Stacey Branning (née
Slater) is a
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
from the popular
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEndersEastEnders is a long-running, popular and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985...
, played by
Lacey TurnerLacey Amelia Turner is an English actress, best known for playing Stacey Slater in the popular BBC television soap opera, EastEnders.-Early life:Turner was born in Hendon, NW London in 1988, to parents Bev and Les...
. She made her first appearance on 1 November 2004. The character was introduced as a feisty and troublesome teenager, an extension of the already established Slater clan. She has featured in numerous high profile storylines, including abortion, drug abuse, mental illness, and an affair with her father-in-law Max. Stacey has proven popular with fans and critics, and Lacey Turner has won multiple awards for her portrayal.
Creation
In September 2004, an official BBC press release announced the arrival of a new addition to the popular Slater family; a new "feisty female" named Stacey Slater,
Charlie SlaterCharles "Charlie" Slater is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Derek Martin, making his first appearance on 4 September 2000...
's great-niece and cousin to
KatKathleen "Kat" Moon is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actress Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001. She appeared in the show in September 2000 to November 2004 then returned to the show in May 2005 then left again in...
,
LynneLynne Marie Hobbs is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elaine Lordan.Lynne was a fierce judge of right and wrong, although she wasn't always able to practice what she preached...
, Belinda,
Little MoMaureen "Little Mo" Mitchell is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kacey Ainsworth.Named after her loud, wayward grandmother, Little Mo couldn't have been more opposite...
and
ZoeZoe Slater is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Ryan.-Storylines:Zoe arrives in Walford with her family, presumed father Charlie , sisters Kat , Lynne and Little Mo , and grandmother Mo , in September 2000...
. According to the report, Stacey "looks like a Slater and shares the same family attitude but with one difference - Stacey is one hell of a bitch! […] She is going to be trouble!"
16 year old actress Lacey Turner was cast in the role. Turner had originally gone to audition for a part in the
MillerDemi Miller is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shana Swash.-Arrival in Walford and motherhood:...
family, but was given the part of Stacey instead. Commenting on her role, Turner said "I was speechless when I found out that I had been cast as Stacey Slater especially as I knew I would be working with
Jessie WallaceJessie Wallace is an English actress.-Biography:Wallace was born at 204 Durants Road, Enfield, North London...
who is my favourite actress. I've watched the show since I was about four years old, and I used to live in a house that backed onto the
EastEnders set so I used to watch them filming all the time. I always dreamt of being on the show and so I can't believe that I've fulfilled my greatest ambition!" She added, "I'm not like Stacey at all although I love playing her! She's a real challenge […] I think people are going to love to hate her like they did with [the character]
Janine EvansJanine Butcher is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and from 1999 to 2004 and 2008 onwards by Charlie Brooks...
."
Personality and lineage
The character appears to be tough, stubborn, fiery and very bitchy, however, as actress Lacey Turner explains, this is just a front and "underneath she's very vulnerable". Stacey has been described as "sarky, sassy and...realistically streetwise." Lacey Turner has described her character as a cross between two other
EastEnders characters, Janine Evans and Kat Slater. Indeed, her "malicious tongue and wicked ways" led to her being heralded as "a junior Janine" in 2004, by Tony Stewart of the
Daily Mirror. Lacey Turner commented, "She's very naughty, but she has her reasons for her nastiness."
Over the course of the character's narrative, it was revealed that one of the reasons for Stacey's tough and malicious exterior, was her troubled family life. In specific, the death of her father, disappearance of her brother, and her mother's
bipolar disorderBipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a serious mental disorder that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if...
. Addressed in a storyline that aired in December 2005, Stacey returned to live with her "disturbed" mother Jean, played by
Gillian WrightGillian Wright, BA is a British actress who is currently most famous for portraying Jean Slater in the long running BBC soap opera EastEnders...
, amidst one of her mental breakdowns. Scenes showed Jean, who had "sank into the dark despair of her illness", living in squalor, off her medication, starved, petrified, suicidal, and being abused and ridiculed by her neighbours. Stacey was forced to admit her to a mental institution for her own safety. The episodes, described as "harrowing and bleak", were praised by critics in the media. Actresses Lacey Turner and Gillian Wright were complimented for giving "graphically powerful performances", and the storyline won a Mental Health Media Award in September 2006. Prior to the airing of this storyline, Stacey was portrayed as a "hateful tearaway", but it has been commented that the episodes allowed the audience to see a softer side to the character, while caring for her mentally disturbed mother.
Romance with Bradley
In 2006, scriptwriters decided to pair Stacey with a new character, Bradley Branning, played by
Charlie ClementsCharlie Clements is an English actor, who has played the role of Bradley Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since January 2006. He has won several soap and magazine awards for his performance.Clements was born in Sidcup, London...
. Mismatched, one reporter commented, "geeky...goody-twoshoes Bradley doesn't seem like the type of lad she would normally go for", however they added that the couple "may be chalk and cheese, but with [Stacey's] history of emotional turmoil, [Bradley] is probably just the stabilising influence she needs." The couple were hailed as the nearest thing Walford had to
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
. Explaining the characters' attraction, scriptwriter
Sarah PhelpsSarah Phelps is a British television, radio, film and freelance playwright who was working for the Royal Shakespeare Company when she took part in a BBC initiative to find new writers...
has said, "Bradley's gentleness makes Stacey a little bit gentler, and Stacey's toughness makes Bradley a little bit tougher." Discussing the union between her character and Bradley, Turner has said, "I love working with Charlie — he's such a laugh. They're such different characters. It's nice, because it's not what anyone expected for her. Stacey doesn't want to rush it because he's the first person she's ever really cared about. If she's had boyfriends before, it's been all over after a week."
The couple were shown to face problems in August 2006, when Stacey declared she was pregnant with Bradley's child, and on the advice of his father,
MaxMax Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Creation and development:...
(
Jake WoodJake Dylan Wood is an English actor, best known in the United Kingdom for playing Max Branning on "EastEnders". He is the current voice of the GEICO gecko.His first acting role was in the 1985 film Flesh & Blood...
), Bradley convinced Stacey to have an abortion; an episode that Jane Simon of
The Mirror has described as "incredibly powerful" and "brilliantly played by Lacey Turner every horrible step of the way". Scriptwriter Sarah Phelps has described Stacey's abortion as "a dagger in [her] heart [...] Stacey thought that if this is what [Bradley] really wants [...] 'OK I'll go through with it', but she really didn't want to. He broke her heart." Bradley and Stacey were shown to grow steadily apart after this, as Bradley invested time in a new job he acquired in city bank, neglecting Stacey's needs and ignoring her depression over her lost baby. When Bradley purposefully excluded Stacey from a work function, she showed up anyway and humiliated him in front of his colleagues. In scenes shown directly after, Bradley dumped Stacey, declaring that the reason that he wanted to abort their baby was because he could not bear the idea of bringing up a child with Stacey. The end of Stacey and Bradley's relationship facilitated a plot twist that saw Stacey seducing Bradley's father Max. In episodes that aired on Christmas Day 2006, Stacey slept with Max as payback for Bradley's mistreatment. A BBC insider commented, "Stacey likes the idea that even if Bradley doesn't want her, his dad does."
Bipolar disorder
After losing her friend
Danielle JonesDanielle Jones is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lauren Crace. The character appeared between 18 August 2008 and 3 April 2009. Crace's casting in the role was announced in July 2008, when she was described as a love interest for fellow new character Callum Monks...
, Stacey began acting strangely in May 2009, and the character has to come to terms with the prospect that, like her mother, she also suffers from bipolar disorder. The storyline was developed as of the BBC's Headroom campaign, which aims to encourage people to look after their mental wellbeing. Series Consultant
Simon AshdownSimon Ashdown is a British television writer, best known as being a BAFTA award-winning EastEnders writer.Simon has written for EastEnders for around ten years, and was involved in writing storylines for the Slater family. He along with other writers actually wrote the characters around the actors...
had been developing the storyline for about a year. To accurately reflect the issue,
EastEnders worked closely with various charities such as
MindMind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. Founded in 1946, it celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006....
and
MDF The BiPolar OrganisationMDF The Bipolar Organisation was established in 1983 to enable people affected by bipolar disorder to take control of their lives. They are unique in being the only organisation specialising in support for bipolar disorder and are one of the largest user-led organisations in the mental health...
, medical practitioners and bipolar sufferers when researching the storyline. The story was moulded around what Stacey would do in that situation and what the research led the team to believe was the most truthful way events would develop. Executive producer
Diederick SanterDiederick Santer is a British television producer and is currently the Executive Producer of the popular BBC television soap opera EastEnders, with additional responsibility for developing younger skewing drama series and serials...
said that the initial buildup of the storyline was an extension of how the character has always been, "a character of highs and lows, of great passions and dark moods," but these highs and lows would become more contrasted, and viewers would realise that Stacey's mood is more complex than just being upset over her losses, adding, "It's the beginning of us getting to really know and understand who Stacey is and what makes her behave the way she does." Turner hoped that she could do the storyline justice, saying that she believed it was great that
EastEnders continued to raise awareness of the issue.
The first signs of Stacey's odd behavior were quite subtle, eventually building up into more extreme acts. One of the first signs of Stacey's odd behaviour was her
paranoiaParanoia is a thought process heavily influenced by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. In the original Greek, παράνοια simply means madness...
over a poster for a fictitious video game,
Deprivation, featuring two large eyes on a black background. Ashdown got the idea for this from his research notes, saying, "There were similar sorts of images described by bipolar sufferers when they were experiencing extreme paranoia." In the episode broadcast on Friday 15 May 2009, every shot was either of Stacey or from her point of view, allowing viewers to see the world through her eyes.
Mind's Chief Executive, Paul Farmer, commented on the storyline, "It's fantastic that a high-profile soap like
EastEnders has been prepared to tackle the challenge of exploring a mental health issue through the experience of Stacey — who is such a well-loved and popular character. The degree of research and consultancy they have undertaken to ensure an accurate and honest portrayal of how mental distress affects not only the individual but also family and friends is to be commended. [...] We hope [...] to dispel the myths about mental health problems and help the public to be more informed about this issue."
Backstory
Stacey had a troubled childhood due to her mother
JeanJean Slater is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gillian Wright. She appeared in December 2004 briefly and in December 2005...
's
bipolar disorderBipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a serious mental disorder that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if...
, and the death of her father, Brian, when she was 11. Stacey struggled to cope with the suicidal and erratic behaviour resulting from Jean's mental illness. For a long time, the care of Jean was left solely to her, as her older brother
SeanSean Slater is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Robert Kazinsky. Sean left the Square temporarily on 27 March 2007, as Kazinsky was suspended from work for two months. He returned on 28 May 2007...
had disappeared from their lives, unable to cope with Jean's condition.
2004–2007
15 year old Stacey arrives in
Albert SquareAlbert Square is the fictional location of the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in the East End, and was given the name Albert Square...
in November 2004 to live with her extended family as her mother has thrown her out. Stacey is troublesome: she tries to seduce her cousin's husband
Garry HobbsGarry Pelé Hobbs is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ricky Groves. He made his first appearance on 18 September 2000...
; sleeps with
Spencer MoonSpencer Moon is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Christopher Parker.Spencer tried to carve an identity for himself in Albert Square but, unfortunately, no one took him seriously. He was a bit naïve and trusting, and his dalliances with the women of...
, then blackmails him; leads the much younger
Lucy BealeLucy Katherine Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Eva Brittin-Snell from 1993 to 1996, Casey Anne Rothery from 1996 until 2004, and Melissa Suffield from 2004 onwards. Lucy was introduced in December 1993 as the newborn baby of characters Ian and Cindy...
astray; steals from her employers,
the TruemansPatrick Neville Loftus Alfonso Trueman is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Rudolph Walker...
; and gives her cousin
ZoeZoe Slater is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Ryan.-Storylines:Zoe arrives in Walford with her family, presumed father Charlie , sisters Kat , Lynne and Little Mo , and grandmother Mo , in September 2000...
and
Chrissie WattsChristine "Chrissie" Watts is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tracy-Ann Oberman.She is perhaps best known for killing the character of Den Watts , her husband, in an episode that was watched by 14.34 million British TV viewers...
a false alibi for the murder of
Den WattsDennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well-known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
.
However, she eventually settles down, taking over Zoe's clothing stall on Bridge Street market, bonding with her mother and brother, who both since joined her in Walford, and forming a close friendship with
Ruby AllenRuby Allen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Louisa Lytton. Her first appearance was on 18 March 2005 and her last was on 23 November 2006...
. Stacey is initially unimpressed by
Bradley BranningBradley Branning is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Charlie Clements. He made his first appearance on screen on 24 January 2006.-Creation:...
, who moves to Walford in January 2006. Their first night out together ends in disaster after
Deano WicksDean "Deano" Wicks is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders played by Matt Di Angelo. He made his first appearance on 2 January 2006. It was announced on 18 August 2007 that the characters of Deano and his sister Carly were being axed by executive producer Diederick Santer...
drugs Stacey's drink, and she has Bradley wrongfully arrested for assault. Truth prevails, and in time, a romance develops. Stacey falls in love with Bradley; however, their relationship hits a setback when she falls pregnant. She wants to keep the baby, but Bradley has doubts, exacerbated by the disapproval of his father,
MaxMax Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Creation and development:...
. On Max's advice, Bradley persuades Stacey to have an
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
. However, she feels disgusted with herself afterwards and a rift forms between her and Bradley. When Bradley opts to exclude a depressed Stacey from a work party, she reacts with fury, turning up drunk and embarrassing him. Furious, he finishes with her, leaving her to be comforted by his father. Unable to resist her attempts to seduce him to get revenge on Bradley, Max sleeps with her on Christmas Day 2006, beginning an affair.
Stacey and Max's affair continues into 2007, unbeknown to Bradley and Max's wife
TanyaTanya Branning is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jo Joyner. She made her first appearance on 27 June 2006, and will take a break from the show in December 2009 onwards while Joyner is on maternity leave...
, though they are nearly caught out on several occasions. What begins as lust develops into something more serious. Stacey begins to make greater demands on Max, ordering him to leave his wife. Max claims to love Stacey and agrees, however, when Tanya announces she is pregnant, Max abandons his plans to leave her. Amidst threats that Stacey will tell Tanya the truth, Max flees with his family to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
Heartbroken, Stacey retaliates by having a
one-night standOriginally, a one-night stand referred to a single night theatre performance, usually by a guest group on tour. Today, however, the term is more commonly understood as a single sexual encounter between individuals, where neither individual has any immediate intention or expectation of establishing...
with Deano, and she reunites with Bradley after he confesses he still loves her. Bradley proposes and Stacey accepts. When Max returns, he is horrified, but Stacey is no longer interested; all his attempts to split Bradley and Stacey up fail. When Sean discovers the affair, he tries stop the wedding, refusing to believe Stacey truly loves Bradley. Sean then beats up Max. Stacey remains adamant, but when the time comes, she is unable to say "I do"; she flees, admitting to Sean that she is unsure if she can live with the guilt of sleeping with her husband's father. In the end, Bradley persuades her to continue with the ceremony, promising that he does not care about her secret past, and they marry. Max cannot give Stacey up; while she is changing out of her wedding dress, he propositions her once again; they kiss before Stacey remembers herself and pulls away. Unknown to them, their encounter is being recorded on camera hidden by Max's daughter
LaurenLauren Branning is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Madeline Duggan. She first appeared on the show on 3 July 2006.-Creation and development:...
.
Feeling neglected by her father, Lauren gives a copy of the recording to Bradley. On Christmas Day 2007, Bradley plays it in front of his entire family and chaos erupts. After being slapped by Tanya and shunned by most of her friends and family, Stacey attempts to apologise and explain the affair to Bradley, telling him she loves him and not Max; however, he is unable to cope with the thought of his wife and father sleeping together. Devastated, he smashes up their flat in a fit of rage, throws Stacey out and leaves Walford.
2008—
Stacey grows depressed. At R&R nightclub she gets drunk, then collapses on the dance floor after taking
liquid ecstasyMDMA is a psychoactive amphetamine drug with entactogenic, psychedelic, and stimulant effects....
. The experience forces her to reevaluate her life. She tries to win Bradley back, but he turns her down, saying he still loves her but cannot trust her. Stacey begins to depend on her friend
Steven BealeSteven Peter Beale is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Edward Farrell from 1989 to 1990, Stuart Stevens from 1992 to 1996, Edward Savage from 1997 to 2002, and Aaron Sidwell from 2007 to 2008...
for support and they eventually begin a relationship. Unknown to Stacey, Steven is fighting homosexual urges, and when
Christian ClarkeChristian Clarke is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by John Partridge.. He made his first appearance on 17 January 2008.-Creation:...
informs her that Steven has kissed him, she dumps him.
In June 2008, Bradley and Stacey reunite. Bradley is keen for them to have a baby, but Stacey remains uncertain and continues taking the contraceptive pill. In September, Stacey, furious about Bradley accepting money from Max, kisses
Callum MonksCallum Monks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elliott Jordan. He made his first appearance on 18 August 2008. It was reported on 20 January 2009 that the character was to depart from the series in March 2009....
. She regrets it and tries to make her marriage work, but eventually admits to Bradley that they are over. They split and Stacey and Callum sleep together, beginning an on/off relationship. Callum will not accept her mother's mental illness however, so their relationship ends.
Stacey begins behaving erratically in 2009 following the death of her friend
Danielle JonesDanielle Jones is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lauren Crace. The character appeared between 18 August 2008 and 3 April 2009. Crace's casting in the role was announced in July 2008, when she was described as a love interest for fellow new character Callum Monks...
; she steals money from her family and attempts to seduce various men, while drinking heavily. She ends up losing her stall and smashing her bedroom window. Jean tries to calm her down, and tells her she has bipolar disorder. Refusing to believe this, Stacey disappears for several weeks and when she returns she has dyed her hair blonde and is covered in cuts and grazes. Stacey is despondent and she is upset further when Bradley asks for a divorce. However, she eventually signs her divorce papers. She becomes obsessed with finding out who Max is seeing, unaware that it is Tanya. She accuses
Whitney DeanWhitney Dean is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Shona McGarty. The character is the adoptive daughter of long-running character Bianca Jackson , and was introduced in April 2008 when Palmer returned to the series after a six year absence...
of having an affair with him, which leaves Whitney devastated. She talks to Max, saying they're now best friends, and Max says he's not seeing anyone. Stacey believes he wants her back, but when she takes a present to Tanya, Max is there. She gets angry, telling him that he lied, and Tanya pushes her onto the floor, causing her eyebrow to bleed. She is then taken to the hospital where she talks with a counsellor and she tells him sometimes she thinks she is ill. Jean arrives and tells Stacey she will look after her. This alarms Stacey and she leaves the hospital. At home she again denies that anything is wrong.
Stacey tries to keep her illness from Bradley, but eventually he finds out and says he wishes he could have been there for her, even though he is now seeing Syd Chambers. She then stops taking her medication, and a few days later Bradley receives the decree absolut to say that his marriage to Stacey is officially over, but fearing the news will worsen the situation, Jean decides not to tell Stacey. Stacey enters a talent show at The Queen Victoria, where she gives a rambling speech, but is chatted up by
Ryan MalloyRyan Malloy is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Neil McDermott. His character remained a mystery in the show for a number of months until he was revealed as the half brother of established character Whitney Dean .-Creation and development:Ryan was introduced to...
and they sleep together. Stacey begins acting strangely again, suffering from paranoia, and loses her market stall to Ryan. Jean realises that Stacey is not taking her medication and tries to get her to see
Doctor Al JenkinsDoctor Al Jenkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Croasdell.-Creation:Introduced in May 2009 by executive producer Diederick Santer, Al Jenkins follows on from Doctors Harold Legg , Fred Fonseca , Anthony Trueman , Oliver Cousins and May Wright as the...
but Stacey lies that she has been to see him, and Jean later discovers that she did not go. When Stacey hears Jordan Johnson telling Ryan his mother Trina died, she believes that Ryan killed her. She visits Jordan's father,
LucasLucas Johnson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Don Gilet. He made his first on-screen appearance on 3 April 2008.Lucas is the father of Chelsea Fox, and walked out on her and her mother Denise when Chelsea was a baby...
and says that Ryan killed Trina, but Lucas tells her she was not murdered. Stacey leaves, but later turns up at Trina's funeral expecting Ryan to be there. She thinks she hears a noise from the coffin and jumps into the grave to open the coffin, screaming for help. When nobody helps her, she shouts that they are all in on it and runs home. A few days later she starts having hallucinations of the daughter she aborted. She starts to believe Ryan and
Archie MitchellArchibald Lionel "Archie" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Larry Lamb.The character of Archie is the father of already established characters Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell , and a member of the Mitchell family, who have appeared in the soap since 1990...
are planning to kill her, and hides away at home. Max convinces her to come to Bradley's leaving party, where she attacks Archie with a broken glass and accuses everyone at the party, including her mother, of planning to hurt her. She shouts at Jean that she has not taken her pills for three weeks, and Jean runs to see the doctor, telling him Stacey needs to be sectioned immediately. Stacey sits at home in the dark when Jean comes home. She tries to convince Stacey to take her medication, but Stacey starts to take all the pills she has saved up, however, Jean gets her to induce vomiting. Stacey says she wants to leave, but the doctor has told Jean to make sure Stacey stays in the house. Stacey tells Jean she has seen her father, and she decides she must apologise to Bradley. She leaves and while at Bradley's house, Syd tells her she and Bradley are divorced. Stacey is devastated and returns home, where Doctor Jenkins, two of his colleagues and two police officers are waiting. She says she is fine and that she will take her medication, but the doctor and Jean both say it is for the best that she goes to hospital. Stacey threatens everyone with a lamp and, in order to escape, throws it at a policeman standing in the doorway. She escapes from the house after biting the same policeman's hand after he attempts again to stop her leaving, and falls to the ground outside. The police officers restrain her while she screams at Bradley for help. She is taken away in a police car, leaving Jean standing in the Square, distraught.
Reception
In 2007,
Jim ShelleyJim Shelley is a British television critic who writes a column for the Daily Mirror each Monday entitled Shelleyvision. Prior to writing for the Daily Mirror he wrote for The Guardian and his collection of reviews "Interference: Tapehead vs...
, television critic for the
Daily Mirror, commented that Stacey "has been EastEnders best character since she arrived...". In 2009, Shelley criticised the writers for her bi-polar storyline, as he said it "reduces her to an Issue", saying, "Making Stacey bi-polar does Turner a terrible disservice. Until now, she had made Stacey the only character in the series who was multi-dimensional." Kris Green from entertainment website
Digital SpyDigital Spy is a British entertainment and media website, noted for its forums. According to comScore figures, it is the fourth largest British entertainment website with 2.1 million unique users on its news site...
responded to Shelley's 2009 article by saying "With hereditary connections and strong environmental conditions linked to the advancement of bipolar disorder, it's not surprising that Stacey, the daughter of Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) — a long-suffering manic depressive — has developed the same disorder. [...] Granted, the 21-year-old shoulders a fair whack of the programme, but this material is pushing her acting abilities to unseen levels. Lacey's one of the BBC soap's finest actresses and to be handed a story with scenes as powerful as those in last Tuesday's episode must be nothing short of a privilege. The subject matter, however, may be difficult and the portrayal of the condition quite probably more so. It's a given that Stacey's a superb specimen and one of the best female characters in soapland, but quite how the plot is doing the actress a disservice, I'll never know."
Turner has won multiple awards for her portrayal of Stacey: in 2005, she won best newcomer at the TV Quick Awards, and in 2006 she was awarded best actress at the British Soap Awards.