EastEnders has forever prided itself upon the ability to reflect and celebrate changes in society and hold a mirror up to the issues facing Britain. In 1986 the show spawned its first gay couple: Colin and Barry played by Gary Hailes and Michael Cashman who remained on the square for three years. Yet by the dawn of the nineties, attitudes towards homosexuality were changing and the soap felt compelled to echo this. The concept of liberation in the nineties had become a hot topic on social agenda thanks in part to the potency of our pop culture and as a barometer for contemporary fashion and fads, serial drama was required to enter the conversation.
In 1996 fresh from drama school, actor Andrew Lynford joined the show as out homosexual art graduate Simon Raymond who arrives in Walford to seek comfort in older sister Tiffany played by Martine McCutcheon. There was never any doubt that Simon was completely comfortable with who he was and this became obvious when encountering Tiffany’s then boyfriend Tony, thus spawning one of the show’s most defining storylines. This took the classic soap love triangle to a whole new dimension and attracted high profile media attention. The slow, dramatic build up of the Simon and Tony storyline captivated the nation and perfectly fitted the freedom revolution of Britpop. However, even though this was the accepting nineties, Eastenders still needed to reflect the existing prejudice that the LGBTQ+ community battled against at this time.
As soon as Andrew met Mark Homer who played Tony in the reception of Elstree Studios, he realised that he was someone special. With instant chemistry, it wasn’t difficult for the pair to identify with their respective characters and how they interacted with each other. One of the main advantages for Andrew was that he felt like he was in the same phase of his life as Simon: being both graduates; Simon of art school and Andrew from drama college. This meant that he was able to identify himself with the plight and being gay himself, he was able to bring his own experiences of being an openly gay man in nineties Britain to the role. This offered the story more of a punch and increased the impact on the rest of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite initial backlash and it being a subject of discussion in the House of Commons, the story became one of the most talked about of the time and helped to maintain Eastenders’ supremacy over the TV fraternity.
On this journey, Simon and Tony came up against some harsh abuse by some of the Albert Square residents who were each products of their generation. Formidable hard talking matriarch Peggy Mitchell sadly upheld Victorian values regarding identity and wasn’t scared to air them in public. Ironically the legendary Barbara Windsor had previously been a vocal ambassador for the gay community and so this prejudice was somewhat alien to her. Having been part of the inner social circle of the late Kenneth Williams, Barbara was only too aware of the importance of highlighting these issues and fundamentally opposed Peggy’s narrow minded ideology. Therefore Andrew recalls her frequent remarks when preparing for a controversial scene. This is evidence to suggest that Barbara Windsor was ahead of her time in so many ways.
Beyond gay rights, Simon was involved in yet another groundbreaking storyline in 1998 following the death of his sister Tiffany who was involved in a fatal car accident when Frank Butcher ran her over outside the Vic. In the era before mental health awareness, this was treated as a severe case of depression but with the benefit of hindsight, this story had the potential to pack more of a punch. Yet thirty years ago when mental health wasn’t on the radar of political agenda, despite being groundbreaking, Simon’s story probably lacked the universal understanding of today. Irrespective of the context, it was still a very important story for Eastenders to tell and helped to bring serial drama into the 21st century.
After realising his true love in Tony, Simon left the square with his beloved partner and set sail for Europe as the pair embarked on a new life together. Despite being in the soap for just three years, Andrew was proud of the impact that the character had over the show and the influence that Simon and Tony had over the TV landscape with groundbreaking drama such as Queer As Folk following in the succeeding years. In their own way, the characters of Simon and Tony had helped to soften the collective understanding of homosexuality on British television, making way for the medium to both challenge and subvert common stereotypes. That is the true power of TV drama at its very best and our collective consciousness is all the richer for it.
Today, Andrew’s work is predominantly focused in the theatre with a multitude of writing and directing roles. In 2013 he reunited with the great Mark Homer when he directed his own interpretation of Wuthering Heights which also featured Emmerdale star Adele Silva. For Andrew, this was a rewarding experience as despite being fierce rivals, the serial drama community is a very strong and close one and it’s common for actors to interact with campaigners of other soaps. There seems to be a very active ecosystem of soap actors who connect and interact with each other, creating a unique company of creativity. Therefore irrespective of his future career, Andrew’s Eastenders tenure shall forever surround him. It was a great pleasure to welcome the great Andrew Lynford to Beyond The Title and long live Albert Square!
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