List of East Enders Characters (2008) - Tony King

Tony King, played by Chris Coghill, is the partner of established character Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), and a father-figure to her four children. He made his first appearance on 12 September 2008. It was reported in July 2008 that Tony would be arriving in the serial as part of a child sexual abuse storyline involving Bianca's adopted daughter Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). BBC News described the plot as an ongoing "predatory paedophile storyline", noting that this was the first time this subject matter had been tackled by a UK soap opera. The Daily Mirror's Beth Neil branded the plot strand "one of the darkest and most disturbing storylines EastEnders has ever attempted", with critic Jim Shelley deeming it to be a "new low" for EastEnders. Tony sexually abuses Whitney, and begins grooming her school-friend Lauren Branning (Madeline Duggan), before his predatory nature is uncovered and he is arrested for his crimes. Tony appeared between 12 September and 12 December 2008 and returned in December 2009 to stand trial. The NSPCC praised the storyline for "helping to raise awareness of the hidden nature of sexual abuse". The storyline also gained EastEnders a Royal Television Society Programme Award in March 2009 in the Soap and Continuing Drama category.