Actor

1991-12-02 · Salvador, BA, Brazil

1 series in the catalog

The Ferreira family are a fictional family from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, that appeared on screen between 2003 and 2005. Created by Tony Jordan and introduced by Louise Berridge as a new Asian family, producers hoped they would become central to the show. However, after Indian actor Dalip Tahil was forced to leave due to a controversy over his work permit, a major plot involving the family had to be scrapped and was replaced with a kidney transplant storyline that was branded "boring". It was later revealed that the dropped storyline involved Dan being murdered by his children and buried in a shallow grave. The characters were also called "unrealistic", "annoying", and "unlikeable" by many of the show's fans and critics. They were blamed for a decline in the show's viewing figures and were eventually axed by Kathleen Hutchison after bosses struggled to find storylines for the family. Jordan later admitted the family's members were "the least successful characters [he] created".

Creation

The Ferreiras were introduced in March 2003 as the first Asian family in EastEnders since Sanjay (Deepak Verma) and Gita Kapoor (Shobu Kapoor), who both departed from the show in 1998. They were also the first large family to arrive since the Slater family's arrival in 2000. The family were the creation of writer Tony Jordan, and Bollywood star Dalip Tahil was cast by the show's executive producer, Louise Berridge, to play Dan Ferreira, the patriarch of the family. The family, from Goa in India, also consisted of Dan's three sons, Ronny (played by Ray Panthaki), Ash (Raji James) and Adi (Ameet Chana), and daughter Kareena (Pooja Shah). Ronny's friend Tariq Larousi, played by Nabil Elouahabi, also joined the show at the same time.

BBC drama bosses worked on introducing an Asian family, who would be central to the show, for a couple of years. Berridge commented on the casting: "After a search which has taken more than two years, and in which we have met literally hundreds of people, we have finally found the perfect cast for our dynamic new family. We're delighted to welcome the Ferreiras to Albert Square and I'm sure the viewers will be too." Berridge also claimed the show didn't set out to look for an Asian family, saying: "We wanted a new family as there were various elements missing from the show. I thought we were short on males and needed a surge of testosterone," and said that the characters were formed around the actors: "We didn't set out knowing exactly what we wanted. We workshopped constantly, trying out different improvisations with the actors and the characters evolved."

It was hoped that the family would have a big impact on the other characters. The show's producers apparently vowed not to include too many racial issues in the family's storylines, although upon their arrival, the character of Jim Branning (John Bardon) was heard saying "they're Indian, they do like to pack 'em in, don't they?" in reference to the family's size.

On being cast in the show, Tahil admitted that he wasn't unaware of how big a part of British culture the soap was until he arrived in the United Kingdom, saying "It's going to be a big adventure." Shah commented "Joining EastEnders is a dream come true. I have been a fan of the programme for many years and I'm looking forward to joining the cast."

The family first appeared on screen on 3 June 2003. Later on in the year Indian chef Madhur Jaffrey was cast in EastEnders as Dan's estranged wife, Pushpa. Jaffrey commented, "I really wanted to do the role because Indian women are usually portrayed as so proper and withdrawn – the kind of women who just stay at home cooking and cleaning. I thought, 'How wonderful of EastEnders to write a character that is realistic.' What my character has done happens all the time in India; there are all kinds of stories of people running away and marrying their lovers. This is what commonly happens in those places, but somehow the image of Indian womanhood is different." Pushpa was a guest character only appearing for the duration of a storyline that revealed Dan had been lying about her death and had actually left him for another man, Pradeep (Kaleem Janjua) Dan's best friend.

Development

In November 2003, it emerged that actor Dalip Tahil faced being axed from the show due to not having the correct work permit. It was reported that after Tahil joined EastEnders from appearing in stage musical Bombay Dreams, neither he nor the BBC had obtained proper authorisation from the Home Office to make the switch of employment legal. The BBC issued a one-line statement, which read: "We are considering any potential problems with a view to resolving them as soon as possible." Tahil was forced to leave the show, and made his last appearance on 30 December 2003, although the actor was eventually allowed to remain in the UK.

Following Tahil's departure, plots were abandoned and many scripts had to be rewritten. EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan revealed that it was intended that Dan would be murdered by his children after prolonged bullying and abuse, saying "The family arrived in Albert Square in what was expected to be a huge storyline. The father [...] was an oppressive and violent bully – eventually his children were going to kill him. It was all scripted – how they buried him in a shallow grave, how they dealt with it, and how it all exploded. And then Dalip got bloody deported. He was actually on the studio floor and they marched him off. Broken legs, nervous breakdowns – we can deal with that. But when actors are physically taken away by the government and deported, there's not much you can do. Fifty scripts had to be reworked. And because all the episodes had been written around this big storyline, we had to keep the same amount of Ferreira material." The murder storyline was replaced with one concerning a kidney transplant between Ronny and his newly discovered half brother Tariq. Jordan admitted they could have recast the character of Dan, but it may have looked "tacky": "We couldn't go, 'Tonight, the part of Mr Ferreira will be played by Michael French with a suntan'. We were trying to do it with integrity. Then somebody said, 'What if Ronnie Ferreira's mate Tariq turns out to be his half-brother and we do the whole kidney transplant thing?' And, of course, it was like watching paint dry. 'Can I have your kidney?' 'No. Oh, go on then...'" Jordan told the Daily Mirror the Ferreiras were "the least successful characters I created – through no fault of their own."

Berridge defended the family, saying that Tahil's departure caused many problems, however, she added, "he Ferreiras have not been as successful as we had hoped. I think in retrospect we made a mistake in giving their entrance such a fanfare as a New Asian Family. Viewers traditionally take a long time to adapt to anyone new [...] so it was wrong to emphasise what was different about this family from the start. Even so, we had a terrific first story for them, which was to have culminated in a huge, action storyline to mark the exit of their father. However, the sudden removal of actor Dalip Tahil, for reasons beyond our control, meant that the story had to be abandoned quickly – and 40 scripts rewritten on the spot. The result was the transplant story, which I have to admit did go on for far too long, especially when our biggest story in this period had also to be abandoned because of the pregnancy of Kacey Ainsworth. The writers and production team did their very best under these circumstances but I would be the first to admit the end result was not our finest hour. I hope that viewers will not hold this against the Ferreira family and will be prepared to watch the next stage of their stories with an open mind. This is a very talented bunch of actors, who've had to put up with a lot of stick for problems which have not been of their making. Viewer response to their lighter material was very favourable and I am confident the…