| Kim Butterfield | |||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Daisy Wood-Davis | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2014–2018 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 7 October 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 6 November 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||||||
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Kim Butterfield is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Daisy Wood-Davis. The character made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 October 2014. The character and Wood-Davis' casting were announced on 23 September 2014. Kim was created to explore established character Lindsey Butterfield's (Sophie Austin) backstory and to act as a love interest for Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks). Kim is characterised as a feisty female nurse with a complex personality. She can be evil, manipulative and obsessive but fun-loving and bubbly in other scenes. Wood-Davis has explained that when her character is "alone in her own head" she becomes insane. The character's storylines have often focused on her obsessions with other characters. During her first year on-screen, she had obsessions with Joe Roscoe (Ayden Callaghan), Grace Black (Tamara Wall) and her sister Lindsey. Her relationship with Esther remained centric to her role in the show, but Kim's affair with Grace ruined the relationship. Producers also created a dramatic car crash stunt around the character.
In a bid to explore Kim and Lindsey's past a "secret sister" Kath Butterfield (Mikaela Newton) was written into the show. Kath was brain damaged as a result of a childhood mistake involving her fellow sisters. This story was used to explain Kim's "self-destructive" behaviour. Kim was also used during a long-running storyline for Hollyoaks dubbed "The Gloved Hand Killer". Throughout 2015 a mystery character was portrayed murdering patients at the local hospital. Reporters from British news outlets had mostly come to an agreed conclusion that Kim was the culprit. But the perpetrator was revealed to be Lindsey who framed Kim for the crimes. Writers later created a wedding scenario for Kim and Esther, which lead to a surprise storyline in which the character disappears without explanation following an encounter with a mystery character. Her latest storylines included being locked in a basement by Ryan Knight (Duncan James) for months, becoming agoraphobic, being shot by Glenn Donovan (Bob Cryer) and going on the run for after taking the blame for Glenn's murder. Wood-Davis left the soap in 2018 and Kim made her final appearance on 18 October 2018. Kim has been well received by critics of the genre who have mostly discussed her mental health.