Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Gayle between 5 July 1990 and 21 December 1993.

Portrayed as an intelligent, independent young woman, Hattie remained in the serial after the departures of many of her screen family, covering issues such as miscarriage and sexual harassment.

Dialogue between characters at this time suggested that it was a temporary departure; however, Gayle left to pursue a singing career and did not return to the role.

The head of the Tavernier household, Celestine (Leroy Golding), is a strict, religious man and despite having a strong personality, Hattie is made to obey his rules.

Hattie is often forced to act older than her years to cope with her family's problems, standing by her brother Clyde (Steven Woodcock) when he is falsely accused of murdering Eddie Royle (Michael Melia), standing up to her father and acting as the voice of reason to her twin brother Lloyd (Garey Bridges), whose behaviour becomes problematic.

She excels in her work but Ian confuses her keen attitude towards her job as a come-on; he uses his position to sexually harass her but Hattie puts a stop to this by kneeing him in the groin when he tries to kiss her.

Irrespective of this setback, Hattie remains working with Ian, despite his wife Cindy (Michelle Collins) doing everything in her power to get her sacked as she sees her as a threat.

Hattie begins a relationship with her school friend Steve Elliot (Mark Monero), who gets a job as chef at the Meal Machine in 1992.

Hattie feels the relationship has a future, so when her parents decide to leave Walford that same year, she stays behind with her grandfather Jules (Tommy Eytle) and older brother Clyde.

Left nursing a broken heart, Hattie visits her parents in Norwich in December 1993 to spend Christmas with her family and does not return, having decided to make a fresh start away from Walford.

Steve returns to Walford in February 1994, hoping to reunite with Hattie and even goes to Norwich to win her back but discovers that she has moved on and is dating another man.

Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV's The Bill—a hard-hitting, gritty and successful police drama, which seemed to be challenging EastEnders in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London.

Due to his success on The Bill, Peter Cregeen, the Head of Series at the BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of EastEnders.

[1] Among the new characters were the Jamaican Tavernier family, who collectively arrived on-screen in July 1990, composed of grandfather Jules (Tommy Eytle), his son and daughter-in-law Celestine (Leroy Golding) and Etta (Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence), their eldest son Clyde (Steven Woodcock), and their twins Lloyd (Garey Bridges) and Hattie, played by Michelle Gayle.

Bossy, giggly and garrulous, she was an instant success helping as a waitress at Ian Beale's functions, even though it caused her parents distress.

: popular media culture in post-war Britain, the authors have referenced Hattie and the rest of the Tavernier family as non-white characters who appeared to have been integrated into part of the predominantly white communal setting of the soap.

The ethnic minority households are accepted in the working-class community , but the black, white and Asian families remain culturally distinct."

He noted that the Taverniers, the focus of black characters in the early 1990s, for a while had the same mixture of generations and attitudes that characterized the Fowlers, one of the soap's core white families who had a dominant position in the series.