Colin Parrish | |
---|---|
Rank | Fire Fighter |
Station | Blackwall Fire Station |
Spouse(s) | Zoe |
Relatives | Mrs Parrish (mother)
Jaffa Parrish (uncle) |
Played by | Stephen North |
First appearance | Series 3, Episode 1 (1990) |
Last appearance | Series 6, Episode 10 (1993) |
Colin Parrish was a Firefighter at Blackwall Fire Station who joined as a probationary firefighter in series 3 until the end of series 6.
Biography[]
Colin Parrish was the nephew of Red Watch fireman Jaffa Parrish. He was Vaseline's replacement and arrived at Blackwall as a probationary officer straight from training centre. His naivete and gullibility immediately made him the butt of pranks and jokes at the station. Bayleaf and Tony persuaded him that Tate was a born-again Christian, and that to earn his favour he should say grace before every meal (which made Tate believe that Colin was a born-again Christian). They also convinced him that he had to monitor radioactive particles in the local area, and that to do so he must sign the Official Secrets Act. They feared their prank was blown when ACO Bulstrode arrived, but to their surprise he joined in and "witnessed" Colin signing the document.
Colin was very enthusiastic about the job, but his keenness often got him into scrapes and he was prone to making gaffes. Tate initially found his eagerness jarring as the watch were still recovering from losing Vaseline on a shout and were more aware of the fact that any one of them could die whilst on active duty. On an early shout, he was given a first and final written warning after he gave chase when a criminal they had just rescued fled, which resulted in Bayleaf being slashed in the chin with a knife; a furious Bayleaf warned him never to do that again, or he would "end up like Ethnic". Colin was awestruck when they were called to free a naked Chinese woman whose thumbs were trapped in the bathtaps, but distraught when a young woman at a train crash had to have her legs amputated. After Colin accidentally sent the pump to the wrong address on a shout (which fortunately it turned out to be a hoax call), Hallam deemed it best to extend his probationary period; a few days later Colin's doting mum turned up at the station to give Hallam a piece of her mind. Colin eventually distinguished himself by saving a fellow firefighter during a hotel fire and, following his extra three months as a probationer, passed his exams and was made up to full status.
When Firewoman Kate Stevens arrived at Blackwall Colin took a fancy to her and turned up at her house, though she and her friends scared him off by offering him massages. He was warned by Hallam not to go lusting after his fellow Watch members. While on a shout Colin met Zoe and asked her out on a date. Zoe was looking forward to a meal or a dance, but instead he took her to a Millwall match. At the end of the night she walked out on him. After being talked round by Kate, Zoe finally agreed to see him again. On a night out with the watch at a bar at the seaside Colin, drunk and egged on by the lads, proposed to Zoe and she accepted. He couldn't muster up the courage to tell his mum that he was getting married, so in the end his uncle Jaffa had to do it. The watch then successfully convinced Colin that he needed permission from the Brigade to marry, which nearly backfired when he sent his "marriage form" to Bulstrode.
With his wedding approaching, the watch made plans to play another prank on Colin, but he refused to tell them which hotel he and Zoe were booked into. At his stag party they handcuffed him to a lamppost and finally forced him to tell. On the night, George, Sicknote, Kevin and Recall burst into the honeymoon suite at the Clarendon hotel only to find another newlywed couple in there; Colin had deliberatly given them the name of the wrong hotel and sent them a gloating postcard from his honeymoon in Tenerife.
Zoe accepted a new job in Norwich and wanted them to relocate. At Nick's suggestion, Colin applied for a job with Stansted Airport's fire service. Colin returned so enthusiastic about the job he couldn't stop talking about it, to the irritation of everyone else. However, at the end of a shout at a derelict psychiatric hospital, Colin was larking around on a stage to the amusement of Sally Reid and an old lady when an overhead gantry gave way and fell on him. Colin suffered crush injuries to his legs and was declared PU ('permanently unfit') and had to leave the Brigade.
Appearances[]
- See also: Colin Parrish/Appearances
Colin appeared in 38 episodes of London's Burning between 1990 and 1993
Galleries[]
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