Kerry Young (The Bill)
Kerry Young is a fictional character from the British police procedural television series The Bill, played by Beth Cordingly. She first appeared in the eighteenth series episode "Too Close to the Wind", broadcast on 11 July 2002. Kerry was introduced as a police constable, who joins the Metropolitan Police based at the Sun Hill station. Cordingly's casting and Kerry's creation occurred after a large number of characters were written out by the show's new executive producer Paul Marquess. Ahead of her audition, Cordingly worried that she might be typecast as a bitch because of her past roles. However, Marquess met with all the new actors and wrote their characters around them, and Cordingly was relieved when Kerry's biography was full of "nice stuff". To prepare for the role, Cordingly spent time with the Met to learn about their daily routine and joined them for a day out in a squad car, which she admitted left her with motion sickness.
Kerry is initially portrayed as confident, bubbly, down to earth, and impulsive. Cordingly said her character prefers to get on with things instead of analysing them, but sometimes her attitude frustrates her older colleagues. Cordingly enjoyed playing a character that was likeable and not a bitch, compared to some of her previous roles. However, Kerry was seen as a victim in her first year as everything went wrong for her. She eventually began to grow stronger and harden up, as well as becoming tougher in her career too. Cordingly found Kerry's police uniform helped her get into character, but she found it was unflattering and likened herself to the Michelin man when she wore it. A lot of Kerry's storylines have focused on her love life. In her first scenes, Kerry has a one-night stand with PC Nick Klein. She later establishes a relationship with PC Luke Ashton, which develops into a love triangle when he has an affair with Sergeant Craig Gilmore. Kerry and Luke eventually marry and she becomes pregnant, however, she miscarries when she learns of Luke's affair. Cordingly thought the storyline went on for too long and she had to work on making Kerry's ignorance around her husband credible.
Kerry later has a brief affair with Sergeant Dale "Smithy" Smith, before she begins a relationship with Australian PC Cameron Tait, whom she had to arrest in his debut episode. Cordingly and McPherson began a relationship in real life which they found helped them with their characters in later storylines. In April 2004, Kerry is targeted by PC Gabriel Kent, who manipulates her into thinking that Smithy has date raped her. Cordingly pointed out that the audience see a kiss between Smithy and Kerry and nothing else, leaving it ambiguous as to what happened. Gabriel uses this to his advantage and tells their colleagues Smithy date raped Kerry. In the midst of this, the shift are called to a bank siege, where Kerry volunteers to isolate with a man who has a bomb strapped to his chest. The storyline comes to a dramatic climax as the bomb goes off while Kerry is distracted, leaving her unconscious. Cordingly enjoyed being involved in the stunts during filming. Gabriel's obsession with Kerry leads him to rape her, shortly after she get engaged to Cameron. Kerry does not report the rape and Carty believed it was because of her earlier accusation against Smithy, which would make her look like "the girl who cried wolf".
In an effort to prove that she is a good officer, Kerry goes undercover with the Radfords, a local crime family. As she becomes romantically involved with David Radford, Cordingly said Kerry's loyalties are divided due to her disillusionment with the force and clashing with Inspector Gina Gold. Lynda Bellingham said her character Irene Radford wants to turn Kerry against the force. Cordingly was unsure whose side Kerry was on during the storyline. On 29 March 2004, it was announced Cordingly had decided to leave The Bill. She had planned to go in January 2004, but she chose to go out at "a climax point" for her character instead. Producers decided to kill her off and make her the fourth victim of the Sun Hill sniper. In the lead up to her final scenes, Kerry is arrested for her involvement with the Radford family, she uncovers Gabriel's real identity, and discovers Andrea Dunbar is actually an undercover journalist. Kerry also realises she loves Smithy, who also declares his love for her. Cordingly made her final appearance as Kerry on 20 October 2004, as she is shot by Gabriel outside the station. ITV later aired a special episode all about the character titled The Bill Uncovered: Kerry's Story.
Casting
In November 2001, a reporter for The Stage confirmed Beth Cordingly had joined the cast of The Bill. Her casting came shortly after the show's executive producer Paul Marquess wrote out a number of characters in a storyline that saw a fire sweep through Sun Hill station. Over the following weeks, Marquess introduced several new characters to the show, including PC Kerry Young. Cordingly felt that going into her audition for The Bill she would be typecast as "an out-and-out bitch" because of her roles as Sara Warrington in Family Affairs and Norma Kennedy in Semi-Monde. She explained "Paul Marquess, the producer, met actors then wrote the characters around them. It was nerve-wracking for me. I'd been cast as two very strong, bitchy, destructive women previously what if The Bill people wrote that sort of part for me again? If another bitch came up then that had to mean I came across that way. So when I got Kerry's biography through and it was full of nice stuff I was very relieved." Cordingly was both surprised and "thrilled" when she won the role of Kerry. Her first day on set was 7 January 2002. The following month she carried out research into her character's career by spending time with the Met to learn about their daily routine. She joined them for a day out in a squad car driving around London. Cordingly admitted the speed at which they drove left her feeling ill with "a sort of motion sickness." She made her debut as Kerry on 11 July 2002.Development
Characterisation
Kerry was initially billed as "a confident woman who lands in some tricky situations." Kerry's profile on the show's official website describes her as impulsive, optimistic, willing to "get her hands dirty" and a "believer in fate". Cordingly enjoyed playing a character that was not "a real bitch" unlike her previous roles. She called Kerry "loving, confident and bubbly", as well as likeable, "open with everybody" and attractive to men. She said Kerry often "leaps before she looks", and was not one for analysing things, as she would rather just get on with it. Sometimes her attitude leads to frustration from her older colleagues, but her "natural charm" almost always sees someone willing to help her out of bad situations. Her profile also states that she has a tendency to become "petulant" if her charm does not work and someone dislikes her. In her fictional backstory, Kerry was raised by her single father, following the death of her mother when she was young. This has led Kerry to look for "the perfect fairytale marriage", which results in her establishing relationships that inevitably fail.Cordingly was keen to wear Kerry's police uniform when she started out and found that it helped her get into character. However, after a few months of filming, she said that it was not sexy at all and believed she resembled the Michelin man when wearing it. Describing the uniform for a piece in the Sunday Mirror, Cordingly wrote: "On my feet are huge army boots. Then we have the trousers. Nice and sturdy. Now come the layers – shirt, jumper and bulbous stab-vest." She said the belt to which the various pieces of police equipment were attached made sure that viewers could not see that she had a waist. She likened the coat to something work by Paddington Bear, while the hat was in the "Laurel and Hardy-style". Cordingly thought she looked "hilarious" and believed her co-stars looked both "cool and relaxed" while she felt like King Kong.
A year after her introduction, Cordingly stated that her character had changed "quite a lot over time" and was starting to harden up. She thought they were both "defensive and protective" when it came to their feelings, but Kerry was "more of a doer" and very impulsive. Cordingly admitted that she would think things through before reacting and was more of a worrier, but she said Kerry was more physical, whereas she would "stress about something" before acting. Cordingly later said that Kerry had had "a crazy life". She explained that when she joined The Bill, she wanted to play someone different to her Family Affairs character and Kerry was "a victim rather than the one creating trouble."
While talking about Kerry's early scenes with the Sunday Mail's Mickey McMonagle, Cordingly said "I've been on The Bill for about a year and a half and in my first year I had loads of storylines. It was all quite mad and traumatic with gay husbands and miscarriages and lots of tears. She was happily bobbing along being lovely and everything kept going wrong for her. I have had great stories and stuff but it has been a little bit boring playing nice all the time. I'd like to see her stretched a bit more." Cordingly agreed that her character was "very much the victim" in her first year, but she had started working on new plots that would put Kerry "on a different journey" and would see her becoming stronger. She said Kerry would become "a lot tougher police-wise too", which she found "odd to play" because Kerry had been "so nice" up to that point and now she was being unsympathetic to rape victims. Cordingly enjoyed the challenge of changing her character into "a powerful, no-nonsense PC."
Relationships
The majority of Kerry's storylines have focused on her love life. Cordingly thought that her character "hurls herself into a relationship" when she receives "the slightest bit of affection". When she was introduced, Jo Haywood of Inside Soap confirmed that Kerry would get off to a bad start at Sun Hill when she learns that Nick Klein, who she had a recent one-night stand with, is actually a fellow PC. Kerry was also in a relationship with solicitor Martin Porter at the time. Not long after, she "caught the attention" of PC Luke Ashton and they begin dating. However, Luke is also having an affair with their sergeant Craig Gilmore. Kerry and Luke's relationship becomes strained when Martin is arrested on suspicion of being a serial killer. Kerry is "stunned" by the news and begs Gilmore to let her see Martin, but he refuses. With Martin's "predicament weighing on her mind", Kerry's relationship with Luke starts to suffer. Eventually Luke and Kerry get engaged, despite Luke's continued affair with Gilmore and denial that he is gay. In the build up to the wedding, "a few hitches" occur, including the arrival of Luke's father and "dress disasters".Luke also has sex with Gilmore on his stag night and they are caught by Inspector Gina Gold. The wedding took place across two episodes on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day 2003. Cordingly thought "the whole gay husband story" went on for too long and questioned why Kerry could not see Luke was gay when it was obvious to everyone else. She told McMonagle that she had to work on making it credible, and explained that Kerry finds that what she gets from Luke in private is enough for her and that their bond is so strong, she believes him over her friends and colleagues. Kerry becomes pregnant, but suffers a miscarriage shortly after learning the truth about Luke and Gilmore. Cordingly enjoyed working with Taylor in the aftermath of Kerry's miscarriage. Describing the scene in which Gina visits her at the hospital, she commented "her reaction to me just made my reaction. The way she said 'Kerry' just got me." She found those moments on set to be "really special" for her as an actress, who was still learning.
After ending her marriage to Luke, Kerry has "a steamy affair" with Sergeant Dale "Smithy" Smith and they are caught having sex in a police car while on duty. Cordingly admitted that her character's kissing scenes were "a bit embarrassing". She explained that she was really nervous when she had to kiss Zagger, but she found it easier to kiss Neal because they had been working together for longer. She warned Walkinshaw that she would blush when filming their kissing first scene, but assured her that he would too, which set her at ease. She continued: "I do have a bit of a problem in that as soon as I find out about a kiss and for about a month afterwards I blush whenever I see that person. I'm like an 1800's woman! I can't help it, it's not like I fancy them or anything but it just happens!"
At the beginning of 2003, producers introduced the show's first Australian police officer Cameron Tait. His debut episode sees Kerry arrest him for indecent exposure when one of his neighbours mistakes him for a flasher. McPherson and Cordingly began a relationship in real-life shortly after meeting for lunch during his first day. Their characters also establish a relationship on-screen after Cameron turns to Kerry for support, following the death of Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy's daughter, whom Cameron was babysitting. McPherson said he and Cordingly had barely any scenes together since his arrival, and he could not think of anyone else he would have liked to have acted alongside. He pointed out that they already had the chemistry and were able to discuss and rehearse their scenes together.