Eddie Royle

Eddie Royle
File:Eddie Royle ee.jpg
Duration	1990–1991
First appearance	3 July 1990
Last appearance	12 September 1991
In-universe information Occupation Pub Landlord Family John

Eddie Royle was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Michael Melia from 1990 until 1991.

History

Eddie arrived in Walford in July 1990, as the new landlord of the Queen Vic pub, which he bought from Frank Butcher. He was a serious minded landlord, far different than those who had preceded him. Not everyone took to him, particularly when they discovered his prior profession - a policeman.

Born in Ireland, Eddie came to Britain with his parents as a boy. Bright and energetic, he couldn't wait to join the police force and when he did, he loved his job, priding himsef on being an honest copper. When he moved to the Serious Crimes Squad, he saw how corruption was seeping into the force and was shocked to witness officers falsifying reports to get known felons banged up. He was certain that his boss, Dave Penton, was honest and when he decided to report on the wide-scale corruption, he was shocked and surprised by the hostile reaction he received from his colleagues. Despite being treated as a traitor, he remained in the force for a further two years, before finally taking early retirement and deciding to start afresh in Walford. However, in 1990 an inquiry into police corruption sucked him back in and, when his former colleague's threatened to harass him until his dropped his testimony, he tracked down Penton and found that he'd been 'on the take' the whole time! After proving he was corrupt, Eddie forced him to resign.

Life in Walford

Eddie was doing his own detective work after moving in at the Queen Victoria. Money was going missing from the till every day and he was convinced that the culprit was new barman Clyde Tavernier. He set a trap for Clyde and the other bar staff, Sharon Watts and Simon Wicks, by marking notes that went into the till. Simon Wicks was discovered to have the notes in his possession, but it was later revealed that they had been planted on him in revenge, by Ian Beale.

Eddie was the least popular landlord of the Vic and didn't really have any real friends in Albert Square, but his one faithful ally, his father John, often turned up in Walford to keep his son company. John was a bit of a character, often saying more than he should and getting himself and Eddie into all sorts of scrapes. In his time as the landlord of the Queen Vic, Eddie rented a room to Sharon Watts, who also worked there as a barmaid. Although he never approved of her relationship with the local thug, Grant Mitchell, and this often made things awkward between the pair.

Eddie, a bachelor, had never married as a policeman, as he'd been witness to his colleagues' marriages buckling under the strain of police life. However, in Walford, he decided he needed a mate. He patiently pursued Kathy Beale, sending her flowers and dinner invitations, but after a few dates, she became hesitant and resisted any further advances. However, one night, after she had refused him a date, she had a change of heart and went round to the pub to tell him, only to find him kissing another woman — Eibhlin O'Donnell, who was his former girlfriend visiting from Ireland. She refused to accept his explanation of the events and so their luke warm romanace ended.

When Sharon seemed to be opening her heart to him and was fed up with Grant, he rashly offered himself as a replacement, but was rejected. When Grant found out, he beat him up so badly that he was hospitalised and needed brain sugery. While recovering, he received another visit from Eihblin. He ended up proposing marriage and she accepted.

Eddie got his health back within weeks, but his confidence had taken a severe bashing after Grant's attack. For a while he skulked away upstairs as chaos reigned below in his bar; too afraid to confront the trouble makers. Finally, after Sharon struggled to control a gang of vandals one night, he was forced to eject them, but only with Grant's help.

Despite this, Eddie could not forgive Grant for his violent assault and so he contacted an old police colleague, D.S. Manning, to check up on Grant's dodgy dealings - with the hope he would find some incriminating evidence. However, Sharon discovered what he was doing and managed to remove some dodgy packages from Grant's garage before the police arrived. Eddie was furious at her interference and was even more enraged when he discovered that she'd agreed to marry Grant. He sacked her for it and then decided to change the name of The Queen Vic to The Victoria Tavern, which didn't please the locals, and many protested against it. Furious, Sharon decided to take Eddie to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal. She won her case, but Eddie still refused to reinstate her.

In August 1991 Eihblin transferred to London and moved in with Eddie. He was overjoyed that things were finally looking less bleak for him in Walford. Meanwhile, Eddie had began coaching Clyde Tavernier in boxing and that same month he was approached by an old friend, who was coaching Clyde's upcoming opponent. He and Eddie tried to bribe Clyde to purposeufully lose the fight in a betting scam, which caused a blazing row between Clyde and Eddie. Grant's rage towards Eddie had also resurfaced when he discovered that it was he who had tipped him off to the police about his shady dealings. This further alienated the community and it seemed that everyone in Walford had something against Eddie.

File:Eddie stabbed.jpg

Eddie is stabbed to death

In September 1991, before he was due to spend a romantic evening with Eihblin, Eddie took his pet poodle, Roly, for a walk. Unfortunately he didn't make it home, as he was stabbed to death. Clyde Tavernier discovered his bloody body in the Square, and after foolishly picking up the murder weapon, he fled in panic. Dot Cotton eventually discovered Eddie's body. She contacted the police and they confirmed that Eddie had been stabbed through the heart. Because of their past altercations the police suspected Grant, who had no sound alibi, and Clyde of the murder. Both of them protested their innocence, but unfortunately for Clyde, there was a witness who had seen him standing over Eddie's body and fleeing the scene — Nick Cotton, the local drug addled villain. Clyde was arrested for his murder and imprisoned.

Fortunately, a second witness, Joe Wallace, later came forward to attest that he had seen Nick Cotton in the vicinity on the night of the murder. His mother Dot managed to extract a confession of murder from her repentant son. It turned out that Nick was attempting a robbery when Eddie saw him, and in order to silence him, Nick stabbed him. Clyde was released and Nick was arrested for the murder, but surprisingly he was found 'not guilty' at the trial in 1993, as there was not enough evidence to convict.However the police found DNA on the knife used in the murder matched that of another killer in 1997 and soon after that David Frost,a student from Yate,near Bristol,just arrested for another murder he committed in 1996,was arrested by Police in a night club in Yate for the murder of Eddie Royle.Frost was seen in the Square by four witnesses on the night of Eddie's murder including Joe Wallace and Steve Elliott.Frost denied murder but he was soon charged with Eddie's murder and remanded in custody.At his trial in 1998 at Exeter Crown Court,Frost denied murdering Eddie but admitted manslaughter and claimed Eddie's death was an 'accident'.The jury didn't believe him and knew he was lying.They were correct when Frost was found 'guilty' of Eddie's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.Police certainly had the right man this time.

Family

• Father: John Royle

External links

• Eddie Royle at BBC Online