Charlie Buckton - Reception

Reception

For her portrayal of Charlie, Anderson has garnered various award nominations. At the 2008 Inside Soap Awards, Anderson received a nomination for "Sexiest Female". In 2010, she was nominated for "Best Daytime Star". That same year saw Anderson earn nominations for the "Most Popular Personality on Australian Television" and "Most Popular Actress" Logie Awards. 2011 saw Anderson nominated once again for "Best Daytime Star" at the Inside Soap Awards. Anderson received nominations for Most Popular TV personality and Most Popular Actress at the 2012 Logie Awards. The episode featuring Charlie's death was nominated for an Australian Writers' Guild award.

Holy Soap described the character's most memorable moment as "Locking lips with gal pal Joey". In her book Free to a Good Home, author Catherine Deveny criticised the reaction to Charlie and Joey's same sex relationship. She called the first kiss between the couple the "TV disappointment of the year" and she nicknamed the soap Homo Go Away because the scene in which the kiss featured were diluted to suit certain viewers. Of the decline in ratings during the storyline, Deveny said "Since the lesbian plotline began two weeks ago, 100,000 people have turned off. Wow! Turned off. That must be the first time the words 'lesbian' and 'turn off' have occurred in the same sentence. And all we'd seen until Tuesday was lingering touches and intense stares." Deveny then explained that she would rather let her children watch lesbians on television than Christians. She then highlighted that only mothers complained to the network about their children being exposed to a same-sex relationship during a family show, not fathers.

In September 2010, the Holy Soap website ran a poll to find viewers' favourite Home and Away couple, which Charlie and Angelo won with 45% of the vote. The website branded them as the "The Bay's criminally hot couple" and said they had been keeping viewers glued to their screens with their on/off-relationship. They later said Charlie had a "questionable taste in men". Peter Dyke, writing for British tabloid the Daily Star, branded Charlie as "Sexy" and states: "Most fellas would not mind feeling the strong arm of the law if this beauty was their local police officer." The Daily Record opined that Charlie's determination to prove Grant as a rapist was "dangerously close to an obsession." They also said that ever since Charlie and her family arrived in Summer Bay they have "created drama."

The character was negatively received by Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture and Jaci Stephen of the Daily Mail. In May 2009, Deller placed Charlie at number five on her list of worst soap opera characters segment. Deller said, "The Summer Bay cop may have lots of storylines, but the LC community don't really approve – mainly due to Esther Anderson's apparent lack of acting chops. It's like our hatred for Michelle Connor (Coronation Street) all over again, only this time with added scandalous-headline-grabbing-faux-lesbianity!" In July 2009, Deller said, "It would be easy to spend every month slagging off Charlie, because there's so much to dislike". Deller also added that Charlie's daughter is "everything Charlie isn't". Stephen wondered if Charlie is going through an early menopause as she always appears "to be in a sweat onscreen." During a storyline, which saw Charlie decide she needs a counsellor to find her self-identity, Stephen complained that it was all she seemed to mention since her "foray into lesbianism." Stephen did, however, agree that Charlie needed a counsellor. She also stated she could help by telling her; "Charlie: you're a mess." Stephen was critical of Charlie's relationship with Angelo, which she described as a "rocky road". She wanted to know how much the show could "wring out of their on/off romance" and asked if somebody could send them out to sea in a sinking boat. Following Charlie and Angelo's 2011 break up, Stephen stated that the show needs to "change the record!"

Upon seeing the beginning of Charlie's storyline with Darryl Braxton, Stephen said, "Oh, please not another Angelo – I can't go through all that again." When Charlie arrests Darryl for kissing her, Stephen quipped: "That woman will do anything to get a guy in handcuffs." All About Soap said Charlie and Darryl's chemistry was "clear for everyone to see" and wondered when she would stop hiding behind her "law-abiding facade". When Charlie and Darryl share their "steamy moment", Erin Miller of TV Week said "It was the moment we've all been waiting for." In 2012, Stephen questioned whether there was another police officer who has had "such a difficult life as Charlie". She said she transformed from "lesbian to gangster’s moll" and opined that her life continued to "spiral out of control".

Kerry Barrett and Carena Crawford of All About Soap said Charlie was both a "sexy sergeant" and the soap opera's "cutest crime fighter". They opined that getting involved with Brax was never going to end well for Charlie but did not suspect she would die. The pair concluded that while it was sad for them, they were unsure how the residents of Summer Bay would manage without Charlie.