Richard Cole (also known as "Tricky Dicky") is a fictional character from the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'', played by
Ian Reddington
Ian Reddington (born 25 September 1957) is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Greatest Show in t ...
between 23 July 1992 and 21 July 1994.
Creation and development
Producers
Leonard Lewis and Helen Greaves took over control of ''EastEnders'' in 1992 and introduced a number of new characters.
Most of them, such as
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992 by executive producer Leonard Lewis, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylin ...
(
Nicola Stapleton),
Nigel Bates (
Paul Bradley) and
Christine Hewitt (
Lizzie Power), were introduced gradually, making an initial appearance and then joining the programme as full-time characters a couple of months afterwards.
''EastEnders writer
Colin Brake has suggested that this allowed the producers and writers to see their new characters brought to life by their actors before committing them to longer contracts.
The one exception to this procedure was the introduction of character Richard Cole, the soap's new market inspector, who joined the cast as a regular character without gradual introduction.
The character was conceived by writer
Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. For many years, he was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has written over 250 episodes for the programme since 1989, including the 2008 S ...
.
Richard was designed to be "a bit of a lad, a charming womanizer" and the original character's biography scripted him as a uniform-wearing
Cockney
Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...
from London.
However, when
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
-born actor
Ian Reddington
Ian Reddington (born 25 September 1957) is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Greatest Show in t ...
read for the role, the production team liked his portrayal so much that they altered the character's backstory so they could accommodate Reddington's Northern-English accent.
The character was nicknamed "Tricky Dicky" both in the show and the British press and become a prominent soap womanizer and villain for the two years he appeared;
he had flings with various female characters, most notably
Kathy Beale (
Gillian Taylforth) and
Bianca Jackson (
Patsy Palmer
Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is a British actress and DJ. After appearing as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), she came to prominence for her p ...
).
Tricky Dicky has been described as a "lothario",
as well as "corrupt, shifty and slimy as they come".
Author Kate Lock suggests that Tricky Dicky was aptly named, stating "he was sly, underhand and ruthless, both in his business dealings
..and with women." She adds that he was "good-looking in an oily sort of way, but dropped his girlfriends once he'd got another notch on his bedpost."
Reddington left ''EastEnders'' in 1994. On-screen, Richard becomes embroiled in a feud with
Ian Beale (
Adam Woodyatt
Adam Brinley Woodyatt (born 28 June 1968) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Ian Beale in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role he has portrayed since the show's inception in 1985, making him one of the shows longest ...
) and decides to flee Walford. It was reported in 2009 that the BBC were intending to reintroduce Richard Cole, 15 years after he last appeared. A source allegedly told ''
The People The People may refer to:
Legal jargon
* The People, term used to refer to the people in general, in legal documents
* "We the People of the United States", from the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution
* In philosophy, economics, and political scienc ...
'', "
ichardhas unfinished business with Beale and it will add some tension to Walford". However, this was subsequently denied by the BBC.
Storylines
Richard Cole arrives in
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location wor ...
in 1992 as the new market inspector. He is known as a corrupt man who will pull every trick in the book to make money and he is not well liked by the community. He is also a notorious womaniser who has various brief flings. He briefly dates market trader
Rachel Kominski (
Jacquetta May) in 1992, but antagonises her later when he decides to give her permanent market pitch to his newly arrived friend,
Sanjay Kapoor (
Deepak Verma
Deepak Verma MBE (born 11 February 1969) is a British actor, writer and television/film producer of Indian Punjabi descent and Hindu heritage. His role as market-stall trader Sanjay Kapoor in long-running BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' brou ...
). In 1993, he has a romance with
Kathy Beale (
Gillian Taylforth), which sours when she discovers that he is taking a cash bribe and allowing a mobile hot dog van to trade in direct competition to her café. Later, he has sex with 17-year-old
Bianca Jackson (
Patsy Palmer
Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is a British actress and DJ. After appearing as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), she came to prominence for her p ...
), and when he dumps her shortly after, she and her friend
Natalie Evans (
Lucy Speed) vandalise his flat.
Richard makes various enemies, including
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...
(
Howard Antony), who he reports for benefit fraud,
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Bill Treacher from 1985 to 1996. Arthur featured in archive footage in 2025 to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary.
The father of the Fowler family, ...
(
Bill Treacher), whom he causes to lose his job as market sweeper, and the lovers
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992 by executive producer Leonard Lewis, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylin ...
and
Aidan Brosnan (
Nicola Stapleton and
Sean Maguire
Sean Maguire (born 18 April 1976) is an English-American actor and singer who has been professionally making films, television shows and performing on stage for over 40 years. Originally from London, Maguire started his career at age five starr ...
). Richard buys a property to let out for rent; Mandy and Aidan are squatting in one of the bedsits at the time and Richard evicts them, leaving Aidan homeless and suicidal over Christmas 1993. However, Richard's main rival is Kathy's son
Ian Beale (
Adam Woodyatt
Adam Brinley Woodyatt (born 28 June 1968) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Ian Beale in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role he has portrayed since the show's inception in 1985, making him one of the shows longest ...
). Richard relishes winding up Ian by flirting with Ian's wife
Cindy (
Michelle Collins
Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Cindy Beale in the BBC soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (r ...
). Richard spreads rumours about having an affair with Cindy, implying that he is the father of Cindy's unborn twins, which causes various problems in the Beale marriage for a while. Later, Richard orchestrates the closure of Ian's catering business the "Meal Machine" by reporting him to environmental health.
In revenge for this in 1994, Ian forces Richard to flee Walford when he finds out some unsavoury things about his past. Richard had been a former planning officer for the council in
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
; he and a colleague, Neil Bradley (Martyn Whitby), had taken monetary bribes, but when they were caught, Richard framed his colleague, leading to the colleague's imprisonment. After Ian takes photographic evidence of Richard and threatens to inform Bradley where Richard is, Richard disappears, leaving his belongings/property in Sanjay's possession. Bradley shows up in Walford the following week and is dismayed to find Richard gone. He tells Sanjay to tell Richard that when he finds him, he will kill him.
See also
*
List of soap opera villains
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Richard
EastEnders characters
Television characters introduced in 1992
Fictional con artists
British male characters in soap operas
Fictional criminals in soap operas
Fictional British criminals
Male villains
Fictional market inspectors