User:Bluebolt94/Pam Coker

Pam Coker
EastEnders character
File:Pam Coker.jpg
Portrayed by	Lin Blakley
Duration	2014–16
First appearance	Episode 4837 14 April 2014
Last appearance	Episode 5368 14 October 2016
Classification	Former; regular
Introduced by	Dominic Treadwell-Collins
In-universe information Occupation Funeral director Market stallholder Sisters Miriam Crabbe Husband Les Coker Sons Lawrie Coker Grandsons Paul Coker

Pamela Hazel "Pam" Coker is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Lin Blakley. Pam made her first appearance on 14 April 2014. It was announced on 28 July 2016 that Pam and Les would leave later in 2016 after the both of them were axed by the new executive producer Sean O'Connor. Pam and Les made their final appearances on 14 October 2016.

Storylines

Pam makes her first appearance on 14 April 2014. She is delighted that her husband Les has bought 53 Turpin Road for their funeral parlour. The following week, the couple move into the upstairs flat, and Pam opens up her flower stall as the Spring Lane street market has been merged with the Bridge Street market. Pam is not in competition with anyone. She enjoys listening to the arguments and gossip between other rival stall holders. While Pam babysits for Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), she discovers photographs of the recently murdered Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) behind Billy's fridge. Pam confronts Billy who explains that the photographs of Lucy are not his but are her twin brother Peter's (Ben Hardy). Pam befriends Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) and helps her organise a naked charity calendar, posing nude herself with Mo Harris (Laila Morse) for the month of April. She becomes upset when DC Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton) tells her that secrets always have a habit of revealing themselves. On the anniversary of her son, Lawrie's, death, she goes missing with Janet. When she returns with Janet, Billy is upset with her. Pam discloses to Emma that she used to be a social worker until accusations were made that she brought about the death of Lawrie, her terminally ill son; telling Emma that the accusations were false, but confessing to Billy that they were true. When Billy discovers the funeral parlour is in trouble because Les cannot bring himself to push bereaved families to pay overdue bills, Billy insists Les tell Pam the truth. Les is unwilling to upset Pam on their anniversary, but eventually confesses, and the pair agree to have no more secrets. However, Les is then revealed to be secretly meeting another woman to whom he gives a necklace. When Pam organises a 30th birthday party for Donna Yates (Lisa Hammond) soon afterwards, she secretly invites Donna's foster mother Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas) — the same woman Les is secretly meeting. It is then revealed that Pam placed Donna in Claudette's care when she was a social worker and that the two are good friends.

Les and Pam's grandson, Paul Coker (Jonny Labey), comes to stay in Walford with them after a two-year absence, despite animosity between him and Les as he believed he had found out Les and Claudette were having an affair before his departure. Two months later, Paul tells Pam that Les is having an affair with Claudette. Pam tries to confront Claudette about the affair, but loses her nerve. Pam uneasily tells Paul to stop thinking about the affair but later freaks out when she sees Claudette in the photo with her and Les in the newspaper, and admits to Paul that he is, in fact, right about it. Pam tries to arrange a dinner with Les and Claudette, but they both decline, secretly meeting up at Claudette's house. Pam finds Les' tie at Claudette's house and they both give conflicting explanations to her. She later goes to stay with her sister Mim Crabbe (Helen Cotterill), returning to find Les and Claudette together, with Claudette encouraging Les to tell Pam the truth. Les tries to explain that he and Claudette grew close after Lawrie's death when he needed someone to talk to, but it has only ever been platonic. Pam seeks advice from single mother Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson), who encourages her to work on her marriage and seek some more answers from Les. Pam then issues Les an ultimatum: he must stop seeing Claudette or she will leave him. On Lawrie's birthday, Pam is too upset to speak to Les, so he visits Claudette. Donna finds Les in his underwear at Claudette's house, and tells Pam what she has seen. Pam then goes to Claudette's house and sets about destroying Les's gifts until Claudette says they are not hers and Pam should ask Les about Christine. When Pam confronts Les, she is horrified to discover that Christine is his feminine alter ego and that he enjoys wearing women's clothes, and tells Les he disgusts her, but restrains herself from telling Paul. The next day, she is still not coping with the revelation, but Donna and Claudette encourage her to speak to Les about it. After speaking to Les, she decides she wants to "meet" Christine. Whilst preparing Les for the "meeting", Claudette comforts a worried Pam, telling her the first time she "sees" Christine will be easier than she thinks. Upon "meeting" Christine, Pam is initially cautious, but after Les, as Christine, explains that this is how he can cope with things, as Christine is more open than Les, and he is still the same person, she becomes slightly more reciprocate. However, when Paul walks in on them and is horrified, Pam realises she knows nothing about her husband in his feminine form, so leaves to get some distance from Les. She stays with Donna overnight and then makes plans to visit Mim again, although Paul arrives at the train station to stop her. She later returns home to talk to Les, but when she gets hesitant again, Les moves out to give Pam some space and time as her friends and her job are clearly in Walford.

Paul makes efforts to reunite Pam and Les but it is tense and awkward. When Paul suddenly becomes withdrawn from them, they both confront him and he confesses his relationship with Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), revealing he is in love with him. Les urges Paul to tell Ben his feelings, leaving Pam impressed with Les' approach at advice. Les admits to Pam that he is still in love with her, and she says she loves him too, but she is not ready to get back together with him yet. After another encounter with Les at the pub, where she admits she is unable to get the image of Christine out of her head when she sees him, Les calls Pam, telling her to meet at the allotments where he plans to burn Christine's things. She reluctantly watches as Les burns the things and allows him to walk her home. Several days later, Pam allows Les to move back in with her, but as she is still not ready to consummate their marriage, she orders single beds for her and Les. However, Pam and Les starts being blackmailed by Babe Smith (Annette Badland) after she finds a photograph of Les dressed as Christine at the allotments and she regularly demands money from them. Pam is then shocked to see Paul's estranged biological mother Jenny Rawlinson (Amy Marston) in Walford and she demands to meet Paul, but Pam refuses. When Les suffers a heart attack, Pam and Les decide to let Paul and his boyfriend, Ben, to continue with the family business at the funeral parlour. Following a night out with Ben, Paul is later killed off-screen in a suspected homophobic attack. Initially, Pam denies that it is Paul, but later identifies him in the mortuary with Les. When everyone proposes a toast in Paul's memory, Pam blames Ben for causing Paul's death, wishing it was him who had died instead of Paul. Pam and Les are later relieved when Claudette helps them expose Babe's blackmail. At Paul's funeral, Pam makes a truce with Ben after hearing his emotional eulogy for Paul and later decides to allow Les to be Christine, realising that she may need him to show this side of his personality.

Before a bail hearing for Paul's murder, Pam meets a woman in the toilets and comforts her, but later realises she is actually the mother of one of Paul's killers. Paul's killers are refused bail and Pam escorts Les out of the courtroom. When they return home, Pam and Les consider leaving Walford together after the trial is over. Pam decides to visit Diane Atmore (Hazel Ellerby), the mother of Simon Atmore (Tom Palmer), one of Paul's killers, to try to get her to persuade him to plead guilty. Les thinks this is a bad idea as Pam could scupper the whole case. Pam messages Diane with Honey's assistance and arranges to meet her. Accompanied by Kathy Sullivan (Gillian Taylforth), she meets Diane who tells her she will not persuade Simon to plead guilty. However, she ends up doing so and at the hearing, Simon and the rest of Paul's killers plead guilty to killing Paul and to kidnapping Ben and Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick). They are sentenced to thirty years in prison. Pam asks Ben to help her clear out Paul's bedroom. She then drops off his clothes to a homeless shelter where she is stunned to find Jay who has been sleeping rough. She persuades him to come back to the Square for Ben's sake, and she convinces Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) to allow Jay back into the Mitchell household. At a farewell party for the Cokers in The Vic, Pam confronts Babe—who has recently returned the money she took from them—and tells her that she is a sad, pathetic old woman who she feels sorry for and that she will never have what she and Les have. After making an emotional farewell to all their friends, handing over the funeral parlour to Billy to manage and persuading Billy to give Jay a job, Pam and Les depart Walford for a new life in Worthing.

Creation and development

"Pam Coker is the sort of woman who seems physically incapable of not talking. A chatterbox who speaks at a million miles an hour, she constantly has her nose in everybody’s business."

—BBC character profile description.

The character and casting was announced on 4 April 2014. Pam is the wife of established character Les Coker (Roger Sloman) who was made a regular in April 2014. Pam made her first appearance on 14 April 2014. Pam and Les made their final appearances on 14 October 2016.

Blackmail

In May 2016, Les and Pam become the victim of blackmail by Babe Smith (Annette Badland). Babe begins to send anonymous demands for cash via e-mail to Les, and in return, she will keep his secret alter ego Christine to herself. It was already revealed to viewers that Babe was the culprit however, Pam desperately tries to seek out the culprit.

References

Category:EastEnders characters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2014