| Trish Barnes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||
| Portrayed by | Tessa Churchard | ||||
| Duration | 2012— | ||||
| First appearance | 18 September 2012 | ||||
| Classification | Present; recurring | ||||
| Introduced by | Lorraine Newman | ||||
| |||||
Trish Barnes, played by Tessa Churchard,[1] is Lola Pearce's (Danielle Harold) new social worker.[2] When she arrives at Lola's house, Lola is out buying nappies for her daughter Lexi, and her grandfather Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) has the baby. Billy lies to Trish that he still has a job, even though he has recently lost it. Billy is also concerned when Lola returns with her friend Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick), as he is on police bail for perverting the course of justice in relation to a murder.[1] Trish comes back the next day with a list of concerns, and tells Lola she will be visiting more due to her bad attitude.[3] Trish visits Lola again on several occasions, and sees paint on Lexi's feet, so tells Lola off as it could cause an allergic reaction,[4] though it does not.[5] Trish later worries when Lexi develops a cough.[6] Trish finds out that Billy has lied about being employed,[7] and then decides to visit daily as she feels he and Lola are not coping as she has used a tea towel as a nappy and the flat has not been cleaned. When Lola is arrested for assault, she is angry to see Trish arrive with the police. She bites Trish to stop her taking Lexi, but fails to stop her and is devastated when Trish takes Lexi from her.[8] Lola decides to fight for Lexi and visits Trish at her office, apologising for biting her and asking when she can take Lexi home. Trish says she will have to attend parenting classes and have three access visits a week. Lola gets angry, and Trish says that her behaviour could cause her to lose Lexi for good.[9]
Development
editChurchard's official credits list her as having filmed a 10-episode recurring role in EastEnders,[10] the first episode being on 18 September 2012.[1] Speaking of the storyline involving Trish, Harold told Inside Soap that when Trish arrives at Lola's house, "everything goes wrong at once", and explained that "Trish isn't given a good impression of Lola as a mother, and Lola isn't impressed when she sees her taking pages of notes". Lola is not happy about Trish getting involved in her life with daughter Lexi.[11] All About Soap described Trish as the "bossy new social worker".[12]
Reception
editThe scenes where Trish takes Lexi from Lola were criticised by the charity The Who Cares? Trust on Twitter, who called the storyline an "unhelpful portrayal" and said it had already received calls from members of the public who were "distressed about the EastEnders scene where a social worker snatches a baby from its mother's arms".[13] The scenes were also condemned by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), calling the BBC "too lazy and arrogant" to get correctly portray the child protection process, and saying that the baby was taken "without sufficient grounds to do so". Bridget Robb, acting chief of the BASW, said the storyline provoked "real anger among a profession well used to a less than accurate public and media perception of their jobs". She stated:
It is disgraceful to see a publicly funded broadcaster deliberately spreading misinformation about the child protection process because it is too lazy and arrogant to get it right. We regularly give advice to programmes about social work storylines; we would like to know who advised EastEnders so badly. Social workers have a difficult enough job as it is. Unlike the writers and actors on EastEnders, they have to step through those front doors that no one else wants to step through, and they do it on a daily basis, to protect children, not to target families. EastEnders' shabby portrayal of an entire profession has made a tough job even tougher.[14]
Another social worker said "Accurate procedures were not followed [when a character's baby was taken away]. Was it police protection, section 20? Where was the immediate risk to the baby? As a social worker, I was in tears, as was a colleague of mine, watching how our profession was portrayed on television."[13] The BBC responded to BASW by saying:
• We understand you're unhappy with the current storyline concerning Lexi and Lola as you feel it portrays social workers inaccurately. We consulted with the programme's production team in writing our response and we'd like to assure you our intention is not to portray social workers in a negative light.
• Whilst the audience has seen how much Lola loves Lexi and how responsible she can be with her baby, we were careful to ensure that when the social worker was visiting, she generally saw only more worrying behaviour. Lola was often abrasive when speaking to the social worker and casual—sometimes even flippant in her responses to the social worker's suggestions.
• Given that Lola is a young mother, who has been, until this episode, wearing an electronic tag (for criminal damage to the car lot), with a history of getting into trouble with the police, and is known to have had a difficult childhood herself (indeed, three generations of the family have been through the care system), it was clearly important for social services to be involved with the family in order to ensure that Lola could cope with having a baby. In the last few weeks the social worker witnessed a series of unfortunate incidents, including Lexi wearing a tea-towel as a makeshift nappy, reports of Lola not taking Lexi to the mother and baby group, a messy and unclean flat, and the discovery that Billy had lied to her about having a job.
• Under the circumstances, we believe the audience will have understood why she had to act to remove Lexi quickly when the allegation of assault is made against Lola by Alexa. There was no suggestion that the social worker's actions were anything other than a genuine desire to protect Lexi, or that her concerns about Lola were unreasonable, given the picture she and the previous social worker had formed over a substantial period of time. There was certainly no inference that her actions were anything personal against Lola or her family.[14][15]
A social worker who received the BBC's statement commented:
I don't think I need to spell out the ridiculousness of this response from the BBC and whether the grounds they claim, such as wearing a tea towel as a nappy, would constitute grounds for emergency removal in real life. I work in a long-term care team and take great offence at the suggestion that because Lola was in care there is an assumption that social services should be involved in her care of her child. Not that I am suggesting she doesn't need some support, but where is her aftercare worker? I am always disappointed at how social workers are portrayed in EastEnders, but this was the last resort. I do not agree that the public will think that this was reasonable and it just makes our job harder.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ a b c Director: Richard Lynn; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Peter McKenna (18 September 2012). "Episode dated 18/09/2012". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
{{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|city=(help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (11 September 2012). "Billy faces a desperate situation". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Director: Richard Lynn; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Rob Gittins (20 September 2012). "Episode dated 20/09/2012". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
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21sepwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Director: Piotr Szkopiak; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Peter Mattessi (24 September 2012). "Episode dated 24/09/2012". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
{{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|city=(help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
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5octwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Director: Steve Finn; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Matt Evans (8 October 2012). "Episode dated 08/10/2012". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
{{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|city=(help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ "TESSA CHURCHARD". Natasha Stevenson Management. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Moon, Katy (15–21 September 2012). "Will Lola lose her baby?". Inside Soap. 2012 (37). Hearst Magazines UK.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ "Jay-Lo cause trouble!". All About Soap (279). Hearst Magazines UK. 15–28 September 2012.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ a b "Fury over Eastenders' 'misleading' social work storyline". Community Care. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ a b c Greenslade, Roy (9 October 2012). "Social workers outraged by EastEnders storyline about baby Lexi". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ a b Pemberton, Camilla (8 October 2012). "'Eastenders' portrayal of social work left me in tears'". Community Care. Retrieved 9 October 2012.