Elizabeth Warden
| Elizabeth Warden | |||||||||
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 Liz in the very first episode in 1990 | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Josephine Tewson | ||||||||
| First appearance | 29 October 1990 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 25 December 1995 | ||||||||
| Created by | Roy Clarke | ||||||||
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| Occupation | Housewife | ||||||||
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Elizabeth Warden (née Hawksworth) is a fictional character in the British situation comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, which aired from 1990 to 1995. She is played by actress Josephine Tewson, and lives next-door to social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket. She appeared in almost every episode.
Characteristics
Liz is a friendly pushover who appreciates the difficulty Richard Bucket must have in living with her neighbour, who frequently invites Elizabeth for coffee. Liz usually gets nervous and repeatedly spills and drops things in Hyacinth's home throughout the series, especially Hyacinth's Royal Doulton cups with the hand-painted periwinkles, much to the devastation of her friend. Even the most trivial of events—such as Hyacinth raising her voice or the telephone ringing—causes Liz’s nerves to completely collapse. Hyacinth soon learns to offer her a beaker (mug), but Liz still manages to spill even that. The coffee-spilling scenario is a long-running gag of the series, providing some of the show's humour. The most spectacular scene involving the Royal Doulton is when Hyacinth manages a catch when Liz flings one of the precious periwinkle cups into the air.
She is addressed as Liz by everyone who knows her, except by Hyacinth, who usually refers to her as "Elizabeth" in full, except for a few occasions.
Unlike most, Liz sympathises with Hyacinth, fully aware that she's hated by everyone around her and is oblivious of it, and may thus be Hyacinth's only real friend. She also displays a reluctance to treat her cruelly like her brother Emmet, who relishes doing so—in a series four episode, Hyacinth tries to give the impression to Emmet that she can ride horses; fully aware she can't, Emmet persuades Hyacinth to go riding with him.
Liz has a husband, who is never seen and only mentioned a few times throughout the entire series, who works in Saudi Arabia; she also has a daughter called Gail, who is also never seen but is confirmed to be studying at university, and is in a relationship with a fellow student called Harold. Tewson revealed in interviews that Roy Clarke had not fleshed out Elizabeth's character, and did not even think about whether she had a husband until Tewson asked during Clarke's only visit to the set. Clarke responded in the affirmative to Tewson's rather vague questions about Mr. Warden, namely that he did exist and he lived abroad.
Liz is fond of Richard, calling him "rather a dear" after her brother disparages him as an "idiot". She is the comforting ear to which Richard can express the reality of Hyacinth's snobbish endeavours, which are either geared towards lifting her up the social ladder or to avoid her lower-class relatives to prevent her falling down it. Although Hyacinth always tries to divert her lower-class clan away from Liz and her brother Emmet (like she does with every other character), Hyacinth considers Liz to be a close friend; hence when Hyacinth's status is on the brink of collapse, on occasions Liz will be dragged into her neighbour's contrived plots to help prevent such results. Hyacinth may drag Liz into helping her fend off Hyacinth's lower-class relatives. While Elizabeth did actually meet Rose, Onslow, and Daisy, Hyacinth would still go to great lengths to prevent her from seeing their shabby house. Much to Hyacinth's chagrin, Liz gets on quite well with Daisy and Onslow, and although she does find Rose a trifle irritating, she is amused by her.
Liz owns a white 1988 Austin Metro, which appeared in most episodes. She is often the target of Hyacinth's tactless and unintentionally hurtful comments, mostly regarding her clothing, car and frequent coffee spillages.
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