Pat Butcher

This article is about the EastEnders chararacter. For the Texan mayor, see Pat Evans (mayor).

Pat Butcher
Duration	1986—
First appearance	12 June 1986
Created by	Tony Holland
Introduced by	Julia Smith
In-universe information Occupation Bookies manager Mother Lydia Harris Brothers Jimmy Harris Geoff Harris Sisters Joan Harris Husband Pete Beale (1961–1966) Brian Wicks (?-1989) Frank Butcher (1989–1996) Roy Evans (1996–2003) Sons David Wicks Simon Wicks Grandsons Joe Wicks Steven Beale Granddaughters Bianca Jackson Karen Wicks Aunts Mabel Nephews Billy Harris Nieces Jean Harris

Patricia "Pat" Evans (née Harris; previously Beale, Wicks and Butcher) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has been played by Pam St. Clement since 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired. Pat was also played by Emma Cooke in a soap 'bubble' Pat and Mo: Ashes to Ashes, delving into the her past with sister-in-law Mo Harris, which aired in 2004.

Pat is a tough enemy, a good friend, a straight talker and a woman who won't be messed with. She's had a rough life and made many mistakes, but she's a survivor and she refuses to let her past grind her down. Pat has so far been married four times, making her the most-married character in the whole of EastEnders, until 2007 when Ian Beale completed his fourth marriage to Jane Collins.

Pam St. Clement has 125 pairs of earrings from which to choose and fans still send her earrings, which she sometimes wears in the programme.

Character creation

The character of Pat was conceptualised by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, in 1984. Although not one of the serial's original protagonists, Pat is referred to in the character outline of Pete Beale, who appeared on-screen in EastEnders' first episode, as written by Smith and Holland in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story: "[Pete] married very young to Pat — it turned out to be a total disaster. They were too young, rushing into a difficult life for all the wrong reasons, and truthfully, [Pat] was a vicious shrew...[Pete] divorced [Pat] and married Kathy when he was 24...His two sons by his first marriage are nineteen and twenty and he hardly sees them..."

However, Pat was not seen on-screen until June 1986, over a year after the show first aired. The character's introduction was the result of a deliberate policy "to add an extra edge of toughness to the show." Prior to this point, Holland and Smith had began to feel that EastEnders was starting to get "a bit soft". During a meeting with scriptwriters, the programme makers decided to to try and recapture some of the soap's "original grittiness that seemed to be getting lost in its own success". Thus the character of Pat was introduced to "add a new hardness to the atmosphere."

File:Pat1986.jpg

Pat as she appeared in 1986.

Pat, played by actress Pam St. Clement, was initially introduced on a a three-episode trial basis. She was given an extensive backstory, heavily intertwined with various focal characters within the serial, including all of the Beale and Fowler family who mostly disliked her, particularly her ex-husband Pete Beale (Peter Dean), her son Simon Wicks (Nick Berry), and Pete's mother Lou Beale (Anna Wing). In addition, she was an old friend of Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), a former girlfriend of Angie's husband Den (Leslie Grantham) and, as a supposed fomer resident of Walford, she was known to most of the other regular characters such as Dot Cotton (June Brown) and Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin).

The character's initial three-episode stint marked the beginning of what has been described as one of the soap's most complicated storylines, the paternity of Simon Wicks. Pat immediately "threw a spanner in the works" by telling Pete that he was not Simon's biological father, as she had previously claimed. After causing havoc Pat then disappeared; however, she was reintroduced later in the year, returning as a regular character, barmaid of The Queen Victoria public house. St. Clement had reservations about returning to the soap. In 1995 she told The Independent, "I couldn't envisage how this character, who creates absolute havoc everywhere she goes and is not at home with herself or with anybody else in the Square, could possibly fit in". However she was persuaded to continue by producer Julia Smith, who said: "'We've only seen one layer of the onion skin—the defensiveness—now we'll start to peel away more and get to the vulnerability that lies behind it'."

Storylines

Backstory

Pat as she appeared in EastEnders: Pat and Mo, played by Emma Cooke.

Pat, one of four children, was born in Walford to Lydia Harris. Her elder sister Joan had Down's syndrome, and was sent to a mental institute when Pat was four. Joan married a man named Michael who also had Down's. Ashamed, Lydia disowned Joan and claimed she died at the age of 22, refusing to allow Pat to attend her funeral.

After leaving school, Pat unsuccessfully tried to become a model. Later she entered a beauty contest in Clacton at the age of 16, winning the title of 'Miss Butlins'. There she met the love of her life, Frank Butcher, who was holidaying with his girlfriend, June. Frank was besotted with Pat, and they slept together. Frank was the first of what would be many lovers in Pat's life, and so began a love affair; however, June became pregnant with Frank's child, so Frank married her, breaking Pat's heart. Pat and Frank would meet up from time to time, and on each occasion the affair would be rekindled, but Frank wouldn't leave June.

Pat began working for the shady club owner, Tony Cattani, who got her involved in prostitution. This shamed her family, particularly her brother Jimmy and their relationship suffered. When Pat discovered that Jimmy's wife and her best friend, Mo Harris, had slept with Tony, she informed her brother; Mo denied it, and Jimmy subsequently disowned Pat. Whilst working as a prostitute, Pat was offered more money to work for up-and-coming gangster Johnny Allen. Pat then worked as a well known woman of the underworld for many years.

Pat embarked on numerous relationships. She had flings with Den Watts and Kenny Beale — both restless men, unwilling to settle down with her. Kenny's younger brother Pete proved more reliable; he married Pat in the early 1960s, when he thought she was pregnant with his child — a false alarm, which Pete's mother Lou believed was Pat's ploy to trap her son. While they were together, Pat had two sons, David and Simon, who Pete believed to be his. Yet Pat couldn't settle down and embarked on an affair with Brian Wicks. Pete eventually left her and they divorced in 1966. Soon after, Pat married Brian and he took on responsibility of her two sons. Pat stayed with Brian until 1986, when he started abusing her.

Paternity of Simon Wicks===

Pat was first seen on screen in June 1986. She came back to Walford to inform Pete that Simon was not actually his son. Many arguments erupted, but Lou was quick to step in, and she managed to convince a devastated Pete that Simon was his. Later in the year however, when Pat returned to work as barmaid in The Queen Vic, it was divulged that Lou thought Simon was the product of a secret affair Pat had with Kenny. A vicious row erupted between Pat and Lou, with Lou adamant that Pat should keep her sordid affair a secret and not upset her close-knit family. However, Pete's sister Pauline overheard and told him everything.

File:Pete pat.jpg

Pat and Pete argue.

Pat lived up to her promiscuous reputation by making passes at men such as James Willmott-Brown and Charlie Cotton. With encouragement from Mehmet Osman, Pat ended the year hiring herself out as a prostitute, later encouraging Mary Smith into the same line of work. Animosity between Pat and Pete continued. When Pat was assaulted in February 1987 — left unconscious and close to death in the middle of the Square — Pete became prime suspect in the police investigation. He was later cleared when the real culprit, a man known as the Walford attacker, was caught attacking Debbie Wilkins.

File:Patattacker.jpg

Pat is assaulted by the Walford attacker and left for dead (1987).

The arrival of Kenny Beale in 1988 brought the question of Simon's parentage to the fore once again. Pat informed Simon and the Beale brothers that she was unsure which of them was the real father, adding further confusion. She also said that Den Watts was a possibility. Pat later ruled Den out, but demanded that he sleep with her, or she would spread around that he was the father. In July that year, a dying Lou pleaded with Pat to finally come clean to Simon. Pat finally revealed that Brian Wicks, the man that Simon had believed to be his step-father, was actually his biological father.. Following Lou's death, Pat formed a close friendship with her former foe, Kathy Beale, Pete's second wife. Both found they had a common bond, with the dominance of Lou and Pete in their lives.

Pat and Frank=== Frank came back into Pat's life in 1987 when they met up on the Isle of Dogs. His first wife had died and in 1988 he came to Walford to win Pat back. The reunited couple took over tenancy of The Queen Vic public house. Frank soon moved his two children Ricky and Diane in, and before long his mother, Mo, had also moved to the Square too. Pat found it difficult to cope with Frank's unruly children and she regularly clashed with Mo, who constantly let Pat know that she was not good enough for Frank.

In June 1989, Pat and Frank married in true cockney style, driving out of Albert Square in a horse drawn cart. It was a brief moment of happiness as within a month Pat had acquired a new stepdaughter, Janine. Janine was a bed-wetter, a sleepwalker, a compulsive liar and self-harmer, and she hated Pat. Pat forced Frank to take Janine to family therapy, which eased her troublesome behaviour slightly. By the end of the year the Butchers had moved out of The Vic and bought the B&B across the Square, which Pat ran, whilst Frank opened a used car-lot. Despite family and a few marital problems, Frank and Pat remained happy until 1992, when they began to struggle financially, forcing them to sell the B&B. Pat tried to turn their fortunes around by starting her own cab firm, PatCabs. However, disaster struck on Christmas eve that year, when Pat — whilst doing a short run for a regular customer — hit a teenage girl with her car. When breathalysed, she was found to be just over the limit.

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Pat and Frank.

On New Years Eve, against legal advice, Pat tried to find out how the girl was, and was devastated to learn that she had died. Pat found it hard to cope with the guilt and the situation was made worse when the girl's mother confronted Pat after her appearance at the Magistrates court (at which the case was referred to the crown court). When Pat finally appeared in court later that year, she was given a prison sentence and forced to serve 6 months inside. In the Autumn Pat returned, but by then the Butchers were in financial ruin. In desperation, Frank arranged for Phil Mitchell to torch the car-lot in an insurance scam. When this went wrong and a homeless boy died, Frank had a breakdown, and in April 1994, he left the Square, abandoning both Pat and his children without warning.

For Pat, not knowing where Frank was, or even if he was still alive, was a nightmare. Desperate for money, Pat began stealing from her employers and even borrowed money from Ian Beale, who was having a spell as a loan shark. She finally broke down when Sharon Mitchell caught her stealing from her purse; Sharon bailed her out of her debts. Eventually Diane brought news that Frank was alive and had merely run away, so Pat slowly began getting on with her life. Pat's son David teamed up with Ricky to reopen car-lot under the new name, Deals on Wheels .

Pat and Roy===

File:Evans+family.jpg

Pat with the Evans family.

In December 1994, Pat met successful car-dealer, Roy Evans, a business associate of David's. Roy was attracted to Pat straight away. Early attempts to win Pat's favours got him nothing but refusals, but Pat later softened and went on an all paid for cruise with him, although she made it quite clear that sex was not on offer. Her carnal abstinence turned out to be blessing for Roy, as he later admitted he was impotent and could offer nothing more than platonic love. Pat was relieved to discover that, for once, a man wanted something from her other than sex. In November 1995, Roy moved in with Pat, but their happiness was short-lived, as in December Frank returned to Walford to reclaim his wife. Pat found it hard to contain her rage and emotion upon seeing her estranged husband, but despite him stirring up old feelings, she opted to remain with Roy. Roy and Pat married in 1996 (her fourth husband). Pat and Roy weathered money problems, Roy's ill-health and depression brought on by jealousy of Pat and Frank's shared past, which almost made him commit suicide in 1999. Pat finally convinced Roy that it was him she wanted, although she found it hard to let go of Frank completely.

Frank went on to marry Peggy Mitchell, but he began to have second thoughts in 2000 after realising that he still loved Pat. Whilst the Butchers and the Evanses were holidaying in Spain, Frank seduced Pat and they slept together. Pat tried to end the affair upon their return, but when Frank turned up on her doorstep naked (apart from a comedy bow-tie), she realised that she had never stopped loving him either. Their affair continued for months and they eventually decided to elope to Manchester.

File:PATFRANKPEGGY.jpg

Peggy finds out about Pat and Frank's affair.

They were due to depart on Guy Fawkes Night in November that year, but suddenly Pat started to have second thoughts. It was too late however, as Peggy had already discovered Frank's dear John letter. Peggy shamed the cheating duo by reading the letter to the entire pub, and then slapped both Frank and Pat in full view of everyone. Peggy threw Frank out and he left Walford without Pat. Roy also chucked Pat out onto the street, leaving her penniless and homeless. Roy later asked Pat for a divorce, but when she decided to emigrate to New Zealand, he relented and took her back, despite objections from his son Barry. Grateful that Roy gave her a second chance, Pat was adamant that she would not mess things up a second time. However, in 2003, Roy discovered that Pat had been covering an affair between his son's wife, Natalie, and Frank's son, Ricky. Roy believed that Pat had again chose Frank over him, because she decided to help Frank's offspring over his own. The stress led to Roy's second and fatal heart attack. Roy died intestate, leaving Pat bereft and homeless, as Barry — beneficiary of Roy's estate — evicted her.

Picking up the pieces=== Pat ended up living in a bedsit with hardly any money. Frank's daughter, Janine, married Barry and planned to con him out of all of his money and possessions. The day after the wedding, Janine confessed everything to her new husband, and pushed Barry down a cliff to his death. She later bragged about it to a disgusted Pat, whilst in control of the Evanses' former house and business. Janine started to bully Pat's friend Laura Beale, and when Laura accidentally fell down the stairs and died, Janine was arrested on suspicion of murder. Pat, Janine's only alibi, lied to the police, implicating Janine as revenge for Barry's killing.

Pat was given a job at the bookies by gangster Andy Hunter in 2004. They developed a rapport with each other, and when Andy was murdered in 2005, Pat was stunned to discover that he had left her his house in his will. Pat was summoned to be a witness for the prosecution at Janine's trial in December 2005, where she once again met Frank who had returned after almost five years. Once again, Pat slept with Frank, but she soon realised that his primary motive was to convince her to alter her testimony at Janine's trial. Pat refused, but after a subsequent talk with Laura's mother, Edwina, Pat realised that Janine being wrongly imprisoned for Laura's death would be an injustice, so she changed her testimony and Janine went free.

File:Pat patrick.jpg

Pat dances with Patrick.

In February 2006, Pat, who was missing the company of a man in her life, began flirting with Patrick Trueman. Despite being married, Patrick couldn't resist the opportunity of a casual fling with Pat, and their affair continued for several weeks. However, they were seen together by Stacey Slater and she chose Pauline Fowler's wedding reception to inform Patrick's wife Yolande what she had seen. Yolande reacted with disgust and slapped Pat in the middle of the Queen Vic. To her surprise Pat slapped her back and a brawl erupted. Pat and Patrick's affair abruptly ended and Pat and Yolande spent many months sniping at each other, but have since reached a truce.

Pat has become an agony aunt of sorts, and is often the first to provide advice and support to her troubled neighbours, including Billy and Honey Mitchell, who struggled to cope when their baby Janet was born with Down's Syndrome and Bert Atkinson, who turned to her when his ex-wife revealed she had terminal cancer. Although she was not blood related to her second husband's nephew Kevin Wicks and his children, she was fiercely protective of them nevertheless, and made an enemy out of Kevin's ex-wife Shirley Carter, who arrived in Walford in January 2007 and proceeded to cause problems for them all. Pat has tried and failed to get rid of Shirley on several occasions. In 2007 they were arrested for brawling in the street, and spent the night in jail.

2007—

In August 2007, Pat was contacted by the mental institute where her Down's sister, Joan, had lived. She travelled to Worthing to collect her belongings, but after Shirley Carter stole her car, Pat relied on the kindness of a stranger, Len Harker, a rocking horse maker who offered her a lift to complete her journey. Pat and Len bonded, and Len helped Pat retrieve Joan's belongings when security refused to let them inside the building. Pat discovered that her mother had been lying about the date of Joan's death, she had merely been transferred to another home. Pat went there to discover the truth, hoping that Joan might still be alive. Pat was told that Joan died some years earlier, but she had lived a happy life, and married another Down's patient, which was why she was disowned by Pat's mother. Pat was touched to discover that Joan had received all the birthday cards she sent her as a child; Joan had often spoken of Pat and how much she loved and missed her. Len drove Pat home, telling her to keep in touch.

Frank died in late March 2008. Peggy Mitchell upset Pat by insulting him on the day of his funeral. They had a verbal fight during which Peggy called her a "fat old tart". They slapped each other but later that day at the funeral Peggy called a truce when she held Pat's hand during the service.[1]. At the funeral, Pat wore a red dress, in which she remembers that Frank always liked her in red. She had also received Frank's infamous bow tie. Throughout an episode, some classic clips of Frank and Pat's wedding were shown to the memory of Frank Butcher.

On 5 May 2008 Pat discovered that Steven Beale had been behind Lucy Beale's disappearance, and chased Steven into the street; she was hit by a car that Roxy Mitchell was driving. Steven tried to smother his grandma and Pat fought him of and Ian walked in and Steven said he was helping his nan. Pat then told Ian Steven knows where Lucy is and had a coughing fit.

In popular culture

File:Patevans2dtv.JPG

Pat Evans, spoofed in 2DTV.

The character of Pat Evans has been spoofed in the cartoon sketch show 2DTV. The impressionist who provides the voice is Jan Ravens.

Ravens has not only provided the voice of Pat, she has also acted the part on-screen in several episodes of BBC's Big Impression, which devoted a regular sketch to various EastEnders characters and she also played Pat in the other impressionist show Dead Ringers.

She is also the frequent target of jokes in Harry Hill's TV Burp, usually alluding to her former prostitution and alleged sexual promiscuity.

External links

• Pat Butcher at BBC Online