Roxy Slater

Infobox EastEnders character 2


character_name = Roxy Slater
creator=Diederick Santer
actor_name = Rita Simons
years = 2007—
first = 24 July 2007
last =
classification=Present; regular
dob = 27 March 1978
status =Married
home = 23 Albert Square
occupation =Barmaid, Club DJ
husband = Sean Slater (2008–)
father = Archie Mitchell
mother = Glenda Mitchell
sisters = Ronnie Mitchell
stepsisters = Sam Mitchell
stepbrothers = Phil Mitchell and Grant Mitchell
nieces = Danielle Jones
grandfathers = Phil Mitchell
grandmothers = Sandra Mitchell
great grandfathers = Edward Mitchell
great grandmothers = Betty Mitchell
uncles = Eric Mitchell
Clive Mitchell
great uncles = Kenneth Mitchell
cousins = Phil Mitchell
Grant Mitchell
Sam Mitchell
1st cousin once = Ted Mitchell
Steven Mitchell
Mark Fowler Jr.
Ben Mitchell
Courtney Mitchell
Louise Mitchell
2nd cousin = Billy Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell
2nd cousin once = Jamie Mitchell
Janet Mitchell
William Mitchell

Roxanne "Roxy" Lizette Slater (née Mitchell) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera "EastEnders". She is played by Rita Simons." [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_method=full%26objectid=19084107%26siteid=89520-name_page.html The Mitchell Sisters] ", "The Daily Mirror". URL last accessed 2007-05-11.] Roxy arrived in Walford with her sister Ronnie (played by Samantha Janus) on 24 July 2007" [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a46438/samantha-janus-lands-eastenders-role.html Samantha Janus lands 'EastEnders' role] ", "Digital Spy". URL last accessed 2007-05-11.] and decided to move permanently to Walford from Ibiza where they ran a bar together. [cite news|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007170582,00.html|title= Girls alout hit Albert Square|publisher=The Sun|date=2007-04-17|accessdate=2007-04-17] Roxy is 30,cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_method=full%26objectid=18915527%26siteid=89520-name_page.html|title=Ultimate Pat Fight|publisher=The Mirror|date=2007-04-17|accessdate=2007-04-17] and the younger of the two sisters. She is described as the fire, as opposed to Ronnie's ice.

Roxy's major storylines have seen her break off her engagement with her fiancé, fall out with her sister on several occasions, and assume relationships with Jase Dyer and Sean Slater, as well as betraying Ronnie by sleeping with her on-off boyfriend, Jack Branning. The character has proved popular with viewers, with Simons winning 'Best Newcomer' award at the Digital Spy Soap Awards in 2008 for her role in the soap.It was announced on September 2008 that Roxy will give birth to her baby prematurely and the baby's life will hang in the balance. [" [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a130452/enders-roxy-in-premature-baby-plot.html#article_continue Roxy to give birth prematurely] ", Digital Spy URL last accessed 2008-09-17]

Character creation

Promotion

Both Mitchell sisters were featured heavily in a BBC marketing campaign. Several promos aired on the BBC network in summer 2007. Using the slogan "The square, under new management", one promo depicted both sisters as party girls, dancing, serving tequila in The Queen Victoria public house (The Vic), shocking the older residents with their raunchy antics and squirting men with a soda syphon to the tune of "The Girls" by Calvin Harris.cite news|url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/can_roxy_and_ronnie_save_easte.html|title=Can Roxy and Ronnie save EastEnders?|publisher=The Guardian|date=2007-08-03|accessdate=2007-12-09]

Two other trailers featured Ronnie and Roxy speaking individually. To the instrumental sound of "Little Green Bag" by George Baker (famously used in the Quentin Tarantino film "Reservoir Dogs"), each sister discussed their sibling, giving snippets of information on their personality and the dynamics of their relationship. Discussing Ronnie, Roxy said "My big sister Ronnie, she'd do anything to stop me getting hurt, including getting hurt herself. Boy she means business. We mean business. We're the Mitchell sisters after all... and you don't wanna find that out the hard way." Discussing Roxy, Ronnie said "Roxy will always be my kid sister. Fights, broken hearts, over the years we've had them all. She can be quite a handful, and she's definitely gonna stir things up around here. But remember, wherever Roxy Mitchell is... I'm right behind."

The promotion was received favourably by Leigh Holmwood, television journalist for "The Guardian" newspaper and MediaGuardian.co.uk. He commented, "now there's more to the long running BBC1 soap, apparently...Yes, it's the new sexed-up, soft focus, raunchy "EastEnders" trailer and it's hitting your TV screens now. In a bid to welcome the Mitchell sisters to Albert Square, the beeb have pulled out all the stops and come up with a very slick marketing campaign indeed." Referencing to the soap's reputation for being miserable and depressing, Holmwood said that the upbeat trailers were "about as un-"EastEnders" as you can get...Maybe the arrival of Roxy and Ronnie will herald a new golden age for the soap? Or maybe the BBC marketing department is just very good at putting a trailer together..."

In addition to the trailers, the BBC also planned a "glitzy" "EastEnders" BBC Radio 1 competition to promote the arrival on the the Mitchell sisters, called "I love R&R" (Ronnie and Roxy).cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/03/bbc.broadcasting|title=BBC scraps EastEnders contest|publisher="The Guardian"|date=2007-08-03|accessdate=2007-12-09] It ran from the end of June 2007, and included online promotion and video via the website iloverandr.com. The prize consisted of VIP tickets to a special party, which was to be attended by "EastEnders" actors and Radio 1 DJ Dave Pearce. Despite inviting the winners to attend, Radio 1 cancelled the event due to orders from BBC director general Mark Thompson, who called a halt to all BBC radio, TV and online competitions following a review of its programming, which uncovered scores of editorial breaches. [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jul/18/bbc.broadcasting|title=BBC halts phone-in contests|publisher="The Guardian"|date=2007-07-18|accessdate=2007-12-09] Radio 1 reportedly decided to cancel the promotion as a "precautionary measure", though it is unknown whether the competition breached the BBC ban. Winners were instead told that they would be getting a tour of the "EastEnders" set, and the website was closed down on 26 July 2007.

Character development and reception

Both sisters have been described as glamorous, and have been compared to the Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie. Janus has noted that it is no coincidence that the sisters are named Ronnie and Roxy. She also describes the sisters as "co-dependent and dysfunctional", as well as "chilling, dark and absolutely in touch with what the other is doing".cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=467923&in_page_id=1773|title=Meet the Mitchells: Ronnie and Roxy join cousin Phil on EastEnders|publisher="Daily Mail"|date=12 July 2007|accessdate=2007-07-13] Simons has described Roxy's insecurities, commenting: "whatever insecurities she's got, she has a shag". [cite interview | last = Simons | first = Rita| subjectlink = Rita Simons| interviewer = Jonathan Ross| program = "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross"| date = 2008-01-18 and GMTV date = 2008-08-06 Describing how real life crisises clash with work and her social life ] [cite news|url=http://www.people.co.uk/showbiz/wise/tm_method=full%26objectID=20292650%26siteID=93463-name_page.html|title=Mitchell Sisters|publisher=The People|date=2008-01-20|accessdate=2008-01-27]

Discussing the storyline which saw Roxy sleep with Ronnie's boyfriend, Jack Branning, Simons has said: "This is by far the worst Roxy has ever felt in her entire life. The guilt is absolutely killing her. I really hope the viewers sympathise with her Filming was hard and it got to the stage where she couldn't even look at Sam without crying. What she's done to Ronnie is so out of order, but if she could take it back, she would."Citation|last=Woodward|first=Kate|author-link=|publication-date=22 April 2008|date=|year=|title=Roxy's guilty secret!|periodical=Inside Soap|publication-place=England|place=|publisher=|volume=|issue=|pages=4-5|url=|doi=|oclc=|accessdate=] Making it clear that what happened between Roxy and Jack was a one-off, she stated: "There's no lingering attraction between them [...] He makes Roxy's skin crawl." Simons also considered the outcome were Ronnie to find out about the betrayal, speculating: "One thing the Mitchells are good at is sweeping things under the carpet. And these girls have been through so much together. Perhaps in time, Ronnie could find it in her heart to forgive Roxy..." She mentioned the character's relationship with friend Christian Clarke, assessing that Roxy would be "really lost without him. He's her rock".

Rita Simons won the 'Best Newcomer' award at the Digital Spy Soap Awards in 2008 for the part of Roxy and also collected an award at the Dublin awards and the TV Now awards. [cite news|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/i126521/rita-simons.html|title=Digital Spy Soap Awards 2008: Rita Simons|publisher=Digital Spy|date=2008-03-21|accessdate=2008-03-21]

torylines

Roxy Mitchell arrived in Walford with her sister Ronnie on 24 July 2007 for the wedding of her cousin Phil Mitchell. However Phil's fiancée Stella Crawford had committed suicide and when his mother Peggy suggested they go on a family holiday to visit her other son Grant, Ronnie and Roxy decided to stay on in Walford in order to run their aunt's pub, The Queen Victoria. Eventually in August 2007 Roxy was tracked down by her philandering fiancé Damian and in order to get rid of him she pretended that she was pregnant with Ian Beale's baby, but when he turned up again in October she seduced him in order to retrieve some money for Scarlet Nightclub, which she and Ronnie planned to buy and rename R&R. When he caught on to their plan Ronnie then framed him for sexual assault and he fled Walford after giving them the money they needed, which Roxy subsequently spent on a Suzuki Escudo and a Boxer puppy called Albert.

Another offer was placed on the club, so Ronnie went into a secret partnership with Jack Branning to secure its purchase, without telling Roxy. Roxy was furious when she discovered the truth. She and Ronnie fought, berating each other for past actions. Simultaneously, Ronnie became romantically involved with Jack, much to Roxy's chagrin. When Roxy saw Jack having sexual intercourse with his ex-wife, she informed Ronnie who dumped Jack, though several months later their on/off romance was reignited.

Roxy later went on to have a brief fling with Jase Dyer in November 2007, which abruptly ended when she learned that he was more interested in Dawn Swann. She soon set her sights on Sean Slater after he defended her from a drug dealer at her 30th birthday party in March 2008 and they later had sex in the cellar of The Queen Vic. Sean began using Roxy for sex on and off for several weeks and also helped her win the "Barmaid of the Year" contest, but Ronnie soon tried to end things for them when she discovered that Sean was dealing drugs. It later transpired that Roxy was a former cocaine-addict. After an explosive argument with Ronnie, Roxy got extremely drunk and in her revenge had a one-night stand with Ronnie's ex-boyfriend Jack. Shortly after accidentally running over Pat Evans, Roxy began to suffer a series of feinting spells and was horrified to discover that she was pregnant. After Ronnie discovered her sister's pregnancy she urged her to have an abortion but later relented when it was revealed that Ronnie had fallen pregnant at 14 and their father Archie Mitchell had forced her to give her daughter up for adoption. The sisters then planned to move away to Ibiza before Sean learned of the pregnancy, but after Roxy was injured in a fight between Sean and Jack Ronnie accidentally blurted out the truth. Roxy then lured Sean into thinking that they could be a proper family, before running away with Ronnie to Ibiza.

However Ronnie soon returned to Walford in search of Roxy, revealing that after an argument in Ibiza she had disappeared. It soon transpired that Roxy was living with their father Archie in Dorset, much to Ronnie's horror. Roxy was adamant that she was going to live with Archie and not return to Walford with Ronnie, but she soon changed her mind when Sean turned up and confessed that he was in love with her. As their relationship progressed Roxy moved in with Sean, much to Ronnie's chagrin. Ronnie soon tried to separate the couple by planting drugs on Sean and goading him into hitting her, which was witnessed by Roxy, but she chose to stand by Sean and they soon planned a secret wedding together. As they made their way to the register office, Ronnie was furious to discover from Mo Harris what they were up to and made her way to the ceremony in a bid to call a halt to proceedings. She stormed in just as Sean and Roxy were about to say "I do", but during an argument with Roxy she realised that she would lose her sister completely if she didn't let her make her own decisions and instead stood by her by volunteering to be her bridesmaid and pretending to be happy for her. The wedding took place on 1 August 2008 with Ronnie and Sean's mother Jean, sister Stacey and brother-in-law Bradley present. Later on they celebrated at an impromptu wedding reception held at The Queen Vic, but the proceedings were halted when Archie and Peggy turned up and announced their engagement. Shortly afterwards Sean and Roxy moved out of the Slater household and back into The Queen Vic, but Archie's constant interference began to cause strain on their marriage and led to Roxy lying about the date of her scan when Archie volunteered to be there with the couple. After the scan Sean and Roxy announced at Tony King's homecoming party in September 2008 that they were having a girl.

References

External links

*EEcharlink|roxy_m