Chris Smith

**Chris Smith** was the father of the troublesome punk resident Mary Smith, who initially lived in Stockport until 1988, when he decided to move down to Walford to keep an eye on Mary.

Chris was always determined to see Mary and his granddaughter, Annie Smith, live a successful life together, but when Mary got herself into prostitution in 1987, which led to Annie almost dying in a fire, he was forced to take action with his wife, Edie Smith, and take Annie from her.

Annie was later returned to Mary when she eventually sorted her life out. However, on Christmas Eve 1987, Mary refused to return to Stockport with Chris to spend Christmas with the family. Chris kidnapped Annie in a bid to get Mary home, but he ended up crashing his car into a postbox and having his driving licence suspended. This posed a particular problem for Chris, as he was a HGV driver.

In 1988, Chris moved to Walford to set up a haulage firm with his friend, Harry Jameson. However, the haulage firm was unsuccessful, and when Chris was caught illegally driving a lorry, he was fined £1000. Unable to pay his loans, Chris was forced to sign his business over to The Firm by Mantel. He then decided to return to Stockport.

## Biography

### 1985: Finding Mary

Chris arrived in Walford unexpectedly in May, searching for his daughter, Mary Smith, and his granddaughter, Annie Smith. He asked Lofty Holloway if he knew where he could find her; Lofty told Mary that a man was looking for her and she worried. Chris eventually found Mary and asked her to return home, but she told him she wanted to be independent and live alone, so he left and returned on Christmas Eve with presents for both her and Annie.

### 1987: Taking Annie

When Mary's prostitution took precedence over Annie, Chris and his wife, Edie Smith, grew concerned for their granddaughter's welfare. Annie was then left home alone one night whilst Mary prostituted herself. Annie threw her blanket on a radiator and it caught fire, endangering her life. Arthur Fowler saved Annie, while local Christian Dot Cotton got in touch with Chris and Edie to inform them of what had happened. Chris and Edie felt it was the safest option to take Annie back to Stockport with them while Mary sorted her life out.

Mary met roadie Rod Norman in July and he helped her get her life back on track. A few months later, Mary felt ready to take Annie back, but Edie had other plans and refused to give Annie up. Mary was desperate to see Annie again and began to get depressed when Edie wanted to take her through court to get Annie back, so Chris took charge of the situation and kidnapped Annie from Edie, returning her to Mary.

On Christmas Eve, Chris returned to Albert Square and tried to persuade Mary to return to Stockport to spend Christmas with her family. Mary refused to see her spiteful mother again, so Chris took desperate action to try and get her to return home - by kidnapping Annie. However, as he drove off with Annie, he crashed into a postbox. Annie was taken to hospital and Mary initially refused to forgive her father for his inconsiderate actions, although she soon did. Chris had his driving licence suspended following the crash, which posed a threat to him and his career, as he was a HGV driver.

### 1988: Business issues

By January, Chris decided he was going to stay in Walford near Mary, where he could keep an eye on her. He expressed interest in opening up a haulage company and went into partnership with his friend, Harry Jameson. They called the business Smith and Jameson, but it was not a major success. The company were lacking HGV drivers, so Chris decided to illegally drive the lorry himself. However, the police caught him and he was fined £1000. The business suffered even more from the setback, and with Chris struggling to repay his loans anyway, a member of The Firm, Gregory Mantel, then arrived and forced him to sign the business over to them. With Mary having ran away once more to get away from Chris and her family and his business in tatters, a lonesome Chris then returned to Stockport.

## First and last lines

"Excuse me?" (First line, to Pete Beale)

"Euston Station, mate." (Final line)