There have been a number of fathers being portrayed as evil but has there ever been a storyline where it's the mother that's evil?

Add: Also have they had a storyline on a grown woman grooming a young boy? They've had what that tony did to Whitney and kat and Ronnie were abused and raped by family members. But they don't ever seem to do it the other way round, what about a man who sexually abused by his father or his mother when he was younger?
It happens just as often, yet it's not taken as seriously and neither is portrayed on telly much.
It would be very good to see them show how men can suffer in that way to.

Good question!
Ev's mum was evil.

You could say Whitneys real mum Debra was quite evil for repeatedly raising Whitneys hopes when she was just after something.

Callum's mum. We never saw her but she told Stacey about her hurting him.

Shirley....OK, not evil but Dean is going to have a big problem with her when he returns. She abandoned her children and Kevin brought them up on his own.

There have been negligent mothers...Pat, Shirley, Cora and Peggy spring to mind.

What about Steve Owen's mother Barbara, she was twisted.

Off screen but I'd say Kat's mum. Fair enough she acted when she heard about the abuse, but there was no need to tell Kat she was a liar and imagining it, just to ensure that Charlie wouldn't find out (which he had a right to anyway.) Kat didn't want Charlie knowing anyway, so Viv could have just said she believed her, it was ok but not to tell Charlie. Kat didn't know that Viv believed her and sent Harry packing - for all she knew he could turn back up at any moment. I think there was also something about her taking her belt to Belinda.

Also Glenda for knowing that Archie had raped Ronnie and not doing anything, though she was scared of him also so I do have a tiny bit of sympathy for her. If she'd taken Ronnie and Roxy away Archie would have hunted her down.

Sylvie Carter, although not yet on screen, was apparently abusive.

Nora White was shown to be abusive to Carl

Maybe not evil but Carl's mum Nora White wasnt exactly pleasant

What did she beat Belinda for?

I don't know. Kat mentioned it during Little Mo's trial episodes. I don't think the episodes are on YouTube any more, or I would watch to check

Oh ok, thanks.

I must admit she always did seem like a hard woman from what they said about her.

I think the thing is while the fathers are evil and often absent, the mothers are just as bad but stick around. Pat is always described as a bad mother from both Janines and David's perspectives but the viewers have seen more to her that has redeemed her. Big Mo and Shirley were introduced as battle axe characters yet have softened and progressed (well no really progressed in Mo's case)

Pauline was a pretty bad mother and mother-in-law!

I think there is a difference between a bad mother (e.g. not there for your kids because you were on the game) and an evil one (mentally or physically abusive to your kids.) The first one I think they can come back from, like Pat did by having an active role in the upbringihg of her great-grandchildren, but not the second.

Pauline or Pat were never abusive were they?

In soaps, mothers mess their kids up psychologically and fathers do it physically. Jim used to beat Max, however most of us wouldn't have thought Jim to be like that, so redemption is possible and times were different back then - not excusing it but children didn't have the knowledge or support to stop violence. Pauline was never physically abusive but emotionally she certainly was, I mean Sonia smashed a fruit bowl over her head and then her husband did the same and killed her, so she wasn't the most pleasant of characters when it came to her words.

Ah yes, forgot about Jim and Max. I certainly think it helped that Jim had been established as a caring person on screen before we heard of the abuse.

Good topic choice, interesting.

Was going to say Archie and Harry because that's what I thought the thread was about.

But for this - Stella springs to mind, as does mad Doctor May (although cannot remember if they were mothers themselves, but played and occupied the maternal role in their time in the show).

Oh God. Yeah she was horrendous. When she snogged poor Steve!

Steve Owen's mother, played brilliantly BTW, was shown to have sexual overtures towards her son.

Ooops already mentioned

When she fell back on to the sofa she said "you can go now, you completely arrogant, thoroughly attractive man", or something like that, I don't know I haven't seen it for years and I can't find the clip. God that was one of the creepiest scenes in the history of the soap.

Sheila Hancock is brilliant.

Yes, amazing actress. I wish she'd been in it longer. I liked her scenes with Phil and Mel too.

I always remember my mum going "Cor, if he was my son I'd snog him too." I mean, she was joking, hopefully, but it was a pretty traumatic moment for me.

Luckily I have since grown up to be a completely well-adjusted individual.

That explains a hell of a lot!

I was just a kid back then too, it scared the hell out of me that scene but it was very eye-opening. EastEnders is good for bringing up taboo subjects such as incest or abuse, it made me think about things when I was younger I must admit.