You probably know them well, in fact they probably share an intimate part of your life and memories, but they're not real. The character of a builder has consistently been popular throughout the history of drama on television. It is undoubtedly because the builder can be used to portray an everyman figure for a variety of purposes, not all of them good; sometimes the character is bigoted, angry and violent, sometimes the fall guy, sometimes a pathetic loser.
BuildersBox had a long hard think about what are not only the most well known fictional builders, but also the most controversial. The underlying question has to be: do these characters reflect badly on builders in real life?
1) Beth Willis from Neighbours:
Otherwise known as Natalie Imbruglia, she was the daughter-in-law of Joe-Scully-esque character, Doug Willis, also the owner of his own building firm. Working as a builder was inevitably going to cause problems for a woman, many of which were extensively catalogued in various episodes of Neighbours. 'Girl Power' before the word was invented.
2) Len Fairclough from Coronation Street:
Softy and hardman all at once, and a figure on the street for over twenty years. A traditional, good-natured figure but some one who would get into fights if he felt that his honour needed preserving.
3) Joe Scully from the Australian soap Neighbours:
Starting off as an apprentice, he eventually created his own building empire, un-imaginatively named 'Ozbuilt'. His character was generally good hearted and kind with a specific love of sports, especially football. On screen, he gave a fairly positive picture of a builder, but his off-screen drinking antics meant that he suddenly disappeared from the show overnight, never to be seen again.
4) Charlie Stubbs from Coronation Street:
A traditional soap villain. Violent and constantly lying, he did not depict builders in a positive light. As is now common place in soaps, he was the kind of character that manipulated and bullied people until, unsuprisingly, he got his comeuppance.
5) Paul Priestly from Eastenders:
Its odd to think that twenty years ago Eastenders was going through the same crisis that it still is going through now, with accusations that it is too 'depressing'. After the popular Simon Wicks character, builder Paul Priestly was meant to be the new, light-hearted romeo of Albert Square, getting himself into a variety of comic-romantic scenarios. And his added bonus is that before becoming an actor on Eastenders as Paul Priestly, Mark Thrippleton was a builder.
