Nancy Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Maddy Hill. Nancy's first appearance is in a combination of the show's 4775th and 4776th episodes, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2014. Nancy is the daughter of Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). Her storylines include relationships with Wayne Ladlow (Malachi Kirby), Dexter Hartman (Khali Best) and Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel), and suffering from epilepsy.

Storylines[edit]

Nancy appears when she is about to marry Wayne Ladlow (Malachi Kirby) in Watford. Wayne is instantly disliked by Mick who carries the intended bride over his shoulder to their the family-owned pub, The Queen Victoria where Nancy will live. Nancy continues to see Wayne in Walford.^[1] After punching Dexter Hartman (Khali Best) publicly, Nancy reveals during a family argument that her younger brother Johnny Carter (Sam Strike) is gay.^[2] Nancy realises that Wayne is showing private pictures of her to his friends and ends their relationship. Nancy collapses in the park with an epileptic fit when she is with Dexter and during her recuperation under Dexter's care he declares that he finds Nancy attractive. Dexter follows Nancy when she goes down in to The Queen Vic cellar to change the barrel, she is impressed when he removes his T-shirt and are interrupted before they start having sex when they hear groaning—Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) is on the floor of the pub's alleyway after being mugged. Nancy befriends Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel) including providing him with a bed in the pub after his father punches him. In May 2014, Dexter kisses Nancy, but she is unsure how to respond. Later on, Nancy walks in on her grandmother Shirley (Linda Henry) and great-grandfather Stan Carter (Timothy West) arguing and collapses and suffers a second epileptic fit, but is helped by Stan and Shirley.

Nancy continues working behind the bar. When Mick is accused of soliciting a prostitute, he convinces Nancy of his innocence and Nancy fights Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) over the accusations. Mick is revealed to have been covering for Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), and he publicly humiliates the prostitute involved, Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks), who Nancy gave money to when she was begging earlier in the day. Nancy accuses Mick of hating women for the way he spoke to Rainie. She also demands that in the future she is included in big decisions like covering for Ian, and he agrees. Nancy later discovers that her cousin Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) has been making advances against her mother, but fears that Linda is leading him on. However, Dean denies this and apologises to her and Linda. Nancy and Tamwar host 'musical bingo' together at the Vic, and she briefly reignites her fling with Dexter. Nancy is upset when her brother Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard) attacks Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), after he makes homophobic comments about Johnny, and fears his volatile behaviour after his service in the army. She is upset when Johnny leaves, but distracted by family issues as Mick attacks Dean, seemingly out of the blue, on Christmas Day, and then leaves Nancy in charge as he takes some time away with Linda. As Dexter does not understand her family situation, she ends things with him and he leaves. When her parents return, Linda confesses to Nancy that Dean raped her, which devastates her. She threatens Dean to stay away from her family. During a wedding reception at the Vic, Nancy is taken hostage by Dean in the barrel store, as he tries to burn down the pub as revenge against the Carters. Mick gains the upper hand and stands on Dean's throat, and although Nancy stops him, they believe Dean is dead. However, when Nancy returns, Dean is gone, and although Mick claims Dean got up and left, she becomes fearful that her father killed Dean. Her suspicions worsen when a body is found matching Dean's description, and she nearly tells Shirley, although it is not Dean. Due to the stress of the situation, she suffers a grand mal seizure. After, she becomes distant with her parents, and breaks down to Tamwar about her family problems. They kiss, but Tamwar freaks out and she leaves, believing he does not like her. When she and Tamwar discover that market inspector Aleks Shirovs (Kristian Kiehling) has been stealing money from the market traders, Nancy encourages him to report Aleks to the authorities. Once he has done that, he nervously kisses her again in full view of the patrons in the pub. Although Tamwar is again flustered by it, this time, Nancy is grateful and they kiss again and begin dating.

Nancy becomes distant from Tamwar and he assumes she has met someone else. She admits she is fine with the fact they do not have sex, but assumes it is because of his religion. Tamwar worries about bad scarring he received from a house fire, so suddenly walks out, and Nancy suffers a seizure. They agree to be open and honest with each other, so Tamwar shows her the scars, stating this is the reason they have not had sex. They then have sex for the first time, and afterwards, Tamwar discovers Nancy is recording every seizure she has and they are becoming more frequent, and tells her to get help.

Development[edit]

Hill's casting as Nancy was announced on 29 October 2013, on which the actress said: "I feel incredibly privileged to have been given such an amazing opportunity and I can't wait to start work with such a talented cohort of actors".^[3] Nancy is described as a stubborn and fiery 21-year-old tomboy that is a disappointment to her mother. However, she is also an "extremely caring and loyal friend" although she brings trouble with her.^[4] Hill described Nancy as "boisterous", a "total tomboy" and "pretty good at sports".^[5] Hill opined that the storyline involving Wayne, and his subsequent exit scenes were "too satisfying to film".^[6] She said, Nancy's not too bothered about Wayne at this point. She knows her parents don't like him so Nancy was basically just vying for their attention. In any case, I think that Nancy's always known she was too bright for Wayne".^[6] Khali Best, who plays Dexter Hartman, has stated that he has "got a lot of stuff coming up with Nancy", opining that the two characters "would work well", however Hill has played this down saying, "I've been asking Dom [Treadwell-Collins] to tell me what is going to happen, but he won't say anything".^[6][7][8] Hill won "Best Newcomer" at The British Soap Awards 2014 for her portrayal of Nancy. She also won the accolade for "Best Newcomer" at The National Television Awards 2015 for her role as Nancy. Hill, alongside Himesh Patel was nominated for Best Partnership at the Inside Soap Awards in 2015 for her portrayal of Nancy's relationship with Tamwar.^[9]

Epilepsy[edit]

It was revealed that Nancy had epilepsy and that Maddy Hill was terrified of the plot. Maddy stated "When I first found out that Nancy had epilepsy, I was absolutely terrified, just because I knew nothing about the illness. I didn't know anyone who had epilepsy and I was very aware of wanting to be respectful to people who suffer with such a massive thing in day-to-day life."^[10] Magazine Epilepsy Today stated "Nancy’s seizures are a brave step for the show and are becoming a dramatic fixture in the EastEnders landscape."^[11]

Reception[edit]

The Guardian‍‍ '​‍s Filipa Jodelka praised the introduction of the Carter family, calling Nancy "the true beacon of hope for EastEnders future".^[12] A critic from Huddersfield Daily Examiner said that Dyer and Hill could be the "saviors of EastEnders", stating that Nancy "shoots straight to the top of Characters To Love list when she refuses to serve Dexter in the pub".^[13] "A Digital Spy poll (2014) asked respondents to indicate their favourite Carter family member: Nancy was ranked fourth with 8.61% of the results; Mick was ranked first; Johnny, ranked second; Tina, third; and Linda, fifth.^[14]

In the episode broadcast in the UK on 14 February 2014, Nancy wore part of a Gaelic Athletic Association sports kit from St Patrick's College in Ballymena, and it gained some media attention. Although many fans of the GAA were happy to see this, campaigner Willie Frazer believed the appearance of the kit belonged to an organisation that "glorifies IRAterrorists", stating he had complained to the BBC.^[15] The Ballymena Times claimed that the appearance of the top "caused a real sensation on Facebook and Twitter."^[16] It can also be noted the kit she wore was from .

See also[edit]

• List of EastEnders characters (2014)

References[edit]