List of East Enders Characters (1990) - Joan Garwood

Joan Garwood (née Butcher), played by Mary Millar, is the older sister of Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), and the first child of Mo (Edna Doré) and Chike Butcher. Joan was far brighter than Frank and after graduating from school with 7 O levels, she got a job in a bank and married a chief accountant.

When Mo is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1990, Joan comes to Walford to assess the situation. She and her brother Frank have not spoken for many years, but they are forced to call a truce for their mother's sake. Soon after, Frank takes a confused Mo on an excursion to visit Joan in Colchester. She begins demanding to move to her daughter's because she fears Frank wants to kill her, but in moments of lucidity, she pleads with her son to do just that.

Frank cannot cope with his mother's illness, and when he begins talking about ending her misery for her, Joan decides that Mo should not remain living with him. She and her husband take Mo to live with them in Colchester, where she dies on 31 December 1992.