Stella Crawford
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| EastEnders character | |
|---|---|
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| Stella Crawford | |
| Portrayed by | Sophie Thompson |
| Duration | 2006— |
| First appearance | 7 September 2006 |
| Marital status | In a relationship |
| Home | The Queen Vic |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Stella Crawford is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is played by Sophie Thompson.
Contents |
[edit] Character creation
Stella was created solely as a love interest for the character Phil Mitchell. When Steve McFadden, who plays Phil, returned to the show in October 2005, a story conference was held between the show's producers, who decided that his relationship with his son Ben would take priority over any new love interests. Another story conference was held in February 2006, where it was decided to introduce a new love interest. EastEnders' series story producer, Brigie de Courcy, said; "To create her, we took all of Phil's past lovers and came up with somebody completely different from them!"[1] Producers created a "wish list" of actresses they wanted to see. The EastEnders casting director offered the role to Sophie Thompson, who accepted. Producers were so excited that the whole office cheered when they found out that Thompson had accepted the role.[1] Thompson has said of the role that "joining EastEnders is a bit like being welcomed into a really special playground that you never thought you had the chance to play in and you are rather in awe of all the kids, but very excited."[2]
[edit] Storylines
Stella is the new lawyer of local business owner Phil Mitchell, and works alongside Ritchie Scott. Stella first appeared in September 2006 to make arrangements for Phil to buy Walford Video, the local video shop.
On 13 November, Phil needed some papers from Stella, but when she arrived at The Arches, Phil's garage, she discovered that she had left them at home. Phil sacked Stella and insulted her. Stella retaliated, saying that she wouldn't be spoken to like that.
Her car then broke down outside The Arches, and Phil told her he'd get one of his mechanics to fix it, and gave Stella a lift home. She had locked herself out, so Phil had to break the door down. She revealed that her decree absolute had come in the post that morning, and cried. Phil said he would fix the door while she found his papers. He finished his work and found Stella asleep on her sofa with the papers in her hand. He took the papers and left.
The next day, Stella arrived at Phil's pub, The Queen Victoria, to thank him for helping her out. She helped him clean up the mess his son, Ben, had made with his friend Abi Branning, whilst making an ant farm. Before Stella left, she and Phil shared a brief kiss.
They soon began dating, but Phil's former step-son, Ian Beale, warned Stella about Phil, telling her about his previous relationships. Stella tried to avoid Phil, but he tracked her down and they started dating again. On 23 November, they were out on a date, and Phil had kept his mobile phone with him in case Ben wanted to speak to him. Phil was in the toilet when Ben phoned, and Stella answered the phone. She told Ben she couldn't wait to meet him, but Ben called her a stupid, ugly cow and told her to leave them alone. She then left the restaurant as soon as Phil returned.
However, Phil later took Ben around to Stella's flat so that the two could meet; Ben seemed determined not to get along with Stella, but after he spilled his drink and Stella kindly made no fuss of it, he failed to warm to her.
Later, Stella moved in with Phil angering Ben even more. One day Ben tricked Stella into going to the shops. When Stella left, Ben raised the temperature on the oven causing a fire. When Stella returned she was blamed and Phil broke up with her. However, Phil realised Ben was behind the fire and Stella moved back into The Queen Vic with them. Ben later tried to delete the work on Stella's computer but he was caught in the act by Stella who then told Ben they should just be friends.
On 23 February, Stella treated Ben to a day at the London Dungeon, in an attempt to bond with him. Everything was going well and Ben apoligised for the pranks he had pulled on her in the past. Stella and Ben made up and carried on with their day, until Ben entered the house of mirrors and got lost. He called for Stella but she was nowhere to be seen, so he started to panic. Stella was hiding from Ben behind a wall, knowing that this prank would show Ben that she was the one in power, and allow them to bond further. She then came to him after a short while and when they returned home they promised not to speak of what happened.
Ben later told his friend Abi about what had happened at the London Dungeon, and she brought it up in front of Stella and Phil. The next day, Stella offered to look after Ben as he was off school with a stomach ache. She helped him make a Mothers' Day card for his grandmother Peggy. Stella then warned Ben about Abi, saying she was jealous of him and didn't really want to be his friend, but was trying to turn him against Stella. Ben believed Stella and he soon fell out with Abi, after Stella accused Abi of tearing the card, although Stella had done this herself. After this Stella showed a nasty side to her personality. When Ben apologised to Stella for the way he had behaved in the past, whilst in the kitchen, she proceeded to press a boiling hot spoon onto the back of his hand, causing him to cry, saying "Just a joke, silly... go on, do it back!". On 26 March, Ben hid his hearing aid in order to get a day off school. However, Phil made him go to school without it, and Stella found it during the day, dropping it in a cup of tea, breaking it, and muttering that Ben was a "little freak". When Ben was threatened by bullies at school and wet himself, Stella told him this would upset his father, and told him she would keep it from Phil if Ben showed him that he was happy all the time, thus keeping up the pretence that Stella and Ben were firm friends. The next day, Stella told Ben to stick up for himself to the bullies. He kicked the main bully, Joseph, as Stella watched, and Joseph proceeded to attack Ben. Stella remained at the gate, watching as Ben was beaten up. She then sounded the horn of her car, scaring the bullies off. She then went over to Ben, who said "you said you'd be there for me". Stella replied "it just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything people tell you. Now GET UP!"
[edit] References
- ^ a b "The story of a kiss!", Inside Soap, Issue 45, 11 November 2006.
- ^ "Sophie Thompson joins the cast" BBC. URL last accessed 2006-09-24
