Joe Wicks (EastEnders)
Joe Wicks | |
---|---|
EastEnders character | |
Morgan Butcher | |
Nieces | Tiffany Butcher |
First cousins | Steven Beale Peter Beale Lucy Beale Bobby Beale |
Other relatives | Nellie Ellis Pauline Fowler Mark Fowler Michelle Fowler Martin Fowler Vicki Fowler Conor Flaherty Mary Flaherty |
Joe Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul Nicholls. He appears on screen between 25 March 1996 and 14 November 1997. EastEnders was praised for the character's portrayal of schizophrenia.
Storylines
Joe arrives in
While in
Creation and development
EastEnders story editor, Ian Aldwinkle, decided to introduce a character with schizophrenia after working on the drama series Casualty, which featured violent and dramatic incidents involving people with the illness, but only focussed on the medical side. Aldwinkle researched the illness and says he was shocked to discover that it affects one in 100 people, but it was rarely spoken about. He said: "Because it has a continuing storyline, EastEnders was able to look at the effect that schizophrenia has on a family and on individual relationships. I wanted to humanise it and look at the emotional impact it has on people."[1] He said he hoped that the storyline would be helpful, saying "It seems to me that mental illness is one of the last subjects that you can still make jokes about without being labelled politically incorrect, and that seems wrong. If I get just one letter from one person saying that the character of Joe Wicks has helped to change their life for the better, then I will be pleased."[1]
EastEnders worked closely with experts from the
The National Schizophrenia Fellowship contacted mental health organisations in other countries to brief them on how they could use the storyline to raise awareness.[3]
In January 2012, Nicholls told the
Reception
Andy Bell, of the
The storyline prompted thousands of calls from sufferers and their families to the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, who said that the story broke society's taboo on talking about the illness and praised the sensitive way in which the illness was portrayed. The fellowship said the story did more to break the stigma attached to schizophrenia than any number of worthy media appeals. The fellowship's chief executive Bharat Mehta, said that EastEnders helped to destroy the myths that schizophrenia meant that a person had a split personality and that the illness was likely to make them violent.[1]
Matthew Bayliss of The Guardian said that Joe's schizophrenia earned EastEnders much acclaim because he was David's son and Pat's grandson: "His illness affected people we knew and cared about, so its key scenes were charged with emotion."[6] Nicholls' role as Joe saw him nominated 'Most Popular Newcomer' in the 1996 National Television Awards,[7] and 'Most Popular Actor' the following year.[7]
The character's exit from the soap was viewed by 22 million people.[8]
References
- ^ a b c "EastEnders TV Program covers Schizophrenia". schizophrenia.com. 10 May 1997. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ a b Triggle, Nick (3 April 2005). "How well does TV and film tackle disease?". BBC News Online. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Website launched for mentally ill". BBC News Online. 26 August 1999. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ Press Association. 16 January 2012. Archived from the originalon 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ^ Bayliss, Matthew (16 November 1999). "Soap's secret rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
- ^ Addley, Esther (21 June 2001). "Cancer, HIV, depression......being in soaps can damage your health". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2009.