- Al Jenkins
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For other people named Al Jenkins, see Al Jenkins (disambiguation).
Al Jenkins 
EastEnders character Portrayed by Adam Croasdell Introduced by Diederick Santer Duration 2009–10 First appearance 1 May 2009[1] Last appearance 4 February 2010 Classification Former; regular Profile Date of birth 1980 Occupation General practitioner Doctor Albert "Al" Jenkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Croasdell. It was announced on 26 November 2009 that the character would leave the soap in early 2010. His final appearance was on 4 February 2010.
Contents
Storylines
Backstory
Al grew up in Walford and knew Dot Cotton (June Brown) when he was a boy.[2] Prior to moving back to Walford he lived in Ilfracombe, Devon but came to Walford to visit his mother who has arthritis and to take over the doctor's surgery from Doctor Poppy Merritt (Amy Darcy).[2]
2009–2010
Al arrives on 1 May 2009, and meets Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison), who tells her problems to him off-duty. He is the first person to learn that she is pregnant, and they become friends, with Al reassuring Heather about her new status as a mother. Several female locals comment on his looks, and Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) accidentally spills coffee on him, prompting him to ask her out. After several drinks on different occasions in The Queen Victoria public house, Al asks Tanya out for lunch at Fargo's restaurant. Tanya's ex-husband Max (Jake Wood) overhears this and invites his son Bradley (Charlie Clements) to the restaurant so he can spy on them. After an awkward date, Al tells Tanya that he does not want to take their relationship any further. He then takes Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) on a date, and soon realises he has feelings for her.
In October 2009, Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) approaches Al and asks him to section her mentally unstable daughter Stacey (Lacey Turner). When Stacey returns home, Al is waiting with two of his colleagues and two police officers. Al formally declares Stacey's sectioning to her, and she is taken away by the police that night. He DJ's the dance contest for Children in Need and Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) asks him to go with her to her parents Denise (Diane Parish) and Lucas' (Don Gilet) wedding. Al reluctantly accepts her invitation, even though he was to ask Roxy. After Roxy walks in on Chelsea flirting with him, he starts a relationship with Roxy.
In February 2010, Al asks Roxy to move with him to Cornwall, and reveals that someone complained about his relationship with her, even though she was not his patient, so he resigned. She does not want to leave Walford, so he ends their relationship and leaves without her, after saying goodbye to Heather, his favourite patient.
Creation and development
Introduced in May 2009 by executive producer Diederick Santer, Al Jenkins follows on from Doctors Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton), Fred Fonseca (Jimi Mistry), Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey), Oliver Cousins (Tom Ellis) and May Wright (Amanda Drew) as the soap's resident General Practitioner.
Actor Adam Croasdell was cast in the role, commenting, "It is my first soap and I'm really pleased to be in it — it's such a British institution. It's a real honour to be a part of it and it's a whole other skillset to what I've done before. I'm used to getting several takes if I need it, and this is like two takes and you move on. You have to be so on the ball when they call "Action" [...] I am so impressed with the writing, the dramatic tension and the array of brilliant characters. I'm a huge fan now and I'm not just saying that."[3] He added: "With the leaving of Robert Kazinsky (Sean Slater), I'm feeling the pressure if I've been hired to step into his shoes! You hope that your storylines are going to be a little bit more than for flesh-fodder, but it's all good."[3]
Al is described as "a big kid [and a] free spirit".[4] Croasdell said of his character: "He's outdoorsy, a good doctor and generally nice — but not too nice. He's also domestically useless. He's not a butter-wouldn't-melt sort of a man. He can also be selfish."[5] He also stated that "[Al]'s certainly got his flaws and is quite edgy at times. He's not all sweetness and light."[6] Croasdell went on to say that "he's a bit of a surfer [and] I think he slightly resents being back for those reasons because he's quite outdoorsy, but his mum comes first. He's come to set up and make a life for himself back at his origins. [He's] single and he likes to mingle![3]
On 26 November 2009 it was announced that Croasdell would leave the show in 2010 in order to embark on a charity visit to Malawi. He stated: "I have worked with and befriended a lot of fantastic actors while I have been at EastEnders. I am very grateful for my time on the show and all the support shown to me to me by the wonderful viewers who have followed my storylines and been so supportive. I see it as a chapter in my ongoing work as an actor – as I am always interested in new challenges, so I am looking forward to future projects."[7]
Reception
The character's affiliation with North Devon and surfing has been praised by Devonshire residents, with one saying, "This is really great for Ilfracombe, to have such a high profile mention in EastEnders. Ilfracombe has a huge water sports culture and the town is definitely on the up, with people like Damien Hirst raising the profile."[2] Another resident was dubious about the character taking his surf board to Walford: "There's a tube up there, but I don't think he'll be able to surf it."[2]
References
- ^ Green, Kris. "Billy confesses all to Dot". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a153061/billy-confesses-all-to-dot.html. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ a b c d "EastEnders welcomes an 'Ilfracombe surfer'". This Is North Devon. 30 April 2009. http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/EastEnders-welcomes-Ilfracombe-surfer/article-946933-detail/article.html. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ a b c "Adam plays Walford's dishy new doctor". BBC Online. 24 April 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/characters_cast/interviews/interview_adam_c.shtml#3. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Al Jenkins plays by Adam Croasdell". BBC Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/characters_cast/characters/character_al_j.shtml. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "EastEnders: Doctor Who?". What's on TV. 29 April 2009. http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/soaps/eastenders/interviews/eastenders-doctor-who/5662. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ "Walford welcomes new doctor". BBC Online. 17 April 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/news/news_20090416.shtml. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Dr Al to leave Eastenders". Digital Spy. 26 November 2009. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a188689/dr-al-to-leave-eastenders.html. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
External links
EastEnders History · Awards and nominations · In popular culture Characters Crew members Julia Smith · Tony Holland · Simon May · Mike Gibbon · Michael Ferguson · Leonard Lewis · Barbara Emile · Corinne Hollingworth · Jane Harris · Matthew Robinson · John Yorke · Louise Berridge · Kathleen Hutchison · Kate Harwood · Diederick Santer · Bryan KirkwoodLocations Storylines The Banned · The Firm · "Sharongate" · "Who Shot Phil?" · "Get Johnny Week" · "The Secret Mitchell" · "Who Killed Archie?"Episodes Off-set episodes · Two-handers · Episodes in Ireland · "Pretty Baby...." · "EastEnders Live" · "Queen Vic Fire Week"Families Spin-offs Music EastEnders portal Categories:- Fictional characters introduced in 2009
- EastEnders characters
- Fictional doctors
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