Nellie Ellis

Nellie Ellis
Nellie Ellis
Nellie Ellis.jpg
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Elizabeth Kelly
Introduced by Leonard Lewis
Duration 1993–98, 2000
First appearance 23 December 1993
Last appearance 18 September 2000
Classification Former; regular
Profile
Occupation Retired

Nellie Ellis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Kelly.[1] Nellie was introduced as the interfering relative of Pauline Fowler in 1993 and appeared regularly until 1998. She made a further guest appearance in 2000 for the funeral of Ethel Skinner.

Contents

Storylines

Nellie, the second cousin of Lou Beale, first appeared in Walford in December 1993 for the funeral of Pete Beale. When she fell and broke her hip the following month, Lou's daughter Pauline allowed her to move in with her family so she could be cared for until she was better. Not wanting to live alone in Ilford, Nellie manipulated Pauline via emotional blackmail and a monetary loan, so she could remain living with the Fowlers; Pauline felt obliged to allow it.[2]

Nellie knew Ethel Skinner, and the two would go drinking together but had little in common and they usually ended up squabbling. She befriended the much younger Cindy Beale and David Wicks; the latter only began spending time with her and she would invest money into his car business. She also had a cat named Mandoo, who was found dead under schizophrenic Joe Wicks' bed.

She was often seen criticising Pauline's husband Arthur, who tried in vain to get her to move out. Nellie's husband had left her for a woman named Doreen, and because Arthur had cheated on Pauline, she resented him. For forty years, Nellie had not given her husband George a divorce and he'd never asked for one. He died in November 1994, and Nellie went to his funeral, resulting in some conflict with George's daughter. Before Nellie returned to Walford, she and Doreen managed to find closure and she also sorted out her differences with Arthur. Following this, Nellie decided that she would move out of the Fowlers' house, in order to give them space to rebuild their marriage. She briefly moved in with pensioner Jules Tavernier, but despite flirtations the relationship remained platonic. When Jules started getting back pains from sleeping on his sofa (Nellie had his bed), Nellie attempted to manipulate the Fowlers into letting her return by pretending that she'd had various accidents to gain sympathy. This almost worked, until Michelle Fowler managed to get Nellie residence in sheltered accommodation alongside Ethel, much to Nellie's chagrin. Following this Nellie would show up sporadically in Walford for visits. She attended Ethel's funeral in 2000, and sent a wreath to Pauline's funeral in 2007 but did not attend.

Creation and development

Nellie, played by Elizabeth Kelly, was one of two characters introduced by Executive Producer Leonard Lewis in December 1993, the other being David Wicks (Michael French).[3] They were the beginning of an array of new characters introduced to accommodate the advent of EastEnders' screening of three weekly episodes, early in 1994.[3] Nellie was introduced as the relative of Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard), and made a brief appearance for Pete Beale's (Peter Dean) funeral, before moving to the soap's setting of Albert Square in 1994.[4] Nellie resided with the Fowlers and her primary purpose initially was to antagonise Pauline's husband Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher).[3][5] Writer Colin Brake has suggested that Arthur found Nellie to be an "interfering old lady", reminiscent of Pauline's deceased mother Lou Beale (Anna Wing) "at her worst".[3]

Nellie has been described as a "pantomime baddie".[6] Her name preceded her in the soap before her initial appearance as she was frequently used as an excuse for Pauline to leave the soap's setting to visit her.[7] Author Kate Lock described Nellie as stingy and an interfering old busybody.[7] She stated, "When stingy Nellie wasn't giving Arthur grief, she was flirting in a button-up sort of way with Jules Tavernier."[7]

On-screen Nellie remained living with the Fowlers until she was rehoused late in 1994. Following this, Nellie appeared sporadically as a semi-regular character until 1998. She and several of the other semi-regular pensioner characters, including Ethel and Jules, were not used throughout the tenure of executive producer Matthew Robinson (1998–2000). However, Nellie returned under executive producer John Yorke for a one-off appearance in September 2000 for Ethel's funeral, which was her last appearance to date.

Reception

In 2003, a reporter suggested that the storyline concerning Nellie's problematic rehousing in 1994 was tedious and "was probably then that the nation realised that its favourite soap had finally run out of entertaining and original storylines."[8]

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ellis — is a first name and surname, and may refer to many people:* see Ellis (singer songwriter) for the musician who performs under this single name. * see Ellis Paul for the musician. A* Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series… …   Wikipedia

  • Earl Hancock Ellis — Infobox Military Person name=Earl Hancock Ellis caption= born= birth date|1880|12|19 died= death date and age|1923|5|12|1880|12|19 placeofbirth=Iuka, Kansas placeofdeath=Palau, Caroline Islands nickname= Pete allegiance= United States of America… …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders characters (1994) — The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1994, by order of first appearance. Contents 1 Natalie Evans 2 Carmen 3 Della Alexander …   Wikipedia

  • List of minor EastEnders characters (1994) — The following is a list of minor characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1994, by order of first appearance.CarmenInfobox EastEnders character character name=Carmen actor name=Amanda Holden years=1994 first=8 February… …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders characters (1993) — The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1993, by order of first appearance. Contents 1 Danny Taurus 2 Rose Chapman 3 Aidan Brosnan …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders characters (2009) — EastEnders is a long running BBC soap opera from the United Kingdom. This is a list of characters who first appeared on the programme during 2009, listed in order of their first appearance. They were all introduced by the show s executive… …   Wikipedia

  • Joe Wicks — Infobox EastEnders character 2 character name=Joe Wicks actor name=Paul Nicholls years=1996–1997 first=25 March 1996 last=14 November 1997 dob=26 August 1980 status=Single occupation= family= Beale family father = David Wicks mother = Lorraine… …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders spin-off characters — The following is a list of fictional characters that appeared in televised spin offs of the BBC soap opera EastEnders .= Civvy Street =Albert BealeInfobox EastEnders character 3 character name=Albert Beale actor name=Gary Olsen spinoffs= Civvy… …   Wikipedia

  • Chelsea Fox — EastEnders character Portrayed by Tiana Benjamin Introduced by Kate Harwood Duration 2006–10 First  …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders characters (2006) — The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2006, by order of first appearance. Contents 1 Deano Wicks 2 Marie Matthews 3 Bradley Branning …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”