It has been almost 14 years since the cell doors slammed shut on Bad Girls for the final time.
The iconic ITV drama told the story of the lives of inmates and prison wardens of the notorious G-Wing in the fictional women’s prison called HMP Larkhall.
Over its eight series, which aired from 1999 until 2006, the popular show introduced us to the colourful inmates including Shell Dockley, the Two Julies and the Costa Cons, as well as the officers who patrolled G-wing, such as the evil Jim Fenner and Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby.
Due to its success, Bad Girls received numerous awards such as the National Television Awards, a crossover with fellow ITV drama Footballers Wives and a musical based on the original series called Bad Girls: The Musical.
With fans often taking to their keyboards to demand a Bad Girls reutrn, Daily Star Online has taken a look at what some of the show’s biggest stars are up to now.
Shell Dockley (played by Debra Stephenson)
Debra Stephenson played Shell Dockley in Bad Girls from 1999 until 2003 (Image: Carlton TV)
Shell Dockley is arguably the most iconic prisoner from Bad Girls.
During her stint behind bars, the ruthless inmate was seen as Top Dog among the prisoners of G-Wing and famously had an affair with corrupt principal officer Jim Fenner.
After Debra Stephenson finished her second stint on the show, she starred as Frankie in Coronation Street for two years, joining the show alongside Bradley Walsh as new members of the Baldwin family in 2004.
These days, the TV star is probably most well known for her work as an impressionist.
Between 2009 and 2011, Debra co-starred with Jon Culshaw in The Impressions Show and lent her array of voices to the satirical puppet show Newzoids in 2015.
The actress announced her grandfather had lost his life to coronavirus (Image: ITV)
She was also a team captain on ITV’s panel show The Imitation Game in 2018.
Debra, now 48, has seen her life change dramatically during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The comic revealed she lost her grandfather to Covid-19 in a recent interview with Hull Live.
Jim Fenner (played by Jack Ellis)
Jack Ellis is best known his portrayal of villainous prison officer Jim Fenner.
Jim was murdered by inmate Julie J in the penultimate seres of the ITV prison drama.
Jack went on to have a regular in ITV drama Where the Heart Is before joining the cast of Coronation Street as bookies owner Harry Mason in 2007.
Since leaving Weatherfield, Jack’s had guest roles in Vera and Doctors, and in 2017, he played Julius Caesar in Channel 5’s 8 Days That Made Rome.
Officer Jim famously had an affair with inmate Shell (Image: Carlton TV)
The actor also played a different sort of prison officer in French drama Versailles, which aired on BBC Two in 2018.
Jack, now 65, has also had a number of stage roles, including productions of Richard III and Great Expectations.
In 2016, Jack starred as Warden Stammas in the theatre production of Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption, playing alongside Paul Nicholls and Ben Onwukwe.
Sylvia Hollamby (played by Helen Fraser)
Helen Fraser played Sylvia Hollamby in all eight series of Bad Girls (Image: ITV)
Syliva Hollamby was the only prison officer to appear in all eight series of the show.
The women of Larkhall referred to Sylvia as “bodybag” due to her no-nonsense behaviour and old-fashioned views.
Since leaving Bad Girls, Helen, now 78, has toured the UK as Mrs Fisher in a stage version of Billy Liar.
In 2011, Helen got her kit off as she joined the tour of Calendar Girls.
The women of Larkhall prison often referred to Sylvia as “bodybag” (Image: ITV1)
Like her co-stars Jack and Debra, Helen has also appeared in Coronation Street.
She played the role of Magenta Savannah in 1998 and returned to the cobbles as Doris Babbage in 2013.
Helen appeared in BBC daytime soap in Doctors in 2015.
Crystal Gordon (played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster)
Sharon Duncan-Brewster portrayed the role of Crystal Gordon (Image: Carlton Television)
Sharon Duncan-Brewster portrayed the role of Crystal Gordon in the first four series of Bad Girls.
She went on to guest star in Holby City, Waking Dead, Babyfather and Doctors.
Since leaving her Bad Girls days behind, Sharon joined the cast of Eastenders as Trina Johnson – the ex-wife of serial killer Lucas Johnson, who famously died when he impaled her with a rake to the throat.
She played the role of Catherine Hunter, who is Alex Hunter’s mother, in the FIFA 17’s story mode known as “The Journey”.
The actress recently made her debut in Netflix series Sex Education as Roz Marchetti (Image: Dave Benett/WireImage)
Sharon reprised the role of Catherine Hunter in FIFA 18’s The Journey: Hunter Returns and FIFA 19’s The Journey: Champions.
She also portrayed Kitty in the BBC One production of The Long Song in December 2018.
Last year, Sharon, now 44, made her debut in Netflix series Sex Education, playing one of Jackson’s mums, Roz Marchetti.
Yvonne Atkins (played by Linda Henry)
Linda Henry played Bad Girls ‘top dog’ Yvonne Atkins from 1999 until 2003 (Image: ITV Network)
Linda Henry played Bad Girls icon Yvonne Atkins from 1999 until 2003.
Since leaving the show, the actress has appeared in The Bill, Birds of a Feather, A Touch of Frost and Trial and Retribution.
Linda is better known as EastEnders legend Shirley Cater.
She joined the BBC soap in 2006 and has been a regular character ever since.
Shirley Carter has become one of EastEnders’ most popular characters (Image: BBC)
Over the last 14 years, Shirley has been involved in some of the soaps biggest storylines from her volatile relationship with Phil Mitchell to the introduction of her son Mick, who at first was believed to be her brother.
Kellie Bright, who plays Shirley’s daughter-in-law Linda Carter in EastEnders, also appeared in Bad Girls as blonde bombshell Cassie Tyler.
Bad Girls fans may have also noticed that Luisa Bradshaw-White, who played prison officer Lorna Rose, portrays the role of Shirley’s sister Tina Carter in EastEnders.
Rachel Hicks (played by Joanne Froggatt)
Rachel Hick’s story was one of the more memorable plots in the early years (Image: LWT)
Joanne Froggatt only appeared in four episodes of the first series of Bad Girls but her character Rachel Hick’s story was one of the more memorable plots in the early years.
Rachel, who was 19, was only serving a 12-month sentence for drug possession, but she ended up taking her own life after discovering her mother had put her daughter up for adoption.
Joanne was already known for her role as Zoe Tattersall in Coronation Street before Bad Girls, and she has since become one of the show’s biggest exports.
After various TV roles, she landed the part of Anna Bates in Downton Abbey in 2010, winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for the role.
Joanne recently appeared in ITV drama Liar as Laura Nelson (Image: ITV)
She most recently appeared in the ITV drama Liar as Laura Nelson.
The actress made her stage debut in February 2019 as Frances Thorpe in the thriller Alys, Always at the Bridge Theatre in London.
The play was directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Lucinda Coxon and based on the book by Harriet Lane.
Karen Betts (played by Claire King)
Claire King joined the cast of Bad Girls in series two as the new G-Wing governor Karen Betts (Image: Carlton Television)
Claire King joined the cast of Bad Girls in series two as the new G-Wing governor, and had an on-off relationship with Jim Fenner before he framed her for a hit and run.
The actress was already a familiar face thanks to playing Kim Tate in Emmerdale for a decade until 1999.
She has since gone on to appear in pretty much every British drama you can think of.
Since 2014, she has appeared in Coronation Street as Erica Holroyd.
Clare has retuned to Emmerdale as Kim Tate since leaving her Bad Girls days behind
She’s also dabbled in reality TV, coming sixth in Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 and as a housemate in Celebrity Big Brother in 2014, though she walked out the house after 16 days.
It was announced in 2018 that Clare would reprise her role Kim Tate as in Emmerdale for the first time after nearly 20 years away.
Claire has recently revealed that cruel trolls drove her off social media.
The 57-year-old soap star told OK! Magazine earlier this year: “I came off Twitter because some of the comments got very personal and it’s always age-related.
“I had messages calling me a ‘wizened old woman’.
“It’s cruel and I don’t think it helps that Classic Emmerdale is shown on ITV3, so you can see me in my prime in the afternoon, then a few hours later I’ve aged 30 years in the current episodes on ITV.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
