Alicia Kellaway

**Alicia Kellaway** (née Kettle) is a character that appeared in the episode 'And No Birds Sing'. She is the seemingly devoted wife to Daniel Kellaway, who is confined to his bedroom with severe dermatitis.

## Biography

### Early life

Born to Delia Kettle, 'The Wicked Witch of Withersedge', and an unnamed father, Alicia did not have an idyllic upbringing. Her father died under mysterious circumstances, and her mother was accused of killing her second husband (presumably Alicia's stepfather), but was later acquitted. During her childhood she became involved with the police after two assaults on her schoolteachers, later skipping her probation. Twenty five years before the events of 'And No Birds Sing' she and her mother fled their home in Withersedge and disappeared.

### Marriage and murder plot

During this time, Alicia met and married Daniel Kellaway. Despite her appearance as a doting wife determined to take care of her husband's skin condition, Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme uncovered a plot by Alicia and her mother, the housekeeper at the Kellaway's home Winterbourne Manor who goes by the name 'Mrs Potts', to kill Daniel to inherit control of his business, Kellaway Garden Centres. By mixing the hydrocortisone cream prescribed by Bob Whittaker with the juice from the toxic giant hogweed plant, Alicia was able to exacerbate Daniel's dermatitis and keep him in extreme discomfort.

Alicia and Delia decided that with two widowhoods behind Delia Kettle, it would not be wise to for them to directly commit another murder, as a third death in their family would draw a lot of attention. The plan therefore was to keep Daniel in so much pain that he would eventually kill himself. Alicia also to have any dissenting opinion in any medical inquest silenced throw suspicion away from her; to achieve that she embarked on a flirtatious relationship with Dr. Whittaker.

The two however did commit one direct murder: with Kellaway Garden Centres under the ownership of both Daniel Kellaway and his business partner Sam Trent, Sam needed removing from the picture if Alicia and Delia were to inherit the company. They were aware that Sam had a diagnosed heart condition and was taking the drug digoxin, a drug derived from the foxglove plant. Delia therefore began serving Sam a herbal tea brewed with dried foxglove leaves each time he visited Winterbourne. In effect, Sam was unknowingly taking a double dose of his heart medication, digoxin, which eventually caused him to suffer a fatal heart attack.

With Alicia able to avoid being implicated in the plot Rosemary and Laura were unravelling, Rosemary revealed to Alicia all the clues she had gathered, suspecting Delia to be the only culprit. Alicia then called her mother over to them, and the two chased Rosemary through Winterbourne Manor, Delia managing to injure Rosemary with her knife.

However, a timely intervention by Laura, who had discovered through her son Matthew that Delia and Alicia were related, and the police allowed Rosemary to escape, leading to the arrest of both Alicia and Delia.

## Behind the scenes

Alicia Kellaway was played by actress Kate Gartside.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Rosemary & Thyme,* Series 1 episode 1: *And No Birds Sing*. Director: Brian Farnham; writer: Clive Exton. Carnival Films. First broadcast 31 August 2003 on ITV.