| Paul Coker | |||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Jonny Labey | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2015–2016 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 5077 1 June 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 5347 8 September 2016 | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Daran Little | ||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Dominic Treadwell-Collins | ||||||||||||||
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Paul Coker is a character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jonny Labey. He first appeared in episode 5077 of the show, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2015. Paul, a gay character, is the grandson of established characters Les Coker (Roger Sloman) and Pam Coker (Lin Blakley) and boyfriend of Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid). The character's final appearance is in Episode 5347, shown on 8 September 2016, following the character's death after an off-screen homophobic attack on 18 July 2016.
Kissing scenes between Paul and Ben received a mixed reaction from viewers, though the character has received positive comments from reviewers. Ofcom received 76 complaints from viewers when the couple were seen topless together in a funeral parlour with a corpse in the room, but decided not to investigate the complaints as the scenes were "justified in the context" and sexual contact was "implied". The relationship was longlisted at the Inside Soap Awards in the "Best Affair" category.[1]