Peggy Mitchell - Reception

Reception

Peggy has been described by the BBC as one of EastEnders' "most high-profile characters." Windsor has won several awards for her performance as Peggy. In 1999, she was named BBC Personality of the Year. She won Best Actress at the 1999 British Soap Awards, and was granted a Lifetime Achievement award in 2009. She also won a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2001 Inside Soap awards, and was named the UK's top soap matriarch in a 2009 Inside Soap poll. She also won the Soap Legend award at the 2009 TV Now Awards. Furthermore, Windsor was nominated for the Outstanding Serial Drama Performance award at the 2008 and 2009 National Television Awards, Best Soap Actress at the 2007 TV Now Awards, Best Actress at the 2009 British Soap Awards, and Best Actress at the 2009 Inside Soap awards.

The character was viewed unfavourably by a proportion of viewers in 1996, when Peggy discovered that Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) was HIV positive and subsequently mounted a hate campaign against him. Windsor has since revealed that she was initially opposed to the storyline:

Actress and writer Jacquetta May, who played the character Rachel Kominski between 1991 and 1993, has discussed the storyline and the role of women in an article about EastEnders. According to May, the scriptwriters were faced with a problem once Peggy, "a key figure of the community", was shown to exhibit such "pig-headed ignorance and appalling prejudice". In order for Peggy to be redeemed, she had to be seen to be punished, and so the character was given breast-cancer later that year. May comments, "Peggy, malicious gossip and bigot, herself becomes the victim of a life-threatening illness. At Christmas they run a Christian forgiveness story. Peggy calls on Mark and tells him she now knows what it is like to suffer as he has. She apologises, thus underlining one of the basic tenets of the programme: underneath the skin we are all the same, human and vulnerable, and recognition of this should unite us not divide us. Along the way, a great deal of useful information about these illnesses was broadcast. So, although EastEnders endlessly repeats its conservative format, and although all issues are there primarily to feed the great hungry story-beast, its positive by-products cannot be denied."

EastEnders has received praise for the handling of Peggy's breast cancer storyline, as she was a rare media portrayal of an older matriarchal woman with the disease. Older women are at higher risk of being diagnosed; however, in 2001, it was reported that media representation of breast cancer is skewed towards younger women in their 20s or 30s, as they are seen as "more tragic" or "more sexy" in media terms. A 2000 study by Kitzinger and Henderson showed that 94% of newspaper coverage on non-celebrity women with breast cancer was on those aged under 50. Source organisations working with EastEnders on the storyline have commented: " decided it was going to be and very rightly so. Bang on, the right age perfect dramatic licence in terms of her sons that she was going to have to share this terrible news with, and how would she share it? Every female would have that problem. How would you tell your children? And they followed that with her. She was exactly the right person." The storyline also received media criticism, for the use of a breast care nurse, who was used to counsel Peggy and translate medical terminology into lay terms for viewers; a character who could provide both a dramatic and educational purpose. However, not all oncology units in the UK offer breast care nurses, and the character presented "particularly positive messages" concerning patient choice and control over treatment options. Because of this, the UK press dubbed the storyline "didactic". The storyline was also criticised because Peggy received her cancer test results after six days, which prompted cancer charities to warn that not all patients would receive the same treatment.

In December 2008, Bupa doctors criticized UK soaps for presenting unhealthy role models to viewing audiences. Paul Bignell and Cole Moreton for The Independent refuted the accusation, naming Peggy as an acceptable role model for her devotion to her family, protecting her nieces and loving her sons despite their numerous misdemeanours.