The Year Was… 1995

INTRODUCTION

Brad Pitt was the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’. Toy Story made waves at the movies. Frasier is hot on the airwaves. OJ Simpson is on trial for murder. Coolio told us about a Gangsta’s Paradise and Shaggy was Boombastic.

In the East End of London, two long-time residents would leave, seemingly forever. An old face would return on Christmas Day to upset the apple cart. Nigel dealt with an unimaginable loss. And David Wicks got to know sister-in-law Cindy much, much, better…

EVENTS

Natalie: Public Enemy No. 1
The Square was not quite ready for Natalie Price. She was Bianca’s best friend and partner-in-crime, but the one thing she didn’t have as a young woman, was loyalty. Nope, Natalie wanted Ricky and she was determined to get him.

**Bianca** and **Tiffany** knew how to party…

Being in the public eye and having a normal adult relationship was not enough for B and she soon started hanging around with Tiffany, neglecting everything else around her. Natalie wasted no time in getting Ricky into the sack, and for most of the next few months, Ricky, unable to satisfy two women at once, took to looking like a zombie, hanging around the Arches’ exhausts exhausted. But Nat wasn’t one to share and engineered a moment for them to be caught out by B.

The flame-haired beauty became righteous with cockney fury as she threw her chips in Ricky’s face, lamped Natalie in the chops and threatened her rival out of Walford. Her brother Robbie contributed to her swift exit by defacing Natalie’s front door with ‘slag’ on her way outta town.

Suspicious **Bianca** has cottoned on to **Ricky**‘s affair and confronts him…

Roy Romances Pat
With son David in her corner and the pair having somewhat of a grudging new appreciation of each other, Pat became the Conductor of the Car Lot and turned it into a thriving business, placing crafty David in charge. Having an issue with car supplier Roy Evans, Patricia stomped into his office and gave him what for, surprising the poor fellow. He liked what he saw though and made a pass at the new, no-nonsense Pat.

**Pat** resisted all of **Roy**‘s charms

She was having none of it! He bought her presents. Nope. He offered her holidays away. No chance. Eventually she said yes to a cruise, on the proviso that there would be no hanky-panky. This didn’t upset Roy: he was impotent, and Pat also started to soften when she saw the appeal of a relationship without sex, a man who loved her for her.

This was the start of something special and the pair moved in together before Christmas, ready to see the holidays in together as a new clan: with David, Roy’s son Barry, Janine, Ricky and Bianca all together…

And then, like a Ghost from Christmas Past, Frank walked through the front door.

**Frank** is not the Santa **Pat** was expecting!

David and Pat gave him his marching orders, but this time, as he fled into the night, Ricky was on his tail…

Goodbye, Sharon
Turning up in March on Michelle’s doorstep was a decidedly different Sharon. Gone was the whimpering mess that had left at Christmas and now here was a sassy, independent and confident woman, who went on dates with hot guys in red Porsches. She was even able to stand up to new Vic landlady Peggy! Of course, Peggy got the obligatory slap in first.

A powerful **Sharon** returned home for revenge…

Grant saw Sharon acting like a femme fatale and naturally had to have her back. He went over all soppy every time Sharon walked into the Vic in all her glory. It looked like they were heading for a rekindling, but Sharon was a woman scorned. She wanted revenge for her public humiliation and she was going to get it. She let Grant think he stood a chance, luring him to a hotel room, hinting at family and marriage, but secretly planned to show him up and reject him. In the end though she just wasn’t ruthless enough and she left the Square in a taxi. It would be a long time before we heard from Sharon again…

**Sharon** prepares her humiliation of **Grant**

Goodbye, Michelle
Michelle Fowler had begun realising there was more to life after being shot at and, with Sharon gone, she started thinking about her future. Geoff proposed and accepted a job that would require a move to Scotland. Michelle went back and forth, but ultimately decided that she didn’t want to be married and Geoff left alone. Her family just couldn’t understand her. Mark even had a pop at her about her fidelity issues. When a job opportunity in America came up, Michelle accepted it.

But there was one last piece of Michelle business to clean up: she wanted to tell Grant Mitchell exactly what she thought of him. She cornered him after closing one night and laid into him with both barrels. The fierce argument grew and grew and… they promptly had sex. It was the Vic carpet, Grant, I’m telling you! When Michelle left for America with Vicki there was another passenger: Michelle was pregnant with Grant’s baby and if she had her way, he would never know…

**Michelle** and **Vicki** start their new life and head off to America for their fresh start…

Arthur Fowler: Guilty!
When the Flowering-Wilderness fund to plant new posies in the Square went walkies, it was poor Arthur Fowler who became prime suspect. He was, after all, the elected head of the committee and the one responsible for depositing the funds. But the sly Willy Roper was paying attention. Once the fund had reached an impressive £20,000, he helped Arthur deposit the cash into various bank accounts, which trusting Arthur did. When the money was declared missing, the police got involved and, with Willy keeping his mouth shut, Arthur was promptly arrested. He ended the year behind bars, while Willy moved in on Pauline…

**Willy Roper** had **Arthur** right where he wanted him…

David and Cindy: Fatal Attractions…
The minute David Wicks met Cindy Beale the air sizzled. They were both attractive, knew it, and both experts in the art of deceit and cunning. Before you knew it the sparks had begun, with Cindy popping into the car lot cabin for a lot more than a brother-in-law chat about her marriage. David played it as cool as he could, but Cindy was like a woman obsessed. Ian was too busy in pub quizzes and growing hideous moustaches (Cindy’s probable main complaint) to twig that anything was happening. Cindy couldn’t cope for much longer though and the ultimatum came out: take me away from this or leave me alone. One look from non-committal David was enough, and for now, she went back to Ian and tried, once again, to pretend.

There must have been something about the **Wicks** boys…

The Other Stuff
Della and Binnie leave to live in Spain, Ruth and Mark get married and Kathy and Phil reconcile. Tragically, Debbie is killed in a road accident and Nigel fights for custody of step-daughter Clare. Ted Hills, Kathy’s brother arrives, on the run from a criminal charge. His children, Tony and Sarah soon follow…