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Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.
Creation and development
Jake Wood was cast in the role of Max in January 2006. At the time, little was known of the character, who was to move in with Jim (John Bardon) and Dot Branning (June Brown). Wood commented: "I'm a great admirer of both John Bardon and June Brown and I'm looking forward to joining the Branning family."[1] In March 2008, Max was temporarily written out of the show when Wood went on paternity leave. Wood said of this "It comes at a good time because Max is getting grief over his affair so he will disappear for a while."[2] He returned three months later, in June. In May 2009, Wood signed a new two-year contract with the show, saying he hoped his character would get back with his wife, Tanya (Jo Joyner), saying: "He believes Tanya still loves him. I think she does too."[3] Later in 2009 Max gets into debt and tries to con various Walford residents. On conning single mother Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison), Wood said "Max has got a conscience but he’s thinking about his own survival. He wants to keep his family at all costs."[4] On hiding Max's debt problems from Tanya, Wood commented: "Max thinks he can wriggle out of situations and admitting to debt would be a blow to his manhood. But Tanya would have understood and he'd have kept his family. [...] The problem between Max and Tanya has always been honesty. If Tanya finds out she may never trust Max again."[4] When Tanya discovers Max's lies, she leaves him. This storyline facilitated Joyner's temporary departure on maternity leave. The show's executive producer Diederick Santer commented: "Yet again, Max has messed up, hasn't he? He's learned to keep it in his trousers, but financially, he's corrupt. He's taken his eye off the ball business-wise and like a lot of people in the last year or two, he's found it tough going. His inability to show weakness or to share his problems with Tanya has been his downfall. He has to rebuild his life now and his long-term objective is to get Tanya back. Jo Joyner is of course returning to the Square but whether Max gets Tanya back is another thing. I don't know if he's good enough for her."[5] Santer also revealed that some planned storyline material for Max and Tanya was put on hold until Tanya's return from maternity leave.[6] StorylinesBackstoryMax is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham). With a large family living in a poor area of East London, Max had a difficult childhood, which was made worse by the arrival of his younger brother Jack (Scott Maslen). Max and Jack vied for the attentions of their father Jim, a drunk who frequently neglected his children. When Max was blamed for stealing and losing a medal that Jim's mother was given during World War II in honour of his late father for bravery, Jim severed all ties with his son and even once locked him in a coffin after a drinking binge. A messed up teenager, Max got involved with women in order to release the tension from his home life. As a result, Max got his girlfriend Rachel pregnant at seventeen, which led to them marrying and becoming parents to their son Bradley (Charlie Clements) in August 1987 at just eighteen. Tired of his parents interfering, Max walked out in 1989 and lost touch with Jim and Reenie, but kept in touch with his siblings, in particular Carol (Lindsey Coulson). However, Max struggled with the pressure of being a father too young and began an affair with Tanya Cross, who was a messed up teenager herself, dabbling in drugs and alcohol. After discovering that Tanya was pregnant in 1993, Max divorced Rachel and lost all contact with Bradley before marrying Tanya on 6 August 1994 and becoming a father to their children Lauren (Madeline Duggan), in March 1994, and Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald), in June 1996. 2006—Max arrives in Walford to confront his father after a seventeen year absence but Jim throws him out and Max meets Bradley, deciding to stay to rebuild their relationship. Tanya arrives to collect him, and a month later the family move to Albert Square. Max has been caught having an affair with Gemma Clewes (Natalie J. Robb) by Tanya and the move prompts her to give their marriage one last try, despite having filed for divorce. Max buys 10 Turpin Road for Tanya to open as a beauty parlour and begins meeting up with Bradley. Max breaks up with Gemma to show Bradley he's changed. Max thinks Bradley is too good for his girlfriend, Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), and gives Bradley money for an abortion, telling him a baby will ruin his life. However, the abortion causes their relationship to end. To hurt Bradley, Stacey makes a move on Max and they have sex. They begin an affair, but Tanya tells Max she is pregnant by him. He tries to save his marriage despite promising Stacey that he will leave Tanya for her. Tanya confides in Stacey that she is pregnant, so Stacey gave Max an ultimatum: either he tell Tanya the truth or she will. Within 30 minutes, Max takes his family to Spain, and a few weeks later tells Bradley they are moving there permanently. However, Max returns with his family as he wants to be with Stacey, only to find that she and Bradley have reconciled and are now engaged. Stacey rejects Max's advances. On the night of Bradley and Stacey's wedding, Max kisses Stacey, and although she rejects him again, Max's daughter Lauren has left her video camera in the bedroom, recording their conversation. Tanya and Max's son Oscar is born in December 2007. Max and Stacey's affair is revealed at Christmas 2007, after Lauren makes a copy of the tape and give it to Bradley as a present. Both couples separate, and Max is forced to live with his brother Jack. Tanya files for divorce, but it is messy, with Max exposing her romance with Sean Slater (Rob Kazinsky) and threatening to expose her as an unfit mother, and Tanya saying she will halt the proceedings if he sells everything over to her. After signing everything over Tanya reluctantly sleeps with Max, only to discover the next morning that he has shredded all the documents. Working with Sean, Tanya drugs Max and puts him in a coffin before burying him alive in the woods. Max is buried with his mobile phone and phones his estranged daughter for help. An attack of conscience prompts Tanya to dig Max up and after a brief scuffle in which Max tries to strangle Tanya, he decides to leave Walford as he can see how much devastation he had caused. He returns in June 2008, when Abi steals Tanya's phone and texts him. He discovers Tanya is now in a relationship with Jack, and tries to separate them by attempting to buy their house, seducing Jack's ex-girlfriend Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Janus), and planning to frame Jack for a crime he didn't commit by acquiring a gun with his fingerprints on. Jack abducts Max and beats him up, after which, Max and Tanya kiss. Later that evening he is the victim of a deliberate hit-and-run, which Tanya confesses to and is arrested. However, Lauren later admits that she was driving the car and turns herself in to the police. Tanya is released and Lauren is taken into care. Max tries to contact his daughter, and reveals that his divorce has been finalised. Max and Tanya again share a kiss, and their relationship improves. Lauren is found not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of grievous bodily harm, and she decides to return home. In June 2009, Tanya invites Max for a romantic evening, intending to sleep with him. Max wants to rekindle their relationship fully, and persuades Tanya to give the relationship another try. They start a secret relationship, and Stacey starts spying on Max, becoming obsessed with finding out who he is seeing. Tanya later allows Max to move back with his family. Lauren finds an earring in Max's car that belongs to Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), which she lost after she and her brother Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) took a joyride in the car. Lauren gives the earring to Tanya. Max gets into debt and cons the Mitchells by offering them a false insurance claim. Phil finds out and demands the money back. Max then cons new mother Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) into buying life insurance from him. He and Phil join forces to con Ian Beale and Masood Ahmed but Archie Mitchell warns them that it is a scam. He then calls Rachel, saying that Bradley needs some money as he is now living in Canada. Rachel writes Max a cheque but neglects to sign it. Max phones her as Masood is driving her home but he falls asleep and crashes the car. She is hospitalised and Tanya questions Max on why Rachel was in Walford. He says she was shopping in London and wondered if Max had heard from Bradley. Max phones Bradley to tell him about Rachel. Max forges Rachel's signature on the cheque and tells debt collectors that he will have their money once it clears. However when he visits Rachel in hospital, she tells him that she knows Bradley does not need any money and she deliberately did not sign the cheque and put a stop on it in case he tried to forge her signature. Max then tells her how much trouble he is in. When she is discharged from hospital, she loans Max £3,000 saying she is taking a risk but he must pay it back. However, it is too late as the debt collectors arrive and take his assets when Tanya walks in. Max tells Tanya it's just a misunderstanding but Phil comes round demanding his money and tells Tanya the extent of Max's debt, revealing the con. Max shows Tanya the cheque, saying he was desperate. Tanya cannot believe Max has lied to her again and sees that he has pawned his wedding ring. The bailiffs start taking things from Tanya's salon even though she believes it is hers and nothing to do with Max. Tanya cannot find the paperwork, so packs her things and throws her wedding ring on the ground. She gets in the car to go but Abi refuses, saying they need to stick together, so Tanya leaves with Lauren and Oscar. Max goes to give Phil some money and when he leaves, Shirley Carter confronts him about scamming Heather in front of punters. People look at him disapprovingly. Abi convinces Max to go to the pub the next day but Shirley tells him he is not welcome. Abi stands up for him saying he was only trying to help his family and calls everyone hypocrites. ReceptionThe storyline which saw Tanya bury Max alive prompted 167 viewer complaints, citing the inappropriate nature of the scenes, which aired prior to the 9.00 pm watershed. The BBC responded with the statement: "Whilst we appreciate that these episodes were dramatic, they were carefully filmed and edited in order that Max's ordeal was in the main implicit, rather than explicit, whilst still retaining their powerfulness. It's also important to note that Max made it out alive after Tanya realised she couldn't go through with her plan to leave him for dead. The burial is in no way glamorised or glorified, rather we see that when pushed to the edge, Tanya's behaviour becomes out of character, and indeed that it's Tanya herself who ultimately suffers because of her actions. Once again we are sorry that you did not enjoy these episodes."[7] The UK communications regulator Ofcom later found that the episodes depicting the storyline were in breach of the 2005 Broadcasting Code. They contravened the rules regarding protection of children by appropriate scheduling, appropriate depiction of violence before the 9pm watershed and appropriate depiction of potentially offensive content.[8] References
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