Maria Kendall
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| Maria Kendall | |
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| First appearance | 9x07, It's Been A Long Day, 2007- |
| Portrayed by | Phoebe Thomas |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Staff Nurse (Prev. Student Nurse) |
Maria Kendall is the name of a fictional character on the BBC television series Holby City, portrayed by actress Phoebe Thomas.[1] The character first appeared on-screen on 28 November 2006 in episode It's Been A Long Day - Series 9, Episode 7 of the programme.[2] Her role in the show is that of naive and inexperienced Student Nurse, with a slightly naughty side and a penchant for spreading hospital gossip.
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[edit] Creation
[edit] Background
Prior to the introduction of the character Maria, Holby City had lost three regular nursing characters over the course of Series 8 and the beginning of Series 9 - Staff Nurses Jess Griffin,[3] Mickie Hendrie,[4] and Tricia Williams.[5] Despite this outflow of nursing staff, the only recurring nursing character introduced in the show during this period had been Acting Sister Kyla Tyson, in Series 8, Episode 17.[6] The creation of the character Maria - deliberately introduced an episode after the death of Tricia Williams, helped redress this balance to some extent, while also adding to the cast a Student Nurse for the first time since Jess Griffin's career change in Series 4, Episode 50.[7]
[edit] Storylines
Maria arrives in Holby as a relatively inexperienced student nurse. From her entrance in episode "It's Been A Long Day", she is seen to be visibly shaken by the experience of patients' deaths, and also to be somewhat gullible in believing patients' stories. Maria forms a fast friendship with Donna Jackson and the pair are responsible for spreading the news of Connie Beauchamp's pregnancy around the hospital. She shares a brief flirtation with Matt Parker for a bet, however is disappointed to learn he already has a girlfriend.
On her first day as a qualified nurse, Maria is attacked by a psychotic patient, and stabs him with a pair of scissors to fend him off. She is forced to take two weeks compassionate leave.
In episode "We Serve All Who Come To Us", it became apparent that Maria had developed a crush on Sam Strachan. However, the feeling was not mutual, so their relationship has not developed past friendship.
Maria came face to face with her birth mother in May 2008. Although Maria did not reveal who she was to her mother, she was able to persuade her to have a life-saving operation.
[edit] Reception
The level of dramaticism of the storylines attached to the Holby City nursing characters was recently heavily criticised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The lead article of the July 2007 issue of the NMC magazine tackled nurses in popular culture, discussing "the ease with which writers can attach terrible storylines to a caring profession",[8] passing the following comment on the Holby City nurses:
- "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."[8]
[edit] In popular culture
The 17 November 2006 Children in Need charity telethon included a segment featuring the Holby City cast performing a version of Hung Up by Madonna.[9] Although the character had not yet made her on-screen debut in the programme, Thomas as Kendall appeared in the sketch - as did fellow newcomers Peter Wingfield (Dan Clifford) and Nadine Lewington (Maddy Young) who also had yet to arrive in the show itself.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ "BBC - Holby City - Characters", BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ "Episode Update Tuesday 28th November", BBC.co.uk, 28 November 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ Episode Update Tuesday 5th October. BBC.co.uk (4 October 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Episode Update Tuesday 12th September. BBC.co.uk (12 September 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Episode Update Tuesday 21st November. BBC.co.uk (21 November 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Episode Update Tuesday 7th February. BBC.co.uk (7 February 2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ Tuesday 17th September, 2002. BBC.co.uk (17 September 2002). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ a b Jaegar, Andy, “Stitched Up? The portrayal of nurses in popular culture.”, Nursing and Midwifery Council Magazine (England) (no. 21): 30, July 2007
- ^ "Stars line up for Children In Need", Metro.co.uk, 17 November 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
- ^ "Children in Need", Holby.tv Database, 7 November 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
[edit] External links
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