Katie Rogers

Katie Rogers is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Debbie Reynolds and Diane Burke. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 7 December 1987. Reynolds played the character until 1989 when Diane Burke took over the role and remained until 2003 when Brookside was cancelled. Katie was introduced as part of the Rogers family consisting of parents Frank (Peter Christian) and Chrissy Rogers (Eithne Brown) and their three children Katie, Sammy (Rachael Lindsay) and Geoff Rogers (Kevin Carson). Katie is characterised as unlucky in love and prone to drama. Writers consistently used her to portray grief and her descent into alcoholism and eating disorders. In her early years she was an intelligent student who becomes the victim of bullying by Bagga (Tina Fairclough). Katie was centric to a controversial religious cult storyline, in which Simon Howe (Lee Hartney) manipulates her into the cult and convinces her to have sex with him. Other storylines included developing toxaemia and her long-term friendship with Jacqui Dixon (Alex Fletcher). In her later years, writers paired Katie with Clint Moffat (Greg Pateras). Katie's bad luck continued as Clint was shot dead by Ron Dixon (Vince Earl) during a robbery. Writers created a long-term grief story for Katie, which sees her contemplate suicide, become alcohol dependant and alienate her friends and family against her. Casting Katie was first portrayed by Debbie Reynolds who was cast in 1987. The role was later recast with Diane Burke taking over the role from December 1988. Burke was aged twelve when she took over the role. Casting directors for the show visited her school to scout for actors. Recalling her casting, Burke stated that "I enjoyed it [acting] so much that my drama teacher encouraged me to pursue an acting career and I found myself being invited to audition for Brookside." Development