In 2005, actor Bill Ward claimed that people approached him regarding the abuse his character gave to Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay). He said that "every now and then, after a couple of beers, somebody will come up and say 'She deserves it, doesn't she?'", and that "they think Charlie is a hero and that it's all legitimate and acceptable behaviour, which it isn't." He also revealed that he "had to be more wary" about where he went since his character started his "reign of terror", and that he’d had notes left on his car, which he found "worrying and unnerving". Despite claiming some people condoned his behaviour, he also said that some people told him to "be nicer to that Shelley". Bill thought that his character was "a shocking man who behaves abysmally", but that as an actor he had to "justify everything he does".