Junior Roberts

Infobox EastEnders character 2


character_name=Junior Roberts
actor_name=Aaron Carrington
years=1987–1989
first=28 July 1987
last=31 October 1989
status=Single
occupation=Student
father=Darren Roberts
aunts=Maxine Roberts
Carmel Jackson
halfsisters=Aisha Roberts

Junior Roberts was a fictional character in the BBC soap opera, "EastEnders". He was played by Aaron Carrington.

Junior was a young tearaway, who idolised his wayward father. He was often getting into trouble and mischief around Albert Square.

History

Junior was the son of Darren Roberts, and he arrived in Walford along with his young sister Aisha in July 1987. The Roberts clan had come to live with Junior's aunt, Carmel, at number 3b Albert Square.

Junior proceeded to cause havoc around the Square, getting into trouble for stealing, graffitiing the square, playing truant, and gave everyone a fright when he ran away from home and almost got into a car with a stranger. Junior found himself a girlfriend in 1988, Melody, who was equally as troublesome. The two began a scam where they would steal dogs from people and then return them for a reward. They also managed to spark up a feud with the Karim children, with both sides swapping racist insults at each other. Darren, a petty criminal, was not the best role-model for his impressionable son, and he was often unable to curtail his deviance.

Junior idolised Darren and so he was devastated in July 1988 when his father abandoned him and his sister and disappeared without a word to anyone. Junior was forced to move away from Walford and go and live with his Grandparents, but he would show up regularly to visit Carmel and get into more trouble, such as stealing Colin Russell's CD collection and then selling them on to Rod Norman for a profit. This act even led to him getting arrested after Colin's boyfriend, Guido, decided to teach him a lesson and informed the police. He got off with a warning, but continued to make trouble for himself when he persuaded Ricky Butcher to buy him alcohol, and was witnessed drinking by Dot Cotton. Dot was appalled to see an underage boy getting drunk, and she promptly informed Carmel. By 1989 Junior had become so troublesome that his elderly, sickly grandparents could no longer cope and Carmel was instructed to take both her brother's children in again. This was met unfavourably by Carmel's new husband Matthew Jackson, who freely admitted that he disliked Junior immensely.

Matthew and Junior would argue regularly and this put a severe strain on Carmel's marital relationship. Junior's dislike for Matthew stemmed from the fact that he rightly suspected him of abusing his aunt. Junior tried to put a stop to Matthew's violence by informing various members of his family about the abuse he'd witnessed, but despite their best efforts Carmel refused to take their help and denied that anything untoward was occurring. Things reached a head in July 1989, when Junior, in an attempt to protect his aunt from Matthew's rage, stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Matthew was rushed to hospital, and Junior found it difficult to come to terms with what he had done. Carmel eventually managed to reassure him that what he did was in self-defence and he was not to blame.

The following month Carmel's father died, and so the Robertses all left Walford to tend to Junior's grieving grandmother. Junior was not pleased with this and made an ill-fated attempt to run away from home with Melody, but he only managed to get as far as the front door before Carmel discovered his plan and forced him to leave with her instead.

Over the following months Junior would show up in Walford regularly to visit Melody and Vince Johnson, a friend of his father. His last appearance was October 1989 when he attended a Halloween party in the Square.

References

*"The EastEnders Handbook" by Hilary Kingsley, ISBN 0-563-36292-8
*"EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration" by Colin Brake, ISBN 0-563-37057-2