Книга: Nicola King, Randy Walden, Yvonne Baker de Altamirano, Simon Mellor-Clark «Campaign 1: Teacher's Book: English for the Military»

Nicola King (née Blackstock, previously De Souza) is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She has been played by Nicola Wheeler since she joined the soap in 2001.

Creation

Casting

Nicola Blackstock was first introduced by series producer Kieran Roberts, who cast Nicola Wheeler in 2001. She arrived after getting in touch with her father Rodney (Patrick Mower). He had come to Emmerdale to get to know his older daughter, Bernice Thomas (Samantha Giles).^[1] In January 2006, it was announced that Wheeler had quit her role after five years on the show as she felt the time was right to try something new.^[2] Wheeler left in March 2006 and returned 18 months later in September 2007.

Storylines

2001–06

On her first day, she befriended kindly post office assistant Emily Dingle and stayed with her father, Rodney. She was nervous and anxious about meeting Bernice, whom she was desperate to impress.

Within months, Nicola was interested in chef Carlos Diaz, unaware that he was already involved with Bernice. She chased him for a while before ending up in bed with him after Bernice dumped him, wanting to make her marriage work. Scared she might lose Carlos, Nicola announced she was pregnant and was stunned yet elated when he proposed, which she accepted.

Nicola finds out about Carlos and Bernice's affair (2001).

On her hen night, Bernice caught her drinking vodka and Nicola admitted that she wasn't pregnant. Bernice, (expecting herself), was horrified and insisted she tell Carlos before the ceremony. Horrified at the deception, Carlos told Nicola that he and Bernice had been having an affair and that Bernice's child could be his. After fighting Bernice, Nicola stormed into the church and announced that the wedding was off, due to Carlos's infidelity. Despite her mother's suggestion that she leave the village, Nicola stayed with Rodney and eventually forgave Bernice. She became godmother to Ashley and Bernice's daughter, Gabby Thomas.

Nicola's once kind and friendly attitude altered dramatically and she severed ties with Emily, although they later made up. Nicola was bridesmaid when she married Paddy Kirk in October 2002. She became enemies of postmistress Vivienne Hope, and local siren, Chloe Atkinson, and caused heartbreak when she seduced Robert Sugden. She dumped Robert by allowing him to see her having sex with builder Syd Woolfe in her living room. Nicola had a brief relationship with Syd, which ended when she discovered that he was also having an affair with Chloe, who was dating Scott Windsor at the time.

Nicola began dating local Fishmonger Simon Merdith (2003).

After successfully starting a cleaning business and employing Pearl, Betty and Laurel, Nicola met fishmonger Simon Meredith in November 2003 and after a bumpy start, they began dating.

However, there were many obstacles, such as his ex-fiancée Tash and his mother Lesley Meredith. Nicola was desperate to settle down and dreamed of the perfect marriage. After they got engaged, Lesley constantly put a spanner in the works. It later emerged Lesley had stolen Kelly Windsor's credit card and eventually her debts began to mount up. This resulted in Lesley and Simon losing everything, meaning he and Nicola had to postpone the wedding. Bored with Simon and their financial problems, Nicola hatched a plan to snare Paul Lambert's bisexual lover, Ivan, who was mates with Simon. After failing repeatedly to seduce him, Nicola plied Ivan with alcohol and tried again, a moment witnessed by Lesley. However, she didn't see Ivan rejecting Nicola. Assuming that they were having an affair, Lesley told her son about Nicola's "infidelity". When the truth came out, Simon ended their relationship. Nicola was disgraced as she also destroyed Ivan and Paul's relationship. Paul and Rodney disowned her so Nicola left the village in March 2006.

2007—

Nicola returned in September 2007 with a business proposition for David Metcalfe. He had taken over the cleaning business from Laurel and Nicola wanted it back. Nicola was now a wealthy widow, having been married briefly to Donald De Souza, a millionaire tycoon. She restarted her cleaning empire and threatened to put David out of business.

After meeting him a few times, she returned to an unenthusiastic response, as it was clear that she hadn't been forgiven. Nicola pursued David, despite him dating Jasmine Thomas. Nicola and David slept together and Jasmine caught them. She ended things with David and wrote an article, exposing the fact that Donald was still alive. He was in a coma, following a brain haemorrhage. Nicola told Rodney and Paul that she had said he was dead because unless she could prove Donald's son, Miles, was still drinking, she would inherit nothing. Nicola insisted that Donald be kept alive until she had the proof she needed and then she would allow the machines to be switched off. However, Jasmine got Miles back on the wagon.

On 28 December, Nicola was called to the hospital as there was a significant change in Donald's condition. Arriving, Nicola was stunned to learn that Donald was conscious. He claimed not to remember her and spent the evening with Miles. Realizing Donald was likely to make a full recovery, Nicola planned to murder him and asked David to help her but, disgusted, he refused to get involved. Fearing for Donald's life, David sabotaged plots to electrocute and poison him. Knowing Nicola was determined, David told Donald, who confronted her on some local cliffs, giving her the perfect opportunity. Shocked, she confessed and even tried to save him when he looked like he might go over the edge. He agreed not to tell the police, providing she left his house immediately and David didn't want her either.

Donald took Nicola out for a picnic where she attempted to murder him by pushing him off a cliff (2008).

Rodney, unaware of this, rented Mill Brook Cottage, providing she paid half the rent. She asked David for a job but all he offered was scrubbing floors. She worked for him briefly but soon went to work for Paddy Kirk. He didn't want to hire her but when she accidentally injured him, leaving him unable to drive, he hired her to be his chauffeur. Nicola spent most of her time with Rodney, and attempted to become respectable again. When celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson visited, Nicola tried to get to know him and was soon bragging that they were going to work together but was embarrassed when Bob gave her a message from Anthony's people, asking her to stop bothering him.

In June 2008, Nicola started dog-sitting briefly. Rodney wasn't happy about it but she and David reconciled after he helped her find some missing dogs. He was dating Val's daughter, Sharon Lambert, and that was how Nicola's business started. One of Sharon's friends had a dog that needed looking after while she was out of the country. She and David reconciled after hearing Sharon telling a friend that she wasn't that interested in David. Nicola told Sharon and they had a fight in the Woolpack until David separated them. This also ended Nicola's dog-sitting business as she had planned to use Sharon's WAG contacts to start it.

Trying to cheer Gabby up after Ashley and Laurel explained how Daniel and Arthur had been accidentally swapped in the hospital, Rodney started telling her stories based on his fairground days. She planned to publish the stories and sent them to a publisher who planned to publish them in March 2009. When Rodney found out, he gave her an ultimatum - tell the truth or stop calling him Dad. She refused so he kicked her out. She moved in with Edna Birch, following brief stays with the Pollards and her brother, Paul Lambert and Katie Sugden.

When Nicola discovered that Ashley's boss told him that they were considering closing the church in late 2008, she and David planned to buy it and make it their dream home. However, there was a problem: the church choir. Nicola planned to ruin the choir by telling Ashley and Laurel she was there to help them but would make the choir so bad, they would have no chance in a competition. In November, she changed her mind after becoming closer to her family and friends because they were impressed by her attempts to help the community. She focused her efforts on saving the church by helping the choir sing "O Happy Day".

David and Eric discovered what she was up to and tried sabotaging the choir. They failed and the choir won a special recognition award so Eric and David revealed Nicola's original plan so she was shunned by the choir and estranged again from Laurel. Nicola worked hard to convince people that she was truly reformed and wanted them to succeed. She made headway on December 15, just after the competition, when she was allowed to collect Gabby, her niece, from playgroup. On December 19, Edna asked Nicola to move out so her sister, Lily, could move in. Alone, with no job or money, she moved into the church. Laurel took pity on her, asking her to stay with her and Ashley. On December 25, after the Christmas Service, Nicola started a sit-in protest in the church to stop its closure with the choir in tow. They convinced Eric and David not to buy the church but this meant the church was still for sale. The church was purchased by newcomers Mark Wylde and Natasha Wylde who also bought Home Farm Estates.

The villagers convinced the Wyldes to let them have the church but this was the start of Nicola's relationship with them. When Nicola learned that Natasha was advertising for the estate manager's job, she and Rodney applied. Rodney was estate manager for the Kings but Natasha chose to employ Nicola as she admired her determination. Nicola often struggled to stay within her boundaries as she was also expected to be the Wyldes' personal assistant too.

In February 2009, Nicola and Jimmy drowned their sorrows in the Woolpack and carried on drinking in the back of an Emmerdale Haulage van. They spent the night together and woke up to discover themselves en route to Hull. Nicola was horrified but Jimmy was more amused. They got a cab back to the village. Nicola asked Jimmy to hide when they saw David but he saw Jimmy and laughed at them. Nicola was embarrassed and rebuffed Jimmy's attempts at a relationship.

After several weeks, Nicola asked Jimmy to go with her when Mark and Natasha invited her to dinner. She thought their motive was much more personal but Jimmy wasn't happy returning to Home Farm and drank more than he should. Nicola, humiliated by the Wyldes', also got drunk and spent the night with him. Nicola pushed Jimmy away but was intrigued when Rodney told her Jimmy may not be as broke as she thought. Thinking Jimmy had money hidden away in Switzerland, Nicola charmed her way back into his bed and convinced him she cared about him, when he said he was going there. Jimmy guessed her true intentions and humiliated her by wining and dining her, then telling her that they were going to Switzerland in the haulage truck and telling everyone that she was a golddigger. Nicola was furious.

In spite of the hurt feelings between the pair, they were still attracted to each other. This was clear to everyone around them so Ashley's father, Sandy, and Laurel's father, Doug, sick of the overcrowding, wrote a love letter, apparently from Jimmy. Nicola was moved by "Jimmy's" romantic prose and visited him. After a passionate night, she told Jimmy she would move in with him, as this was what he had asked her. Jimmy was stunned but kept quiet as he didn't want to lose her. Unfortunately the relationship was rocky and after one row too many, Jimmy dumped her. Carl and Lexi insisted she move out so Laurel asked her to move back in with her.

Nicola told Laurel on 8 May 2009 that she thought she was pregnant. Laurel persuaded her to do a pregnancy test and a few days later, the doctor told them that she was seventeen weeks pregnant. Shocked, she didn't believe it and thought that the doctor was wrong, insisting to Laurel that she and Jimmy had always been careful except the night they spent in the van. She considered an abortion and even booked an appointment but after discussing it with Laurel and her father, changed her mind and cancelled the appointment. She was also persuaded not to put the baby up for adoption by Laurel and Lexi.

Nicola moved back into Mill Cottage with Jimmy and they are looking forward to the arrival of their baby. Lexi was surprised that Nicola hadn't started thinking about the nursery so when her pregnancy was confirmed, they went shopping for nursery furniture. Unfortunately Lexi was admitted to hospital with an ectopic pregnancy and had to have her fallopian tube and the baby removed. Nicola has been there, trying to look after Lexi, when it was clear that Carl was struggling to cope. She has also backed her up when Carl made excuses about not being able to go to an appointment at an IVF clinic with Lexi.

On 23 July, Nicola was forced to jump out of the way of a runaway van, which belonged to Rodney. She and the baby were unharmed, thanks to Aaron Livesy managing to steer the van away from her.

On 3 August, Lexi pushes Nicola down the stairs after a vicious row, leaving her unconscious. Lexi immediately calls an ambulance and Nicola is rushed to hospital. Luckily, everything is okay and she is discharged. On 6 August, Nicola goes into premature labor while locked in the farm shop but luckily Rodney and Cain manage to get her to hospital where she gives birth to a baby girl, with Jimmy at her side. They name her Angelica. The little girl is put in an incubator and rushed away for further treatment, but Nicola and Jimmy are reassured by the doctor that their little girl is going to be just fine. The baby is then kidnapped by a jealous Lexi and she takes her on to a roof but later returns the little girl to her worried parents. She was accused by Viv Hope of biting her child, Cathy, after protecting Angelica from Cathy.

In July 2010 Nicola and Jimmy consider buying the Woolpack from Diane Sugden with the help of money from Scarlett, but they pull out in September as Nicola fears she cannot cope with being landlady and a new mother.

in February 2011, Nicola discovers Jimmy has been involved in an accident and is receiving treatment in hospital. However, on arrival, she is shocked to learn he has lost all memory and has no idea who she or Angelica are.^[3] Jimmy is persuaded by Kelly that she and him were having an affair before his accident, and that he was ready to leave Nicola. Jimmy and Nicola split as Jimmy takes Kelly's side of the story and the pair get together, with the son Kelly tells him is his. Jimmy's memory begins to return and he sees Kelly's true colours. Despite this, Nicola is hurt that Jimmy has slept with Kelly, and refuses to get back with him. The pair prepare for a divorce but after an argument in September 2011, the pair end up in a passionate kiss.

Reception

Nicola was voted "Best Bitch" at the 2006 British Soap Awards ^[4] Nicola was also nominated for "Best Villain" at the British Soap Awards in 2002, 2008 and 2009.^[5][6] She was nominated for the All About Soap "Bad Girl" award in 2009^[7] and was nominated for most shocking baby plot in 2010. She was nominated for Inside Soap's "Bad Bitch" award in 2009 In a poll run by website Digital Spy, 95% of voters were on Nicola's side of Jimmy's amnesia storyline^[8]

References

External links

• Nicola De Souza at itv.com