Tiffany Mitchell - Creation

Creation

Introduced in 1995 by series producer Barbara Emile, Tiffany Raymond was conceptualised by EastEnders' scriptwriter Tony Jordan as a school friend of already established character Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). Actress Martine McCutcheon was cast in the role. McCutcheon has revealed that she was initially hesitant about auditioning for the part, commenting to The Guardian, "An agent called me and said there was a part on EastEnders and I said, very offhandedly, 'I don't really want to do soap, because I want to do movies, and nobody I know goes from soap to movies, and it's just not the sort of actress I want to be this agent said to me, just let me send you a synopsis of the character and see what you think, and I thought she was fantastic. And I watched EastEnders that night and I realised just how many people talked about it. So I told my agent, 'All right, I'm going to go for it, I'm not in a position to be fussy".

In Larry Jaffee's book, Albert Square & Me: The Actors of Eastenders, McCutcheon discussed the auditioning process at the BBC in December 1994, saying that the casting directors liked the way she read, but did not feel that her dress sense tallied with their vision of Tiffany. They asked her to return in a few days dressed like their vision, in "flashy clothes and junk jewelry" and showing a "bit of cleavage". McCutcheon attended "gangster clubs" to research the type of clothing worn by women that frequented them. She returned to the BBC wearing fishnet stockings, a tight lycra skirt, junk jewelry, orange lipstick and fake tan. She was told that her look was "perfect" and several days later she was informed that she had been given the role.

McCutcheon's final competitor for the role of Tiffany was actress Claire Goose, who later appeared in EastEnders in a minor role as a hairdresser before achieving fame in the BBC drama series Casualty.