Lola Pearce
Encyclopedia
Lola Pearce is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Danielle Harold
. Lola is the granddaughter of Billy Mitchell
(Perry Fenwick
) and Julie Perkins (Cathy Murphy
). Lola made her first appearance on 12 July 2011.. The character has been described as bright, wild, feisty and someone who is not to be messed with and is portrayed as "a stroppy little 15-year-old". Lola is an extension to the already established Mitchell family
and is instantly caught in a love triangle between Jay Mitchell (Jamie Borthwick
) and Abi Branning
(Lorna Fitzgerald
). When introduced she originally lived a care home and is the daughter of Dan Pearce, an alcoholic who is the son of Billy and Julie.
(Jamie Borthwick
) and Fatboy
(Ricky Norwood
). Fatboy allows her to clean cars for him but she takes one, which she crashes into the front of Ian Beale
's (Adam Woodyatt
) chip shop. Billy sees this and tells her to run, and Fatboy takes the blame, saying Lola was his passenger. Lola visits Billy again and meets members of Billy's family. Julie tells Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison
) that she does not want Lola living with them, which Heather accidentally reveals to Lola. Julie feels that Lola is not their problem, and Lola tells Julie that if Billy is forced to choose between them, Lola will win. Julie then calls the police to have Lola taken back to her care home, while Billy calls Lola "100% Mitchell". A week later Julie finds Lola in the R&R nightclub and takes her back home, after Julie apologises for reporting Lola to the police, and tries to allow Lola into her life. Lola overhears Anthony Moon
(Matt Lapinskas) and his brother Tyler Moon
(Tony Discipline) insulting Billy, and in revenge, burns all of their father Eddie
's (David Essex
) stock. She gets a job at the local café and confesses to Eddie's friend Liam Butcher
(James Forde
) that she started the fire. Lola starts stealing from the till at the café and short-changing the customers and Phil sacks her. She begs Phil for her job back and offers her mobile phone but he takes the phone and refuses to give Lola her job back. She takes revenge by smashing up his garage and destroying a car, not realising Jay is under the car, and he is badly injured. She gets Julie and when the ambulance arrives, Julie takes the blame. She is released without charge, while Lola runs back to the care home but is persuaded to come back and Julie leaves Walford.
Weeks later, Ian oversleeps and Lola tells him that she has been waiting outside the chip shop. Mandy Salter
(Nicola Stapleton
) tells Ian to fire her, which he does. Lola says she will not tell anybody about Mandy staying as long as Ian gives her her job back, which he does. She takes a liking to Jay's friend, Duncan Willis (Steven France). She later vandalises Grace Olubunmi's (Ellen Thomas
) flowers. She decides to take up self defence classes after Abi Branning
(Lorna Fitzgerald
) is mugged. Lola steals towels from the Booty beauty salon, and tries to sell them. She is caught by Roxy Mitchell
(Rita Simons), who threatens to report her to the police. However, Lola convinces Roxy that she has shown ingenuity, and gains a job at the salon. Lola asks Ben Mitchell how he knows he is gay if he has never had sex with a woman. The pair then have sex and Ben confirms he is definitely gay. Lola discovers she is pregnant and tells Billy, who is angry. Lola refuses to name the father but tells Billy that she plans to keep the baby and wants him to bring it up with her. She later tells Ben that he is not the father. Billy then takes Lola to see Pat Evans
(Pam St. Clement
) about help, but Pat gets the wrong idea and advises Lola to have an abortion, angering Lola.
Lola receives a call to say Social Services want to visit, as there is a new social worker. Lola goes missing when the social worker, Harpreet (Danny Rahim) arrives, so Billy asks Abi to pretend to be Lola. Billy assumes Harpreet is there about the pregnancy, so reveals it to Harpreet, who is impressed with Abi's speech about motherhood. However, as he is about to leave, Lola arrives and the lie is revealed, so Harpreet says the trust has been lost and Lola may not be able to keep the child.
. The Sun reported that Billy and Julie would be shocked to learn of Lola's existence, not knowing the son they once gave up for adoption had a daughter, but would decide to track her down and find her living in a care home. Lola was said to have "a sharp, cocky but likeable attitude." As she meets her grandparents for the first time, Lola quickly forms a bond with them as she has been deserted by everyone else in her life. 18 year old Harold was cast in the role and she said "I am so excited to be joining EastEnders. I have watched the show all my life and I never thought that one day I could be in Albert Square
. It feels strange to be walking round Walford
with people I have grown up watching—I still have to pinch myself.". EastEnders is Harold's first acting job and she was given the role following her first audition, which shocked her. Harold told Daybreak
, "It was my first audition that I'd ever had, so I was really nervous and I was thinking, 'I'm never going to get it - I'm just going to have fun while I'm there'. I was just shocked to even get the casting for it, so I was over the moon when I actually got the part." Harold previously starred in Jamie Oliver
's Channel 4 reality show Jamie's Dream School
and got into an acting school because of the show. Harold said she had always wanted to be an actress and was grateful to be given a great character in Lola.
, Harold said she was grateful for the complex nature of her character, saying, "Lola's not out-and-out evil but she's not very nice. She's got so many sides and I am having a great time exploring them." Lola is described as "a stroppy little 15-year-old, prone to fighting, tea-leafing and gobbing off." She is also "sharp, cocky but likeable." Of Lola's personality, the official EastEnders website said "Bright as a button but with a mouth that runs away with her, Lola is wild and definitely Walford bound. A self-reliant person who does what she has to do in order to get what she wants, she's not to be messed with." Harold described her character as "feisty" and said she has got a lot of attitude. Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy
, labelled Lola "rebellious", while the BBC said she is "a troublesome teen" and a "petite bombshell."
BT
described the character as "EastEnders' new tearaway and Billy's wayward granddaughter" and said "It seems Lola isn't exactly the butter-wouldn't-melt type. Surprise, surprise. Billy and Julie leave when Lola tells Billy she's not interested in the fact that he's her granddad, or that her dad's dead. What a lovely young lady." Virgin Media
also branded Lola a troublemaking, teen tearaway and said she was "a chip off the Mitchell block." The added that she is a "blonde babe." Chris Hooton from the Metro branded Lola as "mischievous."
with Jay Mitchell and Abi Branning. The storyline was summed up in Inside Soap by Kate Woodward who commented "Although I love Abi and Jay together, it's great to see them face serious obstacles thanks to her meddling. Lola is big trouble and has Jay is firmly in her sights. But he's in love with Abi. It was a brilliant idea to team moody Jay with good girl Abi. They work well as a couple, but with the interference of Lola their story has got even more interesting."
Tony Stewart writing for the Daily Mirror described Lola as "a walking 15-year-old Asbo", he added "in little less than a month on the Square, the spirited Lola has already created havoc. [...] With Danielle Harold already tipped as a best newcomer in the next round of soap awards, stroppy Lola is either brave or stupid in taking on Phil." Metro' s Christopher Hooton commented negatively on Harold's performance as Lola saying "Lola kept her world record attempt for worst acting in a soap going strong". Hooton's fellow writer, Rachel Tarley, said Harold's acting skills were "terrible" when Julie departed. During the love triangle storyline, Tarley said Lola was an "inept teenage seductresses."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Danielle Harold
Danielle Harold
Danielle Amy Louise Harold is an English actress from Lewisham, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Lola Pearce.-Career:...
. Lola is the granddaughter of Billy Mitchell
Billy Mitchell (EastEnders)
William "Billy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Perry Fenwick, who made his first appearance on 2 November 1998. Billy was seen when Phil went to visit his godson Jamie. However, he didn't arrive in the Square until 2 August 1999, almost a year after...
(Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick
Perry Fenwick is an English film and television actor. He has one sister, Tracey, and two brothers, Faron and Lee. He is, also, the second cousin of Georgina Hagen, who played Lauren Waters in the series of Britannia High....
) and Julie Perkins (Cathy Murphy
Cathy Murphy
Cathy Murphy is a British actress who studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. She played the role of Lorna in 1991, a love interest of Mark Fowler in soap opera EastEnders. In 2005 she returned to play the recurring role of Trisha Taylor. She had earlier played the ongoing role of Cheryl...
). Lola made her first appearance on 12 July 2011.. The character has been described as bright, wild, feisty and someone who is not to be messed with and is portrayed as "a stroppy little 15-year-old". Lola is an extension to the already established Mitchell family
Mitchell family
The Mitchell family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The first Mitchell nuclear family introduced were Eric Mitchell's widow Peggy Mitchell and her three children, Phil, Grant and Sam...
and is instantly caught in a love triangle between Jay Mitchell (Jamie Borthwick
Jamie Borthwick
Jamie Simon Borthwick is a British actor.-Career:Borthwick portrays Jay Brown in EastEnders, though his first appearance on mainstream television was as an orphan in the Celebrate 'Oliver!' musical alongside Shane Richie and Joseph McManners...
) and Abi Branning
Abi Branning
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 :...
(Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Katie Fitzgerald is a British actress from Northampton. She lives in Hunsbury. Her most notable role to date is that of Abi Branning in the British soap opera EastEnders.- Personal life :...
). When introduced she originally lived a care home and is the daughter of Dan Pearce, an alcoholic who is the son of Billy and Julie.
Storylines
When Billy and Julie decide to find their estranged son, Dan Pearce, they discover he has died but they have a granddaughter, Lola, who is in care. They visit Lola at the care home and think she is a girl being beaten in a fight, before Lola reveals herself as the one who started the fight. She tells Billy and Julie that Dan hated them, before Julie decides to leave. Billy hugs Lola before they go, and Lola uses this opportunity to steal his wallet. The next day she arrives in Walford and returns Billy's wallet. She flirts with several locals, including Jay MitchellJay Brown
James "Jay" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jamie Borthwick. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 14 December 2006.-Backstory:...
(Jamie Borthwick
Jamie Borthwick
Jamie Simon Borthwick is a British actor.-Career:Borthwick portrays Jay Brown in EastEnders, though his first appearance on mainstream television was as an orphan in the Celebrate 'Oliver!' musical alongside Shane Richie and Joseph McManners...
) and Fatboy
Fatboy (EastEnders)
Arthur "Fatboy" Chubb is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Ricky Norwood. He made his first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January 2010 before appearing in the spin-off...
(Ricky Norwood
Ricky Norwood
Richard Colin "Ricky" Norwood is a British actor who plays Fatboy in the soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20. He was born in Tower Hamlets, London, and lives in Forest Gate. From the age of 12 he attended the Theatre Royal Stratford East's Youth Theatre, and he also...
). Fatboy allows her to clean cars for him but she takes one, which she crashes into the front of Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
's (Adam Woodyatt
Adam Woodyatt
Adam Brinley Woodyatt is an English actor and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders...
) chip shop. Billy sees this and tells her to run, and Fatboy takes the blame, saying Lola was his passenger. Lola visits Billy again and meets members of Billy's family. Julie tells Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison
Cheryl Fergison
Cheryl Fergison is a British actress most notable for playing Heather Trott in the long running BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Career:...
) that she does not want Lola living with them, which Heather accidentally reveals to Lola. Julie feels that Lola is not their problem, and Lola tells Julie that if Billy is forced to choose between them, Lola will win. Julie then calls the police to have Lola taken back to her care home, while Billy calls Lola "100% Mitchell". A week later Julie finds Lola in the R&R nightclub and takes her back home, after Julie apologises for reporting Lola to the police, and tries to allow Lola into her life. Lola overhears Anthony Moon
Anthony Moon
Anthony Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Matt Lapinskas. Anthony is the son of Eddie Moon , half brother of Michael Moon and Craig Moon , brother of Tyler Moon , and cousin of Alfie Moon...
(Matt Lapinskas) and his brother Tyler Moon
Tyler Moon
Tyler Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Tony Discipline. Tyler is the son of Eddie Moon , half brother of Michael and Craig Moon , brother of Anthony Moon and cousin of Alfie Moon...
(Tony Discipline) insulting Billy, and in revenge, burns all of their father Eddie
Eddie Moon
Edward "Eddie" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by David Essex. Eddie is the father of Michael Moon , Tyler Moon and Anthony Moon . Along with his children, Eddie was introduced to bring a "new generation" of the Moon family to the programme...
's (David Essex
David Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
) stock. She gets a job at the local café and confesses to Eddie's friend Liam Butcher
Liam Butcher
Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by twins Jack and Tom Godolphin in 1998 and 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and by Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to 2004...
(James Forde
James Forde
James Forde is a young British character actor.James Forde is currently starring as Liam Butcher the son of Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson in long running soap EastEnders and has been there since April 2008 at the age of ten, taking over the role from Nathaniel Gleed. He is the 6th actor to play...
) that she started the fire. Lola starts stealing from the till at the café and short-changing the customers and Phil sacks her. She begs Phil for her job back and offers her mobile phone but he takes the phone and refuses to give Lola her job back. She takes revenge by smashing up his garage and destroying a car, not realising Jay is under the car, and he is badly injured. She gets Julie and when the ambulance arrives, Julie takes the blame. She is released without charge, while Lola runs back to the care home but is persuaded to come back and Julie leaves Walford.
Weeks later, Ian oversleeps and Lola tells him that she has been waiting outside the chip shop. Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylines about homelessness, child and drug abuse. Her relationship with Aidan Brosnan was one of the...
(Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Kathleen Stapleton is an English actress. Stapleton began her career at an early age. She is most famous for her work on British television, in particular her roles as Mandy Salter in BBC's EastEnders and Janine Nebeski in ITV's Bad Girls.-Early life:Stapleton grew up off East Street, which...
) tells Ian to fire her, which he does. Lola says she will not tell anybody about Mandy staying as long as Ian gives her her job back, which he does. She takes a liking to Jay's friend, Duncan Willis (Steven France). She later vandalises Grace Olubunmi's (Ellen Thomas
Ellen Thomas (actress)
Ellen Thomas is an English actress who has appeared in many different television and film roles, but is perhaps best known for her recurring role in the Channel 4 Bristol-based comedy, Teachers or as Grace Olubunmi in EastEnders.-Career:...
) flowers. She decides to take up self defence classes after Abi Branning
Abi Branning
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 :...
(Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Katie Fitzgerald is a British actress from Northampton. She lives in Hunsbury. Her most notable role to date is that of Abi Branning in the British soap opera EastEnders.- Personal life :...
) is mugged. Lola steals towels from the Booty beauty salon, and tries to sell them. She is caught by Roxy Mitchell
Roxy Mitchell
Roxanne Lizette "Roxy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, portrayed by Rita Simons. Roxy arrived in Walford with her sister Ronnie on 24 July 2007 and decided to move permanently to Walford from Ibiza where they ran a bar together. Roxy is the younger of the two...
(Rita Simons), who threatens to report her to the police. However, Lola convinces Roxy that she has shown ingenuity, and gains a job at the salon. Lola asks Ben Mitchell how he knows he is gay if he has never had sex with a woman. The pair then have sex and Ben confirms he is definitely gay. Lola discovers she is pregnant and tells Billy, who is angry. Lola refuses to name the father but tells Billy that she plans to keep the baby and wants him to bring it up with her. She later tells Ben that he is not the father. Billy then takes Lola to see Pat Evans
Pat Evans
Patricia Louise "Pat" Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has been played by Pam St. Clement since 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired...
(Pam St. Clement
Pam St. Clement
Pamela Ann Clement , known by the stage name Pam St. Clement, is an English actress. She has played Pat Evans in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 1986, and is now one of the programme's longest-serving cast members. St. Clement announced her intention to leave EastEnders on 8 July 2011 and will...
) about help, but Pat gets the wrong idea and advises Lola to have an abortion, angering Lola.
Lola receives a call to say Social Services want to visit, as there is a new social worker. Lola goes missing when the social worker, Harpreet (Danny Rahim) arrives, so Billy asks Abi to pretend to be Lola. Billy assumes Harpreet is there about the pregnancy, so reveals it to Harpreet, who is impressed with Abi's speech about motherhood. However, as he is about to leave, Lola arrives and the lie is revealed, so Harpreet says the trust has been lost and Lola may not be able to keep the child.
Casting
The character of Lola was announced on 7 June 2011 and she was created as an extension of the established Mitchell familyMitchell family
The Mitchell family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The first Mitchell nuclear family introduced were Eric Mitchell's widow Peggy Mitchell and her three children, Phil, Grant and Sam...
. The Sun reported that Billy and Julie would be shocked to learn of Lola's existence, not knowing the son they once gave up for adoption had a daughter, but would decide to track her down and find her living in a care home. Lola was said to have "a sharp, cocky but likeable attitude." As she meets her grandparents for the first time, Lola quickly forms a bond with them as she has been deserted by everyone else in her life. 18 year old Harold was cast in the role and she said "I am so excited to be joining EastEnders. I have watched the show all my life and I never thought that one day I could be in Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
. It feels strange to be walking round Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
with people I have grown up watching—I still have to pinch myself.". EastEnders is Harold's first acting job and she was given the role following her first audition, which shocked her. Harold told Daybreak
Daybreak (ITV)
Daybreak is the weekday breakfast television programme on the British commercial ITV network that broadcasts on weekday mornings from 06:00 to 08:30 and is currently presented by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley from Monday to Thursday with Dan Lobb and Kate Garraway on Fridays...
, "It was my first audition that I'd ever had, so I was really nervous and I was thinking, 'I'm never going to get it - I'm just going to have fun while I'm there'. I was just shocked to even get the casting for it, so I was over the moon when I actually got the part." Harold previously starred in Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver
James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...
's Channel 4 reality show Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" - a school in which lessons are taught by celebrities who are...
and got into an acting school because of the show. Harold said she had always wanted to be an actress and was grateful to be given a great character in Lola.
Characterisation
In an interview with Inside SoapInside Soap
Inside Soap is a weekly UK magazine, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas shown in the United Kingdom....
, Harold said she was grateful for the complex nature of her character, saying, "Lola's not out-and-out evil but she's not very nice. She's got so many sides and I am having a great time exploring them." Lola is described as "a stroppy little 15-year-old, prone to fighting, tea-leafing and gobbing off." She is also "sharp, cocky but likeable." Of Lola's personality, the official EastEnders website said "Bright as a button but with a mouth that runs away with her, Lola is wild and definitely Walford bound. A self-reliant person who does what she has to do in order to get what she wants, she's not to be messed with." Harold described her character as "feisty" and said she has got a lot of attitude. Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, labelled Lola "rebellious", while the BBC said she is "a troublesome teen" and a "petite bombshell."
BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
described the character as "EastEnders' new tearaway and Billy's wayward granddaughter" and said "It seems Lola isn't exactly the butter-wouldn't-melt type. Surprise, surprise. Billy and Julie leave when Lola tells Billy she's not interested in the fact that he's her granddad, or that her dad's dead. What a lovely young lady." Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
also branded Lola a troublemaking, teen tearaway and said she was "a chip off the Mitchell block." The added that she is a "blonde babe." Chris Hooton from the Metro branded Lola as "mischievous."
Storyline development
When Lola arrives she becomes embroiled in a love triangleLove triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
with Jay Mitchell and Abi Branning. The storyline was summed up in Inside Soap by Kate Woodward who commented "Although I love Abi and Jay together, it's great to see them face serious obstacles thanks to her meddling. Lola is big trouble and has Jay is firmly in her sights. But he's in love with Abi. It was a brilliant idea to team moody Jay with good girl Abi. They work well as a couple, but with the interference of Lola their story has got even more interesting."
Reception
Harold's debut episode was watched by 7.68m viewers. Harold said that because of her performance as Lola she had received letters from children who had grown up in care homes, saying how much they love her character. Kate Woodward of Inside Soap said Lola's introduction had been a revelation. Woodward also commented on Harold's performance saying "In actress Danielle Harold, EastEnders have found a young star with enormous charisma, so you like Lola even though she's a nightmare! In the coming weeks, we'll see her really hold her own with the other Mitchells – which is no mean feat when you consider that most of them have been in this show for years." Woodward's colleague, Sarah, said she liked what she saw, after Lola's debut and described the character saying "She's got a surly attitude, and acts like she's tough as old boots. But something tells me that underneath that hard exterior is a lost little girl just waiting for someone to finally take her into the heart of their family."Tony Stewart writing for the Daily Mirror described Lola as "a walking 15-year-old Asbo", he added "in little less than a month on the Square, the spirited Lola has already created havoc. [...] With Danielle Harold already tipped as a best newcomer in the next round of soap awards, stroppy Lola is either brave or stupid in taking on Phil." Metro