long subsequent career on the show, falling for the wrong bloke and not realising her own worth. You could see that the way she turned was directly related to her beginnings, to that difficult family situation." Sharon has topped numerous viewer polls suggesting she is one of EastEnders most favored characters. Critics have praised the character's complex progression from teenager to adult, referencing the investment that viewers hold in Sharon, having watched her grow up on-screen. While Sharon's returns to EastEnders have been welcomed by some critics, others received her comebacks as an indication that the show's writers and producers had run out of original ideas. Letitia Dean has defended the decision to reintroduce Sharon, suggesting that long-running dramas such as EastEnders need "old blood". On 10 April 2019, Dean filmed her 2000th episode as Sharon. Development Early storylines (1985–1990) An early controversial storyline involving Sharon revolved around her desire to take contraceptive pills to persuade Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford) to date her. According to Holland and Smith, this storyline caused tremendous interest in the UK. Holland and Smith have suggested that it was a daring issue to tackle in the 1980s, as it involved a girl under sixteen, and was to be aired at a time when the issue was prominent in British society. Holland and Smith suggested that people took sides with the issue and Sharon's dilemma became a debate used as a teaching method, both in schools and at home. The creators stated that many families admitted that, as a result of Sharon's storyline, they were discussing taboo topics openly in their homes for the first time in years, or ever. Sharon went on to feature in a storyline about the ups and downs of a pop group called The Banned in 1986. It featured the majority of teenage characters in the soap at the time. The storyline proved to be a successful merchandising tool for the serial, as it spawned two hit singles in the UK charts. One of the songs "Something Outa Nothing," which was performed on-screen in the plot, was released by actors Letitia Dean and Paul J. Medford. The song was a modest success, reaching number 12 in the UK singles chart in November 1986. The storyline was seen as an interesting and major undertaking in the serial, but one that Holland and Smith felt never entirely worked. In her teenage years,