Mandy Carter (Ackley Bridge)

Mandy Carter is a fictional character from the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge, portrayed by Jo Joyner. Mandy first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, first broadcast on 7 June 2017. Mandy is the headteacher of the fictional Ackley Bridge school, and her storylines in the series have included the breakdown of her marriage to Steve Bell (Paul Nicholls), trying to help her mother escape from an abusive marriage to her father, trying to save her school and becoming pregnant.

Mandy Carter
Ackley Bridge character
First appearanceEpisode 1
Portrayed byJo Joyner
In-universe information
OccupationHeadteacher
SpousesSteve Bell (husband)
ChildrenOliver Carter (son)
Relatives
  • Dianne Carter (mother)
  • Ray Carter (father)

Storylines

Mandy is introduced as the headteacher of the multicultural academy school Ackley Bridge, a newly formed school built from the merging of a majority-white school and a majority-Asian school. Mandy is married to PE teacher Steve Bell (Paul Nicholls), who previously had an affair with basketball teacher Claire Butterworth (Kimberley Walsh). While struggling with the challenges of the new school, Mandy has sex with Sadiq Nawaz (Adil Ray), the school sponsor, and the father of students Alya (Maariah Hussain) and Riz (Nohail Mohammed). She tells Steve, who is initially angry with Mandy, but later forgives her and reconciles their marriage. Mandy later discovers that she is pregnant, and that Steve is the father of the child. Steve proposes that they get back together to support the child, but Mandy states that they do not work well as a couple.

When a drunk man is found in the toilets of the school, Mandy affirms that she will handle the situation. The man is revealed to be her abusive father Ray (Ted Robbins), who is claiming to have dementia. She offers to use her savings to put Ray in a residential care home, in order to give her mother Dianne (Lin Blakley) a more peaceful life. Emma explains to best friend Emma Keane (Liz White) that her dream as a child was to get a successful job, and save her mother from Ray. Mandy later learns that her parents were lying to her in order to use her money for a camper van to go travelling in.

Sadiq informs Mandy that as a result of his mattress company collapsing, he can no longer afford to fund the school, but pleads to continue as the school's sponsor due to the years of effort he has put into Ackley Bridge. Mandy convinces the school governors to allow Sadiq to stay on as the sponsor rather than be taken over by a trust, but when the placements for the new school year are 36 students down, it means that they lack approximately £250,000 in government funding. Mandy meets with the Valley Trust to discuss the future of the school, but when they cannot guarantee her the safety of staff members' job positions, she declines their offer. Without Mandy knowing, Sadiq agrees to let the school be overtaken by the Valley Trust. The trust ask Mandy to continue as headteacher, to which she accepts. Following the Valley Trust taking over the school, a number of employees are dismissed and replaced by new staff members, which Mandy expresses her annoyance with. When the time for Mandy to take her maternity leave arises, she is temporarily replaced by Sian Oakes (Ty Glaser). However, while on her maternity leave, she learns that Sian has groomed student Cory Wilson (Sam Retford) and is lying about the situation, and returns early to prove Cory's innocence.

Development
Jo Joyner portrays Mandy Carter.

Upon her casting, actress Joyner described her character Mandy as "hard working", and stated that prior to the pilot episode, Mandy has "dedicated the last few years to getting this school off the ground".[1] She explained that in order to have a successful work career, Mandy has "neglected other areas of her life, like having fun and her husband". She added that Mandy is "a perfectionist and relishes the chance to do something great for the community and truly believes in the opportunities that good education can bring". Joyner went on to note the contradiction between Mandy's personal and professional life, stating that she is "strong and capable when it comes to leadership and work", but her personal life is the "complete opposite". Joyner stated that she loves the contradiction in Mandy's personality, since it makes her a "fully rounded" character,[2] and added that the contradiction is "seen in a lot of great women".[3] Joyner expressed her joy at the headteacher of the school being a woman,[3] and added that Mandy is "really driven", and that she "believes passionately in the ethos of the school and the whole idea of bringing the community together and understanding each other's cultures".[4]

Upon the renewal of Ackley Bridge for a second series, Joyner stated that she asked the writers to delve into her backstory. She told the writers: "Id really like to know why she's so driven and why education means so much to her", and following this, her backstory was explored in a centric episode in that series which depicted that she has an abusive father, and grew up as an only child. Joyner stated that she appreciates the writers developing her past, since it shows "how hard she's worked to get out of her own home environment, which wasn't particularly fabulous". She described education as an "escape" for Mandy, and explained that her "high expectations" for students may look "unsympathetic" to viewers at first, but that the development will add "more depth" to her personality.[5] She explained that Mandy's "working class background", means she is "no push over" and does not "take any excuses" in regards to people not achieving at the school. She also praised Mandy's characterisation in regards to her achievements, touching upon the fact that with Mandy's troubled past, it could have been easy for her to be an underachiever, but that instead, she used her life events as motivation to "climb up the ladder". She admitted that Mandy may not always be the "most liked person in the school", but explained that it is for "good reason", since Mandy always prioritises the pupils at Ackley Bridge and what they can achieve, adding that Mandy is not as concerned with the "figures" at the school.[4] When asked if Mandy is lonely due to being promoted to headteacher above her colleagues, Joyner confirms that she is, describing her as a "lone wolf", especially due to being an old child. She stated that Mandy has "been forging ahead on her own ever since she was tiny really so she is used to kind of carving her own path", and noted that people can have difficulty getting close to people with such a personality.[4]

Speaking about Mandy's marriage with Steve, Joyner stated that in the first few episodes, Mandy and Steve are seen to be "getting on well", but that it becomes "clear that they have had some issues that they've been dealing with from the past", in regards to his former affair with Claire. Joyner noted that despite Steve being "Mandy's rock, there is resentment from the past on her part". She noted that Steve is "feeling quite insecure" due to Mandy spending time with Sadiq.[2] She adds that the relationship has lots of "ups and downs", and that when they decide they cannot live together, they are "still really missing each other".[4] After Mandy and Sadiq have sex, Joyner described Mandy's mindset as having "got even" with Steve.[4] Joyner noted that working with co-star Nicholls, whom she previously worked with on the BBC series Candy Cabs, was "really great", and she deemed herself "lucky" to work with him again. She added that they "work really well together", and that Nicholls makes the task of being an on-screen partnership with him "easy".[2] Joyner was also able to work with former No Angels co-star Sunetra Sarker, and despite Mandy having a small number of scenes with her character Kaneez Paracha, Joyner stated that the decision was "probably for the best", since the two would make each other laugh during filming.[6]

Reception

Following the episode that aired on 24 July 2018 which focused on Mandy's relationship with her parents, Joyner was praised for her portrayal of the role by viewers. She was deemed "sensational", "fantastic", and an "underrated actress", with someone adding that she "smashed it". The Daily Express described the scenes as "heartbreaking".[7] Joyner appeared on the ITV talk show Lorraine to discuss the scenes, where she explained that viewers would tell her "everyday" to inform them of how much they liked and admired the character. She noted that the messages were from people of all ages, which she appreciated.[8] In an episode broadcast on 30 July 2019, the character was complimented by viewers due to her part in exposing a student-teacher affair, a storyline that viewers had previously reacted negatively to. She was also described as being "the most caring teacher ever" by Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy, with viewers adding that she is the "best teacher" on the series.[9]

References
  1. "Jo Joyner to play headteacher in new Channel 4 drama The ABC". What's on TV. 23 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. "Interview with Jo Joyner who plays Head Teacher Mandy Carter". Channel 4. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. "Fan of Waterloo Road? Do NOT miss tonight's new school drama Ackley Bridge". Entertainment Daily. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. "Ackley Bridge: Interview with Jo Joyner who plays Mandy". Channel 4. 29 May 2018. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. "Jo Joyner on life after EastEnders, new Ackley Bridge and family". BT TV. 5 June 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  6. "SPECIAL BACK TO SCHOOL PHOTOSHOOT! Jo Joyner and Sunetra Sarker on the return of Ackley Bridge". What's on TV. 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  7. "Ackley Bridge spoilers: Jo Joyner fans IN TEARS as Mandy Carter breaks down". Daily Express. 24 July 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  8. "Ackley Bridge Star Jo Joyner Will Never Say Never to an Eastenders Return!". YouTube. 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. "Ackley Bridge viewers praise headteacher Mandy after Sian's affair with Cory is exposed". Digital Spy. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
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