| Shirley Carter | |||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Linda Henry | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Kate Harwood | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2006— | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 7 December 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | EastEnders: E20 (2010) | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1963 | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | Barmaid (2007–10) Chip shop assistant (2009–10) Ice-cream seller (2009) Club manager (since 2011) Café owner (since 2011) |
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Shirley Carter (previously Wicks) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Linda Henry. She first appeared on 7 December 2006. This is Henry's second role in EastEnders, as she previously played prostitute Lorraine Salter.
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Shirley is introduced as the estranged mother of Deano (Matt Di Angelo) and Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley), and the ex-wife of Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels). It is established that she abandoned her family while the children were young, and that her third child, Jimbo, died from cystic fibrosis in her absence. Kevin raised the surviving children with no contact from Shirley, and when she attempts to reintroduce herself in 2006, he forbids her from seeing them. She successfully makes contact in early 2007, and although Carly is hostile, Deano proves more receptive, so Shirley moves to Albert Square to be near them. She reveals to Kevin that she had several affairs while they were married, and that Carly and Deano are not his biological children. The pair have sex, but a regretful Kevin later proposes to his girlfriend, Denise Fox (Diane Parish). Shirley tells Denise about the one-night-stand, but the wedding goes ahead regardless.
Shirley gets a job as barmaid at The Queen Victoria public house. Deano turns to her for support when he is charged with perverting the course of justice, but refutes her suggestion of running away, and is imprisoned for six months. Soon thereafter, Shirley begins a relationship with Vinnie Monks (Bobby Davro), at the urging of her best friend Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison). The romance sours when Shirley discovers that he has lied to her about his financial, parental and marital status. She learns that Kevin has been selling cut-and-shut cars, and confronts him. They attempt to dispose of a stolen car together, but are involved in a crash, which kills Kevin. In the aftermath, Carly rejects her mother and leaves Walford. Deano is released from prison, but blames Shirley for all his problems and also moves away.
A friendship develops between Shirley and her boss, Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). He supports her through a breast-cancer scare, but rebuffs her when she makes romantic advances towards him. Shirley reconciles with Vinnie, but has a one-night-stand with Phil. When he rejects her in the aftermath, Shirley plans to leave Walford with Vinnie. Aware that she is in love with Phil, he leaves her behind. An alcoholic, Phil begins drinking heavily and uses Shirley for sex. She supplies him with a false alibi when he is suspected of murder, and moves in with him to help him gain custody of his daughter, Louise (Brittany Papple), which leads to them beginning a legitimate relationship. Shirley is one of several EastEnders characters to appear in the internet spin-off series EastEnders: E20. Her niece, Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny)—the daughter of Shirley's sister Tina—[1] is a main character in the first series,[2] and later appears in EastEnders itself, moving in with Shirley and Phil. Believing they have conspired against him to return Louise to her mother, Phil throws them both out. Regardless, Shirley supports him when he develops an addiction to crack cocaine, even though he has brief relationship with fellow-addict, Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks). The ordeal leads to Shirley falling out with Zsa Zsa, however they part on good terms when Zsa Zsa later moves to France.
Reunited, Shirley and Phil buy a house on the Square, and she acts as a mother figure to his son Ben (Joshua Pascoe) and ward Jay (Jamie Borthwick). Phil has an affair with his aunt Glenda (Glynis Barber), but proposes to Shirley after having a heart attack. Glenda later reveals the affair, which prompts Shirley to call the wedding off. Phil persuades her to go to the registry office with him, but in the middle of her vows, Shirley changes her mind again. She tells Phil that she wants to be with him, but cannot marry him and will leave for good if he has another affair. Phil buys Shirley the local café as a present, but is dismayed when she discovers that Phil is friends again with Rainie. Shirley offers Rainie a job in the café, but uses it as a ploy to convince Phil that Rainie is taking drugs again. After much scheming, Shirley successfully ends the friendship between Phil and Rainie. Phil starts receiving photographs of a boy and silent phone calls, and when Rainie tells Shirley that she knows about them, Shirley accuses Rainie of being behind them. Phil tells Shirley that he has told Rainie about it, and about an incident from his past when he torched the car lot in an insurance scam and killed a homeless boy. Shirley is angry that Phil told Rainie instead of her, saying she would not have been shocked. Phil continues to be contacted by the anonymous stalker, and becomes increasingly suspicious of many people. On Christmas Day, Shirley overhears Ben talking about the black envelopes in Heather's bag and confronts him, as only she, Phil, Heather and the stalker know about the envelopes. Ben admits that he was the stalker and begs Shirley not to tell Phil. Shirley tells Ben to move away after Christmas. That night, the local bed and breakfast explodes with Phil inside and he is taken to hospital after inhaling smoke. Shirley does not tell Phil that Ben was responsible, but is horrified when he is arrested for Kevin Wicks's murder as a result of a USB stick featuring a recording of a conversation Phil had about Kevin's death, that Ben sent to Kevin's wife Denise as a Christmas present.
Shirley's creation was announced in September 2006, at which time she was described as being "brassy, rough, tarty and tough-as-old-boots" by media entertainment website Digital Spy.[3] Henry, who had appeared in the serial during the early 1990s as prostitute Lorraine Salter, said: "I'm thrilled to be joining EastEnders. I'm both nervous and excited as I've watched it for many years".[4] Created as an extension of the established Wicks family,[3] Shirley's arrival was welcomed by her son, Deano. Di Angelo deemed his character "very fond" of his mother, keen to forge a relationship with her, and attributed Deano's childish characterisation to her absence during his formative years.[5] Other relatives were less enthused by her arrival: Shirley developed a rivalry with Wicks matriarch Pat (Pam St. Clement), which culminated in a physical fight and their arrest in April 2007.[6] Digital Spy's Dek Hogan highlighted a similarity between the two, and commented prior to their fight that Shirley was "so like Pat was when she first arrived it's frightening."[7]
A friendship developed between Shirley and local businessman Phil Mitchell in 2008, as she underwent a breast-cancer scare. Reluctant to seek medical help, Shirley admitted to Phil that she was afraid, and he responded with "genuine kindness".[8] Their friendship developed into romance, and Shirley was later able to save him from an addiction to crack cocaine, which Henry felt reflected the strength of their relationship. Although Shirley was wounded to discover he had been unfaithful to her, Henry explained that, regardless of the tough façade her character projected, she still loved him. She characterised Shirley as "a strong, proud woman [who] wouldn't stay with someone for [the wrong] reasons", and suggested they could survive the affair: "It will need effort to make it work and they'll never have the perfect relationship, but neither Phil nor Shirley would want a completely quiet life."[9]
Henry has been nominated for several television awards for her portrayal of Shirley. She and Fergison were nominated in the Best On-Screen Partnership category at the 2008 British Soap Awards,[10] and Digital Spy Soap Awards,[11] and for Best Double Act at the 2009 TV Times Awards.[12] Henry was shortlisted in the Best Soap Actress category at the 2009 TV Quick and TV Choice awards.[13] At the 2009 Inside Soap Awards, Shirley was nominated in the Best Bitch category.[14]
Early in Shirley's tenure, Hogan advised viewers to "rejoice in [her] wonderful nastiness".[7] He found her an "unpleasant" addition to the series, and though he commended Henry's portrayal, he hoped to see more possibility of redemption for Shirley, as "It's difficult to buy into a character that comes across as unremittingly unpleasant."[15] Hogan called her "the most convincing drunk" in the programme for twenty years, but noted, "that really doesn't make her any less annoying and her scenes are a pain in the neck to sit through."[16]
Tess Lamacraft from The Sun's Buzz magazine questioned Shirley's motivations in accepting Phil's infidelities. She could not decide whether Shirley was "stupid, desperate or just madly in love" with him.[17]
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