Ashraf Karim
| Created by | Tony Holland and Julia Smith |
|---|---|
| Introduced by | Julia Smith |
| Duration | 1987–1990 |
| First appearance | Episode 255 23 July 1987 |
| Last appearance | Episode 561 21 June 1990 |
| Ashraf Karim | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by |
Tony Wredden (1987) Aftab Sachak (1988–1990) |
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| Duration | 1987-90 | ||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 255 23 July 1987 |
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| Last appearance | Episode 561 21 June 1990 |
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| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Shop proprietor | ||||||||
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| Wife | Sufia Karim |
|---|---|
| Sons | Sohail Karim |
| Daughters | Shireen Karim |
| Other relatives |
Saeed Jeffery Farrukh Jeffery |
| Sufia Karim | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Rani Singh | ||||||
| Duration | 1988–1990 | ||||||
| First appearance | Episode 306 12 January 1988 |
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| Last appearance | Episode 561 21 June 1990 |
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| Profile | |||||||
| Occupation | Shop proprietor | ||||||
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| Husband | Ashraf Karim |
|---|---|
| Sons | Sohail Karim |
| Daughters | Shireen Karim |
| Shireen Karim | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Nisha Kapur | ||||||||
| Duration | 1988–1990 | ||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 352 21 June 1988 |
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| Last appearance | Episode 561 21 June 1990 |
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| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Student | ||||||||
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| Father | Ashraf Karim |
|---|---|
| Mother | Sufia Karim |
| Brothers | Sohail Karim |
| Husband | Jabbar Ahmed |
| Sohail Karim | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Ronny Jhutti | ||||||
| Duration | 1988–1990 | ||||||
| First appearance | Episode 354 28 June 1988 |
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| Last appearance | Episode 561 21 June 1990 |
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| Profile | |||||||
| Occupation | Student | ||||||
|
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| Father | Ashraf Karim |
|---|---|
| Mother | Sufia Karim |
| Sisters | Shireen Karim |
The Karims are a fictional family that appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders between 1987 and 1990.
The Muslim Karim family are introduced as the owners of the soap's grocery store, the First til Last, following the departure of the character Naima Jeffery (Shreela Ghosh) in 1987, who runs the business since EastEnders' inception in February 1985.
The family includes father Ashraf Karim (Aftab Sachak), his wife Sufia (Rani Singh) and their two teenage children, eldest daughter Shireen (Nisha Kapur) and son Sohail (Ronnie Jhutti). The head of the family, Ashraf, is scripted as the second cousin of original character Saeed Jeffery (Andrew Johnson), who departs the serial in December 1985. A character named Ashraf Jeffrey appears briefly in July 1987, described as the brother of Saeed who owns the property above Naima and Saeed's shop; he comes to inform the occupants, Sue and Ali Osman (Sandy Ratcliff and Nejdet Salih), that he is selling the property. Ashraf at this time is played by Tony Wreddon, but although he is referred to as Saeed's brother in this instance, when the character returns, played by Sachak, he is described as Saeed's second cousin. Various serial-accompanying, BBC books have since ignored the original description of Ashraf as Saeed's brother when retelling the character's history, assimilating his as a Karim from his first appearance. For instance, in an extract from the 1991 EastEnders Handbook, author Hilary Kingsley writes, "Sue and Ali learn they may be evicted by Saeed's cousin, Ashraf Karim, because the flat is to be sold." Whilst in EastEnders Who's Who, published in 2000, author Kate Lock lists Ashraf Karim's first appearance as July 1987, indicating that both Ashrafs were the same character with their backstory subsequently altered in the serial.
Collectively, the family were introduced by producer Mike Gibbon early in 1988. Scripwriter Colin Brake has written in his book, EastEnders: The First Ten Years, that 1988 was a year of big change, "The year began in the way it intended to go on—with change. During January, Asraf [and his wife] Sufia took over the foodstore".
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Wikipedia