Storylines
Carmel is first seen in Walford in June 1986 when she is assigned as Michelle Fowler's (Susan Tully) health visitor. West Indian by origin, British by education, Carmel is unmistakable with her long dreadlocks and colourful clothing. Carmel is kept extremely busy in Walford. She is landed with all the long-term losers - Mary Smith (Linda Davidson), the prostitute, whose baby, Annie, is taken away from her; Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff), the mentally unstable mother who becomes obsessed with her baby, Ali's, welfare; Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), the self-destructing heroin addict, and jobless Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), among others.
In December 1986, Carmel starts dating the much younger student Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford), much to his parents' dismay. Carmel later moves into the ground floor flat at number 3 Albert Square and she and Kelvin live together for a while. However, their age difference soon takes its toll on Carmel, who grows tired of Kelvin's immature behaviour. She ends up throwing her toyboy out after she publicly dumps him in The Queen Victoria public house. Shortly after Carmel moves into the Square, her brother Darren (Gary McDonald) arrives and manages to convince her to house him and his two children, Junior (Aaron Carrington) and Aisha (Aisha Jacob), in her one bedroom flat. Darren and Carmel are the complete opposites of each other; Darren is inconsiderate and often dabbles on the wrong side of the law. He is regularly involved in dodgy scams, such as porn video laundering and instigating a counterfeit money ring. Carmel despairs over his thoughtless behaviour and criminal antics, but her rants are usually ignored. Carmel is often left accountable for her brother's actions and also regularly takes over caring for his two young children. Junior proves to be troublesome, and after Carmel discovers that he has been playing truant from school for several weeks, she reports Darren to the truancy officer, showing him up as an irresponsible parent. This does not please Darren, and he is even more annoyed when Carmel refuses flatly to put up with his deviancy any longer.
Animosity between the two increases when Carmel starts dating Matthew Jackson (Steven Hartley) later that year; Darren can not condone his sister dating a white man. Carmel defends Matthew against her brother's racism, and after Darren gets into more trouble for conning Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), she throws him out. Darren then mysteriously disappears, abandoning his children in the process. The children are initially left in the care of Carmel and Darren's parents away from Walford. In September 1988, Matthew moves into Carmel's flat and the two are soon engaged. Matthew is well liked in the community, even convincing Carmel's skeptical father that he is genuine. Carmel begins planning their imminent wedding. She wants to invite Matthew's estranged mother, Lynna, but he is opposed to this. His mother had abandoned him at 15 and had no subsequent contact. Carmel and Matthew marry in January 1989, but the day is ruined when Matthew sees his mother in attendance. Carmel had contacted her against Matthew's wishes, thinking he would be pleased, but he is furious. After shunning their reception party, Matthew threatens to leave Carmel and when she attempts to prevent this, he grabs her by the throat, holds her up against a wall and berates her for her interference. Carmel is petrified and upon seeing her fear, Matthew releases her and begins apologising profusely. Carmel is shaken, but Matthew convinces her that his apology is sincere, so she drops the matter.
More problems arise for the newlyweds when Carmel's sister Maxine (Ella Wilder) announces that their parents can no longer cope with Junior and Aisha. She states that if Carmel does not take the children, they will be put into care. Matthew is unwilling; however, the following month, Carmel's father has a stroke, so Maxine brings the children to Carmel, forcing her to take them. Matthew resents the fact that Carmel's time is being diverted from him; he finds it increasingly difficult to cope with Junior's presence in particular. Matthew and Junior regularly clash, leading to further animosity between Matthew and Carmel. Matthew becomes violent again, punching Carmel in the face during an argument about Junior. Carmel is left with a heavily bruised face, but once again a tearful Matthew convinces her to forgive him. Matthew's behaviour continues to alternate from contrite and caring to hot-tempered and violent, for seemingly no reason. Nevertheless, Carmel loves him and stays with him as she believes she can help him combat and contain his rage. Junior soon works out why his aunt is constantly covered in bruises. He tries to put a stop to the violence by informing various people about the abuse, which only makes Matthew's temper worse. Matthew becomes irrationally jealous of Carmel's friendship with Dr. David Samuels (Christopher Reich), and during a family meal, he turns violent again. In a bid to protect his petrified aunt, Junior stabs Matthew with a kitchen knife. Matthew spends time in hospital and attempts to convince Carmel that he has changed. She allows him to come home when he has recovered and tries to get Matthew to seek professional help; however, Matthew is appalled by the idea and, in a rage, he begins smashing up the house and threatening Carmel with more violence. Finally realising that she cannot help Matthew, Carmel decides to end their relationship. She throws Matthew out and he leaves Walford in July 1989. The following month, Carmel's father dies, so she leaves Walford with Junior and Aisha to tend to her grieving mother. Her last appearance is in August 1989.
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