 This led to the introduction of some characters who were deliberately conceived as comic or light-hearted.Such characters included Paul Priestly, a northern heartbreaker, and his sidekick Trevor Short (Phil McDermott), "the nearest thing to a village idiot that Walford had seen in many years"; Julie Cooper (Louise Plowright), the man-mad hairdresser; Marge Green — a batty older lady played by veteran comedy actress Pat Coombs; wheeler-dealer Vince Johnson (Hepburn Graham) and Laurie Bates (Gary Powell), who became Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) sparring partner.Paul Priestly was a cheeky, carefree romeo, whose principal purpose was to become Walford's latest teen heartthrob.