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Stella Crawford is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sophie Thompson. She left the show on 20 July 2007.

Character creation and development
Stella was created solely as a love interest for the character Phil Mitchell. When Steve McFadden, who plays Phil, returned to the show in October 2005, a story conference was held between the show's producers, who decided that his relationship with his son Ben would take priority over any new love interests. Another story conference was held in February 2006, where it was decided to introduce a new love interest. EastEnders' series story producer, Brigie de Courcy, said; "To create her, we took all of Phil's past lovers and came up with somebody completely different from them!"

Producers created a "wish list" of actresses they wanted to see. The EastEnders casting director offered the role to Sophie Thompson, who accepted. Producers were so excited that the whole office cheered when they found out that Thompson had accepted the role. Thompson has said of the role that "joining EastEnders is a bit like being welcomed into a really special playground that you never thought you had the chance to play in, and you are rather in awe of all the kids, but very excited."

Personality
When she was first introduced Stella appeared to be a scatterbrained but well-meaning character who lived on her own and had developed something of a drinking problem when Phil first met her. She dryly comments on this, saying "You're getting a basic picture of a spinster here aren't you? You're probably wondering if I've got any cats." However, as the show went on and her relationship with Phil's son, Ben, was explored, it became clear that Stella was a deranged and mentally unstable character, who psychologically and physically abused Ben whilst manipulating him in her attempts to improve her relationship with his father. Supposedly, Stella's instability is a result of parental neglect. This is hinted at by her telling Ben that his friend Abi Branning was an unpleasant and untrustworthy person, probably as a result of poor parenting. Later in the same episode she picks up a Mother's Day picture that she did with Ben and glares at the word "Mother" before later tearing up the card. It is known that something ghastly happened to Stella's sister which her parents blamed her for however it is never revealed what happened to her or how, if at all it was Stella's fault. This is later confirmed to be true when she tells Phil Mitchell that as a child she was ignored by her parents and felt like a ghost within her own home.

Stella at times gives the impression of being emotionally immature, a frequent side-effect of parental neglect. An interview with Sophie Thompson says that Charlie Jones who plays Ben mused that her vicious nature is caused by the fact that she had a very unhappy childhood.

Storylines
Stella was introduced in 2006 as the new lawyer of local business owner Phil Mitchell, making arrangements for Phil to buy Walford Video, the local video shop. After a tempestuous start to their professional relationship, they shared a kiss on 14 November 2006, and soon thereafter began dating. Phil’s son, Ben Mitchell, disliked Stella initially, and was upset when Phil invited her to move in with them. He caused an oven fire and blamed it on Stella, leading to Phil temporarily breaking up with her. However, he soon realised Ben was the true culprit, and took Stella back.

In February 2007, Stella treated Ben to a day at the London Dungeon. She allowed him to get lost in the house of mirrors, letting him panic to demonstrate to him that she was the one holding the power in their relationship. When Ben’s friend Abi Branning later mentioned the incident in front of Phil, Stella told Ben that Abi was jealous of him in an attempt to sour their friendship. She helped Ben make a Mothers' Day card for his grandmother Peggy, then later destroyed the card, blaming it on Abi. Ben and Abi fell out, and when Ben apologised to Stella for the way he had behaved in the past, she pressed a boiling hot spoon to the back of his hand, causing him to cry.

Stella intensified her attacks against Ben, destroying his hearing aid in a glass of orange juice, and forcing him to hide the fact he was being bullied at school from his father. She told Ben to stand up for himself to the bullies, promising to step in if things got out of hand. However, in the event, she merely remained by her car and spectated as a gang of boys beat Ben to the ground. Ben later told his older half-brother Ian Beale that Stella has inflicted the bruises on him, but when Ian confronted Stella and Phil, he confessed that it had been the bullies. As punishment, Stella locked Ben in his father’s car mechanic garage The Arches.

In April 2007, Stella poured water in Ben’s bed, making him think he had wet it in his sleep. She agreed to keep this from his father if he convinced Phil to propose to her, which he did. Several days later, she stayed up all night gluing Phil’s account book together, blaming it on Ben and forcing him to confess despite his innocence. She began inflicting regular punishment on Ben by pinching him hard enough to leave bruises, and later scared him into going away to football camp. Once he was gone, however, she was devastated. She sat on the stairs in tears, pinching her arm in self-harm as she realised she no longer had any power over him. This intensified when Ben refused to speak to her on the phone from camp, and she banged her head against the wall hard enough to leave a large bruise on her forehead.

While Ben was away, Stella and Phil went to visit her parents. Stella’s mother, Marion, was cool towards her daughter, and her father, Edward, pretended to be out playing golf in order to avoid her. Phil noticed that Stella was not in any of the family photos, but her sister Catherine’s photo had pride of place on the mantelpiece above the fire. When he confronted the Crawfords, they told him that he didn't know as much as he thought he did about Stella. Marion suggested he ask Stella what had happened to her sister. He did, and Stella told him that she had died from meningitis and her parents had "taken it out on the lucky one." Phil was unconvinced.

When Ben attempted to run away with Abi, Stella was furious. She smashed a photo of his real mother, Kathy Beale, and told him he was too pathetic to be a Mitchell. Abi helped Ben realise that what Stella was doing to him was wrong. On the day of the wedding, he threatened to tell Peggy or Phil, but Stella scratched him hard enough to leave him bleeding, and told him that if he did so, she would come into his room at night and suffocate him until he was dead. The wedding ceremony began, and just as the priest was about to declare Phil and Stella husband and wife, Ben walked up the aisle behind them, revealed the blood staining his shirt.

Phil removed Ben from the ceremony and confronted Stella, who claimed that Ian was the one who had hurt his son. Phil realised she was lying, and Stella fled from the venue. Phil attempted to find her, narrowly missing her as she returned to The Queen Victoria, but managing to locate her when she called him and asked him to hear her side of the story. He pretended to love her long enough to have her admit she was at an abandoned factory, where he dropped the pretence and attempted to attack her. A distraught Stella confessed to Phil that during her childhood, she was always blamed for her sister's death and she felt like she was a ghost in her own home, the same way she felt with Phil, constantly coming second best to Ben.

Phil chased Stella up to the factory roof, where she hurried to the edge and threatened to jump unless Phil told her he loved her. Phil answered that he chose her because he thought she was convenient for Ben and would be a good wife. Stella moved closer to the edge of the roof, and was goaded by Phil who refused to believe she would jump. Stella proved him wrong, jumping from the edge and landing on the wedding car bonnet, where she was killed instantly.