Denzil Kelly (1997-2012) was the third son and the fourth child of Rose Kelly. He was a pupil of Waterloo Road from the age of 11 to 15.
Denzil struggled to adjust to Waterloo Road and had behavioural problems due to his chaotic family environment, his mother's alcoholism and having always been labelled "thick" by his peers and adults due to his dyslexia.
Far from being stupid though, Denzil was actually very bright in his own cheeky way. He sometimes struggled to fit in and often found himself "playing the big man," but it's all an act and he was a kind and soft person inside.
Denzil was easily influenced by others such as his criminal older brother Earl and bad boy Kyle Stack. However, his other older brother, Marley, and older sister, Sambuca, always lead him back on track.
During his time at Waterloo Road, Denzil was best friends with Emily James, Scout Allen, Phoenix Taylor and Rhona and Shona Mansfield. He was also particularly close to Tom Clarkson.
When the Rochdale site closed down, Denzil made the decision to move to Scotland with his friends. As the group took photos at the Scottish border, a drunk lorry driver ran into the group. Denzil tragically died in the accident.
Denzil was renowned for his knowledge of quantum physics, his skill on the trapeze and a fondness for Def Leppard.
After his death, this was the last we saw from the Kelly family.
Series 4
In the first episode of Series 4, the Kelly family arrived at Waterloo Road.
Denzil finds it hard at first, looking terrified as he struggles to read out a simple paragraph in class, but he begins to cheer up as his new English teacher, Jasmine Koreshi, offers him help outside of school. The Kellys find out that Denzil is dyslexic.
Denzil later discovers that Earl Kelly brought a gun into school and is amused when Earl terrorizes Paul Langley and Bolton Smilie with it. When Miss Mason discovers that there's a gun at school, Earl tells Denzil to take it, assuring him that the police will be lenient on him because of his age.
A scared Denzil agrees to take the gun, but when the police discover him with the gun, he ends up at a Young Offenders Institute where he remains there for some time until Earl murders his ex-girlfriend, Maxine Barlow, which gives Bolton and Paul the courage to confess that it was Earl with the gun.
Denzil is finally able to settle in at Waterloo Road and is even convinced by his sister, Sambuca, to form a choir with Lauren Andrews, Aleesha Dillon and Danielle Harker. Together, they get other people to join the choir and with the help of their music teacher, Matt Wilding, they enter a choir competition and end up winning it.
Series 5
When Denzil returns to Waterloo Road, he gets off on the wrong foot with new executive head Max Tyler, who doesn't like Denzil's attitude and forces him to scrub walls as punishment.
Denzil later befriends new pupil Emily James. Although they both come from different backgrounds, the fact that they have both faced adversity at a young age draws them together. He supports Emily during her father's death and her mother's trial.
He also performs in the school talent show with a group of boys under the name "The Waterloo Road Crew" where they dance to Dizzee Rascal's "Bonkers."
Series 6
Feeling like he's not getting enough attention from his mother at home, Denzil begins hanging out with the school's newest bad boy, Kyle Stack.
Striving for attention, Denzil happily takes part in a series of silly stunts in order to impress Kyle, including a secret drinking competition with fizzy drinks. Denzil wins the competition, but he later throws up at the fashion show and is taken to the hospital by a furious Tom Clarkson.
In the next episode, Denzil sets up some equipment in the changing rooms to give himself higher and higher electric shocks. Emily tells Tom about what Denzil is going to do and Tom saves him at the last minute.
Despite promising never to do anything like it again, the next episode shows Denzil's biggest stunt yet. He walks across a thin strip of bridge over a road and gets Kyle to film it and send it to Sambuca.
Denzil tries to come down when Sambuca, Karen Fisher, Tom Clarkson and Finn Sharkey arrive, but he trips and is left hanging from the bridge, barely holding on with his hands. Finn climbs up and helps Denzil off, but he ends up falling himself and injures his back.
Series 7
When Sambuca is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Tom moves in with the Kelly's in an attempt to help them.
Denzil frequently becomes upset at school, notably during a maths lesson where he can't help but cry. After class, Daniel Chalk keeps Denzil back to try and console him and Denzil admits his fears about will happen next. He also confides in Chalky about the guilt he's feeling over not wanting Tom to leave after Sambuca dies, as he felt that they were finally a proper family.
When Sambuca passes away, Denzil is shown sitting outside her door with their younger brother, Prince.
After Sambuca's death, he has a hard time coping with it; at one point, he tells new pupil Scout Allen to shut up and later attacks her when he sees her wearing Sambuca's jacket, but he was stopped by Tom and Rose.
In the following term, Denzil becomes friends with Phoenix Taylor and Scout, where the three of them get caught up in mischief. He develops a crush on Scout, but Scout likes Phoenix instead.
During the school's final days in Rochdale, Denzil took Michael Byrne up on the opportunity to join his friends in the move to the new school in Scotland.
When they are travelling to Scotland together on the bus, Denzil asks for the bus to be stopped at the border. As everyone stands outside the sign to take a picture, Grantly Budgen proposes to Maggie Croft.
A lorry is then seen swerving on the road, speeding towards them; Denzil was killed instantly by the lorry and Tariq Siddiqui is left in a wheelchair. The driver was twice over the drinking limit.
A memorial for Denzil was held at the new school. Tom is unable to talk about him because he feels guilty due to his promise to Rose that he would take care of Denzil.
Trivia
- Denzil was the longest serving male student appearing from Series 4 until the end of Series 7.
- Reece Douglas wasn't told he was axed from the show, but he later found out when Series 8 began airing.
Quotes
- "Look at you, you've only got one bag!" (first line)
- "I don't want it! They'll catch me with it!" (about Earl's revolver)
- Emily: "My sister says it's okay if I'm friends wi' you. Did you ask yours? What did she say?"
- Denzil: "She said she hates your sister."
- Emily: "And what did you say?"
- Denzil: "So what? I like you."
- Rose: "And what did she say?"
- Denzil: "'Whatever', so I said 'cool', cos I do."
- Harry: "What are you up to?"
- Denzil: "Human lightning bolt, mate."
- Harry: "What?"
- Denzil: "I'm gonna send electricity through this cable, keep turning the power up til I can't touch it any more. Proper research."
- "Who's the star of the show now, eh? Check this out, Kyle, this is sick! Have you got it all?"
- "Oi! Get off that! That's my sister's, you silly little cow!"
- Rose: "Hey you, come here. We'll get through this, you know. I don't know how, but we will."
- Denzil: "What if I forget about her?"
- Rose: "No, that's never gonna happen." (at Sambuca's memorial)
- Denzil: "Sir? Can we stop at the border, please?"
- Michael: "Well, we're already a bit behind schedule."
- Denzil: "Aw, I've never been abroad before. I wanna send a photo to my nan."
- "Did you, sir?" (final line)