Barry Clark

**Barry Clark** was the boisterous, youthful ex-boyfriend of Colin Russell who first arrived in Albert Square in November 1986, when Colin took him back to his flat after meeting him at a disco on a night out.

Barry's homosexuality kept a secret from his family, as his father was homophobic and he often feared what would happen to him if he found out. However, unbeknownst to Barry, his older brother, Graham Clark, always knew that he was gay. Graham reassured Barry that he was no different to anyone else just because he was gay, but when their father later learnt the truth, Barry tried to make himself heterosexual in order to keep him happy.

In 1988, Barry and Ian Beale decided they wanted to go into the mobile disco business together. However, the disco equipment they purchased from Darren Roberts was on hire payment, and they soon lost the equipment altogether. Barry left Walford completely in July 1989 when he was offered a job on a cruise ship as a DJ. He briefly returned to the Square in February 1989 to see Colin on the day he was leaving, and returned again in December 2022 for the funeral of Dot Cotton.

## Biography

### 1986-1987: Relationship with Colin Russell

Barry met Colin Russell in November 1986 at a disco on a night out. Colin took Barry back to his flat on the night they met, and from that moment, the pair's friendship rapidly progressed into a relationship. However, with Barry only being 20 when the pair first met, and the age of sexual consent for homosexual couples in the UK being 21 at the time, their relationship was technically challenging from the start. As well as this, Barry's worries over his family knowing he was gay, Colin's insecurities over himself and the pair's age differences led to further problems in their relationship.

In 1987, Barry committed a scam crime with school friend Nick Cotton. He was caught and fined, so Colin paid the fine off for him. The pair's relationship became common knowledge in March 1987 when Dot Cotton learnt that they were together and, uneducated about how one could catch AIDS, feared she would also catch it. The residents of Albert Square were initially dubious of having a gay couple living around them, but they eventually got used to the idea of having a same-sex couple around. In June 1987, Barry's brother, Graham Clark, told Barry that he knew he was gay. Barry was mortified by his brother's admission but Graham promised to keep his sexuality a secret. Barry was relieved to not have to worry about his sexuality becoming knowledge with his father, until Colin's flat was broken into in November 1987. The police questioned Colin over who lived in the flat and soon learnt that Barry was living with him and had been having sexual contact with him prior to being 21. Barry panicked as the police planned to inform his parents; he ended up confessing his sexuality to the rest of his family in December 1987. Colin tried to support Barry through his ordeal with his father, but Barry did not appreciate his support and the pair began to argue a lot, which ultimately resulted in it coming to an end.

With Barry's father aware of the truth, Barry was determined to become heterosexual in order to stop his father from disowning him. He began dating a woman, Judy, in 1988, but their relationship never went very far, and he soon fell in love with a man once again.

### 1988: Becoming a DJ

In 1988, Barry and his friend, Ian Beale, expressed interest in joining a growing occupation - mobile DJing. Darren Roberts overheard the pair talking about their plans to invest in mobile disco equipment and offered them some equipment for £400. Colin gave Barry the money to allow him to invest his share into the equipment.

Following his break-up with Colin, Barry moved into Ethel Skinner's old flat. Ian later moved in with him and they worked on their DJing together, but because of how loud they were whilst practicing, Dr Legg quickly had them removed from the flat. Barry then moved back in with his parents off of the Square, which left Ian to DJ on his own. Their disco equipment was then ceased by a finance company when Darren had actually borrowed the equipment by hire purchases but fell behind on them.

Barry returned once more in July 1988 to tell Colin that he had received a job as a DJ on a cruise ship, and would be leaving imminently. The pair drank together at The Queen Victoria for old times sake and Barry then left for his new job. He returned again in December 2022 for the funeral of Dot Cotton, alongside Barry.

## Other information

* Barry returned to the show once more on 23rd February 1989 to aid the departure of Colin Russell.
* Barry was one half of the show's first ever homosexual couple.

## Background information

* Actor Gary Hailes was subject to excessive homophobic abuse for portraying a homosexual character, despite the actor himself being heterosexual.
* Gary auditioned for the role of Mark Fowler prior to his casting as Barry Clark, but he lost out on the role to David Scarboro.

## First and last lines

"Got any aspirin?" (First line, to Colin Russell)

"Nah, you got it all wrong." (Final line, to Guido Smith)