Missy Booth

Missy Booth
Ackley Bridge character
First appearance	Episode 1
Last appearance	Episode 20
Portrayed by	Poppy Lee Friar
In-universe information
Occupation	Student Fast food worker
Relatives	Simone Booth (mother) Hayley Booth (sister) Julie Booth (grandmother)

Missy Booth is a fictional character from the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge, portrayed by Poppy Lee Friar. Missy first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, first broadcast on 7 June 2017. She is introduced as one of the programme's two protagonists, alongside best friend Nasreen Paracha (Amy-Leigh Hickman). Friar received praise from critics for her portrayal of the character, whose storylines included her grandmother's death, her sister being taken into foster care, and getting an abortion. Missy appears in the series until the second episode of the third series, when Friar left to pursue other acting projects.

Storylines

Missy is introduced alongside lifelong best friend Nasreen Paracha (Amy-Leigh Hickman), when the pair are drinking cider on a sofa inside a skip on their street. The next day, the pair start at Ackley Bridge College, having previously attended different schools. Due to Missy retaking a year, she is placed in the year group below Nasreen. Nasreen's friend Alya Nawaz (Maariah Hussain) immediately disapproves of Missy, due to the way she talks and dresses. In order to fit in with Alya's group of friends, Nasreen begins wearing a hijab and shuns Missy. When Missy confronts her and exposes her for drinking, the pair fight and are taken in to see headteacher Mandy Carter (Jo Joyner), who gives them a formal warning. To get revenge on Nasreen, Missy orders Cory Wilson (Sam Retford) to have sex with Nasreen, and offers to have sex with Cory if he does it. She later regrets her decision, and admits what she has done when she sees Cory kissing Nasreen. Missy returns home to grandmother Julie (Rita May) worrying about her money being stolen. Missy suspects that her mother Simone (Samantha Power) stole the money, and enlists Nasreen's help to find her, despite the pair still arguing. The pair get hold of the money, and on the way home, Nasreen comes out to Missy as a lesbian.

Before going to school, Missy goes upstairs to help Julie get out of the bath, but is distraught to find her dead in the bath. Unsure on what to do, she leaves her body, and goes to school. She later confides in Nasreen, but tells her to keep it a secret, as there is no longer a legal guardian to look after sister Hayley (Cody Ryan). Teacher Emma Keane (Liz White) finds out, and reports Julie's death to the social board, who puts Hayley into foster care. With the help of Simone, Missy manages to regain custody of Hayley. Missy runs out of the exam hall during a GCSE mock exam due to stress, and is later informed that due to low results in her year group, underperforming students will be removed from non-core subjects. Upset that she cannot attend drama class, Missy quits school and begins working in a food truck to earn money. Headteacher Mandy visits her, and informs her that if she attends school again, she can partake in the school play, to which she agrees. Missy begins a relationship with Nasreen's half-brother, Aaron Turner (Adam Fielding). When he surprises her with a firework display, she proposes to him. She later becomes pregnant with his baby and tells Aaron, who is delighted. However, feeling it is too soon to have a child, she arranges to have an abortion. Aaron finds out, and angry that Missy did not consult him, he ends the relationship.

Missy starts at sixth form with Nasreen, who is planning to go to Oxford University. Missy hides her upset at the thought of Nasreen leaving and their lives changing, and decides to support her instead. She accompanies Nasreen to Oxford to attend her interview, and when Nasreen gets too scared about what will happen, Missy convinces her to attend it. When they return home, Missy confides in Nasreen that she plans to leave school again to join the fair. Nasreen laughs, and accuses Missy of "throwing her life away" like her mother, and Missy retaliates by slapping Nasreen. The pair make up with each other, and while walking home, they are hit by a speeding car driven by Anwar Wazir (Antonio Aakeel). Missy has two broken arms, but when she goes to bed, she is shocked to see her dead grandmother, who informs her that she has died. Nasreen visits Missy, and is distraught to find her dead body. Missy then appears in Nasreen's imagination, where the pair discuss their friendship.

Development

In an interview with Channel 4, actress Friar described Missy as a "survivor", and the "glue of her family", however, noted that "she's also got a rebellious side, she can be quite tough and opinionated which can get her into trouble as her emotions can often present themselves in funny ways and bubble over. She can rub people up the wrong way as her mouth can run away from her". Friar also commented: "she's very popular at school, especially with the boys who love her as she's quite saucy and sassy, but they know they could only dream that she would be interested in them. She's very street wise and she's constantly self-sacrificing because she's had to be Mum, Dad and carer all at the same time. She’s had so much responsibility, but she does it out of love as she's very loyal to her friends and family and her best friend Nas. They've grown up together and their families are entwined, there's zero prejudice of culture and colour between them." When asked about the similarities and differences between Friar and her character, she stated that she is "family orientated", and "kind and caring and loyal", but stated that in real life, she does not dress like Missy, nor does she have a Northern accent. Radio Times states that Missy "is a kid at Ackley Bridge who's had a pretty tough start in life. She has to look after her own mum, who struggles with addiction, and also acts as parent to her sister Hayley – and after the death of her Nana in series one things have only got harder". Friar added that Missy is "a fighter and loves her sister Hayley and her best mate Nas so much that she powers on with love and humour".

Friar stated that one of her favourite scenes to film was the ice skating scenes in series one, episode five, since she enjoyed working with Sunetra Sarker. She stated that her favourite scene was the first scene in series one, episode one, where Missy and Nasreen are on the skip. She described it as "so hilarious", adding that "it was absolutely freezing and we were hiding hot water bottles wherever we could under our costumes". On Missy's friendship with Nasreen, Friar stated that Nasreen's comments about Simone made "Missy's protective streak kick in and their friendship hits rocky territory", and that the contrast between their friendship and rivalry was "quite interesting" to portray. Friar also noted the difference between Missy and Nasreen's career aspirations, stating that Missy's "grades and lack of direction might mean that she will feel trapped in a life she does not want", and that it "makes her feel angry towards Nas for her lack of understanding and empathy". Their friendship was described by Channel 4 as "at the heart of the show", with Friar stating: "We were quite lucky as mine and Amy's chemistry is great, we were lucky enough to meet once before professionally, so it was really easy to translate our friendship from real life on to camera". Co-star Hickman described Missy's relationship with Nasreen as a "lovely friendship", and stated that the onscreen spark is owed to her friendship with Friar in real life, adding that they make each other laugh between takes.

In an episode broadcast on 25 June 2019, Missy died in previously unannounced scenes. After they aired, Friar spoke to Radio Times, saying: "It’s very sad and traumatising for the characters as well as fans! It’s always sad saying goodbye to a character you’ve played but they always stay in your heart, so Missy is alive forever within me. I adored playing her. Such a rich character, fun, emotional, witty, sassy, strong, loving and lovable. It was emotional filming the last scenes because you’re leaving behind your onset family that you’ve grown so close to over the years." She stated that the most emotional scene to film was where Missy and Nasreen were talking on the skip for the final time, in Nasreen's imagination. She stated: "We’d come full circle and it is iconic of their friendship so it has so much meaning. Everything happened up there, laughs, confessions, tears, gossip." On her departure from the series, Friar stated that Ackley Bridge "meant a great deal" to her, and said: "I’ve worked with exceptionally lovely, talented people, in beautiful Yorkshire, playing a character that was a joy to perform every day. The show has touched the hearts of audiences and I feel very lucky and proud to have been a part of it". Co-star Hickman described filming her final scenes with Friar as "traumatic" and "hard", since Friar "really was leaving the show". She explained that "felt a little close to the bone because it really was the end of Missy and Nas", and that there was a "lot of truth" in the emotions displayed in the scenes. On the departure of Friar, Hickman stated: "I as myself just like Nas, had to find my place without Poppy just like Nas did without Missy".

Reception

Friar's performance throughout series one was praised by Daljinder Johal of Desiblitz, who described it as "powerful". Friar received praise from viewers in the fourth episode of series one, where the episode revolved around Missy dealing with the death of her grandmother, which leads to Hayley being placed in care. Rianne Houghton of Digital Spy praised Friar for her performance during the teenage pregnancy storyline in series two, as well as the portrayal of "supportive female friendships". She also praised the "realistic and balanced portrayal of teen pregnancy and abortion".

After Missy's death, Paul Fogarty of HITC stated that "Ackley Bridge will never be the same again", and Filiz Mehmedova of Digital Spy stated that they were not "emotionally ready" for her death. Viewers of the programme expressed their upset and outrage with Missy's death, with Digital Spy noting that viewers complained about the "shocking twist". Becky Freeth of Metro described the scenes as a "gut-wrenching plot twist" that "caught many off-guard", and noted that viewers expected Missy to survive the car accident. Despite the negative reactions to Missy's death, many viewers praised the storyline for the ways in which her death was dealt with by other characters, such as Nasreen's anger and students setting off lanterns for her, the latter of which was described as "one of the most powerful Ackley Bridge scenes of all time". Metro stated that "It seemed a poignant and tragic time to kill off Missy, for whom things seemed to have finally come full circle", and HITC praised the "bold decision" to kill a centric character, stating that it "makes sense for Missy to be the character who passed away as the larger than life character was well-liked on the show and will have struck a bigger chord with the audience".