Kerry Young is a fictional character from the British police procedural television series The Bill, played by Beth Cordingly.

Cordingly's casting and Kerry's creation occurred after a large number of characters were written out by the show's new executive producer Paul Marquess.

To prepare for the role, Cordingly spent time with the Met to learn about their daily routine and joined them for a day out in a squad car, which she admitted left her with motion sickness.

She later establishes a relationship with PC Luke Ashton (Scott Neal), which develops into a love triangle when he has an affair with Sergeant Craig Gilmore (Hywel Simons).

Kerry later has a brief affair with Sergeant Dale "Smithy" Smith (Alex Walkinshaw), before she begins a relationship with Australian PC Cameron Tait (Daniel MacPherson), whom she had to arrest in his debut episode.

In April 2004, Kerry is targeted by PC Gabriel Kent (Todd Carty), who manipulates her into thinking that Smithy has date raped her.

Kerry does not report the rape and Carty believed it was because of her earlier accusation against Smithy, which would make her look like "the girl who cried wolf".

As she becomes romantically involved with David Radford (Alex McSweeney), Cordingly said Kerry's loyalties are divided due to her disillusionment with the force and clashing with Inspector Gina Gold (Roberta Taylor).

In the lead up to her final scenes, Kerry is arrested for her involvement with the Radford family, she uncovers Gabriel's real identity, and discovers Andrea Dunbar (Natalie J. Robb) is actually an undercover journalist.

[1] Her casting came shortly after the show's executive producer Paul Marquess wrote out a number of characters in a storyline that saw a fire sweep through Sun Hill station.

[2][3] Cordingly felt that going into her audition for The Bill she would be typecast as "an out-and-out bitch" because of her roles as Sara Warrington in Family Affairs and Norma Kennedy in Semi-Monde.

"[4] Cordingly agreed that her character was "very much the victim" in her first year, but she had started working on new plots that would put Kerry "on a different journey" and would see her becoming stronger.

[10] When she was introduced, Jo Haywood of Inside Soap confirmed that Kerry would get off to a bad start at Sun Hill when she learns that Nick Klein (René Zagger), who she had a recent one-night stand with, is actually a fellow PC.

[4] She told McMonagle (Sunday Mail) that she had to work on making it credible, and explained that Kerry finds that what she gets from Luke in private is enough for her and that their bond is so strong, she believes him over her friends and colleagues.

[9] After ending her marriage to Luke, Kerry has "a steamy affair" with Sergeant Dale "Smithy" Smith (Alex Walkinshaw) and they are caught having sex in a police car while on duty.

[17] In April 2004, Gabriel Kent (Todd Carty) targets Kerry and manipulates her into thinking that Smithy date raped her, before she is caught up in an explosion.

The scenes build to "a massive climax" where Kerry looks away from the man with the bomb for a second and a huge explosion occurs, leaving her unconscious on the floor, with Cameron screaming out her name.

Head of the family Irene Radford (Lynda Bellingham) later asks Kerry to help them with a job, which makes her consider cutting ties with the police force.

Gina has ordered her either to end things with David or leave the Met – before sticking her behind Sun Hill's front desk in disgrace.

Kerry's having such a bad run at Sun Hill at the moment, this could well be the right time for her to finally burn all bridges with the Met, and work with the Radfords full-time.

"[22] Regarding Kerry's involvement with the Radfords, Sarah Whiteman of Inside Soap wondered whose side she was on, to which Cordingly replied "That's the ultimate question, and I actually find it quite hard to answer.

[25] Kris Green of Digital Spy reported that producers had promised Cordingly "an explosive exit" which would be filmed during the UK summer.

[25] Cordingly asked to leave the show early and had planned to go in January 2004, but the storylines for Kerry "were so good" she chose to go out at "a climax point" for the character instead.

[23] In the lead up to her final scenes, Kerry's involvement with the Radford family comes to a conclusion, she uncovers Gabriel's real identity, and discovers Andrea Dunbar (Natalie J. Robb) is an undercover journalist.

Just as she is about to head inside the station to see Gina, a gunshot rings out and Kerry collapses to the ground and lies bleeding in Smithy's arms.

[27] Farah Faouque The Sydney Morning Herald branded the episode a "cheerless outing", saying viewers follow the character's "descent from happy-go-lucky officer to victim" mostly because of her "bad taste in blokes.

[29] Mickey McMonagle of the Sunday Mail opined that Kerry was always "the innocent victim" in her early storylines and that the scriptwriters liked to pile "on the misery".

[4] An Inside Soap critic thought Kerry and Luke's "much-anticipated" wedding was "certainly worth the wait", but wondered what the show would surprise the audience with next, following its conclusion.

[31] The Daily Mirror's Jim Shelley called the relationship between Luke and Kerry "rather tedious" and thought that the wedding and pregnancy were both "improbable".

"[32] Shelley's colleague Jane Simon also bemoaned Kerry's lack of good sense, saying "Helping to plan an armed robbery probably wasn't the cleverest way to prove her worth as an undercover cop, and now she's gone missing.