Colin was one of the most controversial characters of his time — mainly because gay-orientated content was still relatively rare on prime-time television during the mid-1980s.
Although EastEnders was not the first UK televised soap to include a gay character (Channel 4's Brookside had that accolade), the portrayal of an openly gay male, let alone a homosexual relationship, on a prime-time, pre-watershed BBC programme was unheard of before Colin and Barry's introduction.