Tanya Raymond
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tanya Raymond was a recurring character portrayed by Chan Marti in the South African daily drama on SABC3, Isidingo from 2003 to 2005. She was the daughter of Cherel Haines and Cherel's father, Nico. Cherel gave her up for adoption as she was only 15 when Tanya was born.
Contents |
[edit] 2003
December: Tanya Raymond is introduced as an inquisitive journalist who keeps calling Cherel, saying she admires her and wants to interview her for a book she's writing. Cherel is suspicious and tries to avoid Tanya, but she persists.
[edit] 2004
January - March: Cherel agrees to allow Tanya to shadow her for a week but is uncomfortable with her probing questions. Eventually Tanya admits she is Cherel's daughter and was adopted by the Raymonds in Cape Town. She has had a good life and was well-provided for, but needs to satisfy her curiosity about her mother. Cherel initially tries to distance herself from Tanya, asserting that she has no idea how to be a mother. She also doesn't want to have to answer awkward questions about the father. But she allows Tanya to become her PA and live with her in the Haines household until she begins to value Tanya and wants to develop their relationship. At first she doesn't want anyone to know that Tanya is her daughter. Tanya meets Len Cooper at ON! and they feel attracted to each other.
The down-and-out Nico comes looking for Cherel, and Tanya has no idea he is more than just her grandfather. She can't understand what Cherel has against him, and gets angry with Cherel while she grows closer to Nico, who seems like a sweet old man.
She is upset with Cherel about the situation with Nico and turns to Len for support. Tanya asks Len if she can go home with him one night. Len feels like a changed person around her. She brings out the best in him and he realises he is falling in love with her.
Cherel can't bear the thought that Nico might end up abusing Tanya too, but she can't tell Tanya the truth because it is too disturbing. Len figures it out from the way Nico acts towards Tanya, and Cherel begs him not to tell Tanya either. She tries to put distance between Len and Tanya by demanding they stop seeing each other. In the meantime Barker arranges for Nico to disappear. Tanya finds out that Len had previously slept with Cherel and gets suspicious about their renewed friendship and Nico's disappearance. Cherel uses this opportunity to make it look like she is still sleeping with Len. Heartbroken about the joint betrayal Tanya flies back to Cape Town and ignores Len's phone calls.
December: Len hears that Nico has died in an 'accident' at a mental institution. He tries to get hold of Tanya but she arrives in Joburg before contacting him. Cherel gets a picture of Nico's tombstone and asks Len to give it to Tanya to help her get some closure.
[edit] 2005
January: Len regains Tanya's trust and for a couple of days they have a promising relationship. However after puzzling over things and questioning Len, Tanya has a dream about Nico in which she figures out that he is her father. Horrified she confronts Cherel who cannot deny it. Tanya believes this changes everything for her and that there is something intrinsically wrong with her. She disappears for days in her car, crying and unable to sleep. Finally she calls Len who convinces her to comes back but she feels unworthy and too scared to be intimate with him. For a while he is happy to just take care of her. Dup is also lodging at the Bullers' and ends up comforting Tanya one day when she is lonely and upset. They end up sleeping together which causes bad vibes in the house and Tanya moves out. Len feels completely betrayed and finds it hard to forgive Tanya. She dates Dup for a while and he tries to make her happy.
February: For a while Dup has to be civil to Cherel because he is dating her daughter. Their efforts are awkward and strained prompting Tanya to ask why, and she discovers that Dup believes her mother murdered Duncan Haines. Tanya can't believe her mother might be guilty and hopes Dup and Cherel will get along.
March: Len attacks Dup for taking Tanya to an expensive concert.
Tanya unwittingly tells her mother that Dup is investigating sabotage at the mine shaft. She doesn't know that Cherel arranged for the dynamite explosion to destroy evidence. Barker hears that his son's body has been found in the mine shaft.
April: When Duncan Haines's body is found along with fragments of Cherel's carpet Dup has to start investigating her but dreads telling Tanya. Tanya fetches her mother's things from the Haines house and protests her mother's innocence to Barker who gets angry and refuses to listen. She is horrified when Cherel is beaten up in jail.
May: The blonde wig in Cherel's stuff arouses Tanya's suspicions. She disappears for a while to sort things out in her head. Cherel defends herself by falsely claiming that Duncan tried to rape her. She says this reminded her so strongly of abuse during her childhood that she reacted instinctively in self defense. Tanya is a surprise witness and testifies in her mother's defense that she was the product of incest and that her father was Cherel's father.
June: As a result Cherel is acquitted. She and Tanya seem close once more until Tanya overhears Cherel and Vusi arguing about Duncan's death and realises that her mother lied about what happened. This disturbs her a lot and she begins to distrust and avoid Cherel.
Tanya feels betrayed and turns to Cherel's enemies Barker and Dup for support. Dup suspects that Cherel shot Mrs Bornman too and has Cherel's room bugged. Tanya questions what she must be made of. Cherel complicates matters by sleeping with Len, one night when they are both feeling rejected by Tanya.
July: Barker appeals to Tanya, telling her that Cherel has destroyed so much in both their lives, and that they must look after each other and stick together. Du Plessis finds out that Len and Cherel slept together, and tells Barker.
Dup proposes to Tanya who is surprised but accepts. She worries about telling Len and Cherel. She gets a job as an intern at ON! Barker plays Tanya the tape of her mother and Len and she is devastated. She is extremely icy towards and Len and lets him know that she knows.
August: Cherel believes that Tanya and Leon (Dup) are mismatched and tries to win her daughter back by sending flowers and gifts and interfering in her wedding plans. Eventually Tanya has enough and tells Cherel she wishes she could remove her mother's genes from herself and that she wants nothing more to do with her. Barker lets everyone know he is sponsoring the ceremony. Tanya's old school friend flies in for the wedding and expresses surprise at how brief Tanya's courtship was. Tanya's father, crippled by arthritis, is unable to walk her down the isle, and Tanya interprets this as a bad omen. Just before the wedding she tries to phone Len because she is experiencing doubts, but Len is visiting Cherel because they are the only people not at the wedding. Cherel answers Len's phone which leads Tanya to think they are sleeping together and she throws her phone against the wall in anger.
After the wedding she goes with Dup to the UK for a 6 week holiday, a wedding present from Barker.
October - December: When they come back she makes an effort to be a cheerful housewife, but it soon becomes apparent that she isn't as happy with Dup as she had hoped she would be. He moves them into a rundown apartment in Horizon Deep and speaks about having children, while Tanya hopes to finish her studies and develop her career. She asks Barker for help by means of an internship at his company but he always seems too busy to pay attention to her, and she finally realises she was just a pawn in Barker's plan to cause Cherel's downfall. Dup and Tanya experience problems such as Tanya's poor cooking and her car breaking down, and she becomes irritated with Dup and depressed. Her only friends are Maggie and Stella, but they don't really understand her and often gossip about her.
One day Tanya runs into Len at the Rec; they both claim to be happy and doing well, but Len can see right through Tanya's attempt to be cheerful. He says to Steve and Paul, "I just wanted to take her in my arms and bite those lips off."
Tanya feels more depressed and desperate. Sick of doing housework and of being unable to relate to her husband, she asks Len to meet her, and to his surprise, kisses him and says she loves him and needs him. Len then tries to stay away from Tanya but she begs him to meet her again, and they end up sleeping together in her flat. Tanya says, "I felt like I was drowning." Len is full of hope and suggests that they run away together on his motorbike. They speak of going to Namibia and seeing thousands of flamingos. He begs Tanya to think about it and says they could leave right away if only she would agree.
Tanya confuses Dup by crying and feeling guilty. She realises he really loves her too and feels ashamed of betraying him. After a few days she seems to cheer up again as though she has figured out a solution. She finds Cherel in a a rundown hotel and apologises for any pain she caused. She says Cherel was right about her and Dup, and tells Cherel she loves her. A couple of days later she cleans the entire flat and gives Dup a loving goodbye as he goes to work. Then she writes him a long letter, signs it "All my love, Tanya" and packs her bags. She ignores Len's phone calls and leaves her bags in the flat.
Tanya drives out to the mines where she climbs a tall headgear. At the top she sheds a few tears but seems at peace, then steps up with a restful expression, as though she is about to take flight.
For hours no-one can reach her. Dup finds the letter and her luggage and is frantic. Then her car is found near the headgear, along with her body. Dup is crushed. He holds Tanya for hours and refuses to leave. Len is held back from approaching by Niemand. He too is shocked and can't understand what led her to jump. He disappears to mourn by driving to places that Tanya had been to.
At the funeral Dup breaks down during his speech. He chooses not to read the letter from Tanya, so Len has no idea she mentioned going to fly with the flamingos. He sits quietly in the back pew wearing shades. Cherel arrives late but looking smart and walks purposefully to the front to show Barker she is once again someone to contend with. Later at the burial she threatens Barker with revenge.
After the funeral Len says he was surprised by Dup's depth of emotion and how much he obviously loved her. He thinks that between the two of them they loved her to death. Soon after that he gets drunk and tells Tim he slept with Tanya and that it was him she really loved. Tim finds this secret a burden, and eventually Dup hears about it and confronts Len. Realising he didn't know Tanya as well as he thought, Dup decides to leave Horizon Deep.
[edit] External links
1. Interview with Chan Marti about portraying Tanya. [1]
2. SAPS article on policemen who were extras in the suicide scene. [2]
[edit] References
1. Dispatch Online Daily Soapbox. From [3] to [4]
2. Isidingo website. [5]
