Liam Butcher

Liam Butcher
James Forde as Liam Butcher (2012)
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Jack & Tom Godolphin (1998–2000) Gavin & Mitchell Vaughan (2002) Nathaniel Gleed (2002–04) James Forde (2008—)
Introduced by	Matthew Robinson (1998) John Yorke (2000, 2002) Diederick Santer (2008)
Duration	1998–2000, 2002–04, 2008—
First appearance	25 December 1998
Classification	Present; regular
Spin-off appearances	Ricky & Bianca (2002) EastEnders: Last Tango in Walford (2010)
Profile
Date of birth	25 December 1998
Occupation	Student (2004—) Restaurant cleaner (2012—)
Alternative image(s)
Left: Nathaniel Gleed as Liam. Right: One of the Vaughan twins as Liam in 2002
Family Family Beale/Branning Father Ricky Butcher Mother Bianca Jackson Sisters Natasha Butcher Tiffany Dean Half brothers Morgan Jackson-King Half sisters Kira Whitney Dean (adoptive) Grandmothers Carol Jackson Uncles Robbie Jackson Billie Jackson Aunts Janine Butcher Sonia Fowler Other relatives Pat Evans Lydia Simmonds Norman Simmonds Jim Branning

Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by twins Jack and Tom Godolphin in 1998 and 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and by Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to 2004. Since 1 April 2008 he has been played by James Forde.

Storylines

The son of Ricky and Bianca Butcher, Liam is born prematurely on Christmas Day 1998, on the floor of The Queen Victoria public house. In September 1999, Liam's parents separate and Bianca takes him to Manchester. Despite returning to Walford briefly in April 2000 to visit his father, Liam rarely sees Ricky. In May 2002, Ricky turns up in Manchester with his fiancée Cassie to discuss custody of Liam. After a series of events, Bianca gives Liam to Ricky. Shortly afterwards, Ricky and Liam return to Walford, but depart again in 2004. Off-screen, Liam is returned to Bianca in 2006, following Ricky's engagement to Melinda (Siobhan Hayes), who did not want children.

Liam returns to Walford with his mother and siblings in April 2008 after they are thrown out of their house by their landlord. After spending a week in care due to the police finding them homeless, Liam settles back in Walford, living with Bianca, Ricky and his great-grandmother Pat Evans (Pam St. Clement). Later in the year, Liam begins skipping school, feigning fake illness, and it is subsequently revealed that he is dyslexic, explaining his inferior grades and avoidance of school. Ricky takes an active role in Liam's schooling, helping to improve his grades.

With secondary school approaching, Liam is denied a place at Walford High, and is instead accepted into King Edward V, which Bianca and Ricky think is too far away. Their appeal is unsuccessful so Bianca decides to homeschool Liam instead. However, when Bianca and her mother Carol (Lindsey Coulson) argue, Liam says he will go to King Edward V and will work hard. However, before he starts at his new school, he worries that none of his old friends will be there and sneaks out to the park, where Carol's date Lewis Daley (Deka Walmsley) gives him encouragement and tells him that life is never easy.

At Billie Jackson's (Devon Anderson) birthday party, Liam sees Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) drunkenly kiss Ricky. The morning after, Liam, Tiffany and Morgan are told Billie is unwell, but Liam correctly guesses that he has died. Later, he is angry at Kim and sends her away when she brings food to the house. He then talks to Ricky, and Bianca overhears him saying Kim kissed Ricky. When Morgan accidentally squirts tomato ketchup over Billie's hoody, Liam tries to wash off the stain but is caught by Carol; who slaps him on his face, causing his forehead to bleed. Although they make amends, Bianca discovers the cut, which causes an argument. Carol then bans the family from attending Billie's funeral.

Carol embarks on an affair with a friend of Billie's, Connor Stanley (Arinze Kene), but Connor continues to see Whitney. Tiffany sees this and tells Liam, who encourages her to keep quiet as he worries it will split up the family. Liam eventually tells Ricky but Bianca has already found out and beaten Connor, leaving him unconscious. Liam is upset when Bianca gives herself into the police. He is then suspended from school for hitting another boy. Bianca is subsequently sent to prison, and Ricky later leaves for a six-month job in Dubai. Liam makes friends with Eddie Moon (David Essex), who Carol is interested in romantically. However, when Eddie allows Liam to skip school for three days so Eddie can teach him about antiques, Carol tells Eddie to stay away from her and Liam. Liam continues to be friends with Eddie and is looking after his stock when Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) takes him away and burns the stock. Eddie gives Liam a job after he moves his antiques business to Walford, and Lola confesses to Liam that she started the fire. Liam is happy when Carol and Eddie begin a relationship, but is saddened when they break up and Eddie leaves Walford.

When Lola and her friends Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) and Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) want to steal alcohol from a party at Kim Fox's (Tameka Empson) bed and breakfast, they get Liam to dress up in a Halloween costume to do it for them. He steals a bowl of punch, which they drink in the local launderette. Kim later finds them and takes the punch back. Lola pays Liam to take a bag from Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) but is caught, forcing him to reveal that Lola told him to take the bag. In December 2011, the family begin to have financial difficulties, and Liam becomes hostile towards Ricky, blaming him for their situation. After the local bed and breakfast burns down, he is paid by Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman) to enter the building and find scrap metal. Liam is upset by the death of Pat and the departure of his father, Ricky. Although Bianca and Ricky tell Liam it is only temporary, Liam knows it is permanent. Liam then gets a part-time job cleaning to help out the family with money.

Creation and development

Liam is a character that was born in the serial; the first son of Bianca (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) who was conceived following the forced abortion of their first daughter in 1997 after she was diagnosed with spina bifida. Bianca's pregnancy with Liam was used by the programme makers to spread a public message in 1998; the scriptwriters included scenes of a practitioner advising Bianca to take folic acid, which protects against spina bifida. The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH) issued a public plea to EastEnders, urging them to allow Bianca's second baby to be born with spina bifida, in order to show parents that having a baby with spina bifida is "not the end of the world". This did not occur, however, and Bianca was shown to give birth to a premature but healthy baby Liam in an episode that aired on Christmas Day 1998.

After three separate stints in EastEnders played by different child/baby actors - most substantially from 2002–2004, when Liam returned to Albert Square as part of his father Ricky's introduction - Liam returned in a more prominent role in 2008, played by James Forde. His return was confirmed on 29 October 2007 following the announcement that Patsy Palmer and Sid owen were reprising their roles as Bianca and Ricky; he reappeared on-screen in April 2008. Upon his return, it was said that Liam had "taken to being the man of the house", and was described as "not very academic, but [...] always willing to try new things – a trait which sees him quite often in trouble. His laddish demeanour, however, is softened by the affection he is not afraid to show his mum." As part of the reintroduction of Bianca, four children, including Liam, were scripted into the character's narrative, including Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), the sixteen-year-old daughter of Bianca's deceased partner; Tiffany Dean (Maisie Smith), Bianca's five-year-old daughter; and Morgan Jackson-King (Devon Higgs), Bianca's two-year-old son, "the most [spoilt] out of all of the kids".

To promote the family's introduction, the BBC began airing trailers across the BBC network in March 2008. One trailer saw Bianca singing The Jackson 5 hit "I Want You Back" and performing a dance routine along with her four children. The promo uses the tag line "Introducing The Jackson 5". Within three days of being posted on the video sharing website YouTube, the promo had been viewed 52,000 times.

See also

• List of soap opera recasts

External links

• Liam Butcher at BBC Online