Debbie Wilkins

Debbie "Debs" Wilkins is a fictional character from the

Character creation and development

Debbie Wilkins was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. The character of Debbie along with her boyfriend Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson) were an attempt by Holland and Smith to represent the influx of upwardly mobile people that were opting to move to the usually working-class areas of the East End of London. Gentrification of the East End was on the increase in the 1980s, and in Holland's experience, the new, wealthier residents were never welcomed or truly accepted within the community, and this was what he hoped to convey on-screen with these two characters.^[1]

Debbie's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book,

"Debbie and Andy are living together, they're not married — but it's a serious relationship. The mortgage is in her name... Debbie is bossy and a planner... She and her mother decided at an early stage to beat the East-end at its own game, and get Debbie into a different environment... She wanted to work in a bank and do well... She became part of a household of six: three women, three men in a huge shared flat in Wandsworth... Andy used to come over and visit her... A strange stilted courtship began... They moved to the Square, so Debbie's back in the area that she came from... Partners, in love, and determined to make it the best home ever — they are not so much acquisitive, as lovers of their comfort... Her interfering manner upsets other occupants of the Square... Andy knows she has an unfortunate manner and tries to cover for her when he can. Debbie isn't a snob in the social sense, but as she's skilled labour — a professional woman — she's bound to feel sometimes slightly a cut above the others... Actually, not being accepted by others, being made to feel that they're "outsiders" will frequently prompt Andy and Debbie to consider moving out... Unlike Debbie, who's an ambitious woman working in a traditionally male world, Andy is a very unambitious man working in a traditionally female world... They became in love with the idea that everyone thought they were the perfect couple... The decision to attempt the experiment of living together: A "domestic" relationship, was a difficult one, and they agonised over it for months. Wouldn't they get bored? Would they feel imprisoned? How would they fill the hours, with only the two of them?... They want to knock down walls, put in double-glazing, and all the rest of it.... Forced to move into a different class... They're not habitat/Guardian East-end, and they're certainly not nouveau-riche, but they are, to a lot of people, a possible sign of a shape of things to come in the Borough..." (page 62)^[1]

Holland and Smith required the character of Debbie to be bossy, interfering and a definite outsider. They had both worked with the actress