Donna Yates (EastEnders)

Donna Yates is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lisa Hammond. The character and casting was announced in March 2014 and she made her first appearance on 14 April of that year. Donna was introduced as a stallholder and a rival to her new colleagues Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace). EastEnders executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins was happy that Hammond had been cast in the role as EastEnders had been trying to get her into the soap for a while. Donna was the second regular disabled character to appear in EastEnders and some of her storylines raised awareness of disabilities. The character was not intended to be in a wheelchair but this changed after Hammond impressed producers. Donna was characterised as being feisty, hardworking, opinionated and brash, and Treadwell-Collins teased that she would not be an easy character to like at first. However, Donna's loyal, fragile and funny sides to her personality were also explored.

Donna's initial storylines involved her clashes and friendships with her colleagues. Her foster mother Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas) and her foster brother Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood) were later introduced, and Donna was seen often clashing with Vincent's wife Kim Fox (Tameka Empson). Donna also formed friendships with several characters, including Nancy Carter (Maddy Hill) and Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), and she had short-term romantic encounters with Fatboy Chubb (Ricky Norwood) and Shrimpy (Ben Champniss). In 2016, a controversial storyline aired where Donna attempts to get pregnant with Vincent's sperm, though she is unsuccessful. In 2017, Donna develops a rivalry with Robbie Jackson (Dean Gaffney), but the pair later becomes friends and start a romantic relationship, even moving in together.

In April 2018, it was announced that Hammond had left the soap and she made her final appearance on 20 July of that year. Donna's final storyline involved a feud with Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) and trying to plant drugs on her to prove that she is an unfit parent, which leads to Donna leaving Walford and ending her relationship with Robbie. Donna received positive reception from critics and viewers and Hammond was longlisted for two Inside Soap awards. Several critics called the character feisty and her romance with Robbie was well-received. However, Donna's departure was criticised for being lowkey. Hammond revealed that she had received abuse from viewers for using a wheelchair after they had seen her walk in scenes. On the day of the airing of Donna's departure, Sophie Dainty from Digital Spy wrote an article detailing reasons why she would miss the character.