Donna Ludlow - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

Introduced in August 1987, Donna was brought in as an apparent stranger, seemingly unrelated to any other characters in the Square. However, Donna was actually the illegitimate daughter of one of the regular characters, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth). According to Kathy's backstory, which was scripted prior to the events of the programme's beginning, she had been raped as a teenager and gave her baby up for adoption: Donna was this child, now grown. Donna's first appearance had been primed by her godmother visiting Kathy on Donna's behest as she hoped to meet her estranged mother. Kathy's response was that she wanted no contact with Donna, leading viewers into thinking Kathy would not meet her daughter. When Donna first appeared months later, her identity as Kathy's daughter was not divulged to viewers. According to writer Colin Brake, Donna's entrance was meticulously planned to avoid giving away the secret of her identity too soon, with actress Ziegler asked by producers to dye her naturally fair hair dark to avoid any perceived resemblance to Kathy. Scriptwriters quickly established Donna as a compulsive liar, telling different people different versions of her past--never the truth. Despite this, Brake has claimed that "some quick viewers still guessed the truth" earlier than had been hoped. When Donna's real identity was revealed onscreen the following year, in April 1988, Kathy's immediate rejection of her sent her narrative spiraling downward.

Author Hilary Kingsley has described Donna as "the complete reverse of her mother. Cunning and dishonest, she was ready to steal, cheat, and prostitute herself to gain some sort of place in Albert Square society". Kingsley added: "Donna used everyone" and was a "good manipulator". Author Kate Lock branded Donna "pinched-faced a proficient liar and cheat became truly evil." Writer Rupert Smith has classified Donna as a "Lost Girl" who could not "take the rough and tumble of life in the East End... broken blossom tragic and a loon."

One of the issues the character of Donna dealt with was drug abuse. Brake stated that, for the first time, EastEnders told a complete drugs story "with the sad tale of Donna's descent into heroin addiction". He suggested that Matilda Ziegler's acting "gave the story credibility". The storyline featured Donna's eventual death: following months of manipulation and other antisocial behavior in Walford, Donna became unhinged by addiction as well as Kathy's rejection, taking an overdose of heroin. She was found dead, covered in her own vomit. Brake has hailed these final death scenes as "the most powerful anti-drugs images ever screened in the programme" up until that time. Kate Lock lamented that some characters felt guilty after Donna's death, "but the truth was that Donna's fate seemed to have been sealed from the moment of her disastrous conception." Rupert Smith suggested that Donna was "almost universally unmourned even Kathy seemed to get over her pretty quickly".