Sharongate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Sharongate" is the term used for a storyline in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, which reached its climax on October 24, 1994, attracting 18.4 million viewers. The plot was written by EastEnders scriptwriter, Tony Jordan.
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[edit] Synopsis
Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) confessed on tape that she had slept with her husband’s brother, Phil (Steve McFadden). The truth came out in the middle of a packed Queen Vic. Grant (Ross Kemp) attacked his brother and Phil was lucky to survive.
[edit] Plot
Sharon had become part of the Mitchell family when she married Grant in December 1991. But months later the couple began rowing. Grant wanted a wife who behaved like one and Sharon refused to comply. He also wanted a baby but Sharon preferred to concentrate on making The Queen Vic a success. In July 1992 Sharon and Grant began to argue about money and during a major row Sharon confessed that she had carried on taking the contraceptive pill because she didn't want to have a baby with Grant. He went berserk and after smashing the pub up he disappeared for a few weeks, leaving Phil to comfort Sharon in her hour of need. Sharon began to wonder if she had married the wrong brother. Grant returned, and despite promises to try harder he immediately returned to his old ways, staying out with his friends all night and leaving Phil to help Sharon at The Vic in his place. Grant's thuggish behaviour only brought them closer. Sharon found herself confiding in Phil and one night the inevitable release of pent up desire led to Phil and Sharon going to bed together; marking the beginning of their affair. However Sharon could not bring herself to leave Grant and upon his return she chose him rather than Phil.
Grant's reign of terror continued, and he began to get involved with crime. He intimidated Sharon and her friends; he smashed up the Vic and later, torched it in an insurance scam, unaware that Sharon was inside.
Sharon was furious when she discovered his involvement in the fire and decided to take a holiday to visit her mother in America in December 1992. Upon her return three months later, she attempted to seize Grant's half of the Vic and gain full control. More arguments followed and after another heated argument Grant beat Sharon and left her crying on the kitchen floor. Sharon tried to hide her bruises but both Phil and Sharon's best-friend Michelle Fowler noticed there was something wrong. Michelle called the police, but when they arrived Grant lost his temper and began attacking them. One of the policeman he hit was badly injured so Grant went to prison on remand. With Grant out of the way, Sharon's affair with Phil went into full swing. While he was serving his prison sentence, Grant began to suspect that his wife may have been seeing another man, and threatened to kill the man if he ever found him. Phil then had to meditate between his brother and his lover. However Sharon and Phil were both tormented with feelings of guilt, and neither wanted to tell Grant the truth. When Grant was finally released from prison, Sharon took pity and by the end of June that year they were back together. Phil, still in love with Sharon, married a Romanian refugee so she could gain a visa, though their marriage was short-lived. After Phil's first marriage collapsed, he began a relationship with Kathy Beale and the two were eventually engaged. Sharon felt a twang of remorse when she discovered the engagement and went round to see Phil, with the hope of reigniting their affair. They kissed, but Phil suddenly remembered he was engaged and threw her out.
The storyline eventually came to a dramatic climax in October 1994. Sharon had put her affair with Phil behind her and she and Grant were even thinking about starting a family. However, Michelle's boyfriend, Geoff Barnes, had an idea about interviewing local girls for his book about the 'social and economic importance of women in the East end'. Sharon agreed to contribute, so long as Michelle conducted the interview. During the autumn of 1994 the interview took place, with Michelle taping the converstation on a tape recorder. However the girls forgot to turn the tape recorder off after the interview finished, and prompted by Michelle, Sharon began reveal the full details of her affair with Phil, leaving the incriminating evidence in the tape machine.
Grant found the tape, and decided to listen to it. The anticipation lasted for weeks, as Grant's car-stereo broke and he was unable to listen to it. The car was finally fixed and on the night of Phil and Kathy's engagement party in The Vic, he went on an errand to collect some beer from a nearby pub. On his return he remembered the tape and finally got to listen to what was on it. Grant went into a state of shock and anger, he went over to the Vic, where Phil and Kathy were having their engagement party, stopped the music and played the tape to a packed Vic. Kathy reacted by slapping Sharon and calling her a slut, whilst Grant went to The Arches, later followed by Phil who went to explain. Grant then beat him up, leaving him with a ruptured spleen.
Phil spent some time in intensive care, and went on to make a full recovery from his injuries, while Grant constantly humiliated Sharon calling her "the pub whore", as well as singing "Jingle Bells" (as it was Christmas) in an aggressive manner, while smashing plates in on the table where she was sitting. Sharon wanted to reconcile so she put up with the abuse for several months, refused to give in to his demands for a divorce. However, Grant found ever more inventive ways to humiliate her and by Christmas day that year Sharon decided enough was enough and finally agreed to sign the divorce papers. She moved to the United States to live with her mother Angie. This led to the re-introduction and recasting of Peggy Mitchell, the mother of Phil and Grant, who took over as acting landlady in Sharon's place.
Sharon returned in March 1995 to hostility from Grant, Phil and Peggy. Sharon was not perturbed and her gutsy behaviour eventually earned her the respect of Grant, who began to realise that he was still in love with her. Sharon was hell-bent on revenge for her mistreatment, so she led Grant on, while confessing to Michelle that it was really her plan to publicly humiliate him. She led him to believe that a public proposal of remarriage would seal their reunion. Grant decided to pop the question on The Vic's quiz night, and Sharon was ready to turn him down in front of a packed pub and his family. However, in the end, she couldn't go through with it, and stopped him from proposing before he humiliated himself. She then confessed to him that she still loved him, before heading for America to join her mother, leaving Grant in tears on the pavement. They did not see each other for another 10 years.
[edit] Trivia
- Sharongate was voted the 6th top soap moment of the decade in a poll of 17,000 people for 'What's On TV magazine'.
