Kelly Taylor (East Enders) - Character Development and Reception

Character Development and Reception

The friendship between Kelly and Zoe was a recurring storyline for both characters. In the British press, Kelly and Zoe were compared to two former popular characters, who also shared a close screen friendship, Bianca Butcher (Patsy Palmer) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon). Kinsella has commented, "It is nice to be compared because they were great but, hopefully, and I will bring our own characters to light and show what we can do. We have so much in common and we balance each other out - when she's crazy I'll calm her down and vice-versa. It's worked well, which is why Kelly has been kept on, which is great for me but also for Michelle because she's got somebody to have fun with. Kelly's been one of the slowest developing characters and that's been good for me. I wasn't thrown into it and having Michelle has been great for me."

On-screen, the characters moved into a flat together, worked together, and fought over the same boys. In December 2003, EastEnders made headlines in the UK press, after they screened a lesbian kiss between Kelly and Zoe. The storyline was featured in a special New Year's Eve episode that was filmed on-location in Scotland. In the storyline, a group of teenagers had travelled from London to Scotland for New Year's Eve; however, the minibus they were driving crashed, leaving them stranded and injured on the freezing cold Scottish moors. While stranded, Kelly cared for an injured Zoe, they became over-emotional, and kissed. Kinsella has explained the reasons behind the kiss: "They're stuck in the hills, thinking they're going to die - it's a way of saying goodbye and also of showing how much they love each other as friends. Which is quite sweet really." She claims that the lesbian kiss was made easier, due to the fact that she was kissing her off-screen best friend: "That made it so much easier. We thought we were just going to be laughing and giggling the whole way through, but we were very professional. It was so cold that we just wanted to get it over with. We were shaking from cold - not from nerves - and it was raining, so we just thought, 'Let's do it and get it done with'. I was really scared but it was fine. Now it just seems like a dream, I can't really remember it. We laugh about it now. When it came down to it, the truth was that it was just like any other screen kiss. The episode featuring the lesbian kiss attracted 9.5 million viewers, and the precise moment that they kissed was watched by 44% of the available viewing audience.

The kiss between the characters received criticism. The lesbian news site AfterEllen.com branded it a "gratuitous ratings-stunt…The writers bottled out and the two young women dismissed it as a one-off, assuring each other that neither of them was “like that,” leaving lesbian and bisexual viewers feeling cheated. This was a wasted opportunity, a chance to explore an emotionally complex situation between best friends that became just another exploitive TV moment instead." In an interview about homosexual television characters in The Guardian, scriptwriter Daran Little criticised UK lesbians in British soap: "Most lesbian characters are so lipstick. They start off straight and, lo and behold, they just can't resist it. You can see the straight fantasy at work behind the character". Journalist Paul Flynn stated that Zoe was an example of this, describing her as a "tabloid-friendly 18-year-old - who…brushed with lesbianism for all of five minutes."

Kinsella has defended the kiss. In an interview she commented, "It's not a gratuitous ratings getting move, it's not some kind of big lesbian kiss. It's the way two best friends who have a lot of love for each other show their emotions."

The character of Kelly was involved in numerous other storylines, which included prostitution, a drugs overdose, and various flings with characters such as Martin Fowler (James Alexandrou) and Ronny Ferreira (Ray Panthaki) - a relationship that ended when her past as a prostitute caught up with her. Later on, in 2004, the character began a romance with Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker). The two characters began their interaction at the end of 2002, with Spencer becoming infatuated with Kelly, while she teased and led him on. According to actress Brooke Kinsella, this was not well received by a proportion of viewers. In an interview in 2003 she commented, "It's been a really challenging time on the show. When Kelly first came along there was a really mixed reception to her from the public. A lot of girls didn't like her because she was flirting with Spencer and was also giving him the run-around. The girls can't stand the fact she's played around with him - all these 13-year-olds don't like their beloved Spencer being treated badly! It got quite bad - I just couldn't believe it. I didn't feel frightened but I was aware about just how much impact this show has on people. It's incredible how many viewers think the show is real." Later Kelly took Spencer's virginity as a birthday gift, but they did not become a legitimate couple until 2004.

In March 2004 it was announced that the character would be leaving the serial. A BBC spokesman said Brooke had "brought considerable talent and youthful energy to the show". Fans were assured that the character would not be killed off, and that "the door will be open for the character to re-join the show in the future". It was widely reported in the British press that the character had been axed by the executive producer of EastEnders Louise Berridge to allow further character development of her on-screen best friend, Zoe Slater. Berridge said: " been a great addition to the show but her storyline had come to a natural ending." However, Kinsella has insisted that she was not axed, and her character's departure was a mutual decision between herself and Berridge, who both decided that Kelly had run out of storylines. In an interview she commented, "I honestly think my character, Kelly Taylor, came to a bit of a standstill. All she seemed to do was work on the market stall and give Zoe (Slater) advice and that got quite tedious. So it was the right time for her to leave … While there was a lot that hadn't been discovered about her, after the whole Kelly and Zoe kiss it didn't seem that there was anywhere to go. We did sit and discuss storylines but it didn't work out in the end … She's leaving to be a holiday rep. I'm very grateful Kelly doesn't get killed off and I'm sure if they can find the right storyline she'll return … The ending is very sweet and quite hopeful."

On-screen Kelly and her boyfriend Spencer applied to become holiday reps in Ibiza, however when Spencer's application was unsuccessful, Kelly left without him. The character made her final appearance in June 2004.