Lauren Branning

Lauren Branning
Jacqueline Jossa as Lauren (2011)
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Madeline Duggan (2006–10) Jacqueline Jossa (2010—)
Created by	Kate Harwood
Introduced by	Kate Harwood
Duration	2006—
First appearance	3 July 2006
Classification	Present; regular
Spin-off appearances	Lauren's Diaries (2010—)
Profile
Date of birth	29 March 1994
Occupation	Student (until 2012) Market trader (2011—)
Family Family Branning Father Max Branning Mother Tanya Branning Stepfather Greg Jessop (2011—) Brothers Oscar Branning Sisters Abi Branning Half brothers Bradley Branning Grandfathers Jim Branning Grandmothers Reenie Branning Cora Cross Uncles Jack Branning Derek Branning Aunts Suzy Branning Carol Jackson April Branning Rainie Cross Cousins Bianca Jackson Robbie Jackson Sonia Fowler Billie Jackson Penny Branning Amy Mitchell James Branning Richard Mitchell

Lauren Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She first appeared in the show on 3 July 2006 played by Madeline Duggan, was absent from 23 June to 27 September 2010, and returned as played by Jacqueline Jossa.

Storylines

Lauren is the result of an affair between Max Branning and Tanya Cross. Max left his wife Rachel (Sukie Smith/Pooky Quesnel) and young son Bradley (Charlie Clements) to marry Tanya and be a father to Lauren. Lauren moves to Walford with her parents and sister Abi. She makes friends with Lucy Beale and begins dating Lucy's twin brother Peter. Lauren hides her video camera in her parents' bedroom on the day of Bradley and Stacey's wedding, catching Max and Stacey kissing on film. Lauren burns the footage to DVD and plans to give it to Bradley for Christmas as revenge for her father's infidelity. She later changes her mind and throws the DVD away, but Tanya finds it and, thinking it had fallen into Lauren's waste paper bin by accident, puts it under the Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, the family watch the DVD and Max and Stacey's affair is revealed. In the aftermath of the revelation, Max and Tanya split up and Tanya files for divorce, leaving the Branning family in ruins.

Lauren grows jealous of Peter performing love scenes with Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) for a play being performed at the community centre. She goes to talk to Whitney about the situation, but instead meets Whitney's stepfather Tony King (Chris Coghill), a paedophile who is having a secret love affair with 15-year-old Whitney. Tony is instantly attracted to Lauren and starts grooming her after she separates from Peter, who dumps Lauren after Max orders him to. When Lauren discovers what Max has done, she is furious; she rejects her father after he attempts to throttle Peter, who has been trying to defend her from Max's outburst. Shortly after, Max is run down in a planned hit and run and left battling for his life in hospital. Tanya subsequently confesses and is arrested. When Max grounds Lauren for planning to attend a music concert with Tony, she asks her uncle Jack (Scott Maslen) if she can move in with him, telling her father she wishes he had died. It is later revealed that it was Lauren, not Tanya, who had tried to kill Max.

Lauren decides to move in with Lucy and her family when she thinks Jack might not be able to cope with her. Lucy's father Ian (Adam Woodyatt) explains that she should live with her father. Tony's abuse of Whitney is eventually revealed, and Lauren realises that she was Tony's next target. She tells Ian's wife Jane (Laurie Brett) about this and she advises her to talk to the police, which she does. In court, Tanya pleads guilty to attempted murder; this upsets Lauren who is has to be taken out of the court room. Lauren tells Max it was her that tried to kill him. Lauren later hands herself into to the police to ensure her mother's freedom, against Max's wishes. She is charged with attempted murder and is taken into care by Social Services. Tanya is released and is furious to discover Lauren is in care, spending days trying to track her down, eventually getting her new mobile number from Peter. Tanya visits Lauren at her foster home and tries to persuade her to come home but she cannot leave. Lauren's trial takes place, and although she is found not guilty of attempted murder, she is guilty of GBH with intent. She is sentenced to two years under supervision, meaning she will not go to prison.

Peter avoids Lauren as he is afraid Max will hurt him again, but Max gives Peter his blessing to see Lauren and Peter tells her he loves her. Lauren tells Tanya she is terrified that Tanya and Max will get back together, and they eventually do, with Max moving back in. Lauren finds an earring in Max's car and gives it to Tanya, assuming he was seeing another woman. Whitney hears Lauren and Peter talking about the earring, and tells them she lost it when she and her half-brother Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) took the car for a joyride. Lauren feels embarrassed because she realises that Whitney just overheard her describing her earring as "chavvy". Lauren tells Tanya it is her earring, a present from Peter. Whitney and Lauren become friends and get drunk in Janine Butcher's (Charlie Brooks) flat. Peter tells Jay and his other friends that he and Lauren had a sexual experience at the allotments, resulting in Lauren being teased by her schoolmates. She finds out Peter started the rumour and dumps him. She then agrees to see him and they get back together. Peter tells her they will wait until she is ready to get into a sexual relationship, but Lauren tells him she is ready now. Despite this, she decides to wait, but Max gets mad when he finds out what they planned, and bans Peter from seeing her. Max is enraged when he catches them in a secret meeting, but Peter confesses his love for Lauren and Max finally accepts it.

When Max's debts are revealed and bailiffs start taking the family's possessions, Tanya leaves Max but Abi refuses to go with her, saying they need to stick together. Tanya leaves with Lauren and Oscar, but Abi stays with Max. Lauren briefly returns at Christmas when Tanya comes back for Abi on Max's request. Lauren returns to speak to Peter about their relationship, and decides to end it as she cannot give him 100% since moving away. Lucy tells her Peter is worth keeping, but when Lauren goes to a party to find Peter, she sees him kissing Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny). Lauren slaps Peter for calling her an iceberg, and then Zsa Zsa who laughs at her. Zsa Zsa and Lauren then fight and Whitney intervenes, but she becomes involved in the fight herself. Lauren then talks to Lucy, saying she must have been wrong about how kind Peter is. Bradley dies after being accused of killing Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) and Lauren attends his funeral, and also celebrates her 16th birthday, when her uncle Jack is shot. She attends a party, which makes Lucy feel sidelined because she is not invited. Lauren later tells Lucy that she has changed and she is not sure that they should be friends any more. Lauren attends Abi's birthday dinner, and after returning to Max's house smelling of alcohol, Lauren tells her father she will be spending the summer at a summer camp in the United States. Max then takes her and Abi home to Tanya's.

A few months later, Lauren returns to Max's from America earlier than expected. Tanya arrives and explains that Lauren has been expelled from school for taking drugs. She then goes on webcam to her American boyfriend Edward Brooks (Luke Striffler) and asks him to sort out his plane tickets. Lauren insists to Max that she only smoked cannabis once and promises she will not do it again. Abi returns home from school to meet Lauren, and reveals that she has a crush on Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins), but Lauren tries to put her off him as he is older and in a relationship. She then speaks to Edward again on webcam, but he says now she is in England, he wants to end their relationship. At Billie Jackson's (Devon Anderson) birthday party, Peter offers to get Lauren a drink but she is not interested. She brings vodka, which Billie drinks in one go. The next day, Lauren visits Carol along with Max, Tanya and Abi after hearing of Billie's death. She laughs, and says that she forgot what her and Billie drank the previous night. Carol, enraged at Lauren's laughing, grabs her and pulls her, forcing her to look at Billie's corpse and try and continue laughing. Lauren leaves with her family and is later seen hugging Abi.

Lauren starts drinking and realises she was the last person to see Billie alive. Carol later attacks Lauren, saying she killed him by egging him on to get more and more drunk. After Billie's funeral, Lauren is angry at Max for refusing to speak about Bradley, and also says everyone should be celebrating because Billie was fun-loving, rather than being quiet. Max orders Lauren to apologise and in their argument, he says Bradley was a decent man, but Lauren says he was a murderer. Max then tells her Bradley did not kill Archie. Lauren asks if he knows who did kill him. Max tells Lauren nothing but she later visits Jack and tells him what Max said. Jack says Max is just protecting her and probably cannot accept that Bradley is a killer. At a party, Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) asks Lauren out, but she says she is not interested in him as he is younger than her. He then makes sexual remarks, and Max angrily confronts him. Lauren realises Max is displaying violent behaviour and accuses him of having killed Archie. Max tells her he knows who did kill Archie and promised to protect them. Later, Lauren accuses Stacey of trying to seduce Max, but Stacey says they are just friends and Max has promised to always look after her. Lauren then correctly concludes that Stacey killed Archie and tells Max she knows. After Max denies this is true, Lauren confronts Stacey and she confesses, not realising that Lauren is taping the confession on her mobile phone. She tells Max that Stacey confessed, and when she threatens to go to the police, calling Stacey vile and twisted, Stacey explains she was raped by Archie and Lauren believes her. Max lies to Lauren that he is meeting a client, but Lauren sees him with Stacey. Lauren tells Max to get rid of Stacey or she will go to the police with the recording. Stacey leaves for a while but soon returns. Lauren is still unhappy that Stacey is around and when Stacey and Ryan announce their relationship, Max insists he will not get involved. However, Lauren sees Max and Stacey together again, so she gives Ryan's wife Janine her mobile phone containing the recording of Stacey's confession. Lauren regrets it and tells Max, who breaks into Janine's flat and wipes the recording. During a family Christmas dinner, Archie's daughter Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) visits and demands to know the truth behind Archie's murder. This makes Lauren cry and insists this is all her fault and storms upstairs to her room.

Lauren takes a liking to her friend Seb Parker (Tommy Bastow) and is jealous when Mercy Olubunmi (Bunmi Mojekwu) also shows an interest. Lauren and Whitney fall out, and Whitney goes missing. When Lauren discovers this, she helps search for her, tracking her down to Dartford where she realises Rob Grayson (Jody Latham) is sexually exploiting her for financial gain. Lauren fails to bring Whitney home, and Rob invites Lauren to go to a party with them, but she declines. Later, Rob threatens Lauren to stay away from them. When they return to Walford, Janine forces Lauren to lie to Ricky and Carol that they didn't manage to locate her while Janine makes efforts to locate Whitney's whereabouts. However too concerned for Whitney's welfare and anxious about the situation, Lauren finally tells Ricky and Carol the truth that Rob took Whitney away and that she could be in serious danger.

Lauren develops a crush on Ryan, but fails to seduce him by sneaking into his room. She discovers that Max and Tanya are having an affair and confronts Max, saying she will move in with Tanya and Greg, and threatens Max that she will hit him again with a car but this time will not miss. She dresses up to impress Ryan but he rejects her, and Max catches her asking Tyler Moon (Tony Discipline) to take her upstairs, and drags her home where she is grounded by Tanya. Lauren confides in her aunt Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) about Ryan, who informs her that he is a drug dealer. Lauren talks to Ryan, who realises he is in trouble and as she comforts him, they kiss. They start a secret relationship but when Lauren finds out that Tanya and Max have continued their affair, Lauren flaunts her relationship with Ryan in front of Tanya, calling her a hypocrite. Whitney eventually finds out that Lauren and Ryan are seeing each other and tells Lauren she no longer wants to be friends. However, Ryan breaks up with Lauren for Whitney's sake, but Lauren wishes to carry on in secret. The relationship ends after Ryan kills Rob and goes on the run and Lauren realises he does not love her. Lauren's friendship with Whitney suffers when Lauren appears to care more about the relationship ending than Whitney's ordeal.

When Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins) and his fiancée Jodie Gold (Kylie Babbington) almost call off their wedding, Darren cheats on Jodie with Lauren after getting drunk together. Jodie learns of this and it leads to Darren leaving. Lauren learns that Tanya has cancer and promises not to tell anyone else. When Tanya starts to lose her hair, Lauren struggles to cope. Whilst at a party, Lauren has a one-night stand with Tyler Moon (Tony Discipline), not long after his break-up from Whitney, which angers Whitney. When Lauren discovers that Tanya has stopped her cancer treatment, she confronts her, revealing her cancer to Abi, Rainie and Cora. Lauren finds Max who has returned, and tells him that Tanya has cancer and they need his help. Max goes to Tanya and vows to support her through her treatment. Still struggling with her mother's illness, Lauren gets drunk in The Queen Victoria public house, and kisses Tyler. The pair then start a casual relationship, though Tyler quickly ends it. Lauren starts drinking heavily, and at Pat Evans (Pam St. Clement)'s funeral, Lauren and Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) drink during the service, which ends up with Lauren being sick beside Pat's grave. Concerned by her behaviour, Max and Tanya take Lauren to the doctor's, where she has a private consulation with a GP. When Lauren decides she no longer wants to continue with her education, her parents make her work at Tanya's salon. It does not work out so she goes to work at the car lot with Max.

Creation and development

Casting

Lauren Branning was introduced in 2006 by executive producer Kate Harwood. She and her immediate family — father Max (Jake Wood), mother Tanya (Jo Joyner) are an extension of the popular and long-running Jackson/Branning clan, who appeared in the series since 1993. It was announced in May 2006 that Lauren will be played by actress Madeline Duggan while Lorna Fitzgerald was cast as Lauren's sister Abi Branning.

Personality

"Intelligent, clever and a deep romantic, Lauren has it all. Like her mum, she is a quick judge of character but can also be sardonic, cynical and dry, just like her dad."

—The BBC describes Lauren played by Jossa (2010)

Lauren is described by the BBC website as an "outsider" and "doesn't care what people think". It continues: "Lauren is very quick on the uptake and picks up on everything going on around her but knows it doesn't pay to have loose lips. She's learnt the hard way that secrets destroy people. And this has made her vulnerable."

Recast (2010)

On 9 May 2010 it was announced that Duggan had been axed from the soap by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood and that she had already filmed her exit scenes. Her final episode was broadcast on 23 June 2010. In August 2010, it was announced that the character would be returning later in the year, now played by Jacqueline Jossa. Of her casting in the show, Jossa said "I was so excited when I got the call to say I'd got the part in EastEnders. I've always been a massive fan of the show and it's a dream come true. The character of Lauren Branning will be really fun to play and there are some exciting things coming up". Kirkwood said "I'm delighted to welcome Jacqueline Jossa to Albert Square. Jacqueline's portrayal of Lauren has all the classic Branning qualities of toughness, cynicism and sensitivity. Jacqueline is set to be at the heart of Walford drama for some time to come". It was reported that Lauren's return would show a more grown-up side to the character, who will cause trouble but also show a softer side as she attempts to find love.

Madeline Duggan as Lauren (2010). Duggan was described as "a pretty lass, but pretty unimpressive".

Jossa's first appearance was on 27 September 2010. Following Jossa's first appearance, Lauren started appearing in her own internet spin-off series, Lauren's Diaries, and a second series started in 2011. Jossa said that when she first got the part of Lauren, she said that she " worried unnecessarily". Talking to PA, Jossa said that working with Joyner and Wood wasn't as scary as she thought. She commented: "There was less pressure than I thought there was going to be. When I first started I got really scared and worked up, thinking everyone's going to hate me. They've been there four years and then I'm coming in to be their daughter - it was a bit surreal. And then two weeks later I felt completely comfortable, everyone was cracking jokes and I thought, 'Oh... I built it up a bit!'"

Storyline development

Lauren's primary storylines concerned a school girl romance with Peter Beale (Thomas Law), a friendship with the delinquent Lucy Beale (Melissa Suffield), and being caught in the middle of her warring parents, who separated in the serial in 2007 when Tanya discovered Max was cheating on her with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Lauren's half brother Bradley's wife. In the storyline, Lauren played an integral part in the discovery of the affair; as a result of a practical joke, Lauren unwittingly recorded Max and Stacey kissing on video camera, and sent the recording to Bradley as a Christmas present in December 2007 as means of revenge on her father. Despite a change of heart, the recording was seen by the entire Branning family on Christmas Day, an episode that drew 13.9 million viewers, 55.3 % of the total audience share.

The character became involved in one of EastEnders' most controversial storylines in 2008, when she was groomed by a paedophile, Tony King (Chris Coghill). Tony King had been introduced in September 2008 as the love interest of Lauren's relative Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). However, in a plot twist, it was revealed that Tony was already in a sexual relationship with Bianca's 15-year-old stepdaughter Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). After losing interest in Whitney, Tony turns his attentions to 14 year old Lauren. An insider said: "He has got away with abusing Whitney for years but it seems one young girl isn't enough."

In April 2011, it was announced that Lauren is to have a relationship with already established character, Ryan Malloy. An EastEnders insider commented: "Sparks will fly when Ryan and Lauren begin their relationship. Max is certainly someone not to mess with. He's already very protective of his daughters and Ryan isn't exactly his favourite person after his relationship with Stacey, who Max will always hold a torch for."

In January 2012, Jossa praised her storyine in which Lauren starts binge drinking due to the stress of her mother suffering from cancer. She stated: "At first to Lauren drinking was a laugh. Then it became a way of forgetting—she has carried the burden of keeping her mum's illness secret. It's good EastEnders have done the storyline. It highlights that teenagers who people label irresponsible could be doing it to deal with worries they are keeping to themselves. What they actually need is help or someone to talk to."

Reception

Inside Soap commented on Lauren's recasting describing Lauren played by Duggan was "a pretty lass, but pretty unimpressive" and that played by Jossa she has acquired "an attitude as severe as her fringe". Jane Simon from the Daily Mirror said that Lauren played by Jossa "brings some badly needed oomph to the part". Jossa won Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards 2012. Executive Producer Bryan Kirkwood commented: "I'd like to say a huge congratulations to our girl, Jacqueline Jossa, for her amazing success. It's well-deserved recognition of Jacqueline's beautiful, truthful and moving portrayal of Lauren Branning."

See also

• List of soap opera recasts

External links

• Lauren Branning at BBC Online
• Lauren's Diaries at BBC Online