Saturday Review – March 19th 1994

True cockney Michael goes back to his roots

Since he he first stepped into Albert Square EastEnders David Wicks has proved himself a very dodgy character. This long lost son of tough Pat Butcher (played by Pam St Clement) with his slick suits and ready smile, was soon exposed as a bluffing show-off and scrounger, up to his neck in debt and in trouble with the police. Three months on, we have learned he has a wife (who left him for another man, so he claims) and two children.
With his weakness for under-age girls in Walford, he became attracted to the sluttish Bianca, not knowing the shocking truth – that she is his own daughter; the product of his relationship as a 16-year-old with a girl called Carol.
Despite his track record, one person however believes that David isn’t beyond redemption. And that’s Michael French, the 31-year old actor who plays him.
He explains: “The basic trouble with David is that he grew up with a grudge against Pat. Who was so busy chasing men she never gave two hoots about her sons David and Simon (The latter was played by Nick Berry before he left the series.)
That kind of background makes for an unstable adult. David was hounded out of Walford by his girlfriend Carol’s brothers and never knew she had had a baby. Now he’s returned home because he’s still desperate for his mother to give hime the love she denied him in his childhood.
“His tempestuous life has made him devious and cunning, but I like to think that underneath it all, he has a heart of gold, which will eventually manifest itself when he realises Pat has changed and become a more caring mother.”
Michael is a genuine Eastender, born in bow, where is father kept a grocery shop. “Four shops in our street were owned by members of my family. My dad was very successful in business and wise with his money. While I was still a child, we moved to Epping Forest, where my two sisters and I had a cosseted, middle class upbringing. My nan, who had a drapery shop, stayed on in Bow until her death last year aged 81. She reminded me of Lou Beale, David,s late nan. She was a real family figure head.
“.My dad hoped I’d eventually take over his business, but I had other ideas. I joined an amateur theatre group, basically because they were short of guys, and became keen on the entertainment world. After getting A-levels, I worked at a travel agents, and an estate agents, then decided to have a shot at what I really wanted to do.”
In 1985 Michael made his debut in a West End musical. Since then, he has spent a year at drama school, had a spell working for his father and understudied Tony Slattery in Radio Times. While appearing in Les Miserables, he was spotted by an agent who arranged his audition for the part of David Wicks.
“It’s ironic really,” says Michael. “I wanted to get on in the world, improve my speech, become more learned …. and here I am, back to my origins as an Albert Square-type bloke.”
In real life, Michael has a two-bedroomed terrace house near his parents home. He explains “I moved there recently from Stoke Newington, where I shared my house with a girlfriend. The relationship didn’t work out, so I’m single and I like being single. I wouldn’t go into an intense relationship unless I knew it was for keeps. With women, I like to think of myself as sensitive and high-principled, not a heartbreaker like David.”
And just to conclude on the subject of David, he says: “I suppose I could have played him as an out-and-out nasty, but that way I wouldn’t have won the viewers’ sympathy. I want to keep audiences wondering if he’s really all bad, or if he’ll turn out a good guy in the end.”