Ruth Pearce

Ruth Pearce is a fictional character in the soap opera Doctors. She is played by Selina Chilton and made her first appearance on 18 April 2008. Ruth left the practice, and country, on 17 December 2010, but last appeared on 4 January 2011.

Storylines

Ruth made her first appearance in April 2008 as the receptionist at the Campus Surgery at the University of Letherbridge. The Mill Practice Manager, Julia Parsons was impressed with Ruth's attitude and determination to stick with the job when it became clear that the rest of the campus staff were beginning to abandon their posts. She has since been taken on full-time by Julia and can sometimes be seen at The Mill. She is known for her past mental health problems and for becoming over involved in the problems of other members of staff and patients. When she was experiencing the height of her mental health problems she alienated her colleagues Michelle and Daniel, Michelle Corrigan by pretending to be her and eventually nearly killing a patient whilst believing she was a nurse; and Daniel Granger by telling the mother of his child about his unsavoury past. Ruth became close friends with her colleague Michelle Corrigan. Michelle was there for Ruth when she was subjected to the abusive bullying of her ex-boyfriend and helped her to become more confident and strong enough to leave him for good.

Ruth began to show signs of mental illness and hearing voices when she started to believe she was to blame for the death of her twin sister Vicky who was stillborn. This, plus the fact that her mother blamed her for the death and for being the 'stronger twin' was a major contributing factor to Ruth's declining mental health into adulthood. Whilst ill, Ruth started a relationship with her friend Michelle's half brother, Adam, (with whom Michelle had briefly had a relationship, not knowing that they were related) who did not know she was ill, or that she worked with Michelle. She led him to believe that she was a nurse. The relationship came to light when Michelle discovered that Ruth had impersonated her on a number of occasions. For this and other issues, Ruth was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Michelle was very angry with Ruth and vowed never to speak to her again, despite being told that it was because of Ruth's condition rather than malice.

Ruth's mental health problems and her road to recovery were well documented and showed Ruth's recovery from her illness at The Beeches treatment centre where she met a friend 'Smithy'. Once it was deemed that Ruth was well enough to be discharged, she initially went to live with her estranged father who then abandoned her and eventually with Julia Parsons. Here she recovered well from her illness and soon began working at The Mill again despite a great deal of hostility from some members of staff who feared her because she was 'crazy'. This soon passed when Ruth proved that despite her mental health condition she was still able to do her job well. She and Michelle became friends again once Michelle understood the condition better, after becoming depressed and abusing alcohol herself.

Ruth soon moved out of Julia's and into her own flat, where she lived independently until Smithy returned in April 2010 - he quickly moved in with her after being discharged from The Beeches but he wasn't allowed home to his parents. It soon became clear he was not taking his medication and after a standoff on a roof, Smithy was once again detained for his own safety under the Mental Health Act. She started to show signs of a possessive nature towards Michelle, fearful of losing her friend and being on her own. In September 2008, Michelle began seeing new Practice Nurse, Mike Kelsey. As the couple began to get closer, Ruth was starting to feel left out. In order to stay close with Michelle, Ruth started to flirt with Mike when Michelle was watching in order to make her think he was capable of cheating. Mike and Michelle eventually split up and he left The Mill for good.

Over the course of Series 10 this fear appeared to become an obsession. Eventually she began stealing items of Michelle's clothing, retelling anecdotes about nursing that Michelle had previously told to her and telling people she didn't know that she was a nurse. Ruth even tracked down Adam, Michelle's half brother and began a relationship with him. This came to a head in the final episode of the 10th series, in which Ruth's obsession appeared to take over completely as she had started to believe that she really was Michelle. At the beginning of the eleventh series Ruth was sectioned again under The Mental Health Act for being a potential danger to herself and others. Good friend and colleague Dr. Melody Bell was the doctor who recommended the sectioning after what appeared to be a psychotic break. She was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and hospitalised, with parts of episodes focusing on her experiences on the ward.

Ruth was eventually released from The Beeches. She went back home where her dad stayed with her for a few days but he couldn't cope and he left. Ruth then moved in with Julia, doing odd jobs and going to the shops for her. Ruth passed Melody's assessment and was offered her old job back, much to the disappointment of many of her colleagues, mainly Michelle. On Thursday 10 September 2009, Ruth had a relapse at the campus surgery. Dr Heston Carter took her back to Julia's house, who was away on holiday, so he stayed overnight with her. It was revealed Ruth had stopped taking her medication because she 'thought she was getting better'. Heston made sure she took her pills the next morning and she showed signs of improvement. She made the decision to leave Letherbridge and England to go and work in Boston, USA for former Letherbridge GP Dr. Joe Fenton. She left on 18 December 2010 and flew out to start her new life, leaving behind bad memories as a child and as an adult. Ruth was last seen on a web-chat with Julia Parsons talking about her new life in the States.

External links

• Ruth Pearce at BBC Doctors