline.

Creation and development
In January 2011, it was announced that regular character Whitney Dean would be part of a upcoming storyline on sexual exploitation. Whitney is left alone and vulnerable, and falls for a man, Rob Grayson, played by Jody Latham, who exploits her for financial gain. 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 ten-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. 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 source spoke of the storyline leading up to Rob's arrival: "Janine's a terrible influence and is soon dragging Whitney into 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." 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 added, "Comic Relief has funded work around this issue for the last 10 years. When EastEnders tackles a difficult topic, specialist help is always sought to present an accurate picture". 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". McGarty later said that she felt "privileged and honoured" to be given the storyline.

Talking to Suzanne Byrne of Raidió Teilifís Éireann McGartyy said that Whitney feels "distant from everyone" and "alone". Byrne added that Whitney is "left out of the family loop", with this "loneliness" leading Whitney to move in with "none other than Janine Butcher. Ultimately, Whitney's biggest mistake". McGarty said that Janine is trying to help Whitney, but said that "she knows that it isn't the best situation", but living with Janine makes Whitney feel "grown-up and a bit more independent". After unsuccessfully trying to pickpocket someone, Whitney gets "smacked" in the face and gets a cut lip. McGarty said that Rob is her "knight in shining armour" when he takes her into a café and helps clean up her lip. "Whitney thinks that she might have found a friend in him". McGarty said at this point Whitney does like Rob, but this is only because "anyone who shows her some attention and affection at this point makes Whitney feel good". When Whitney kisses Max (Jake Wood), she "sees Max as Tony and that's when she kisses him". Tony King played by Chris Coghill was involved with Whitney in a "predatory paedophile storyline", in 2008.

Whitney feels like she's got no friends left and she's fed up of Janine using her. Bianca's gone, Ricky's trying to take care of the kids and Carol is constantly shouting at her Whitney feels really isolated and alone, but then Rob comes along and offers her this 'dream life' and she thinks that it could be her chance to move up in the world. She's had enough of her life been so rubbish in Albert Square and she wants to escape to somewhere new. Now that Bianca's gone she has no connections left.

Rob Grayson
The character of Rob Grayson was specifically created for the storyline. Promotional photographs were released by the BBC on 15 February. In February 2011, the Pendle Today said that "EastEnders will be getting a touch of gritty northern talent when famed Pendle actor Jody Latham appears in Walford". The newspaper said he was to play the "grim" role of Rob, and was set to cause an "uproar". It carried on to say the Latham was "no stranger to hard-hitting roles", adding that "He was cast by EastEnders screen writers to take on the role, and filming of the dark and dangerous world of prostitution has just got underway". Several sources have called Rob "evil". These sources include:
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".
 * Orange branded Rob a "nasty piece of work", and he was called "sinister", a "bad guy", a "villain" and "mysterious" by Digital Spy Daniel Kilkelly. Kilkelly also called him "unscrupulous", as did a writer from Pendle Today.  Two writers from The Sun called him "vicious" and "vile".  Finally, a Daily Mail writer called him "hard edged", a "menace" and "intimidating".

Rob first appeared on 22 February, and departed, for the first time, on 18 March 2011. After Latham's initial stint, he hoped he would 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".

"Southend Week"
On 1 May 2011, Daily Star confirmed that Latham would return for a "couple of episodes", to film the conclusion of the storyline. A EastEnders source said; "Whitney will not be going back on the streets but the writers felt the storyline needed to be tied up. 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 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 (Neil McDermott), relationship with her best friend Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa).

Filming
For the return of the storyline, filming commenced on 9 June at Southend-on-Sea. The return would air in a week of episodes dubbed "Southend Week". It was first announced that scenes were being filmed at Southend when the Daily Mail spotted Dot Branning (June Brown) and Rose Cotton (Polly Perkins) filming scenes there. A EastEnders spokesperson said, "All I will say is we are filming some big episodes, which we plan to broadcast later this summer". It was later announced that that McGarty and Latham were also filming scenes in Southend, with the two expected to "exchange angry words" and that they would "come face-to-face for the first time in months". The two were joined by Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) and Ryan (Neil McDermott) as well as Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) and Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), who were filming a seperate storyline. However whilst filming the scenes on Southend Pier between Ryan and Rob, a stuntman was injured. The 21 year old, who was not named, was playing the stunt double for McDermott's character during the scenes were the two were on the pier. The stuntman was filming the fight scenes when a gust of wind blew the man, which took him off balance. The man fell of the pier, "smashing his head on rocks". A source said, "The two come to blows, but the scene went wrong and one of them fell off. I heard one of the paramedics say that he was moving, but it looked like a very serious incident". The man was taken to hospital and was in "critical condition". A EastEnders spokesperson said; "We can confirm that a stuntman was injured. We all wish him a speedy recovery".

Conclusion and departure
Daily Mail called the scenes "tense", saying that "In true EastEnders style a fight then breaks out between Ryan and Rob as they tussle on the pier".

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

Viewer
It was reported by The People that Jody Latham (Rob) 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 also stated this some readers defended Latham, saying that it was, "Fine and nice to hear a refreshing change to all the mockney actors". The Red Nose Day episode (18 March) recieved criticism from viewers. Some viewers had thought it was "inappropriate for a family audience", thought the BBC insisted that Red Nose Day presenter Davina McCall had stated that Whitney appeared in "real trouble" and that the "tone and content" of the episode was "clearly sign-posted to viewers".

The 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. 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. 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.

Critical, cast and crew
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". Ann Widdecombe hoped that the storyline would be shown after the watershed, saying that the BBC needed to "think about how they handle" the storyline, adding that, "We shouldn't be encouraging children as young as 11 to watch stuff like this". A EastEnders spokesperson responded to this; "This is about Whitney being emotionally abused and groomed. It is different to prostitution. Whitney is initially not aware she is selling sex. In the long tradition the show has of tackling social issues, this is a storyline that looks to be exploring a growing problem that faces many young women in the UK". Phillip Miller, manager of theme park Adventure Island where many of the scenes were filmed, said that EastEnders filming at Southend-on-Sea was a positive thing and was good for the town. He said that he hoped that the scenes would "boost the town's visitor numbers" and it would be a "great advert" and that it would be "fantastic". Shopkeepers around the area said; "It is normally a fairly dead day, but there had been a rise in sales with all the people finding out and coming down".

Reception = "Latham takes to his role with relish, oozing menace" Shona's teenage prostitution storyline has caused a lot of controversy as it has been aired so soon after the cot death plot which hit headlines earlier this year. (Daily Mail) 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 the public reacted to the storyline, Latham told OK!, "Considering Rob makes Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) 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!"

Ratings
These are ratings of all the episodes in the storyline. All the ratings below are reported by Digital Spy, who are provided with the ratings by Attentional, who use the official ratings data supplied by BARB. Every episode (apart from 18 March episode), are repeated on BBC Three.

EastEnders Revealed documentary
On the 22 March, a one hour documentary aired, named "Whitney's Story", ahead of Whitney's return on the 11 April. Broadcasted on BBC Three, the documentary was part of the EastEnders Revealed series. The documentary involved interviews with the cast, McGarty, Latham, Lindsey Coulson, Jossa, Charlie Brooks, McDermott, Chris Coghill (Coghill played Tony King in another storyline involving Whitney) and crew; EastEnders executive producer Bryan Kirkwood, John Yorke and Simon Ashdown aswell as Heat magazine editor Lucie Cave and Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis. The documentary was narrated by Lenora Crichlow, produced by Nikki Ryan and the executive producer was Mark Cossey. It was later broadcasted again, on the 8 April, three days before Whitney's return after running away from Rob.

Ratings
The ratings below are reported by Digital Spy and The Guardian, who both use the official ratings data supplied by BARB. Both of these documentaries aired on BBC Three.