Nellie Ellis

Nellie Ellis
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
Family Husband George Ellis Other relatives Lou Beale Pauline Fowler

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.

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

1. ^ "Tributes to EastEnder Wendy Richard". Scarborough Evening News. 27 February 2009. 
2. ^ "Arthur Fowler.. that was your life". Daily Record. 21 May 1996. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Arthur+Fowler..+that+was+your+life%3b+GONE+WEST%3a+the+old+EastEnders...-a061261378. Retrieved 2010-04-03. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Brake, Colin (1995). EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-37057-2. 
4. ^ Munroe, Josephine (1994). The EastEnders Programme Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-86369-825-5. 
5. ^ "Arthur Fowler". Daily Mirror. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Arthur+Fowler..+that+was+your+life%3b+GONE+WEST%3a+the+old+EastEnders...-a061261378. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
6. ^ "Features". Daily Mirror. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fiona+Webster.-a061331948. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} Lock, Kate (2000). EastEnders Who's Who. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-55178-X. 
8. ^ "EastEnders gives Daz dirty laundry surprise second public airing". Campaign. 30 March 2003. http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/181547/DIARY-EastEnders-gives-Daz-dirty-laundry-surprise-second-public-airing/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH. Retrieved 2010-12-22.