| Carly Wicks | |||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Kellie Shirley Michaela Stephen (young) |
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| Introduced by | Kate Harwood | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2006–08 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 17 February 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 4 January 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1984 | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Mechanic | ||||||||||||||||
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Carly Wicks (previously Pappas) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kellie Shirley, and by Michaela Stephen in a home movie the Wickses watched on 23 April 2007. She made her first appearance on 17 February 2006. Carly was axed from the serial after Phil Daniels quit. Carly is characterised as a tomboy who enjoys an active sex life. One scene sparked complaints from viewers who felt it inappropriate. She is also portrayed as having a dysfunctional relationship with her mother, Shirley Carter. Carly departed on-screen on 4 January 2008, when she goes travelling, an exit storyline that Shirley felt was a fitting end to the character.
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The second child born to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), Carly was the result of an adulterous one-night stand with a man named Daniel. Shirley's husband, Kevin, forgave her infidelity and raised Carly as his own. Shirley strayed again, falling pregnant with Deano (Matt Di Angelo), and Kevin once again took on responsibility of the child. In 1989, Shirley abandoned Kevin, leaving him to raise Carly, Deano and their older brother Jimbo - who had cystic fibrosis - alone. Shirley did not contact her children again for 17 years, even when Jimbo died. Later on, Carly married a Greek Cypriot man called Nico Pappas (Gerard Monaco); however, she rebelled against the interference of her husband's family and the marriage fell apart.
Nicos split up with Carly in February 2006 after his father, Yanis (Peter Polycarpou), gave him a restaurant in Cyprus and Carly refused to go and work there. Carly moved to Walford to live with Kevin and Deano. She found employment as a mechanic at The Arches and was sponsored by her boss Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), to attend college.
Carly initially feuded with Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon). Carly publicly exposed Dawn as a liar and they brawled; however, they sorted out their differences and became close friends. Carly began a romance with Martin Fowler (James Alexandrou) in 2006, but he took the relationship more seriously than she did and she eventually ended it to begin a sexually charged relationship with Jake, which ended a week later.
Whilst the Wickses holidayed in Dorset in December 2006, Carly was unwittingly introduced to her estranged mother Shirley, and despite Kevin's best efforts, Shirley traced them to Walford in January 2007 and made herself known to Carly and Deano. Carly rejected her mother, incensed that she had abandoned her for so many years. Further animosity occurred when Carly discovered Kevin was not her biological father. She rejected Kevin, branding him a phoney. Devastated, Kevin ran away, and in his absence Carly momentarily bonded with Shirley, though it was short-lived and when Kevin returned, she reconciled with him, and was once again hostile to Shirley, spitting in her face on one occasion.
In May 2007, Carly's stepsister Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) set her up on a date with salesman Warren Stamp (Will Mellor), even though Preeti Choraria (Babita Pohoomull) had a bad experience on a prior date with him. Chelsea did this as she wanted to eliminate Carly as competition for her boyfriend Sean, who had been flirting with her. Carly was almost raped by Warren, but was rescued by Sean. Carly and Sean had sex and then began dating, and when Carly told Chelsea a feud erupted. This led to Chelsea and Deano's attempt to frame Sean for an assault on Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker). Sean was imprisoned and was only released when Carly handed stolen CCTV footage exonerating him into the police, betraying her brother and Chelsea who were arrested for perverting the course of justice. Carly's relationship with Sean ended however, when Sean arranged for Deano to be beaten up by a gang of thugs. Carly believed her family would not forgive her betrayal, so she left Walford and took a job in a gay bar. Deano fled to stay with her in October, fearing Sean and his trial the following day. Carly helped Deano face up to his responsibilities and returned to walford to support her family when Deano was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
Despite Sean's assaults on her brother, Carly briefly resumed a sexual relationship with him, but he had little interest in her as he was besotted with Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner). On New Year's Eve 2007, Carly discovered that Kevin had died in a car accident. She visited his body in the morgue and screamed, momentarily asking for support from Shirley, who was with Kevin when he died. The following day, however, Carly was incensed that Shirley had been the last face Kevin had seen before he died; she told Shirley that she wished it had been her that died instead. She rejected Shirley's further attempts to comfort her, and after Kevin's funeral in January 2008, Carly and Kevin's wife Denise left Walford to travel the world and scatter Kevin's ashes. In June 2008, Denise returned and revealed that Carly had decided to stay in Thailand. A month later, Carly sent Denise a postcard asking for Kevin's signet ring and on 29 July 2008, it was revealed that Carly was living in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. On Christmas Eve, Carly phoned Shirley to wish her a Happy Christmas.
Carly has had an active sex life in the serial, having charged scenes with Jake Moon (Joel Beckett)[2] and Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky).[3] Speaking of this she states: "It's nice for Carly to have a sex life and it's nice to be paid to kiss somebody."[3] The filming environment put pressure on Shirley and Kazinsky.
Carly's dress sense is that of a tomboy, she likes work overalls and men's boots.[3] Shirley stated that her cast mates were convinced Carly was going to have a lesbian storyline. She added: "I won't miss some of Carly's clothes. I'm like 'Who picked this out? Are you blind?' I won't miss my work boots, they're horrible. Sometimes I have to wear them with dungarees and a man's T-shirt."[3]
Carly has an estranged relationship with her mother Shirley Carter (Linda Henry). Of this, actress Shirley stated: "Shirley is still the mum she doesn't want [...] There's too much bitterness there on Carly's part. It's not that she's being deliberately cruel to Shirley. She just can't let her in. She's seen how many times Shirley's ended up disappointing Deano and she doesn't want to end up hurt like him."[4] Although Kevin is not her biological father, she sees him that way. Carly thought of him as a wonderful father and his death devastates Carly because it is unexpected.[4] Shirley states Carly feels like she has "to put on a brave face but underneath she's cracking up."[4]
When Daniels, who played Carly's father Kevin Wicks, quit the serial, producers decided to write out the rest of the Wicks family.[5] Discussing her contract failing to be renewed, Shirley stated: "It's a shame the option on my contract hasn't been picked up, but it wouldn't feel right to remain in the Square without the rest of my family."[5] In her final scenes Carly and her stepmother Denise (Diane Parish) decide to go travelling to scatter Kevin's ashes. Shirley felt her exit storyline was fitting, stating: "Kevin was desperate to travel and both Carly and Denise think it would be a fitting tribute for him if they travelled with his ashes and scattered them in the countries he so wanted to see. And Carly won't be coming back."[4] Shirley felt one good thing came out of Kevin's death - "The one positive thing that comes out of Kevin's death is that Carly and Denise get a lot closer. Denise is there for her and together they decide that Kevin would have wanted them to do this together."[4] Although Shirley was happy with her exit storyline, she had originally hoped Carly would be killed on-screen.[3]
Carly and Jake's sex scene sparked 129 complaints from viewers, with producer Kate Harwood defended the scenes stating: "The intention of the scene was to indicate the passion of a couple being carried away by the moment, but we feel any sexual activity was implied rather than explicit."[2] Kris Green of entertainment website Digital Spy enjoyed the character, stating: "The fresh faces of Deano and Carly certainly provide a breath of fresh air."[6] Lara Kilner of the Daily Mirror brands Carly a "tomboy" and "the boiler-suited, work-booted Carly".[3]
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