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Character Profile......Katie Rogers
Last Updated March 3rd 2002
 Katie arrived on the close in 1987 along
with her parents Frank and Chrissy, brother Geoff and sister Sammy.
 Katie was the youngest
member of the family, but always liked to have her say during family discussions.
At school she had problems for a while with a school bully “Bagga “ who
forced her to steal money until Sammy, Geoff and his mate Bumper confronted
Bagga and persuaded her to leave Katie alone.
Katie’s first love interest was in Geoff’s mate
Bumper who she developed a crush on but he was unimpressed by her obvious
admiration, so the attraction didn’t last long.
The next object of Katie’s affection was her
school teacher Mr Molyneaux, but when she tried to impress him by cleaning
up a local river she ended up falling in the polluted water and being
taken to hospital.
 Katie was very close to her mother Chrissy and was heartbroken
when her parents split up leaving her
to live alone with her father Frank.
Later when Frank started dating Lyn Katie hoped
that she may soon be leading a normal family life again as Frank and Lyn’s
relationship rapidly developed. When Frank announced that he and Lyn were
to get married it looked as if Katie could look forward to life in a secure
family unit once again, but her life was shattered when Frank was killed
in a car accident after the wedding.
It was at this time, when Katie was at her most
vulnerable that cult leader Simon Howe came into her life. Simon managed
to persuade Katie, first to let  him use No 5 as a meeting place for the cult, and then to
join the cult herself. Under Simon’s influence Katie agreed to go through
with the initiation ceremony which included going to bed with him. Katie
later had a change of heart when Simon told her to sleep with Terry Sullivan,
deciding instead to leave the cult and move in with her best friend Jacqui
Dixon.
Katie decided to take up dancing with a local
theatre company and soon forgot about
Simon when she met Christian who was also a member of the theatre company.
They got on well together, but just when Katie believed she had found
her ideal boyfriend,
Terry Sullivan told her she may have caught
aids from her former lover Simon. Katie tried to keep this news to herself
until her test results came through, but Christian dumped her for not
telling him, even though the results of the aids test proved negative.
Katie took this very badly and became bulimic
for a while, until her friends Jacqui and Rachel discovered her problem
and helped her overcome this illness.
Katie remained firm friends with both Jacqui
and Rachel even though Jacqui once stole one of her boyfriends Shaun Brookes
from her.
After her unsettled teenage years Katie has
a more secure future having found employment in a solicitors office although
her luck with boyfriends hasn’t improved much.
Katie tried without success to lure Jason Shadwick
from his present girlfriend Katrina, but later had more success with one
of the Musgrove family Ryan.
Katie thought she had found her ideal man in
Ryan Musgrove but her confidence was shaken when Ryan later announced
he had a baby daughter.
 Ryan explained he had only recently
found out about his daughter, and that she had been the result of a one
night stand with a girl named Abby.
Katie agreed to stay with Ryan after he told
her that although he wanted to keep in contact with his daughter, he had
no interest in Abby.Katie trusted Ryan not become involved with
Abby, but felt uneasy when his visits to see her became more frequent
although Ryan insisted he only wanted to to see his daughter. Later Katie's
suspicions about Ryan and Abby were confirmed by Luke when he told her
that Ryan had slept with Abby. When Katie next saw Ryan she told him what
Luke had said and told him she no longer wanted to continue their relationship.
 Katie
had previously been going out with Luke before he had been sent to prison,
so when he asked to her if she would go out with him, although apprehensive
she agreed. They were soon in a good relationship but this was shattered
when Luke later confessed that he had raped Nickki Shadwick.
Katie was disgusted with herself for sleeping
with a rapist and a tried to make it up with Nikki Shadwick by letting
her read confidential files about Luke's court case. This turned out to
be a big mistake, for when Nathan found out what she had done he gave
Katie the sack. Katie was sure her best friend Jacqui would help her get
her job back, but was disappointed to discover she was not willing the
do this.
 As
a result of this Katie refused to be her bridesmaid which caused even
more ill feeling between them. Katie was sure that once Jacqui moved to
London she would no longer see her and this made her even more resentful
of Nathan. Later Jacqui made her realise she would always be her friend,
and that her marriage to Nathan would make no difference. They were soon
the best of friends again.
After her disastrous relationship with Luke
it seemed Katie was the only girl left on Brookside without a boyfriend,
but all the changed when she went on a Hen week in Benidorm with Jacqui.
 While
out on her first night in Benidorm Katie was
sitting in a bar with her friends, thinking she would never meet anyone
interesting, until that is Clint came up to her and started chatting.
They soon discovered that they both came from the same area in Liverpool
and had lots of things in common, before long they were kissing passionately.
During her holiday in Benidorm Katie and Clint formed a very strong relationship,
so when it came time for Katie to return home they promised to keep in
touch.
Once back in Liverpool Katie soon began worry
whether she would ever see Clint again, but one night while out in Bev's
Bar Clint turned up looking for her. They almost missed each other, for
when Clint arrived in the bar, Katie was in the ladies and Leanne told
Clint she didn't know where Katie was.
Katie came out just in time to catch Clint before
he left on a bus. Clint stayed with Katie for a few days before returning
to Benidorm, but promised to return again soon. Later both Robbie
and Clint returned to Liverpool to stay permanently. Katie was delighted
that she and Clint would no longer have to spend so much time apart, while
Jacqui was able to get to know Robbie a lot better after their brief encounter
in Benidorm.
 The
first sign of trouble came when Nisha ( who worked with Katie at Darrens
walk in surgery ) first saw Clint and Robbie, and told Katie
she had once been engaged to Clint. Katie heard that the reason Robbie
and Clint had been living in Benidorm was that they had to flee the country
after Robbie had attacked someone. Clint's decision to follow his brother
had led to the break-up between him and Nisha. The relationship between
Jacqui and Robbie developed very quickly as they were able to spend more
time together, as did the relationship between Clint and Katie, and so
Katie decided to ignore what Nisha had told her.
While Clint was a genuine, and decent character,
Robbie on the other hand really did have a nastier side to his personality
which he tried to keep well hidden from Jacqui. Clint was devoted to Katie
and wanted to ensure that Robbie wouldn't spoil things between them, so
when he discovered Robbie had been involved in a burglary he decided to
take some positive action by asking Katie to go with him to Spain.
Robbie was furious that Clint intended to leave
the country and tried to split him and Katie up by telling Clint that
Katie had made a pass at him. When this failed he attempted to spoil Clint's
planned marriage proposal to Katie, by proposing to Jacqui first. This
didn't work out for Robbie either, as Jacqui was completely stunned by
his proposal and said she needed more time. Robbies relationship with
Jacqui ended soon afterwards when he hit her while in a jealous rage over
her friendship with Max Farnham.
This assault on Jacqui led to a tragic chain
of events, which was to put a permanent end to Katie's chance of happiness
with Clint. Ron was furious after
he heard about Robbie hitting Jacqui, so when he saw him arguing with
Jacqui at the pool he confronted Robbie and in the resulting scuffle Ron
pushed Robbie into the water.
 Robbie
swore to get revenge, and a short while later decided to break into the
Dixon house while Ron and Anthea were asleep upstairs. Clint suspected
what Robbie was up to and followed him to the house and once inside the
house Clint tried to persuade Robbie to leave. Ron heard them downstairs
and believing his family was in danger, grabbed a gun to scare off the
intruders. Ron saw a figure in the shadows, shouted a warning, but in
a panic he pulled the trigger shooting who he thought was the burglar.
Anthea arrived at Ron's side and they were both
horrified to discover Ron had shot and killed Clint. Robbie meanwhile
hid out of sight and ran off without being seen.
Katie found it very difficult coming to terms
with Clint's death, and the situation wasn't helped by the fact that Jacqui
obviously believed Ron was justified in shooting him. The police called
round with the engagement ring found in Clint's pocket and Katie was devastated
when she realised that Clint intended to propose. Jacqui tried to comfort
Katie by talking about the good times they had together, but Katie broke
down when in a desperate attempt to hear Clint's voice again she rang
his mobile. Later after going to Ron's house to see where Clint died Katie
decided that she could no longer be friends with Jacqui.
 Katie
was furious when she read an article about Ron Dixon in a local paper
which depicted him as a hero. Incensed by his apparent popularity Katie
visited Ron in prison, where he appeared to regret what happened. Ron
soon made matters worse though when he remarked that she wasn't to blame
for not knowing what Clint was really like. Later when Jacqui and Max
became engaged, she tried to make up with Katie by asking her to come
to the wedding, Katie reacted by throwing water and a bunch of flowers
over her.
Katie and Robbie were furious that the Dixon
family should be celebrating a wedding while they were still grieving
over Clint. Robbie persuaded Katie they should gatecrash the reception
at the Dixon house and cause trouble, but when they arrived and saw everyone
partying on the spot where Clint was killed, Katie was devastated and
returned with Robbie to her flat. Katie feeling low and vulnerable tried
to drown her sorrows, while Robbie took advantage of the situation by
seducing her.
 Later
when Katie was lone in the flat after Nisha went out for the evening,
she looked through a photo album, but this only made her feel more depressed.
Believing she had nothing left to live for Katie picked up a bottle of
pills and contemplated suicide.
Nisha returned from a night out to discover
her collapsed in the bathroom. Suspecting Katie had taken an overdose
Nisha put her in the recovery position, but when Katie came round she
told her that she had passed out before being able to take any tablets.
Feeling guilty for not realising the extent of Katie's depression, Nisha
sat by her side that night to make sure she would be ok. After talking
through her problems Katie decided to go away for a while and spend some
time with her sister Sammy.
After learning of Robbies involvement in Clints
death during Ron's trial Katie now blamed him and confronted him outside
the court. Robbie was unrepentant, telling everyone, including Jacqui
that Katie had slept with him.
Max decided to surprise Jacqui by buying them
each a new car. Jacqui was delighted, but her happiness was short lived
when Katie incensed at seeing Jacqui enjoying life, spoiled the moment
by throwing a tin of paint over her new motor.
After a phone call from Nisha Sammy arrived
to look after Katie, and when she heard how much Katie hated Jacqui and
that Jacqui had married Max, Sammy was only too willing to help her sister
get revenge.
While Sammy was jealous of Jacqui the motivation
for Katie was to make Jacqui suffer. Sammy had a cunning plan to wreck
Jacqui's marriage to Max by tempting him to be unfaithful. Katie called
on Jacqui and invited her out on the pretense that she wanted to put the
past events behind them and be friends again. Jacqui was so relieved that
she didn't suspect an ulterior motive and agreed to meet Katie at Bev's
Bar for a drink.
 Meanwhile
Sammy had arrived at The Shelf intent on seducing Max. Although at first
he didn't seem interested, he later agreed to go with her to Katie's flat.
Jacqui was also on her way back to the flat with Katie where they arrived
to find Max and Sammy in a very compromising situation. Jacqui appeared
shocked and left, closely followed by Max, but just as Katie and Sammy
were congratulating themselves on destroying their marriage, Jacqui and
Max returned having realised they had been set up.
Katie realised she had gone too far by trying
to wreck Jacqui's marriage, and the next day called on her to try and
patch up their friendship. After listening to what Katie had to say Jacqui
accepted her apology and they decided to give their friendship another
try.
Later Sammy succeeded in getting a job at the
health club while Jacqui was away on holiday. When she returned Jacqui
was furious that Sammy had duped the manager into employing her and promtly
sacked her. Sammy became depressed after losing her job, and tried to
enlist Katie's help to persuade Jacqui to reinstate her. Katie wasn't
willing to cooperate, and told Sammy a few home truths instead, but later
agreed to help after Sammy explained the hardship it would cause her daughter
Louise, if she were out of work.
After listening to Katie explain about how Louise would suffer, Jacqui
eventually relented and told Sol to give Sammy her job back.
To Be Continued.....
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Actress Profile
- Diane Burke
 Liverpool
born Diane lives with her parents and is one of three children. She has
two sisters one who works as a PA for a big company while the other is
a trainee solicitor. Diane got on well at school although her school reports
did mention she was a bit of a chatterbox. While at school Diane started
dancing lessons which she now finds useful as a way of keeping fit. Two
of her best friends are Alexander Fletcher and Tiffany Chapman ( Jacqui
and Rachel ) and she has a long term boyfriend Lee who she has been seeing
for 7 years.
Brookside has been Diane's only
job as she went for an audition while still at school and was delighted
to be offered the part of Katie Rogers. During the twelve years she has
been in Brookside her favourite storyline was when Katie suffered from
bulimia, a part she found a real challenge. Diane enjoys the stability
of being in regular work and wants to stay in Brookie as long as possible.
One of Diane's favourite foods
since a little girl is baked beans which she likes eating on toast, bangles
and pitta bread. Among her most treasured possessions is a ring which
Lee gave her when she was seventeen. Diane loves football and supports
Liverpool and particularly enjoys watching them live whenever possible.
Dianes best film is " Dirty Dancing " and her favourite TV program is
" Friends ". For Holidays Diane and Lee usually go abroad together, with
the Greek Islands and Barbados being amongst their favourite destinations.
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