Roly Marks

Rowland Oswald Colin Marks (4 February 1893 – 12 November 1977) was born in Auckland, New Zealand and was a pioneer of the social credit movement in New Zealand.

He served in World War I as a sergeant and later second lieutenant in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and earned the DCM. A teacher by profession, after graduating MA in 1922 from Auckland University College, Marks witnessed first-hand the difficulties faced by New Zealanders during the Depression. He became convinced that monetary reform was needed, and stood as the candidate for the Real Democracy Movement in the Wanganui electorate in the 1943 general election.

The Movement evolved into the New Zealand Social Credit Political League and Marks polled highly, though not enough to take the seat. When not running for Parliament, he served on the League's national committee and was made a life member in 1968. Marks deservedly takes credit for establishing the Social Credit movement as a force in Wanganui.

References

Roly

Roly is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Roly is an apricot coloured Standard Poodle, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remained in the show until 19 October 1993.

Storylines

Roly was given to Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) by her father, Den (Leslie Grantham). Sharon's mother, Angie (Anita Dobson), does not like the dog much and once even accuses him of deliberately causing her to trip and fall on the stairs. However, during Den and Angie's divorce in 1987, Angie is horrified to hear that Den is considering selling Roly. She storms round to The Queen Victoria public house and demands that Den give Roly to her.

Roly is involved in many storylines during his time in the show. He is often used by his owners as a silent sounding board, and is made privvy to all their secrets and woes. It is Roly who first alerted viewers to the fact that his owner, Den, had got the 16-year-old schoolgirl, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), pregnant in October 1985; one of the soaps most renowned 'whodunit' plots. After months of speculation, Michelle goes to meet the father at a nearby canal, and Roly bounds out of the mystery man's car, showing the identity of the man to be Den.