Mehmet Osman
Encyclopedia
Mehmet Osman is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Haluk Bilginer
. Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, rogue and a serial womaniser, played as a recurring character until 1989.
, Ali Osman
. He was first seen in Albert Square
in June 1985 when he came to take part in one of Ali's regular late-night poker
games. Like his brother, Mehmet was a serial gambler
and whenever he gambled the stakes were often foolishly high. Rather unusually for a regular character, Mehmet didn't live in Walford but Stoke Newington
.
In June 1986 Mehmet and Ali started a cab firm called 'OzCabs' from a corner table in Al's Café. Mehmet was married with three children, but monogamy was one sanctity of marriage that he was more than willing to overlook. Later that month punk
Mary Smith caught his eye, and so he bet his sceptical brother £
10 that he could get Mary into his bed. Mary was well aware that Mehmet's intentions were dishonourable and initially refused to sleep with him, but Mehmet persisted and she finally relented and spent the night with him. A triumphant Mehmet then went to collect his winnings and gloat to his brother in the café. However, Mary overheard their entire conversation and she then set about trying to get revenge on him by hoax calling his cab-firm and vandalising his car.
Later in the year Mehmet acted as Pat Wick's
pimp
, setting her up with clients on a regular basis and he even persuaded Pat to convince Mary to go 'on the game' too. He also got involved in Kathy Beale's Knitting business, later conning her and disappearing with all her profits. After he got into more trouble with his customers for overcharging on fares and then trying to seduce Hannah Carpenter — the wife of his employee — the residents of Albert Square decided to confront him. Den Watts
, Pete Beale
and Tony Carpenter
caught up with him and gave him a severe beating which involved having his arms pinned behind his back whilst taking a number of blows to the stomach. This type of beating is now widely regarded as the "Mehmet Test".
Mehmet proceeded to make things infinitely worse for himself soon after, when he staked his house and business on a bet, lost and swiftly disappeared leaving his wife, Guizin, to face up to the consequences. A then homeless Guzin arrived on Ali and his wife Sue's
doorstep with the news that Mehmet had beat her and she wasn't ever returning to him. Ali and Sue were forced to take Guizin and her three children, Murat, Rayif and Emine into their one bedroom apartment.
Mehmet returned to Walford
in May 1987 and he managed to persuade his long suffering wife to give their marriage another go. However, his promises to Guizin would prove to be hollow as soon after he decided that the barmaid Donna Ludlow
was to be the next 'notch on his bedpost'. Donna refused his advances, but couldn't resist informing Guizin about his offer and Guizin and Donna nearly came to blows on New Year's Eve that year.
Guizin and Mehmet's marriage was highly turbulent and they were always involved in intense arguments, mainly concerning money and gambling. In 1988 Mehmet and Guzin became partners in Ali's café after Sue gave up working to look after her baby. Mehmet often clashed with his wife about the amount of time he took off to gamble and the way the café was run.
Later in the year Mehmet and Ali ran up huge gambling debts to Joanne Francis
, manageress of Strokes wine bar, who was also a member of the criminal underworld known as The Firm
. Desperate for money the two turned to their café employee, Ian Beale
, for a loan. He agreed, but charged his employers 10 percent interest and later, when they couldn't meet the repayments, he demanded into their partnership in the café. The brothers refused, but the debt eventually led to Ali losing the café to Ian the following year.
Mehmet's marriage went through some more trouble in 1989, when Ali's wife, Sue, discovered that her husband had been sleeping with prostitute, Donna Ludlow. Sue was traumatised by this news and turned to Mehmet for comfort. Seeing her chance for revenge Sue made a pass at Mehmet, purposefully kissing him in Ali's view. For once Mehmet was innocent, but Ali refused to believe this and went berserk, which culminated in a massive fight. Ali divulged Sue and Mehmet's fabricated affair to Guzin, who was unable to forgive her husband's latest infidelity with her sister-in-law. After viciously attacking Mehmet she left Walford to return to Northern Cyprus, taking their three children with her. After another huge bust-up with Sue, Mehmet decided to cut his losses and return to Northern Cyprus in order to win his wife back. His last appearance was in March 1989.
and Julia Smith
. Mehmet, the brother of original character Ali Osman
, was part of a well-intentioned attempt to represent the proportion of Turkish Cypriots who had immigrated to England and settled in the East End of London
. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their social contacts to relay information about their own origins and lifestyles, which they say allowed them to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically.
was one of only three London
-based, Turkish-speaking actors available at the time of casting in 1984. He was originally put forward for the role of Ali Osman along with another actor, Nejdet Salih. Bilginer was Turkish, and Holland and Smith have commented that he "was almost type-casting for the 'peacock' they were looking for', right down to the Bandito moustache and hairy chest!" However, Salih was actually Turkish-Cypriot and had a background "surprisingly similar" to Ali's.
Holland and Smith disagreed about which actor should have the part of Ali; Holland preferred Bilginer, while Smith preferred Salih. Holland believed Bilginer possessed the right "look" and that Salih was not tall or tough-looking enough, "he didn't have the sort of physical presence that put you on your guard." He also believed that Sandy Ratcliff
, the actress playing Ali's wife Sue
, would have "made mincemeat of [Salih]". Additionally, Holland visioned Ali with a moustache, and unlike Bilginer, Salih was unable to grow one. Conversely, Smith felt that Salih was "the genuine article. Not Turkish, but Turkish-Cypriot. He would have so much actual knowledge to bring to the character [...] He wouldn't have to act the part, he was the part." Both actors were given a script reading with the actress who would play Ali's wife, Sandy Ratcliff, who arrived for the reading 45 minutes late. Bilginer read with Ratcliff first, and Holland and Smith have commented that he "had obviously thought about the part [...] because there was much more physical power in his performance. At one stage Julia and Tony were worried that he might even hit Sandy!" Salih read next, and after being introduced to Ratcliff who apologised for her tardiness, to which Salih replied "Not to worry. Typical bloody woman!" His quip impressed Holland and Smith; they have since commented that Salih almost got the part on the strength of that line alone, as the felt it typified the character perfectly. Salih was eventually given the part of Ali, but as there were only two suitable Turkish speaking actors available, and as Ali would need a brother, Bilginer was given the part of Mehmet Osman.
) were made partners in Ali's café, which was renamed Café Osman.
Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, a rogue and a womaniser. Author of The EastEnders Handbook, Hilary Kingsley, has said of him, "he tries it on with every woman he meets and sometimes succeeds through a combination of good looks and sheer audacity." A serial gambler, Mehmet was shown to steer Ali into various money-losing ploys, and had a combustible marriage to Guizin, who put up with his philandering, as in the Turkish community, that's "what a wife was expected to do".
Described as "the Terrible Turk", Haluk Bilginer was one of the more popular male cast members on EastEnders during the 1980s, and he reportedly received sackfuls of fan mail, "despite playing a villain and a womanising snake". Hilary Kingsley has said that what made the character so popular was Bilginer's Omar Sharif
-style good looks and charm. Following the departure of Holland and Smith, Mehmet was eventually written out of the serial in May 1989, in a storyline that signified the disbandment of the Osman family. On-screen, Mehmet returned to his native Cyprus after a fight with Guizin regarding her suspicions about Mehmet's fabricated affair with Sue. The Osman family were among many characters to leave the serial that year. Writer Colin Brake
has commented, "the pace of comings and going was fast and furious during 1989, as the programme tried to find a new direction." Bilginer went into musical theatre after leaving EastEnders.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Haluk Bilginer
Haluk Bilginer
Haluk Bilginer is a Turkish actor. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera EastEnders during the 1980s. He has also starred in Hollywood movies as a minor actor...
. Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, rogue and a serial womaniser, played as a recurring character until 1989.
Storylines
Mehmet was a Turkish Cypriot and the older brother of the original owner of the Bridge street caféCafé
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, Ali Osman
Ali Osman
Ali Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nejdet Salih. He was a member of the original EastEnders cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985. He remained with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his final appearance on 10 October...
. He was first seen in Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
in June 1985 when he came to take part in one of Ali's regular late-night poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
games. Like his brother, Mehmet was a serial gambler
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and whenever he gambled the stakes were often foolishly high. Rather unusually for a regular character, Mehmet didn't live in Walford but Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16 postcode area . Its southern boundary with Dalston is quite ill-defined too...
.
In June 1986 Mehmet and Ali started a cab firm called 'OzCabs' from a corner table in Al's Café. Mehmet was married with three children, but monogamy was one sanctity of marriage that he was more than willing to overlook. Later that month punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
Mary Smith caught his eye, and so he bet his sceptical brother £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
10 that he could get Mary into his bed. Mary was well aware that Mehmet's intentions were dishonourable and initially refused to sleep with him, but Mehmet persisted and she finally relented and spent the night with him. A triumphant Mehmet then went to collect his winnings and gloat to his brother in the café. However, Mary overheard their entire conversation and she then set about trying to get revenge on him by hoax calling his cab-firm and vandalising his car.
Later in the year Mehmet acted as Pat Wick's
Pat Evans
Patricia Louise "Pat" Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has been played by Pam St. Clement since 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired...
pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
, setting her up with clients on a regular basis and he even persuaded Pat to convince Mary to go 'on the game' too. He also got involved in Kathy Beale's Knitting business, later conning her and disappearing with all her profits. After he got into more trouble with his customers for overcharging on fares and then trying to seduce Hannah Carpenter — the wife of his employee — the residents of Albert Square decided to confront him. Den Watts
Den Watts
Dennis Alan "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
, Pete Beale
Pete Beale
Peter "Pete" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He made his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was created by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EasEnders; he was based on a member of...
and Tony Carpenter
Tony Carpenter
Tony Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Oscar James.Happy go lucky Tony tried to carve himself a successful business and steady home for his family, but nothing he did was ever good enough for his nagging wife.-Storylines:Trinidadian born Tony, married...
caught up with him and gave him a severe beating which involved having his arms pinned behind his back whilst taking a number of blows to the stomach. This type of beating is now widely regarded as the "Mehmet Test".
Mehmet proceeded to make things infinitely worse for himself soon after, when he staked his house and business on a bet, lost and swiftly disappeared leaving his wife, Guizin, to face up to the consequences. A then homeless Guzin arrived on Ali and his wife Sue's
Sue Osman
Susan "Sue" Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sandy Ratcliff. She was one of the serial's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 19 February 1985 and departing on-screen in May 1989. Created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, Sue was...
doorstep with the news that Mehmet had beat her and she wasn't ever returning to him. Ali and Sue were forced to take Guizin and her three children, Murat, Rayif and Emine into their one bedroom apartment.
Mehmet returned to Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
in May 1987 and he managed to persuade his long suffering wife to give their marriage another go. However, his promises to Guizin would prove to be hollow as soon after he decided that the barmaid Donna Ludlow
Donna Ludlow
Donna Ludlow is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Matilda Ziegler between 1987-1989. Donna was scripted as a troubled individual, desperate for attention, but shunned by almost all who encountered her...
was to be the next 'notch on his bedpost'. Donna refused his advances, but couldn't resist informing Guizin about his offer and Guizin and Donna nearly came to blows on New Year's Eve that year.
Guizin and Mehmet's marriage was highly turbulent and they were always involved in intense arguments, mainly concerning money and gambling. In 1988 Mehmet and Guzin became partners in Ali's café after Sue gave up working to look after her baby. Mehmet often clashed with his wife about the amount of time he took off to gamble and the way the café was run.
Later in the year Mehmet and Ali ran up huge gambling debts to Joanne Francis
Joanne Francis
Joanne Francis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Pamela Salem. She appeared on screen between 16 June 1988 and 3 January 1989.-Storylines :Joanne was first seen in Albert Square in June 1988...
, manageress of Strokes wine bar, who was also a member of the criminal underworld known as The Firm
The Firm (EastEnders)
The Firm is a fictional gangland organisation in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-1980s era:The Firm, aka "Walford Investments", was first introduced to the show in 1988, and was represented by the sharp-suited Gregory Mantel , the lackeys Brad Williams and Joanne Francis , and the elusive boss Mr...
. Desperate for money the two turned to their café employee, Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
, for a loan. He agreed, but charged his employers 10 percent interest and later, when they couldn't meet the repayments, he demanded into their partnership in the café. The brothers refused, but the debt eventually led to Ali losing the café to Ian the following year.
Mehmet's marriage went through some more trouble in 1989, when Ali's wife, Sue, discovered that her husband had been sleeping with prostitute, Donna Ludlow. Sue was traumatised by this news and turned to Mehmet for comfort. Seeing her chance for revenge Sue made a pass at Mehmet, purposefully kissing him in Ali's view. For once Mehmet was innocent, but Ali refused to believe this and went berserk, which culminated in a massive fight. Ali divulged Sue and Mehmet's fabricated affair to Guzin, who was unable to forgive her husband's latest infidelity with her sister-in-law. After viciously attacking Mehmet she left Walford to return to Northern Cyprus, taking their three children with her. After another huge bust-up with Sue, Mehmet decided to cut his losses and return to Northern Cyprus in order to win his wife back. His last appearance was in March 1989.
Background
Mehmet Osman was conceptualised by the creators of EastEnders, Tony HollandTony Holland
Anthony John "Tony" Holland was an English television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early career:...
and Julia Smith
Julia Smith
Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...
. Mehmet, the brother of original character Ali Osman
Ali Osman
Ali Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nejdet Salih. He was a member of the original EastEnders cast, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985. He remained with the show for nearly five years afterwards, making his final appearance on 10 October...
, was part of a well-intentioned attempt to represent the proportion of Turkish Cypriots who had immigrated to England and settled in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their social contacts to relay information about their own origins and lifestyles, which they say allowed them to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically.
Casting
Actor Haluk BilginerHaluk Bilginer
Haluk Bilginer is a Turkish actor. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera EastEnders during the 1980s. He has also starred in Hollywood movies as a minor actor...
was one of only three London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based, Turkish-speaking actors available at the time of casting in 1984. He was originally put forward for the role of Ali Osman along with another actor, Nejdet Salih. Bilginer was Turkish, and Holland and Smith have commented that he "was almost type-casting for the 'peacock' they were looking for', right down to the Bandito moustache and hairy chest!" However, Salih was actually Turkish-Cypriot and had a background "surprisingly similar" to Ali's.
Holland and Smith disagreed about which actor should have the part of Ali; Holland preferred Bilginer, while Smith preferred Salih. Holland believed Bilginer possessed the right "look" and that Salih was not tall or tough-looking enough, "he didn't have the sort of physical presence that put you on your guard." He also believed that Sandy Ratcliff
Sandy Ratcliff
Alexandria "Sandy" Ratcliff is an English former actress. Ratcliff made an impression as a model and film actress in the 1970s, but she is best known for being one of the original cast members in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in the 1980s...
, the actress playing Ali's wife Sue
Sue Osman
Susan "Sue" Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sandy Ratcliff. She was one of the serial's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 19 February 1985 and departing on-screen in May 1989. Created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, Sue was...
, would have "made mincemeat of [Salih]". Additionally, Holland visioned Ali with a moustache, and unlike Bilginer, Salih was unable to grow one. Conversely, Smith felt that Salih was "the genuine article. Not Turkish, but Turkish-Cypriot. He would have so much actual knowledge to bring to the character [...] He wouldn't have to act the part, he was the part." Both actors were given a script reading with the actress who would play Ali's wife, Sandy Ratcliff, who arrived for the reading 45 minutes late. Bilginer read with Ratcliff first, and Holland and Smith have commented that he "had obviously thought about the part [...] because there was much more physical power in his performance. At one stage Julia and Tony were worried that he might even hit Sandy!" Salih read next, and after being introduced to Ratcliff who apologised for her tardiness, to which Salih replied "Not to worry. Typical bloody woman!" His quip impressed Holland and Smith; they have since commented that Salih almost got the part on the strength of that line alone, as the felt it typified the character perfectly. Salih was eventually given the part of Ali, but as there were only two suitable Turkish speaking actors available, and as Ali would need a brother, Bilginer was given the part of Mehmet Osman.
Development
Mehmet Osman made his first appearance on-screen in June 1985, 4 months after the show originally aired. His arrival coincided with a cot death storyline of Sue and Ali's baby, Hassan. Mehmet appeared as a semi-regular character from 1985–1987, setting up a cab firm named Ozcabs from inside Ali's café; however, he became a regular in 1988, when both he and his wife Guizin (Ishia BennisonIshia Bennison
Ishia Bennison is a British actress, best known for her television appearances, although she is also a veteran stage actress. Bennison is originally from Hull in Yorkshire.- Career :...
) were made partners in Ali's café, which was renamed Café Osman.
Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, a rogue and a womaniser. Author of The EastEnders Handbook, Hilary Kingsley, has said of him, "he tries it on with every woman he meets and sometimes succeeds through a combination of good looks and sheer audacity." A serial gambler, Mehmet was shown to steer Ali into various money-losing ploys, and had a combustible marriage to Guizin, who put up with his philandering, as in the Turkish community, that's "what a wife was expected to do".
Described as "the Terrible Turk", Haluk Bilginer was one of the more popular male cast members on EastEnders during the 1980s, and he reportedly received sackfuls of fan mail, "despite playing a villain and a womanising snake". Hilary Kingsley has said that what made the character so popular was Bilginer's Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
-style good looks and charm. Following the departure of Holland and Smith, Mehmet was eventually written out of the serial in May 1989, in a storyline that signified the disbandment of the Osman family. On-screen, Mehmet returned to his native Cyprus after a fight with Guizin regarding her suspicions about Mehmet's fabricated affair with Sue. The Osman family were among many characters to leave the serial that year. Writer Colin Brake
Colin Brake
Colin Brake is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programs such as Bugs and EastEnders. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series Doctor Who...
has commented, "the pace of comings and going was fast and furious during 1989, as the programme tried to find a new direction." Bilginer went into musical theatre after leaving EastEnders.