Frank Butcher, played by Mike Reid, makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987 but, due to a positive viewer reception, he is reintroduced in 1988 as a regular character. Reid took a long hiatus from EastEnders in 1994. Frank returns as a recurring character from December 1995 to January 1998, and eventually becomes a regular once again from May 1998 to November 2000, when Reid quit. Frank makes three brief reappearances after that, the final one in December 2005. Given the widespread identification of Mike Reid as Frank, Reid's death in July 2007 led to BBC bosses deciding that it would not be possible for the character to return in the future. In November 2007, it was announced that the character would die off-screen and in April 2008 his funeral was screened as part of a special set of episodes, dubbed Frank week.
Read more about this topic: List Of East Enders Characters (1987)
Famous quotes containing the word frank:
“... in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquillity will return again.”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)