Mick McFarlane

Mick McFarlane
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Sylvester Williams
Duration	1996–2002
First appearance	24 June 1996
Last appearance	22 January 2002
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	4 April 1968
Occupation	Musician
Family Father John McFarlane Mother Josie McFarlane Half sisters Kim McFarlane Aunts Winnie

Mick McFarlane is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sylvester Williams.

Mick was an easy-going guy, who hoped to make it big as a musician. However his music career failed and he ended up selling CDs on a market stall in Albert Square. After several ill-fated attempts at a career change, he finally got his life's wish and left Walford in 2002 to tour with a band.

Storylines

Mick was a musician and he arrived in Albert Square in June 1996, when his jazz band (including singer Frankie Pierre) came to audition for a regular gig in the Bridge Street café's night Bistro. Alan Jackson, manager of the night café, heard them play and instantly hired them. However, after Frankie (who was also Mick's ex) maliciously ruined several relationships on the Square, she quit the band and left Mick in the lurch. With no band to bring in funds, Mick was forced to seek work elsewhere, so he started work at the café in May 1997.

In 1998, Mick decided to reform his band and held auditions for another singer. After turning down many hopefuls, he found a young female soloist named Lola Christie. Mick was immediately attracted to Lola and eventually the two started dating. However, later in the year Lola was offered a contract as a professional singer, so she dumped Mick and the band. Later that year Mick was visited by his mother, Josie McFarlane, on holiday from Jamaica. Mick was nervous about Josie's visit as he had led her to believe that he was a successful musician. She was not pleased to discover Mick was working in a café.

However, Josie had secrets of her own. She brought a young girl named Kim with her, claiming she was a distant relative, but she was hiding something. Eventually Josie admitted Kim was Mick's half sister - the result of an affair that Mick's late father had had many years before. Kim's mother was dead and Josie took Kim in rather than see her go into care. Josie also confessed that she had been conned in a Jamaican property scam and was now penniless. Mick was extremely shocked to discover that his parents had deceived him for so long but welcomed his mother and half-sister into his life and home. Mick soon warmed to the idea of having a little sister although he did find Kim's tagging around after him a little irksome at first. Later that year, Ian Beale fired Mick after several residents suffered a bout of food poisoning.

In January 1999, Mick made friends with the new doctor, Fred Fonseca, and moved in with him. Fred later gave Mick a loan when he decided to take over Matthew Rose's CD stall. Later that year, Mick, Fred and a few other Walford residents went to Brighton, where Fred attended a medical convention. Whilst away, it became apparent to everyone, bar Mick, that Fred had something he wanted to get off his chest. Fred was gay and was too afraid to admit his sexuality to Mick, so took him to a gay club in the hope that Mick might 'cotton on'. Mick didn't realise what Fred was trying to tell him and was extremely shocked when Fred finally confessed. Mick was hurt that Fred had felt unable to confide in him and that Fred didn't fancy him! The friendship stayed intact, despite Mick's mother (also Fred's receptionist) denouncing Fred's lifestyle as immoral.

Mick later started dating barmaid/ex-prostitute, Nina Harris. However, Mick's judgmental mother caused problems here too, when she discovered Nina's past. Mick and Josie's relationship was sorely tested, culminating in Mick branding his mother a 'lonely, bitter, old woman'. Soon after Josie was forced to leave England after a mix-up with her visa, leaving Kim in Mick's care. Mick and Nina's relationship ended as Nina left Walford to look after her dying father.

With the financial responsibility of caring for his young sister, Mick found it difficult to 'make ends meet', so he got a part-time job as a limousine driver for Phil Mitchell. However, he was sacked when Phil found dog hair in the car, sparking a feud between them with Phil doing everything he could to undermine Mick. However, despite his dislike of Phil, Mick's constant money problems made him swallow his pride and ask for his job at the café back. He also had a spell as the radio controller for Barry Evans cab firm.

In January 2001, Mick saw Mark Fowler push Nick Cotton off the viaduct railway bridge for selling his young brother Martin ecstasy. Mick was torn over what to do, but eventually protected Mark by saying that Nick fell and that Mark was nowhere near him at the time.

Early in 2002, Mick was offered a gig as a touring saxophone player in a band, but had to turn it down, due to being Kim's legal guardian. Soon after, he needed money to send Kim on a school trip and pleaded with Phil for an advance on his wages. Phil refused and Mick was forced to sell his saxophone to raise the money instead. However, that same day, Mick left the till in the café un-manned while he chased a non-paying customer and returned to find the day's takings had been stolen. Suspicious, Phil accused Mick of stealing the takings, fired him, and told him to repay the stolen money. The police eventually caught the thieves and Phil offered Mick his job back, however Mick made him grovel before he accepted.

When Kim discovered what Mick had been through, she bought his saxophone back with the money for her school trip, contacted Mick's musician contact and accepted the gig on his behalf. Kim was adamant that Mick should follow his dream, and so Mick left Kim with a relative away from the Square and left Walford in January 2002.

External links

• Mick McFarlane at BBC Online