The secret mitchell

The Secret Michell

Origins
When the revelation was made to the audience that Danielle was Ronnie's long-lost daughter, Crace commented that: "Being part of such a big storyline is exciting and challenging for any actress." Explaining the back-story from Danielle's point of view, she detailed: "When Danielle's adoptive mother died, she thought it was time to find out who her real mother was. She always knew she was adopted. She also had a locket with a picture of Ronnie in it that was given to her when she was put up for adoption. She went to the adoption agency and found out that Ronnie had also been looking for her - the agency then gave her details of her mother’s whereabouts." Questioned on whether she thought Danielle hoped to have a relationship with Ronnie, she responded: "Deep down, absolutely... she’s completely intrigued by Ronnie and the Mitchell clan, but at the same time very nervous of them. In her head she thinks they are too different and Ronnie would be disappointed to know she was her daughter". Series writer Simon Ashdown explained of why Danielle kept her identity secret: "The idea about Danielle was that she was hurt and broken by her life and being rejected by this mother that the thing she fears worst of all is being rejected again. So she holds off, she wants to get to know Ronnie, and charm her and make her like her and then tell Ronnie who she is."

Abortion Danielle's pregnancy was conceived as a plot device to bring her closer to RonnieThe relationship between the two began to develop when Danielle fell pregnant, and was supported in seeking an abortion by Ronnie. Treadwell-Collins has explained that Danielle's pregnancy was a plot-device to bring the two closer together, discussing the tragedy of Ronnie being unaware she was encouraging the aborting of her own grandchild.[6] Of Danielle's emotions during this period, Crace illuminated: "Having Ronnie show her some affection and willingly offering to come with her and to help her and give her advice, it was a huge thing for Danielle, because from always being knocked back by Ronnie, from always being knocked back by everybody, suddenly someone out of the blue offered to help her, and it was the one person in the world that she wants to be there ."[6] When Ronnie failed to attend Danielle's second clinic appointment, Danielle was, in Crace's opinion, "hurt and distraught", describing the development as "a step back for Danielle" whereby "she probably feels less willing than ever to tell Ronnie the truth than before".[11] On Ronnie's part, Janus assessed that "Ronnie knows she wants to help this young girl but she's not sure why they have this bond".[12] She explained: "Ronnie knows that Danielle is very vulnerable and is in Walford with no family and only a few friends. As Ronnie gave her a job in R&R maybe she thinks that Danielle interpreted that that as more than it was."[12] Asked if Ronnie had noticed the resemblance between herself and Danielle, Janus responded: "She has never thought about any resemblance - why would she? As far as Ronnie is aware her baby passed away so the thought would never have crossed her mind."[12] Following Ronnie's failure to attend her second appointment, the character briefly departed from the series, said to have returned to her native Telford.

[edit] Revelation Danielle returned from Telford "on the edge emotionally",[6] and increasingly angry with Ronnie, believing that she deserved to belong to the Mitchell family.[6] The writers had Archie Mitchell discover her secret as "a test of character",[6] posing the question: "would he be despicable enough not to tell Ronnie?"[6] Lamb commented that his character felt Danielle posed "a huge threat" to his family, explaining why he lied that Ronnie was suffering from depression and Danielle ought not tell her.[6] Crace commented that her character "thinks that’s why [Ronnie] is always so hot and cold with her […] she takes it upon herself to try to look after Ronnie and help her to get well again."[13] She offered the insight that although Danielle sees Archie as “a domineering figure”, she initially trusts him and believes he will reunite her with her mother when the time is right.[13] However, as time passes, "she starts to see Archie’s true colours and is scared by this different side to him."[13] Asked how Danielle feels about being accepted into the Mitchell family, Crace explained: "When she first came to Albert Square, Danielle didn’t really know what to expect. For one thing, she never thought her mum would be so young and attractive and own a night club. That’s pretty cool! But she is so pleased that Ronnie is her mother and can’t wait for her secret to be revealed at last."[13] On Danielle's developing relationship with Ronnie at the time, Crace expanded: "Those two have such a turbulent relationship - one minute Ronnie's really nice to Danielle, the next she's ignoring her and calling her a freak. But at the end of the day, Ronnie's her mum, and deep down, that's all Danielle has ever wanted."[2]

The ultimate revelation of Danielle's true identity was set at Archie's wedding to Peggy (Barbara Windsor), matriarch of the Mitchell family. Crace deemed the wedding "the perfect opportunity" for the storyline to conclude,[9] while Santer explained: "Weddings are great because the bring the community together. A wedding gives you a stage, it gives you an event, the context to play things out, so it felt right that these big Mitchell stories would collide at Peggy's wedding."[6] Writer James Payne concurred: "There's no point making the reveal of the Mitchell secret in the caff at half past nine in the morning over a bacon sandwich, it's not EastEnders. EastEnders at its best will make that moment as dramatic and sensational as it possibly can be."[6] The episode saw Danielle announce that she was Ronnie's daughter in front of the entire wedding reception party, in what Crace has named her favourite scene on the show.[9] She opined that the disbelief Danielle was faced with was "heartbreaking" and served to highlight the fact that "she came as the outsider and she still is the outsider because no one steps in to help her".[6]

[edit] Death The character was killed off on 2 April 2009, run down by local resident Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) minutes after revealing her true identity to Ronnie, and subsequently dying in her mother's arms. Although different outcomes to the storyline were considered, Santer explained that "we always came back to [Danielle dying] because in the end, Ronnie is our tragic heroine character".[6] Treadwell-Collins opined that "to give Ronnie her daughter at the last minute and then take her away suddenly is horrible, and the viewers could hate us for it. But if you have Ronnie have her daughter, this one thing that is key to her character, you weaken her character as you go along."[6] Santer agreed that while having Ronnie and Danielle spend time together as mother and daughter would be touching, ultimately it would become boring.[6] The scene in which Danielle dies was filmed during winter, but as it was set in early April, snow had to be cleared away from the set before filming could commence.[9] A body double was used for the moment Danielle was run over.[9] Crace deemed her final scenes: "Really tough, but great",[6] expanding: "For so long you have so many scenes where you're just getting coffees in the caff or standing around in the back of Vic scenes, and then suddenly when you leave you get written for and you've got all these amazing scenes, and I had such great scenes with Larry and with Sam. And those last few scenes in the Vic with myself and Sam were so, so tough, it was such such a hard day and I went home feeling like hell, but it was worth it."[9] Although sad to leave, she felt that the story's conclusion was the right one, and was glad that Ronnie and Danielle finally shared a brief moment in the end, explaining: "It was so important that that tender moment was finally found, because that's all people wanted. It's all Danielle wanted, and it's all Ronnie wants."[6] Crace concluded: "I think Danielle will leave quite a big mark on the Square and on the people in the Square - probably a bigger mark than she did when she was alive."[6]

News of Danielle's death was subject to a media embargo, although several newspapers and magazines including the Radio Times leaked news of Crace's exit in advance of the event.[14] Digital Spy's Kris Green reports that most of the online EastEnders community had anticipated the character's exit from the soap beforehand, some as early as January 2009.[14] Danielle's death reportedly received a mixed reaction from the EastEnders fanbase,[15] but was defended by executive producer Diederick Santer, who stated:

Last night's EastEnders contained all the elements of a classic soap episode – a wedding, high drama and tragedy. We acknowledge that we didn't deliver the happy ending that many of the audience may have been hoping for, and that for some people this was upsetting. We hope viewers understand that our aim is to deliver the best drama. That doesn't always lead to a happy ending. EastEnders - like all good drama - contains a balance of storylines, both happy and sad. We’re proud of the episode, the storyline which built up to it and the way the audience have engaged with it.

—Diederick Santer, bbc.co.uk[16] The death of Danielle sparked much controversy with many feeling cheated at the death of the character so soon after telling Ronnie that she is her daughter. An online petition was set up on petitiononline.com to bring back Danielle (Lauren Crace) into the soap with 4000 names signed in the first 24 hours, however with the following episode featuring the identification of the body the number of names being added has reduced.

[edit] Danielle's Diary The BBC used viral promotion on the EastEnders homepage to further develop the character of Danielle. A new section named 'Danielle's Diary' was launched, encompassing events in the show from 6 October 2008 onwards, written in diary style from Danielle's point of view. Insight was given into the character's thoughts on feelings on the events surrounding her each week, beginning with the introduction: "Bit new to all this. Need some way to clear my head though. Can't really talk to Stace. Or Callum. Or anyone. Maybe if I write it all down, my head won't explode... Anyway, welcome to my life in Walford."[17]

"Wow. As much as a loose cannon Roxy is... she has a way with words. She told me not to let Ronnie walk over me... "get in her face. It's what you'd do if you were a Mitchell!" I am a Mitchell! My blood boiled. She was right! Get in R's face. Tell her. Why should she get off lightly? Then I'll leave - I'LL REJECT HER, just like she rejected me. Tell that woman just what she's done to me! I ran to the Vic. I didn't care if I fell over... I just ran for my life. @ 22.05 —-extract from Danielle's diary, 19 March 2009[18] In this manner, viewers were able to keep up with the character during her temporary absence from the show in February 2009, when she returned home to Telford following her abortion: "Back in Dawley. Feels strange to be away from Stacey... away from R&R... away from Ronnie. Been sleeping a lot - so tired. When I was younger I never dreamt that I’d go through all of this. Stace keeps ringing, but I can’t speak to anyone. I can’t even listen to my voicemail",[19] and were privy to Danielle's internal worries about her relationship with Ronnie: "It's like I scare R. It was as though she scared herself, as she actually admitted that she cared. For about ten seconds I felt close to her again. Like watching the sun appear from behind a cloud... feeling the warmth across your skin again. But, then it disappears as another cloud sweeps over it."[20] The final entry, dated minutes before Danielle's on-screen death, reads: "All I ever wanted was for mum to look at me with love in her eyes. To call me her baby. To tell me she loved me. I have to leave now. I have to go back to Telford. Goodbye Walford."[21] After the character had been killed off, the diary format gave way to a wall of memorial messages, supposedly penned by other EastEnders characters, including Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald),Lucy Beale (Melissa Suffield), Callum and Stacey.[22]