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David Wicks (né Beale) is the son of Pat Evans and Pete Beale, half-brother of Ian Beale and Simon Wicks and father of Bianca Jackson, Joe Wicks and Karen Wicks. His first appearance was on 23 December 1993.

Backstory[]

David Beale was born on the 21st April 1962. His parents - Pat and Pete - split up when David and his half-brother Simon Wicks were young. Pat remarried to Brian Wicks, who adopted both David and Simon (who turned out to be most likely Brian's biological son but never 100% confirmed). Meanwhile, Pete remarried to Kathy Hills and had another son, Ian Beale. Pete had no further contact with David and Simon when they moved away from Walford in 1976.

During his teenage years, David got his girlfriend, Carol Branning, pregnant at the age of 13. David and the rest of the Branning family tried to persuade Carol to have an abortion and Carol's brother Derek Branning severely beat David up. The Wicks family were forced to leave Walford, due to Derek's ruthlessness and aggression so David never knew if Carol had the abortion or not. For the next few years David, along with his mother and brother, suffered at the violent hands of his abusive stepfather Brian. Pat also proved to be a negligent mother due to her alcoholism and constant promiscuity and, after turning 17, David began living with his girlfriend Lorraine Foster to get away from his parents. During this time Lorraine fell pregnant by him and after they married she gave birth to their son Joe Wicks in 1980 when David was 18. This was shortly followed by the birth of their daughter Karen Wicks in 1982. However, David was a restless man who felt he had been tied down too young and, after embarking on several affairs, he walked out on his wife and children in 1988, losing all contact with them.

Storylines[]

1993-1996: Return to Walford, family and relationships[]

David returned to Albert Square on 23 December 1993 for his father's funeral. Pete had died in a car crash two weeks earlier. A few weeks later, in January 1994, he turned up on the doorstep of his mother Pat. She was shocked and said she did not even know he was alive until a few minutes ago as she had last seen him when he was 17.

David soon went into business with Pat's stepson Ricky Butcher with a car lot that they named "Deals on Wheels".

David soon finds his ex-girlfriend Carol has moved back to Albert Square and has four children. David begins to fall for Carol's oldest daughter, Bianca Jackson. Carol is very frosty and hostile towards him and was horrified when she witnessed the growing relationship between him and Bianca. This resulted in Carol telling David that Bianca was his daughter in March 1994. David was stunned but agreed to keep his distance from Bianca, much to her chagrin.

When David's stepdad Frank Butcher had money worries and absconded in April 1994 after he and Phil Mitchell accidentally killed someone in a car lot insurance scam, David wondered why Phil kept asking questions about Frank's disappearance as David did not know about Phil's involvement in the fire.

Eventually the truth about Bianca's paternity was revealed to an embarrassed Bianca in March 1995 when, after drunkenly trying to kiss David after he rescued her from almost being mugged, David was forced to confess that she was his daughter. Despite being initially frosty towards David, Bianca soon formed a close relationship with her father.

In December 1995, Frank returns. David thought he was after something and fought with Frank over the car lot. Frank soon moved to Manchester.

David caused more trouble for his mother, and also he cracked under the pressure of his schizophrenic son Joe. David betrayed his half brother Ian by sleeping with his wife Cindy Beale.

In November 1996, David drove out of Albert Square one night. He was bound for Milan to start afresh.

2012: Pat's death and feud with Derek[]

On New Year’s Day 2012, David returned to Albert Square to visit his mother, who unbeknownst to him at the time, was dying of pancreatic cancer. Despite trying to keep things civil between his mother and himself, old tensions were brought back up resulting in David leaving abruptly. Despite pleas from his daughter Bianca to stay, David continued his attempt to get away. It was the intervention of Carol that persuaded David to stay as it could be has last chance to make amends and forgive his mother. Deciding to stay, David attempted to go back to Pat's house but was confronted by Carol's brother Derek, who was looking revenge on past events. After a scuffle, David managed to get back into the house where he told his mother Pat that he forgave her. Seconds later, Pat died in David's arms. David returned to New Zealand after his mother’s funeral, purely to escape from Derek Branning.

2013-2014: Return and rekindling with Carol[]

David returned to Walford again in September 2013 and disapproved of Masood Ahmed dating his ex-girlfriend. David was pleased to hear that Derek Branning had died of a heart attack recently so he could live safely in Walford again.

David bought the car lot and renamed it Deals On Wheels again. He helped Max Branning cover his tracks over being a suspect in the death of Lucy Beale. Max was not the culprit anyway.

In May 2014, he wanted to marry Carol again but they decided to have a parting of the ways. After suffering a minor heart attack, David then decided to leave Walford for good again. He was driven to Heathrow Airport, bound for America.

On 13 May 2024, David is mentioned by Bianca, who says they haven't spoken in years

Fight count[]

Punches[]

  1. Derek Branning (2 May 1996) (x2)
  2. Derek Branning (1 January 2012) (during a fight with Derek)
  3. Junior Knight (9 October 2024)

Total: 3

Individual characters punched: 2

Total punches: 4

See also[]

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