Keeping it real in Albert Square

Recently nominated for her 29th television award, there's no doubt that when Lacey Turner leaves Albert Square later this year she will be sorely missed. She may be the soap's golden girl, but has she authentically delivered her character's psychological meltdown?

Having, as Stacey Branning, endured some of the meatiest storylines in soapland, including drug abuse, adultery, murder and, currently, mental illness and motherhood, it is fair to say 22-year-old actress Lacey Turner is being stretched to her limits as she sets the groundwork for her typically explosive Walford exit.

EastEnders researchers decided to develop Stacey's bipolar disorder storyline after the positive reception her bipolar onscreen mother Jean, played by Gillian Wright, received in 2006.

Stacey, who was already known for her teenage tantrums, began having more frequent, extreme mood swings last year and was eventually sectioned by the resident Albert Square doctor under the Mental Health Act, after an outburst in which she accused everyone she knew of trying to hurt her.

The BBC drafted specialists and mental health charities like Mind and MDF the Bipolar Organisation (MDF) very early on in scripting Stacey's condition. In fact, the amount of preparation undertaken was probably the most extensive of any mental health issue raised in soap operas to date.

Siobhan O'Neil, who has bipolar disorder and closely consulted with the BBC on the storyline, says she offered herself as a case study because she wanted "to make a difference".

"I had to dig really deep and be quite vulnerable for the researchers, because I wanted to give the character the most honest experience she could have. The researchers were very empathetic, I could say anything to them and there was no 'recoiling in horror'. It was a very empowering experience," she says.

When Stacey became pregnant later in the year, the programme's researchers had a lot of work to do debating how her medication might affect her ability to breastfeed, how her moods might change and how she would generally cope with the situation.

Dr Ian Jones, a reader in perinatal psychiatry at Cardiff University, was on hand to advise. He claims that EastEnders researchers wanted to make the storyline as realistic as possible.

"When they gave us outlines and scripts we would change little things like the type of bottles medication would come in and talk together about the symptoms people have when they are unwell," he says.

Siobhan said that during the pregnancy stage there was too much focus on medication being "the answer".

"In reality things that happen in life can make someone wobble quite severely, regardless of what meds they are taking. You have to make lifestyle changes so old behaviours don't trigger bad experiences."

Siobhan also says she would have liked to have seen the characters that referred to Stacey as "mental" and "crazy" be questioned within the storyline for their use of such hurtful language. However, she praises Lacey for her interpretation of someone with the disorder.

"The actress is incredible for someone who hasn't had that experience. She has nailed it."

Naturally, because Lacey has no direct experience of bipolar disorder everyone was ready to question her acting ability. Why didn't the soap bring in someone that has bipolar disorder off-screen to play out the storyline?

Dr Jones says: "Even I can see that if she had had direct experience she would of course have benefited from that information when playing her role. But I think she's a brilliant actress and there were no complaints with her work."

Despite slight misgivings over small parts of Stacey's story, Siobhan agrees that she's incredibly glad that EastEnders embraced such a difficult issue. "I am really pleased they were brave enough to do it. I know it made a difference to people, they felt they were being heard and listened to. I'm incredibly sad that Lacey is leaving the show."

Neil Tinning, patron of the MDF and one of the BBC's advisers, says: "The only way to overcome stigma is by education. While EastEnders is only a soap and not reality TV it is often treated as such but [thankfully] has had a positive influence on its audience so far. At the end of the day I'd rather be on the inside advising than an outsider throwing stones."

A website has been set up by Professor Nick Craddock and Dr Ian Jones with more information on bipolar disorder and the issues raised by Lacey and Gillian in EastEnders. Visit bipinfo.org for more information.