Frank Butcher - Character Creation and Development

Character Creation and Development

The character of Frank was introduced to the series in September 1987, when he met up with former girlfriend Pat Wicks (Pam St. Clement). Although it couldn't have been predicted at the time, Frank was perhaps the most important introduction to the series that year, as the popularity of his appearance led to him playing a far greater role the following year. Frank was played by Mike Reid, who was already an established comedian and well known to the British audience. The casting of a comedian in a dramatic role was highly controversial at the time, but over the years the wisdom of that decision was proved, as Frank became one of the show's most popular and iconic characters. His successful casting set a precedent in British soap, and subsequently, many established comedians and comic actors have gone on to play substantial roles in several notable soap operas, including Barbara Windsor, Bradley Walsh, Shane Richie and Les Dennis, among others.

Following Anita Dobson's (Angie) and Leslie Grantham's (Den) decisions to quit the show in 1988, Frank was reintroduced as a full-time character and installed as the new landlord of The Queen Vic, which he ran with his future wife, Pat, before opening a used car-lot on the Square. Although extremely different from their predecessors, Frank and Pat were also a live-wire couple whose relationship proved popular with the audience. Their wedding in 1989 is deemed as one of the year's highlights. Penned by new EastEnders writer Tony Jordan, Frank and Pat celebrated their big day in true East End style with a street party organised by Frank's mother, Mo (Edna Doré). Although planned for a summer's day, the lot material filmed on Albert Square was recorded in the middle of gale-force winds. The episode was scripted to portray a strong sense of community spirit and a feel-good theme, as up until that year EastEnders had come under attack by critics who suggested the show had become too depressing. Some 11.9 million viewers tuned in to see Frank and Pat finally tie the knot.

However, as is customary in EastEnders, their marriage didn't remain happy for long, and after an array of family and monetary problems, Frank began to sink into deep depression. Playing a depressed character took its toll on Mike Reid and he also began to suffer with depression, so in 1994 he took a long hiatus from EastEnders. On-screen his character attempted an insurance scam by having his car-lot torched and was unable to cope with the resulting guilt after the fire claimed the life of a homeless man. Frank disappeared from the show under a cloud of mystery and for a while he was presumed dead. Pat eventually moved on, and moved in with another man only for Frank to make a shocking return. Almost 17 million viewers tuned in to see Frank reunited with Pat on Christmas day 1995. His stay was brief, lasting only a few months, but it drew a line under his relationship with Pat and after failing to win her back, Frank was forced to move on too. Frank made several brief appearances in the show after this time, but in May 1998 he made a full-time return, this time as a love interest to landlady Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). However Frank's affinity with Pat remained an underlying theme for both characters, and despite being separated, viewers were regularly reminded of their lustful connection. Pat's fourth husband Roy Evans (Tony Caunter) was deliberately made impotent in the series, so Pat would not be sexually unfaithful to Frank. In an interview Pam St. Clement has suggested that Pat and Frank are the biggest "love story" in EastEnders, commenting; "the trouble is, they're a classic example of a couple who can't live with each other and yet don't want to live without each other."

Upon his return, Frank was once again pivotal to many explosive storylines including the accidental death of Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), a marriage to Peggy and a battle to regain control of The Queen Vic from Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass). However in 2000, Reid began to go through some poor health. After suffering with nervous exhaustion, which he attributed to EastEnders' grueling filming schedule, Reid was forced to take an unplanned break from the show. Penned scripts and plots had to be completely rewritten to account for his absence, including the departure of Sid Owen who played Reid's on-screen son Ricky. The storyline initially planned to have Frank and Ricky involved in one of EastEnders renowned two-hander episodes, but due to Reid's absence Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell, had to stand in for the episode; resulting in a slightly less plausible plotline. Upon Reid's return further problems arose, allegedly regarding the producers decision not to allow him to attend a charity function that was being held in his honour. Reid allegedly quit in protest, although the BBC have since denied this. Reid was persuaded by producer John Yorke to remain in the role for a further six months in order to facilitate one further explosive storyline. Frank resumed his relationship with old flame Pat whilst still married to Peggy, but was famously caught out and shamed by his fuming wife in front of a packed pub on Guy Fawkes Night 2000. After receiving a hefty slap, Frank left once again, leaving his wife in serious debt, just as he had done to Pat years earlier.

Since this time, Frank made several brief appearances in the show, and was even given his own spin-off special, entitled EastEnders: Perfectly Frank. The programme followed Frank as he set up a new business in Somerset and brought in an entirely new set of characters unrelated to those in Albert Square. The soap bubble was written by Tony Jordan, directed by Clive Arnold and aired in 2003. The project was relatively unsuccessful and was only watched by 3.8 million viewers. One critic commented "Everything that's wrong with EastEnders - dodgy geezers, continuity errors, duff acting, everyone talking at cross purposes - packed into a black cab and bundled off to the seaside, where Frank Butcher is now running a car lot and lap-dancing club...it was a full four minutes 23 seconds before Perfectly Frank had exhausted all spin-off and acting potential from Frank Butcher. In other words, four minutes 23 seconds before Mike Reid had squeezed the bridge of his nose, wobbled his head a bit and said: 'Heeeeeey.' In Perfectly Frank's favour, they did at least try to make it funny. But EastEnders does observational comedy like bears in a Romanian zoo do the rumba - clumsily and only when someone (possibly Louise Berridge) holds a cattle prod to their goolies." Despite rumours that the concept was being groomed as a potential spin-off series, this did not materialise.

Frank made yet another comeback to EastEnders in early December 2005, for another week's stint, but Reid made it clear on The Paul O'Grady Show that this was to be the final time viewers would see Frank, as the storyline gave ultimate closure to his relationship with Pat. Reid allegedly turned down subsequent offers of a return.

The death of Mike Reid in July 2007, given his identification with the role, made the future return of the character unlikely. Executive producer, Diederick Santer, announced in November 2007 that the character would die off-screen; this would ultimately happen at the end of March 2008, when it was revealed that Frank had succumbed to throat cancer. On-screen, Frank was brought back to Walford to be cremated and was given a send-off in a special week of episodes, dubbed Frank week, which saw former his wives Peggy and Pat igniting their old feud. Throughout the episode of his funeral on 1 April, old clips of Frank's time in the serial were played as flashbacks, including Frank and Pat's wedding from 1989 and Frank naked in a revolving bow-tie from 2000. Franks's children Ricky (Sid Owen), Diane (Sophie Lawrence) and Janine (Charlie Brooks) returned especially for the funeral episodes.