Syed Masood - Development

Development

Shortly after his arrival, Syed's girlfriend, Amira Shah, was introduced played by Preeya Kalidas. Elliott has described the relationship between the characters and Syed's motivation: "Well, she's a rich daddy's girl and it's hard not to make the association between Syed and money. There's certainly an honest attraction there and I think he does love her. But the money that her father has might be an additional aspect of their relationship. Amira comes in and ruffles a few feathers, especially Zainab's. Obviously with Syed being a mummy's boy, she has to have her say. I don't think Zainab would be happy with anyone that Syed's with — they'd have to be absolutely perfect. Mummy Masood will be doing a lot of meddling and locking horns with Amira."

In June 2009, Syed begins an affair with gay character Christian Clarke, played by John Partridge, a storyline that will see Syed "torn between his feelings and faith". The storyline is said to be controversial, as homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam. However, Santer explained that the storyline will not be a moral tale, but one of human interest, adding: "In this regard, it's not dissimilar to the story we told when Dot Cotton's deeply-held Christian beliefs came into conflict with her desire to alleviate Ethel's suffering . To all intents and purposes, Syed is a 'good' Muslim man: he doesn't drink, smoke or engage in sex before marriage. But he struggles with his sexuality when he finds himself drawn to Christian and he believes this goes against his faith. This is not a story about Syed and Christian's physical relationship — we don't see anything beyond one kiss. It's more about the inner turmoil and conflict Syed endures trying to remain true to his faith while questioning his sexuality. Syed has already been ostracised from his family and community once and if he's true to his heart he risks losing his family again." Santer also said that EastEnders always tries to "reflect modern life in multicultural Britain and social issue stories relevant to diverse audience," and that "The dynamics of Muslim relationships and families are not radically different from any others but the importance that Muslim culture places on family and married life can make the same issues more charged." Elliott commented on the storyline, saying: "I think EastEnders would be doing the programme a disservice if they didn't give a voice to various communities. I think that's really important because I think London is a very ethnically diverse multicultural place, and EastEnders has a job to reflect that in the story lines it gives people and the characters they have on board." This plot was researched with help from academics, gay Muslim support groups and members of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, and will contain a "balance of opinions" from various other characters, including Syed's mother Zainab.

When asked in a BBC interview in September 2009 if Syed is gay or bisexual, Elliott answered: "I think at this stage there's confusion about his sexuality. He knows he likes Christian but it hasn't really been stipulated. He wants to settle down and have children with Amira because that's what's expected of him, but he finds himself unavoidably attracted to Christian so that's what's going on in his head." He went on to say that Syed is still attracted to Amira but only because "that's what he’s meant to do", adding that "he's probably conning himself." Christian's friend James Mackie, played by Paul Keating arrives and when Syed refuses to break up with Amira, Christian starts a relationship with James to forget Syed. Elliott says that this is the moment when Syed realises his feelings for Christian go beyond sexual attraction. Elliot explains that Syed and Amira have never been intimate, in theory because of their religion, but adds that Syed is probably scared to get intimate with her and is merely hiding behind his religion.

In December 2009, Santer was asked what his favourite story line of the year had been. He replied "I'm really pleased with the Christian/Syed story line. It's bold and we thought long and hard before we did it to make sure we got it right and I'm really proud with what we've done. Marc and John have absolutely stepped up to the plate and like all good EastEnders stories, we're not even half done with it yet. There's miles to go."

Syed and Amira's wedding takes place on screen on 1 January 2010. They have a traditional Pakistani wedding featuring horses, drummers and dancers. Scriptwriters researched by watching videos of a real British Pakistani wedding. BBC Asian Network reporter Shabnam Mahmood also advised on the wedding. The wedding and its build-up were filmed over a two-week period and Elliott required three two-hour riding lessons before he could film the horseback scenes. He revealed: "I was quite proud of myself, though, as I managed to canter although I don't do that around the Square as it's not that big. During rehearsals the horse, Storm, was really well behaved and it all went fairly smoothly. But as soon as it came to the actual filming and all the drums and banners came out, it wasn't so easy. I think she walks sideways for quite a bit of the time. But I'm just pleased that I didn't end up impaled on the railings in Albert Square. I think avoiding that was quite an achievement." John Partridge choreographed the dance scenes and Elliott took six weeks to learn the dance, saying: "I couldn't have done it without him . He had me practising in every spare moment, even in the hallways by myself as he wanted to see a marked improvement on my routine. Preeya kept getting occasional glimpses of me practising in the hallways and she didn't look too impressed with what she saw. Johnny did a great job with that routine, although I added in the back flip myself! By the end of it, I ate, slept and dreamt that dance."

Before the wedding, Syed's affair with Christian is revealed to his mother Zainab and he admits to her that he is gay. She urges him to go ahead with the wedding and only a small number of people know about Syed and Christian. Elliot said he was pleased that the affair came out this way, as "it's far more realistic this way". He added that the writers would have "done the story a disservice" if Syed and Christian had ended up with their 'happily ever after', saying "they need to show the life after the wedding and show how Syed will cope living with a wife who he loves, but not in the way he loves Christian. He has to live with the fact that he's not being true to himself over his sexuality." Elliott noted a change in Syed's personality, saying "Syed's starting to show signs of being quite a cruel character but it's only through his own bitterness and resentment that he starts acting the way he does – it's the way he deals with it. Poor Amira's none the wiser, so Syed's not acting right and she has no idea why."

In 2011, a same-sex parenting storyline which sees Christian and Syed finding a surrogate mother was reported by the Daily Mirror. If true, it will form one of the year's biggest plots, expected to controversial and a ratings hit. In March 2011, it was reported that a Syed would be among characters sustaining injuries when the roof of his parents' restaurant, The Argee Bhajee, collapses. The scenes, to air in April 2011, were filmed in February, and a spokespoerson said "Despite the ill-feeling between him and his parents, Syed is in the building when the disastrous party takes place. But what the accident could mean for the family feud remains to be seen." The plot could see Syed and Christian share more screentime with the rest of the Masood family, as Partridge commented that the issues may start to be resolved, though not necessarily leading to the outcome viewers will want.

A scene showing Syed and Christian naked in bed together prompted over 100 complaints to the BBC. EastEnders executive producer Bryan Kirkwood was forced to defend the scenes. The mixed response from viewers to the scenes confirms the findings of a BBC survey last year, which showed that gay relationships are still a divisive issue. On the other hand, some other viewers praised the BBC for showing "the fabulous portrait of the relationship between Syed and Christian". The viewer said the gay bed scene was a "big step towards equality". The BBC stated in response The BBC’s statement said: "EastEnders aims to reflect real life, and this means including and telling stories about characters from many different backgrounds, faiths, religions and sexualities".