Tiffany Dean - Character Creation and Development

Character Creation and Development

In November 2007, it was announced that Patsy Palmer would be reprising her role as Bianca Jackson in EastEnders. A popular character who originally appeared in the serial between 1993 and 1999, Bianca was reintroduced in April 2008. Along with Bianca came four children, three of whom had not been seen in the serial before. They included Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), the sixteen-year-old daughter of Bianca's deceased partner; Liam Butcher (James Forde), Bianca and Ricky's son who previously appeared in the serial; Tiffany Dean (Maisie Smith), Bianca's five-year-old daughter, named after her friend Tiffany Mitchell; and Morgan Jackson-King (Devon Higgs), Bianca's two-year-old son, "the most out of all of the kids".

Tiffany is described as having a "cute, butter-wouldn’t-melt exterior", which "masks her somewhat mature understanding of adult matters. She sees all, hears all and knows all, and even at five years old has blackmailed her elder sister." She is also described as "a troublesome and cheeky lass" with a "feisty, red-head personality, which she no doubt inherits from screenmum Bianca". Actress Maisie Smith, aged 6 at the time of her casting, began filming for EastEnders four days a week from January 2008 and, according to her mother, shares traits with the character she plays: "The role is an exaggeration of her own personality, she's a little madam. A lively character both on and off screen. The difference is, she's told to pronounce her t's at home!"

To promote the family's introduction, the BBC began airing trailers across the BBC network in March 2008. One trailer saw Bianca singing The Jackson 5 hit "I Want You Back" and performing a dance routine along with her four children. The promo uses the tag line "Introducing The Jackson 5". Within three days of being posted on the video sharing website YouTube, the promo had been viewed 52,000 times.