Elliott: 'Enders has duty to reflect society'

EastEnders actor Marc Elliott has expressed support for his upcoming controversial gay plot.

Elliott's character, Walford's Muslim property developer Syed Masood, is to become embroiled in an affair of the heart with the BBC soap's only openly gay character Christian Clarke (John Partridge).

Following a shock screen kiss, which will air towards the end of next month, Syed faces a long journey of self-discovery as he struggles to deal with his faith and sexuality.

Speaking to the BBC Asian Network, Elliott said of the plot: "I think EastEnders would be doing the programme a disservice if they didn't give a voice to various communities."

He continued: "I think that's really important because I think London is a very ethnically diverse multicultural place and EastEnders has a job to reflect that in the storylines it gives people and the characters they have on board."

Syed's situation is made more complicated by the return of his screen girlfriend Amira Shah (Preeya Kalidas), who viewers first saw earlier this month. Syed's mother Zainab (Nina Wadia), meanwhile, continues in her quest to find her son the perfect wife.

The soap's executive producer Diederick Santer commented: "This isn't a moral tale of right or wrong; it's very much a human interest story where a young man struggles with the conflict between his faith and his feelings."

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