weren't sure what accent they wanted Vicki to have and about a week before they told me it should be American. I did that for a few months and then one day out of the blue I arrived on set and they told me they wanted me to change to Cockney. It was the producer's decision. I was as stunned as everyone else – all the criticism was perfectly justified. It's probably the most stupid decision they could have made. People assumed I was slipping out of the accent – but it was nothing to do with me. I've taken a lot of stick. But it doesn't bother me because I know the truth." A proportion of viewers responded negatively when Vicki was shown to have an abortion. Johnson claims she received abusive letters from fans of the show and that she was stopped in the street twice by older women who told her "it was quite wrong [...] to have got rid of the baby. I found that awkward at the time. But, gradually, I came to realise it was rather flattering. Those women believed in my character so completely they forgot she wasn't real. So now I think I must have been doing a good job." Johnson has since been critical of the storylines given to her character describing them as weak. References External links Television characters introduced in 1986 Female characters in television Watts family Beale family (EastEnders)