| Heather Haversham | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Brookside character | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Amanda Burton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1982–1986 | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 2 November 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 9 December 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Phil Redmond | ||||||||||||||||||
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Heather Haversham (also Huntington and Black) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Amanda Burton. Heather is one of the show's original characters and debuted on-screen during the first episode broadcast on 2 November 1982. Heather and her husband, Roger Huntington (Rob Spendlove) assume the roles of the show's young professional characters. Portrayed as yuppies, they work in accountancy and prioritise their careers over anything else. Writers characterised Heather ambitious and studious, determined to be a successful accountant. Another theme writers often used in developing Heather was heartbreak via her numerous failed romances. She transformed into an unlucky-in-love character with a failed marriage to Roger and hopeless relationships with Stuart Griffiths (Danny McCarthy), Don Summerhill (Jonathan Barlow) and Tom Curzon (Brian Stephens).
Heather was later partnered with Nicholas Black (Alan Rothwell), an architect with a quirky persona which Heather fell in love with. Writers decided to inflict more trauma on the character by exploring Nick's drug addiction to heroin. The two characters marry but their happiness is short due to Nick's behaviour. Heather initially tolerates Nick's behaviour until he attempts to pressure her into taking heroin. Writers killed Nick off in an overdose story and Burton left the series shortly after. The character's departure story featured Heather leaving abruptly and auctioning off her house and its contents. Burton described her time on the show as "wonderful training" and stated that she "absolutely loved" the fame she achieved via the role. Heather has been praised by critics of the genre for her personality and making accountancy "sexy". However, critic Paula Young writing for Soaps, bemoaned Heather's characterisation stating that she "falls in and out of love like there's no tomorrow."