Abi Branning

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Abi Branning
Abi Branning in 2011
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Lorna Fitzgerald
Created by	Kate Harwood
Duration	2006—
First appearance	3 July 2006
Classification	Present; regular
Profile
Date of birth	23 June 1996
Occupation	Student
Family Family Branning Father Max Branning Mother Tanya Branning Stepfather Greg Jessop (2011—) Brothers Oscar Branning Sisters Lauren 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 Butcher Robbie Jackson Sonia Fowler Billie Jackson Joey Branning Alice Branning Penny Branning Amy Mitchell James Branning Richard Mitchell

Abigail "Abi" Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lorna Fitzgerald. She first appeared in the show on 3 July 2006.

Storylines

Abi moves to Albert Square along with her parents Max (Jake Wood) and Tanya (Jo Joyner), and sister Lauren (Madeline Duggan). Soon after her move, Abi is hit by Deano Wicks's (Matt Di Angelo) car, suffering a broken wrist, cuts and bruises. When Max's affair with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) is revealed, Max and Tanya separate. This has a negative effect on Abi, and when Max leaves Walford, she goes against Tanya's wishes and asks him to return. Animosity escalates between the Brannings, and in anger, Lauren joyrides a car and hits Max. Abi is furious and attacks Lauren, but comes to forgive her sister and attempts to force a reconciliation between her parents. Abi's parents do reunite, but when Max's debts are revealed and bailiffs start taking the family's possessions, Tanya leaves with Lauren and her baby son Oscar. Abi refuses to leave Max, and continues to live with him. However, Max sinks into a deep depression, and eventually sends Abi to live with Tanya.

Abi and Jordan Johnson (Michael-Joel David Stuart) begin a relationship. Abi then moves back in with Max, saying she hates living with her mother. Abi convinces Max to allow Darren Miller (Charlie G. Hawkins) to stay with them after he is made homeless, and soon develops feelings for him. This causes her to resent Darren's girlfriend, Jodie Gold (Kylie Babbington). Jordan subsequently breaks up with Abi, saying he is not ready for a relationship. Abi says she wanted to break up with him anyway, and then claims that she is seeing an older man. Abi is annoyed when Max's new girlfriend Vanessa Gold (Zoe Lucker) moves in but is pleased when Vanessa takes her for a makeover to impress Darren. Max is unhappy but Vanessa makes him realise she is not a little girl anymore. When Darren sees Abi, he hardly notices her makeover. Tanya then reveals she is getting married to her fiance, Greg Jessop (Stefan Booth).

When Lauren (now played by Jacqueline Jossa) returns, Abi is happy and reveals that she has a crush on Darren, but Lauren tries to put her off him as he is older and in a relationship. The next day Max makes a joke to Darren that Abi must fancy him, not realising it is true. Abi is mortified but Max and Lauren insist to Darren that it was a joke and Abi would never fancy him. Abi uses the opportunity of the death of her cousin Billie Jackson (Devon Anderson) to get physically close to Darren to seek emotional support. Although Darren is at first willing to offer this support he later appears uncomfortable with Abi's close attention. When Darren's relationship with Jodie ends, Abi tries to kiss him but he rejects her, telling her she is too young and how much he loves Jodie. Jodie overhears this and Darren proposes to her, leaving Abi distraught.

She then develops a crush on Jay Mitchell (Jamie Borthwick), and after putting on make-up to impress him, they agree to do their laundry together, where they come close to kissing. After their first official date, Jay walks Abi home and they are about to kiss when Lauren and Max interrupt them. They later meet again and kiss, but Max walks in, throws Jay out and bans Abi from seeing him, because Max thinks he is only interested in sex. When Max sees Jay and Abi talking, he goads Jay into punching him to put Abi off. However, Abi realises this and she continues to see Jay behind her father's back.

Fearing that Jay wants someone older, she decides to have sex with him, but in Abi's bedroom they just decide to cuddle instead. Max bursts into the room as they are watching TV and throws Jay out. Abi decides to stay with Tanya, and Max rips her bridesmaid's dress by accident. Max takes Abi to replace it, making her late for the wedding, and as they argue, Max crashes the car into the back of a lorry. They suffer only minor injuries. She allows Tanya's sister, Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) to stay at Tanya's house whilst Tanya and Greg are on their honeymoon. Abi helps Ben when he is being bullied by Nathan Clayton (Sam Melvin) but accidentally reveals the fact to Jay, which annoys Ben as he asked Abi not to mention it.

After being refused service at The Queen Victoria public house by Eddie Moon, Abi and Jay decide to break in and help themselves to drinks. When the Moons hear noises from within the public house Abi and Jay flee and are noticed by Michael Moon who lies and says it was Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) who broke in. After hearing that Ronnie is getting the blame for the break in, Abi confesses that it was her and Jay. When Jay finds Abi has confessed he calls her a "grass" and ends their relationship. She is jealous when she sees Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) kiss Jay on the cheek. Abi and Jay later reunite and Jay says his kiss with Lola meant nothing. Abi then tells Jay she is ready for sex, to which he agrees. After another confrontation with Lola, Abi and Jay make out, but Abi says she is not ready. When Jay says he might call Lola for sex, Abi dumps him, even though he immediately apologises for the comment. However, they soon reunite again.

After Tanya and Greg split up due to Tanya's affair with Max, Abi gets into trouble by terrorising Grace Olubunmi (Ellen Thomas) along with her friends. When she is mugged for her mobile phone, she and Lola decide to take up self-defence classes. Lola tells Abi and Jay that she is pregnant. Jay comforts Lola, however Abi misconstrues the situation and dumps Jay. Tanya finds out she has cancer but only Lauren is aware of it. Abi becomes worried about her mother's erratic behaviour, especially when she starts putting Christmas decorations up in November. Later, Abi breaks down in tears, telling Jack that her family is falling apart. Jack calls Max, and he returns to Walford, and Lauren reveals to the family that Tanya has cancer, much to Abi's anger. Abi demands to know why Tanya kept her illness a secret, but softens towards her when her mother tells her that she did not want her to worry. Abi is left hurt when she sees Jay with Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), although Jay assures her that they are just friends. Abi becomes annoyed with Lauren when she starts drinking heavily. Abi tells Lauren that she has no room left to worry about her, as she is already worrying enough about Tanya. Jay and Abi get back together, and Tanya is cleared from Cancer. After problem at home, Jay moves in with Abi, under the watchful eye of Max.

Creation and development

This section requires expansion.

Abi as she appeared in 2008.

Abi Branning, played by Lorna Fitzgerald, was introduced in 2006 by executive producer Kate Harwood. She and her immediate family—father Max (Jake Wood), mother Tanya (Jo Joyner) and older sister Lauren (Madeline Duggan until 2010, Jacqueline Jossa thereafter)—are an extension of the popular and long-running Jackson/Branning clan, who had appeared in the serial since 1993. Fitzgerald, in her first major role, began filming for the soap in May 2006^[1] and made her first appearance on-screen in July.

Lorna Fitzgerald's real-life mother, Teresa, said: "Personally, I feel I want to show how proud we are of her and to thank everyone who has prayed for her and helped her in any way." Fitzgerald was informed about the role via her agent and turned up to the BBC studios in London for the first of three auditions.^[1] Mrs Fitzgerald said, "At first, it is just the look they go for. Then it is more intensive and she had to read from a script. By the second audition, she was still up against 60 or 70 people. You start thinking about it when she gets to the third audition, but when the agent rang up and said she had got the part it was an overwhelming feeling. You don't know what it means until that point. It is exciting for her to be in something her friends may be watching. In the past, she has been in programmes they couldn't watch."^[1] As Lorna Fitzgerald was only 10 years old when she got the part, she was required to balance her filming requirements with schooling in Northampton, and learning lines.^[1]

In February 2011, it was reported that Abi would be involved in a car accident along with Max and would suffer severe injuries after their car collides with a lorry on the way to Tanya's wedding to her new partner Greg Jessop (Stefan Booth). The crash scenes were filmed on 6 March 2011^[2] and aired on 14 April 2011.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Jo Joyner said that Abi should be involved in some more complex storylines in 2012.^[3] She commented: "I think it's going to be an exciting year for Lorna. She's been a natural on the show ever since she was younger, and I think she's one of our best actresses. What's lovely about this year is that she'll be doing her GCSEs, and then hopefully once that's out of the way, she can get something that's a bit heavier and a bit bigger. She'll be old enough to work longer hours, so I think they'd be mad if they didn't give her something to sink her teeth into at some point this year."^[3]

Reception

This section requires expansion.

Fitzgerald was nominated for the "Best Young Actor" award at the 2010 Inside Soap Awards for her portrayal of Abi ^[4] though lost out to Coronation Street's, Alex Bain (Simon Barlow).^[5] In January 2012, Kate White of Inside Soap praised both Fitzgerald and her character, saying "In actress Lorna Fitzgerald, EastEnders has the brightest young star in soap. The rest of her family are getting all the juicy stuff right now, but Abi's destined for great dramatic things. Mark our words."^[6]. Fitzgerald won the award for Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress at the 2012 British Soap Awards.^[7]

See also

• List of EastEnders characters (2006)

References

External links

• Abi Branning at BBC Online