EastEnders character
Mary Smith
Played by	Linda Davidson
Duration	1985 - 1988
Date of Birth	Unknown
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Unemployed
Family	Annie, Chris, Edie, Brendan

Mary Smith (Punk Mary) was a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Linda Davidson. This article is about the year. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera which was first broadcast on 19 February 1985. ...

Punk Mary was Walford's original wild child. She often made life difficult for herself due to her stubborn, defensive nature and she tended to feel that everyone around her was out to get her. Infact Mary was her own worst enemy and most of her misfortune was down to her irresponsible behaviour and her inability to heed good advice.

Mary's story

Mary arrived in Walford in 1985 when she moved into Reg Cox's old flat, following his death. Originally from the North, Mary moved to London when she fell pregnant as she wanted to escape her overbearing family, who viewed Mary's choice of lifestyle with contempt. Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. ... This article is about the year. ... Reg Cox was a character in EastEnders, played by Johnnie Clayton and by Marc Tufano in the Christmas special Walford At War: Civvy Street. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ...

Mary was the young, single, mother of baby Annie, and she found bringing her daughter up extrememly difficult. She had little money and virtually no experience, and her incapability to listen to anyone's advice meant that Mary would often make mistakes with her daughter's welfare. This was compounded by the fact that Mary couldn't read and baby Annie was nearly harmed when Mary gave her daughter the wrong dosage of medication. Nurse Andy O'Brien took Mary under his wing and undertook the difficult task of teaching her to read. This backfired on him, however, when Mary decided she was in love with him. Andy was forced to reject her advances and an anxt-ridden Mary spitefully sabotaged his property to repay him. A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing. ...

Mary also made an unlikely friendship with local busy body Dot Cotton, who would regularly be put upon to babysit for baby Annie whilst Mary went out to party or earn cash. Although Dot liked to preach to Mary, she was one of the only people that Mary listened to on the square. Dot Branning (formerly Cotton) is a fictional character played by June Brown on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. ...

Strapped for cash, Mary found it difficult to provide for Annie, so she began stripping to earn some money and she would regularly dance for the married shop keeper Saeed Jeffery. Later a dsperate Mary was persuaded to turn to prostitution by local villain Nick Cotton, who worked as her pimp. Her unsocial hours meant that she was often forced to leave baby Annie alone at night whilst she went out to work the streets. This culminated in baby Annie nearly dying one night when she was left alone. Luckily for Mary she survived, but social services took Annie away from her as a result. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... Nick Cotton (also known as Nasty Nick Cotton) is a fictional character in the popular British soap opera EastEnders and one of the soaps original bad boys. He has been played by John Altman on and off since appearing in the first episode in 1985. ...

In 1987, Mary began a relationship with Rod Norman; a good-hearted, scruffy, layabout who had a soft-spot for women in distress. Rod was a good influence on Mary and desperately tried to get her off 'the game' and back on the 'straight and narrow'. Rod was also instrumental in helping Mary regain custody of Annie, who was now in the care of Mary's parents. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Mary's father, Chris Smith, came to visit her in 1987, bringing baby Annie back to an overjoyed Mary. However disaster struck on Christmas day that year when her drunk father crashed his car whilst driving Mary and baby Annie home. Annie survived, but Mary would not forgive her father for his near fatal mistake. In 1988, however, Mary grew tired of struggling to pay her rent and after beng evicted from her flat she made the decision to go back up North to her parents, with Annie in tow. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus, at the first Christmas Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Mary Smith character page (BBC.co.uk)