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Heather Trott
Portrayed by	Cheryl Fergison
Duration	2007—
First appearance	26 June 2007
Classification	Present; regular
Created by	Diederick Santer
Spin-off appearances	EastEnders: E20
In-universe information Occupation Laundrette and shop assistant Mother Queenie Trott Husband Minty Peterson (2008–09) Sons George Trott Grandfathers William Trott Grandmothers Holly Trott Aunts Val

Heather Trott (previously Peterson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Cheryl Fergison. She made her first appearance on 26 June 2007. The character was introduced as a guest character, but later became a regular. The sidekick of character Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), most of Heather's storylines have involved comedy, and Fergison won the 'Funniest Performance' award at the 2008 Inside Soap Awards.

Heather's character is known for her headbands, love of cheese and karaoke, and being a fan of singer George Michael. In 2009, the character was involved in a whodunnit-style storyline when she became pregnant by an unknown man. Several characters were named as possibilities, and the father, teenager Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins) was revealed after the baby, George Trott, was born.

Creation and development

Heather was introduced in June 2007 and was originally only meant to be a guest character, but Fergison's contract was extended to six months after the character proved popular. She was introduced as the sidekick of Shirley Carter, played by Linda Henry. After the success of her initial guest appearance, the character officially became "semi-regular", meaning she would show up on-screen occasionally; however, after September 2007, the character became a regular, moving to the soap's setting of Albert Square. Fergison has spoken of her surprise at winning the role, stating that "On my first day on set, I went and took a seat on Arthur's bench. My mum had passed away, so I wanted to have a little chat with her. I sat there and said 'I can't believe we're finally here, Mum — this is just amazing'. It was a strange experience, because I knew she was there with me. She'd be so proud now." Fergison has also discussed her relationship with the cast members she works with most closely, declaring that: "We're being called 'The Famous Five'. That's me, Cliff , Linda Henry , Bobby Davro (Vinnie) and Ricky Groves (Garry). Linda and I laugh all day, every day — this is the best job in the world. Being on EastEnders is a privilege."

Fergison has said that initially she thought Heather was quite childlike, but was pleased that the show had "the courage to to employ a bigger woman." She explained that viewers would realise that her size is due to her mother: "It could be perceived , but when you look into the character, there is more depth to her — she's got a terrible mother, there's her background, and so on. You see her eating and, hopefully, people are intelligent enough to go, 'Ah, we can see why she does that.' And there are so many layers to her. She'll do anything for anybody — she's very loyal as a friend — but she does have her low moments, and she has absolute highs. I always call her Heather Hopeful because that's what she is. Her cup is always half full. I'm hoping people will see it's not just about what she looks like. You don't have to be a big person to know that people comfort eat, or to say, 'These terrible things happen in life, that's why she behaves like that.'"

Fergison also said that she doesn't mind that her character is mocked for her size, saying that it happens in real life to overweight people: "t's about how you deal with it. You have to portray it as long as you can redress the balance in some way at some point. That didn't happen straight away and people said to me, 'Oh my God, she's just the fat person they take the mickey out of'. It's about taking away what Heather looks like, taking away the layers and finding out what she is like underneath. I think that's what EastEnders is doing, and that's a good thing." She also praised the show for having an overweight character, saying: "Hollyoaks is full of tiny blondes, but people like the fact Heather's normal and we haven't seen that for a long time in soaps." She said that comments made to Heather don't upset her, because she's always been big-build: "I was bullied at school for it, but I learned that if I was funny, then they would stop. Now I don't take anything personally."

The character is known for wearing headbands, usually with a matching handbag, and liking singer George Michael. Fergison revealed that the headbands were her idea, saying "I've given myself a bit of a headache , literally, wearing those things." She also says that she likes George Michael and was extremely pleased when she found out her character was a fan. One storyline saw Shirley book a George Michael lookalike for Heather's hen party, and Fergison was convinced that the real George Michael was going to make a cameo appearance: "I'd heard a rumour that he might, as he's a huge EastEnders fan. So up until the moment the impersonator walked out, I was sure that he'd show. Linda wept with laughter when she saw the lookalike. We had to apologise to him for being unable to keep straight faces. I said 'now you know how it feels to be me!" Heather is also a fan of karaoke, and cites her first scene where she was singing in front of her fellow cast as her most embarrassing scene: "I suddenly realised that I was singing in front of all these people that I'd been watching on telly for years. I did feel a bit embarrassed by it, as the first thing they were all seeing of me was my singing. That was a bit strange."

Discussing the storyline which sees Heather become romantically involved with Minty Peterson, Fergison has expressed her support for their relationship, stating that: "This is Heather's only chance in life to have a dream come true. She's always such a kind, positive person, and is always willing to try." She later said "I think Minty could be her soul mate, as they're very good friends. They know a lot about each other." Fergison revealed that she found filming the storyline difficult, describing it as an "emotional rollercoaster": "I was laughing and in my most happy element, and then the next minute I would be in tears. A lot of the storyline is about rejection, and it's difficult to film those scenes all the time. I was shattered, but it's a great opportunity. You can go through your whole career and not do as much as you would do in six months of a soap."

Pregnancy

Executive producer Diederick Santer hinted at Heather's upcoming storylines in an interview before her pregnancy was revealed in 2009: "I think it's pretty clear why Heather's self-esteem is so low. It's a combination of her horrid mother, and now it's her friend Shirley who treats her like a child and sort of kills her with well-meant kindness. We've got a great story for Heather this year — something for the delightful Cheryl Fergison to really get hold of. Remember when was in tears on Valentine's night in the loo at the R&R, and her lost yoghurt pot lid appeared under the door? That was the start of something which will see her get a much greater sense of herself, find an identity free of Shirley, and grow as a person in 2009."

Fergison disclosed that she was unaware of the identity of the father of Heather's baby, explaining: "At first I was quite frustrated about it, and kept going up to our producer Diederick Santer's office to ask him who fathered the baby. But he wouldn't tell me, and in the end, I realised that I actually like it better not knowing. The way the storyline is written, there are lots of little hints about who it might be. So I'm trying to suss it out from the scripts and I'm just looking forward to the day when I finally know. It's really exciting!" The actress deemed it "a bit of a risky storyline" because of Heather's association with more comedic plots, and has suggested that viewers may find the pregnancy farcical due to the lack of build-up. She expressed the opinion it would be "brilliant" if Heather were to raise the baby with Shirley, as "Heather will be scared stiff of being a mum, but because Shirley's been there and done it before, she'd be able to help her get through it." She also said that she believes Heather would be a great mother, saying "it's exactly what she needs and it's somebody who's going to love her."

Scripts containing the name of the baby's father were censored or doctored to show the man's name as "George", with a source telling entertainment website Digital Spy, "There's been so much secrecy surrounding the Heather storyline, to the extent that all of the scripts have either been censored or doctored. The baby's father's called George in all the scripts, so there's a good chance that they could be doing this with the baby as well." In August 2009, a snippet of a script, written by Mark Campbell, from the 2 November 2009 episode was shown on the EastEnders website, showing the characters of Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) talking about visiting "Baby George". In the show, Heather discovers in July 2009 that her baby is a girl and decides to name her Holly after her grandmother, but in later episodes she also considers the names Sheena and Yas. However, when the baby is born, it is a boy.

Betting on the identity of the child's father opened in July 2009, with Heather's ex-husband Minty starting as the favourite. Other contenders were the man she met in a nightclub Eddie (Will Chitty), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins), Garry, Vinnie, Vinnie's son Callum Monks (Elliott Jordan), Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick), gay character Christian Clarke (John Partridge) and Charlie Slater (Derek Martin). Betting was suspended in August with Phil standing as the favourite. In September, the possible fathers were reduced to four: Phil, Minty, Darren and Billy.

Heather gives birth in October 2009. Fergison revealed to Digital Spy how the crew attempted to make Heather's waters breaking appear realistic: "We had several ideas about balloons and gloves filled with water. In the end, I had this balloon between my legs and burst it with my nutcracker thighs. You just see this huge gush! I have to admit, I don't remember a gush myself, but in true EastEnders style, we have a water display! It's all a bit of a shocker and everyone starts panicking." In an interview with What's on TV magazine, Fergison compared George's birth to the birth of her own son, Alex, ten years previously: "It was the hardest two weeks of my working life. The script was a one-woman show and I kept thinking when I gave birth to my own son Alex, who's now 10, I never spoke, just screamed a lot! Alex came by Caesarean so I did have to push to a certain extent but I was totally exhausted filming this because I had to do it 50 times! By the end, people were saying I looked like a new mum who'd just given birth!"

Heather then decides to tell the father about the baby. Fergison commented, "This is where I think the writing's been really clever. When you watch it, you'll see what I mean. They have the suspects — Minty, Phil, Darren and Billy — and all their phones ring. Heather leaves a voicemail on the daddy's phone to let them know that they've become a dad. There are several cuts to all the various suspects and you see each of them flying to the hospital..." Before the father was revealed on screen to be Darren Miller, Charlie G. Hawkins gave an interview in which he talked about what would happen if Darren was the father: "It would change everything. Darren would worry that Libby wouldn't marry him — and what about Libby's parents Denise and Owen? I think he'd be alright as a dad, but he wouldn't want the burden. It'd rock the boat if it was Darren." Fergison told entertainment website Digital Spy, "Darren will be a good dad but he'll be very businesslike about it. He'll say that he doesn't really want to have anything to do with George but will pay his way for him. You'll see him change, though, and you'll start to see him getting attached. Shirley doesn't want Darren to go anywhere near George, though! It'll be interesting to see how they write it from here for Darren, especially with the Libby angle."

In December 2009, Santer was asked what his favourite storyline of the year had been. He replied "I loved the way the 'Who's The Daddy?' story with Heather played, too. As time goes on, I expect we'll discover more about what happened that night. It makes sense to me — he's a horny, drunk 18-year-old! Everyone thinks that they did it in the cubicle, but it's surely clear that they went home?"

Storylines

Backstory

Heather's parents divorced when she was a child. Her father, whom she loved, moved out and her mother, Queenie (Judy Cornwell), blamed Heather for his departure. She was psychologically abused by her mother for many years. Her only goal in life was to settle down and have a son and daughter whom she would name William and Holly, after her grandparents. Heather was victim to bullying at school because of her appearance.

2007—

Heather is introduced as the best friend of Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), who loves cheese and karaoke, is a fan of George Michael and suffers from asthma. She lives with her controlling mother Queenie until she moves in with Shirley. Queenie tries to manipulate her into staying; Heather relents, but later moves out when she hears Queenie boasting about her manipulation.

Heather develops an infatuation with Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves), following him on a holiday to Brighton, where she discovers that he is in love with Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon). She ends up kissing a man in a club, who then turns around to his friends and boasts about "pulling the pig".

She becomes friends with Garry's mother, Hazel (Kika Mirylees), who asks her to be the bridesmaid at her wedding to Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi). She accepts, and enters them into a wedding competition. When Hazel leaves Minty, Heather pretends to be Hazel so they can remain in the competition and split the prize money. Minty encourages Heather to stand up to her mother, which she does; they grow closer. On the eve of the wedding, Heather realises she has fallen in love with Minty, but Hazel returns the following day and attempts to win Minty back. Minty declines her offer and marries Heather, despite Queenie's attempt to stop the wedding. However, Minty doesn't reciprocate Heather's feelings. The marriage continues to deteriorate and after just one month, Heather walks out on Minty when she catches him kissing another woman. She files for annulment, as she and Minty have not consummated their marriage.

Heather remains in love with Minty, but with no chance of a reconciliation, Shirley decides to cheer Heather up by taking her to visit the home of her idol George Michael. Shirley later discovers that the house they are trespassing in is in fact not George Michael's, but she keeps this information to herself. Heather steals a yoghurt pot lid from the bin, proclaiming it to her a lucky charm, which she has laminated and wears around her neck. On a high Heather decides to find herself a man at R&R, and Shirley, not wanting her friend to be disappointed, hires a male escort to give her a good time. Dawn discovers this and when she sees Heather kissing a man named Eddie (Will Chitty), she tells Heather about Shirley's deception. Heather is devastated and slaps Shirley across the face before running to the toilets in tears. It transpires that Eddie was not the escort, though he had already left by this point. Heather believes she has lost her lucky yoghurt pot lid, until an unseen person passes it to her under the toilet cubicle door.

Shirley and Heather reconcile and organise a Saint Patrick's Day celebration at The Queen Victoria public house. The night is a success, but Heather is left humiliated when she makes a pass at Minty, who informs her that he is now in a relationship with Manda Best (Josie Lawrence). When Heather finally meets Manda, she introduces herself as Minty's wife, but Manda ignores her. They start to glare at each other, much to Heather's annoyance.

Heather accidentally tells Ben Mitchell (Charlie Jones) that his alcoholic father Phil (Steve McFadden) is seeing Shirley. Phil wants the relationship kept a secret, but he finds out that Ben knows and Ben reveals that Heather told him. Phil is drunk when Heather talks to him at The Arches, where Phil works as a mechanic. Heather locks him in, telling him he can come out once he's sober. Phil is let out the next day, and when he sees Heather in the pub, he drunkenly throws her bag on the floor, and the contents spill out. Heather doesn't realise that her asthma inhaler is still there when she leaves. She then suffers an asthma attack. Doctor Poppy Merritt (Amy Darcy) is concerned by some of Heather's symptoms, so refers to her the hospital, where tests reveal that she is pregnant. Heather decides to tell the father but is unsure of how to do so. She writes a letter but after Ben tells her he wishes he never met his father, she burns it.

Heather and Minty get their marriage annulled in June 2009, but Heather asks Minty not to mention it to anyone. She wants to stay at home but Shirley convinces her to go to karaoke in The Queen Victoria, telling her Manda is going to sing George Michael's "Careless Whisper". They duet on "Wham Rap" but Heather realises Manda is better at karaoke than she is and pushes her. Minty then reveals the annulment and Heather is upset. She consults Dr. Al Jenkins (Adam Croasdell) for an abortion as she doesn't believe she will cope with a child. However, after babysitting Bobby Beale (Alex Francis), she realises she enjoys looking after children, and misses her appointment with Dr. Jenkins. Heather goes for a scan where she is told she is having a girl, which she decides to name Holly after her grandmother. Shirley follows her to the antenatal clinic and tells her she should put the baby up for adoption. Heather insists she wants to keep the baby and decides to move out of Shirley's flat, but they settle their differences and they decide to raise the baby there together. Shirley believes Minty is the father of the baby, and confronts him at The Queen Victoria, punching him. Heather shouts that he's not the father, and is then upset that everyone knows she is pregnant.

On her last working day before her maternity leave starts, she is upset that nobody has said anything to her about the baby. However, when she gets home, Shirley, Pat Evans (Pam St. Clement), Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) and her boss Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) have thrown her a surprise baby shower. As everyone is leaving at the end of the party, Heather's waters break. She gives birth in hospital and is surprised to be told she has had a boy. She names him George Michael, after the singer. She phones the father to tell him he has a son, and it is revealed to be Darren Miller (Charlie G Hawkins).

When sitting in the cafe with Liz Turner (Kate Williams), Max Branning (Jake Wood) guilt trips Heather into buying life insurance. This turns out to be a scam which leaves poor Heather potless. After Max's wife Tanya (Jo Joyner) leaves him, Shirley and Heather confront him in front of punters in The Queen Victoria. Heather apologises to Max's daughter Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald) for Shirley's behaviour, not realising that she did not know about Max's scam. Abi gives her savings to Shirley for Heather. Heather thinks Max deserves a second chance and sends them food as a peace offering. Shirley asks Darren for money but Heather turns it down and later returns it in a card which Darren's girlfriend Libby Fox opens. Darren makes up an excuse but she later overhears Heather and Shirley talking about Darren and George and then reveals to everyone that Darren is George's father. Libby's mother Denise Johnson (Diane Parish) confronts Heather and shouts at her, saying she should not have used a child to make a child. Heather walks away, trying to avoid further confrontation.

Reception

The character of Heather has been hailed by Mark Wright of The Stage as the " stand out of 2007". He has described her as "the divine, the wonderful, the brilliant Heather Trott, played to absolute perfection by actress Cheryl Fergison, we have somebody new who the writers can engage with and, if they play it right, create a new soap legend." She has also been described as a "legend" by Digital Spy's Kris Green and was nominated for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best On-Screen Partnership' (with Shirley Carter) at the 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards. She was also nominated for 'Best Comedy Performance' and 'Best On Screen Partnership' at the 2008 British Soap Awards, 'Best Newcomer' at the 2008 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards and won 'Funniest Performance' at the 2008 Inside Soap Awards.

Fellow cast member Kara Tointon has named Heather as her favourite character in the soap, explaining of her choice: "I think she brings something really great to the show, and not just the comedy — she's good at emotional scenes too. I love watching her." Garry Bushell - TV columnist for Britain's Daily Star newspaper - deemed Heather's crush on Garry Hobbs "disturbing" and referred to Heather as a "giant dumpling with eyes". A writer for the Daily Mirror also criticised her appearance: "Her frocks and matching Alice bands could have been stitched together out of Nigel Bates's old ties and if I was actress Cheryl Fergison I'd have cried myself to sleep every night — especially after the cruel Brighton episodes. Being fat made Heather fair game and you'd have cheered if Gok Wan had stormed a storyline conference and bitch-slapped the lot of them." The Guardian's Nancy Banks-Smith has deemed Heather "a big girl with a heart to match". She approved of her marriage to Minty, however was critical of the execution of the wedding itself, writing: "Indeed, as the only two throughly nice people in Walford, she and Minty were made for each other. EastEnders, who wouldn't recognise tender if they broke a toe on it, treated it all as a big joke."

In 2008, the character was criticised by private healthcare company Bupa, when they rated her one of television's most unhealthy characters due to her poor diet.

In popular culture

Several episodes of Harry Hill's TV Burp feature Steve Benham dressed as Heather for various sketches, including one where the father of Heather's baby was revealed as Mr Blobby.

References

1. ^ Green, Kris (13 July 2007). "Summer Preview: EastEnders". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
2. ^ Woodward, Kate (15 April 2008), "People keep trying to set me up on dates!", Inside Soap, England, pp. pages 18–19, retrieved 4 May 2009 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
3. ^ Pool, Hannah (5 June 2008). "Question time with Hannah Pool: Cheryl Fergison on diets, roles for 'big build' actors, and finding fame as Heather Trott in EastEnders". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
4. ^ Green, Kris (26 April 2008). "'Enders star doesn't mind 'sizeist' jokes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
5. ^ Fergison, Cheryl (17 April 2008). "Cheryl Fergison Video Interview" (Video) (Interview). Retrieved 4 May 2009.
6. ^ "Cheryl answers your questions on her friendship with Linda Henry, wanting to be in Tanya's shoes for the day and on the father of Heather's baby!". BBC Online. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
7. "Cheryl struggles with Heather emotion". MSN.com. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
8. "The show's Executive Producer answers your questions and explains how decisions are made". BBC Online. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
9. ^ Ellis, Sarah (21 April 2009), "I've got my eye on the new doctor for Heather!", Inside Soap, Hachette Filipacchi Médias, pp. 29–30
10. ^ Green, Kris (19 August 2009). "'EastEnders' Heather baby details revealed?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
11. Green, Kris. "Minty confronts Dawn about her affair". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
12. ^ Green, Kris (13 October 2009). "Cheryl Fergison (Heather Trott, 'EastEnders')". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
13. Green, Kris (29 July 2009). "Betting opens on 'EastEnders' whodunnit". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
14. Green, Kris (20 August 2009). "'Enders 'Who's the Daddy?' betting suspended". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
15. Green, Kris (26 September 2009). "Poll: 'Who's The Daddy?' Revisited". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
16. "Enders' Cheryl on the father of Heather's baby!". What's on TV. IPC Media. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
17. Kilkelly, Daniel (15 October 2009). "Hawkins: 'Darren as dad would rock boat'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
18. Green, Kris (23 October 2009). "EXCLUSIVE: Who's The Daddy? Darren Miller, that's who!". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
19. Green, Kris (17 December 2009). "Producer's Perspective 2009: Diederick Santer". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
20. Green, Kris (2 December 2007). "The end is nigh". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
21. Green, Kris (21 March 2008). "Digital Spy Soap Awards 2008: The Winners". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
22. "Awards for "EastEnders"". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
23. Hardie, Beth (25 June 2008). "TVQuick and TVChoice Award nominations announced". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
24. "EastEnders dominates soap awards". BBC News. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
25. "You ask... Kara Tointon", Inside Soap, England, pp. pages 42–43, 15 April 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
26. Bushell, Garry (17 February 2009). "Bushell on the Box". Garry Bushell.com. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
27. "Eastenders and Emmerdale". Daily Mirror. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
28. ^ Banks-Smith, Nancy (25 April 2008). "Last night's TV: EastEnders, The Baron and Strictly Baby Fight Club". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
29. "Soaps 'miss out health messages'". BBC News. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2009.

External links

• Heather Trott at BBC Online

• EastEnders characters
• 2007 introductions