Reception
Within four months of first appearing in Holby City, Kensit was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the 2007 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards for her portrayal of Faye. The character's introductory episode, "Into the Dark" drew a high of 7 million viewers, while "What Lies Beneath", the flashback episode in which the character was seen to kill her husband in Dubai drew ratings of 6.32 million. The character's introduction to the series was highly publicised in the media, including a front cover and inside spread featuring Kensit discussing her new role in the week's edition of the Radio Times. The Liverpool Echo selected the character's introductory episode as a televisual 'Pick of the Day', The Mirror's TV critic Jim Shelley selected her arrival as a highlight of the week, and Kevin O'Sullivan of the Sunday Mirror described her debut as "sensational".
Faye has continued to generate high publicity for the series, with the 11 August 2007 edition of Total TV Guide featuring Kensit, Hobley and Chambers on its front cover, appearing in character to promote their love triangle storyline, and the 1 September 2007 Daily Express television supplement again featuring Kensit and Hobley on its cover, with an inside feature on the same storyline. It was reported on 19 August 2007 that Kensit's casting had "boosted the series' appeal" to such an extent that for the first time, a Holby City calendar had been commissioned. The report quoted a series insider as stating: "Patsy has really set the show off this year, and what better way to thank the dedicated fans?".
The character was heavily criticised in the July 2007 edition of the Nursing and Midwifery Council magazine. The publication discussed the topic of nurses in popular culture, and the negative impression of the nursing profession conveyed by fictional nurses. With a promotional image of Kensit as Faye adorning the front cover, the magazine asserted:
| “ | The "did she, didn't she", story of the Dubai murder of Faye Morton's partner in Holby City recently demonstrates the ease with which writers can attach terrible storylines to a caring profession. Nurses who become prostitutes to pay the bills, nurses who kill their husbands, nurses who abuse the system to get their own way - Holby City has always been a hotbed of slanderous storylines. Good people doing bad things makes excellent entertainment... The bald fact is that real life nurses doing their jobs well just aren't that entertaining. | ” |
This criticism was echoed by Shelley, who, commenting on an interview Kensit had given to publicise the show and her role with Jonathan Ross, suggested that "reality" was not a term that could be applied to Holby City's portrayal of nursing.
In July 2009, Conservative Party strategists identified "Holby City woman" as a key voter demographic who may help the party win the 2010 General Election. The "Holby City woman" archetype is modelled on Faye, a female voter in her 30s or 40s, employed in a clinical or clerical position or some other public sector job. She is a swing voter in General Elections, who has voted for the Labour Party in previous elections, though her identification with the Labour Party is not strong. Jonathan Oliver for The Times noted that "Faye Morton, the Holby City staff nurse played by Patsy Kensit is just the sort of person that Cameron might now hope to recruit".
Read more about this topic: Faye Morton
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
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