List of East Enders Characters (1985) - Annie Smith

Annie Smith, played by Zara Posener from 1985 to 1986, and by Samantha Crown from 1986 to 1988, is the young daughter of punk Mary Smith (Linda Davidson). Her father was a member of a punk group of which Mary was a groupie, and had no contact with her. Annie is three months old when she arrives, along with Mary, on 5 March 1985 and initially resides with her mother at 23b Albert Square. Mary is an incredibly irresponsible mother and Annie is always getting lumbered on her neighbours when Mary grows tired of looking after her. Dot Cotton (June Brown) and Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff) are the usual victims, but almost everyone on the Square has a turn at looking after Annie at one stage. Sue Osman, in particular, grows extremely fond of Annie following the death of her son Hassan. After bottling up her grief for months, she is forced to hold little Annie, which allows her, finally, to acknowledge her pent-up sadness. Annie is once left alone in the launderette accidentally, while Mary goes drinking in The Queen Vic. Debbie Wilkins (Shirley Cheriton) discovers her, returns her to her mother and has a few choice words for Mary. Mary also has a tendency to leave Annie home alone whilst she goes out to prostitute herself at night. On one such occasion, Annie throws her blanket at the electric fan heater, causing a fire. Luckily, Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher) manages to break in and rescue her, but as a result, Annie is taken away from Mary and is put in the custody of her grandparents, Chris (Allan O'Keefe) and Edie Smith (Eileen O'Brien), who live in Stockport. With the help of Rod Norman (Christopher McHallem) and Carmel Jackson (Judith Jacob), Mary is eventually reunited with Annie, although it takes a lot of persuading to get her back from Edie, who feels that Mary is not capable of caring for a young child. Annie spends Christmas Day 1987 in hospital after her intoxicated grandfather, Chris, abducts her, tries to drive her home to Stockport and then crashes into a wall. Luckily, Annie is unharmed. Eventually, Mary decides to leave Albert Square with Annie. They both depart in May 1988 and have not been seen since.