Bad Girls is a British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1 June 1999 until 20 December 2006. It was created by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus of Shed Productions, who initiated the idea of developing a series primarily focusing on the inmates and staff of the fictional women's prison, Larkhall, located in the South London region. Following the success of previous series Within These Walls and the Australian-imported Prisoner: Cell Block H, both of which screened on ITV, Bad Girls was commissioned by the network and was viewed as a realistic, modern portrayal of life in a women's prison. The series featured a large ensemble cast, including Linda Henry, Claire King, Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones, Debra Stephenson, Jack Ellis, Alicya Eyo, Helen Fraser, Kika Mirylees, Victoria Alcock, James Gaddas, Victoria Bush, Dannielle Brent and Liz May Brice.
Paul Trueman is a fictional character from the British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gary Beadle. The character, who first arrived onto Albert Square on 23 April 2001 and later departed the programme on 23 December 2004, was portrayed as a bad boy who was a member of the already-established Trueman family. In his exit storyline, Paul became a drug dealer, which Beadle has been critical towards, as he suggested it played into black racial stereotyping. It was implied that Paul was killed upon his exit, though his death was not screened.
Pat Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Pam St Clement from 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired, until her departure on 1 January 2012. Pat was also portrayed by Emma Cooke in a soap 'bubble', Pat and Mo: Ashes to Ashes, delving into her past with sister-in-law Mo Harris, which aired in 2004. The character was killed-off on 1 January 2012, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Her funeral was on 13 January 2012. Pat was one of the longest serving characters on the show, appearing for 25 years and six months. She returned, along with other women from Ian Beale's past, in a concussion-related dream sequence for a Children in Need special on 14 November 2014. She also made a return as a hallucination for Peggy Mitchell's death on 17 May 2016.
Janine Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charlie Brooks from 1999 to 2022. Brooks initially departed on 7 May 2004. She returned for a three episode guest stint in April 2008 before returning permanently on 18 December of that year. Brooks later took a break from September 2012 until April 2013, then departed again on 20 March 2014. In April 2021, it was announced that Brooks would reprise the role once again and return later in the year. She returned on 6 September 2021. It was announced on 24 September 2022 that Brooks had only agreed to reprise the role for 12 months and would depart again at the conclusion of her storyline, with her final scenes airing on 26 December 2022.
Laura Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Hannah Waterman. She first appeared on 17 February 2000 and became a regular on the programme until the character was killed off on 30 April 2004.
Natalie Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Speed. Natalie first appeared on 18 January 1994, depicted initially as an unhappy, insecure teenager; she was among various regular characters brought in to increase the cast following the BBC's decision to increase episode output to three per week. She featured most often with the characters Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson ; Natalie's affair with Ricky ending his relationship with Bianca was one of the prominent storylines aired in the Winter of 1995. Despite producers offering to extend Speed's contract, she opted to leave the serial in 1995, and Natalie departed on 23 February of that year.
James Graham "Jim" Fenner is a fictional character in the British television series Bad Girls, portrayed by Jack Ellis. The character was a prominent feature on the show for seven series, and played the role of a prison officer, temporary prison governor and a villainous figure who schemed and made life for inmates difficult. He was at one point imprisoned for death by dangerous driving but was released when his wife, Di Barker, falsified evidence to clear his name. He returned to his job at Larkhall as G-Wing Governor, and shortly before his death was promoted to Acting Governing Governor. Ellis left Bad Girls at the end of the seventh series when his character was murdered by inmate Julie Johnston.
Bad Girls: The Musical is a stage musical based on the ITV prison drama series Bad Girls, with a book by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, and music and lyrics by Kath Gotts.
Michelle "Shell" Dockley is a fictional character from the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. She is portrayed by British actress Debra Stephenson. Shell was one of the lead characters in the series. Shell appeared from the first episode in Series 1 until the last episode of Series 3, and returned for the first four episodes of Series 5. Dockley is the most feared inmate of the prison's ‘G Wing’, and commits several crimes, including smuggling drugs into the prison, stabbing prison officer Jim Fenner, and planning for Denny to set Snowball Merriman's hair on fire.
Sylvia Violet Hollamby is one of the longest-running characters in the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. Portrayed by Helen Fraser from the first episode in 1999 until the last in 2006, Hollamby was the longest-serving prison officer on the show with convicts Julie Johnston and Julie Saunders being the only other characters to remain for all eight series.
Yvonne Atkins is a fictional character from the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. Portrayed by Linda Henry, Yvonne first appeared in the finale episode of Series 1. She played a prominent role in Series 2, 3, 4 and 5 as Top Dog of G-Wing, until she was murdered by Jim Fenner in the last episode of Series 5.
Natalie Buxton is a fictional character in the prison drama series, Bad Girls, portrayed by Dannielle Brent during the last three series. She mainly featured in an antagonistic role and was killed off towards the end of the final series. She subsequently returned as a ghost in the 2006 Christmas Special, which was also the series finale. The role was originally offered to Danniella Westbrook.
The first series of Bad Girls premiered on ITV on 1 June 1999, and ended on 3 August 1999. It consists of ten episodes. The show was produced by Shed Productions as part of Shed Media. After the first episode aired, the show became an instant hit in the United Kingdom. The show also became successful in several countries including the United States, Australia and Republic of Ireland.
The second series of Bad Girls began on ITV on 4 April 2000. The first episode, "Tug of Love", opened with 9.44 million viewers. The ninth episode of series two, "The Leaving", was the highest-rated episode of the entire run of the series between 1999 and 2006, with 9.49 million viewers. The second series ended on 4 July 2000; it consists of 13 episodes.
Bad Girls returned to ITV with its third series on 20 March 2001 and ended on 3 July 2001. It consists of 16 episodes.
The fourth series of Bad Girls was broadcast on ITV from 28 February 2002, concluded on 13 June 2002 and featured 16 episodes.
The fifth series of Bad Girls was broadcast on ITV from 8 May 2003 and concluded on 21 August 2003, it was the third and final series to feature 16 episodes.
The sixth series of British drama series Bad Girls premiered on 14 April 2004. It consists of twelve episodes. The first four episodes were broadcast on Wednesday nights, with episode five moved to Monday and episodes six to eight broadcast over consecutive nights beginning the following Monday. After a 12-week hiatus, due to UEFA Euro 2004, the remaining four episodes of the series were screened Monday nights and concluded on 23 August 2004.
