Jane Beale

Jane Beale
EastEnders character
File:Jane collins.jpg
Portrayed by	Laurie Brett
Duration	2004–12
First appearance	22 June 2004
Classification	Present; regular (departing)
Introduced by	Louise Berridge
Spin-off appearances	EastEnders: E20 (2010) "East Street" (2010)
In-universe information Other names Jane Clarke (maiden name) Jane Collins (married name) Jane Beale (married name) Occupation Caterer (2008–11) Café manager (2004–11) Father Roger Clarke Mother Linda Clarke Brothers Christian Clarke Husband David Collins (1992–2004) Ian Beale (2007–11) Adoptive sons Bobby Beale Stepsons Peter Beale (2007-11) Stepdaughters Lucy Beale (2007-11)

Lesley Jane Beale (née Clarke; previously Collins) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Laurie Brett since her first appearance on 22 June 2004. Brett took maternity leave in 2011 and departed on 19 May. Brett returned on 8 November the same year but on a temporary basis for three months. She will therefore depart in 2012. However, Brett said that she could return again.

Storylines

Jane arrives in Walford, working on a candy floss stand at the funfair in Albert Square. She and Ian Beale argue but she helps out when the funfair collapses, moving to the Square and becoming good friends with Ian. She reveals that her husband of twelve years, David (Dan Milne), is suffering from Huntington's Disease. David dies, and Jane and Ian start a relationship. She moves in with him and his three children, Lucy, Peter and Bobby. Jane and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) agree to handle Ian and Grant's brother Phil (Steve McFadden) when a feud erupts between them, leading to Jane and Grant kissing. Grant pesters her about her feelings but she denies being in love with him. Following an argument with Ian, she goes to Grant and they have a one-night stand, though Jane ends their affair and Grant leaves Walford. Ian discovers the affair when Phil tells him. He proposes to Jane but plans to humiliate her at the wedding. Jane discovers Ian plans on the wedding day. She disappears, and Ian later finds her in the rain in her wedding dress. They fight but then realise they love each other and want to be together. They marry in secret, witnessed only by Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) and her friend.

Ian's stepson Steven returns to Walford and takes Ian hostage, locking him up in a flat. The family eventually learn of Ian's whereabouts and try to rescue him. Steven holds a gun, and in the ensuing scuffle, Jane is shot. She is rushed to hospital, where she is told that she needs an operation to stop the internal bleeding and she and Ian decide to try for a baby when she recovers. However, the surgeon has to perform an emergency hysterectomy, leaving Ian and Jane devastated. Depressed by her inability to have children, she is unable to hold Tanya Branning's (Jo Joyner) newborn son Oscar, but she accepts Tanya's proposal to be his godmother. Jane starts going to a stand-up comedy, telling Ian she is attending gym classes. He discovers it is a lie and Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel) takes him to the club where she is on stage. He is amused at first but is hurt by her jokes about him and their sex life. He gives her an ultimatum – give up her hobby or their marriage. However, after she is accepted by a talent scout, Jane is shocked to find Ian has become her agent. Ian's enthusiastic interfering take the fun out of comedy, and Jane gives up the pursuit.

After Ian invests in Masala Masood, the curry business run by Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and his wife Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia), the Masoods and Beales go into business together. Jane has a flirtatious relationship with Masood. Jane decides she wants children of her own. After Ian says he does not want any more children, Masood comforts Jane and they kiss. She returns home, and Ian agrees to an adoption, but Jane can see it is only for her sake, and leaves in a Walford. Ian finds Jane, and she refuses to come home. However she turns up when Bobby temporarily goes missing, and eventually she moves back in with Ian and the family. Jane's brother Christian Clarke (John Partridge) tells her he has fallen in love with Masood's son Syed (Marc Elliott) who is engaged to be married. Jane is angry that Christian would jepordise the family business. Zainab, finds out about the affair from Syed but urges him to marry anyway. This upsets Jane and a feud between the two women commences. In anger, Zainab plays Jane an audio recording of Ian having sex with Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). Ian explains that he was set up and blackmailed into signing a loan over to Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) and Janine. He also admits he stole Archie's laptop on Christmas Day, the day he was murdered, to retrieve the recording. Ian is subsequently arrested, with Janine implicating Ian in Archie's death to the police, however the charges are eventually dropped.

Lucy reveals to Jane that she is pregnant. Jane tells Lucy she should consider having an abortion and Ian would never have to know. Lucy then proposes to Jane that she and Ian can adopt the baby. Jane gives it some thought and accepts Lucy's proposal. Lucy and Jane tell Ian that Lucy is pregnant, and he reacts badly, attempting to book an abortion. When Jane and Lucy tell Ian their plan, he initially says they are mad, but then Ian reluctantly agrees. Lucy soon feels she cannot go through with the plan and tells Ian she wants an abortion. After the abortion, Ian tells Jane that Lucy had a miscarriage. Jane is upset but looks after Lucy and tells Ian she was not meant to have a baby. Peter soon finds out that Lucy had an abortion, not a miscarriage. Fearing that Jane will discover the truth from the Square's gossips, Ian arranges for Jane to visit her mother Linda (Lynda Baron) in Florida. Jane is highly suspicious that something is going on but Lucy manages to convince Jane to go. That night, Masood reminds her of their kiss and asks to come to Florida with her as he has had a falling out with Zainab. The next day Masood reveals he has bought a ticket to Florida, but Jane goes alone as Masood's son Syed has attempted suicide. Jane returns to Walford after a three week holiday, but is still unaware of Ian and Lucy's deception.

When Lucy and Peter get their exam results, the family are told there are inconsistencies and the exam papers will have to be investigated. Lucy denies cheating, but later confesses to Jane that she did. Annoyed that Lucy lied to her, Jane speaks to Lucy's classmate Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny), who makes a joke about Lucy cheating. Jane says she is not upset that Lucy cheated but that she lied. Zsa Zsa misunderstands and reveals Lucy's abortion to Jane. The next day, Lucy promises Jane that she is not hiding anything else from her. Jane then finds out Ian knew Lucy was planning on cheating, but thought she changed her mind, and during an argument, Jane realises that Ian knows Lucy had an abortion. Peter later confirms this to be true, and Jane decides to pack her bags. However, she changes her mind saying when she leaves, it will be with what she is owed. She opens another bank account and plans to secretly transfer funds before leaving. Jane tells Ian he no longer wants to adopt a child, but Ian then makes plans to have Jane adopt Bobby, which she agrees to. She tells her friend Denise Johnson (Diane Parish) of her plan, saying that once she has adopted Bobby, she can fight for access to him. A letter from the bank arrives for Jane to Denise's address, and Jane tells Denise to keep it as the bank were not supposed to send anything. Ian tells Jane she can now adopt Bobby, leaving her in two minds. However, she tells Christian about the abortion and he tells her to leave him, offering his help. Later, Denise's sister Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) brings the letter to Ian. Ian asks Jane about it and she says she has been putting money aside for a holiday, and is then forced to book one. Ian is suspicious and goes out of his way to do nice things for Jane, and she fears she will no longer be able to take money from his accounts as he will be checking every penny. Jane then discovers that Ian is planning to buy the local Indian restaurant, the Argee Bhajee without consulting her. Angry at this, Jane admits to a number of her friends that she does not love Ian anymore, not knowing that he has overheard everything. The next day Ian attempts to woo Jane by cooking her a meal and offering to rename the Argee Bhajee after her. He admits that he overheard what she said at Zainab's house. However, Jane reveals that she knows about Lucy's abortion and is sick of his lies. She meets with Masood and the pair console each other about their respective partners. They meet again and go to a hotel with the intention of sex. However, they both change their minds and decide to remain friends. When Jane returns home she admits the encounter to Ian, but the pair reconcile. Zainab invites Ian and Jane to lunch. While sharing the meal, Ian makes Masood and Jane squirm but stops short of revealing their encounter to Zainab.

Wanting to surprise Jane with a bold gesture, Ian bakes her a cake and asks her to renew her wedding vows with him, which she accepts. However, days later, Ian confesses to sleeping with Glenda Mitchell (Glynis Barber) and Jane is distant with him, although he believes they can work through it. However, whilst waiting in the registry office for Phil Mitchell's wedding to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), Jane confesses that she no longer loves him and the pair end their relationship, although they continue to live together. Ian, however, is determined to win Jane back and she is horrified when Greg Jessop (Stefan Booth) makes Ian his best man for his wedding to Tanya. During Tanya's hen night, Jane and Tanya get very drunk and Tanya accuses Jane of being jealous, to which Jane replies that she no longer wants to be Tanya's maid of honour. Returning home, Jane finds Greg bringing a drunk Ian home and after talking she goes to kiss Greg, who pushes her away. Filled with guilt, Jane admits the truth to Tanya on her wedding day and the two friends reconcile.

Jane and Ian's marriage deteriorates when Jane meets a man named Martin (Alasdair Harvey) who she meets at a pub quiz. They have a brief affair, but she ends it when she says she loves Ian. Ian discovers this and he tries to make Jane jealous by hiring an escort named Jeanette (Georgia Reece). Jane discovers she is an escort and mocks Ian. Ian calls Jane a prostitute disguised as a wife, so Jane says she wants everything from Ian in their divorce. Ian and Jane start playing tricks on each other. After a night out with Tanya, Jane tells Masood that she is in love with him and wants him to leave Zainab. He rejects her when he says that although he loves her too, he does not want a divorce. Ian and Jane go to court and Jane wins the café in the divorce. Afterwards, Ian and Jane argue, which upsets Bobby. Jane realises that for Bobby's sake, she must leave Walford so there are no more arguments. She promises to see Bobby regularly, and leaves after removing her wedding ring. Ian and Jane's divorce is later finalised.

Jane returns six months later after Bobby sneaks out to visit her. She is shocked to discover Ian is engaged to Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) and that Masood and Zainab have split. Masood later tells Jane that he cannot just be friends with Jane and they kiss. The pair then begin a relationship. Masood and Jane go to dinner at Ian and Mandy's house. At the dinner, Ian asks how Masood and Jane's relatioship can develop if Jane is not a muslim. A drunken Jane replies that she will convert, to the amazement of Masood. Masood talks to Jane about the sacrifices she will have to make to become a Muslim, and tells her he does not expect her to convert. Jane is relieved and decides not to convert after all.

Other appearances

Jane also makes cameo appearances in the Internet spin-off series EastEnders: E20. In episode 2 of series 1, Jane is working in the café where Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) attempts to chat her up. In episode 3 of series 2, she is seen briefly talking to a girl outside the café and in episode 8 she confronts Asher Levi (Heshima Thompson) about some trainers he sold to Peter. He says he does not give refunds so she snatches his wallet and takes some money out but he snatches it back. Jane tells two police offices that Asher is a thief and they chase after him. In episode 10, Asher says he will refund Jane and when his brother Sol Levi (Tosin Cole) needs him, she lets him go.

Creation and development

Brett joined the cast of EastEnders in 2004 and was asked to dye her hair red and keep it short for the part. She also put on an English accent to disguise her natural Scottish accent. Brett described Jane as "warm, kind, caring and nurturing but she's not somebody that will be pushed around. She is quite feisty. She's a matriarch. Not as a dominant woman but she's definitely in a matriarch, she's the centre of a family in the making for EastEnders."

In 2006, Jane has an affair with Grant Mitchell, played by Ross Kemp. The scenes began after writers saw chemistry between Kemp and Brett. Brett considered the storyline to be a turning point for the character as "All I did for the last year was say: 'What can I get you?' in the café." Jane was given a sexier look after a new producer came in and asked Brett to grow her hair and bleach out the red dye.

Jane marries Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), after co-habiting for around two years. Brett described Jane as "the straight man to Ian's buffoon. She's the other half who makes him whole." Speaking on the character's relationship with her husband, she likened herself to his mother, Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), stating: "if Jane doesn't work out for Ian, no one will! Perhaps because Ian is finally married to his mother. Jane is very Kathy-esque. They'd have got on really well, though I can't imagine Kathy would've been too impressed with Jane's affair with Grant – despite the fact she got through a few Mitchells herself!" She stated that she hoped Jane and Ian's marriage would be a lasting one, commenting that so far: "it's panned out brilliantly. There are millions of marriages like this one, involving a strong woman behind an incredibly weak man. But it's Ian's flaws that make everyone love him so much. The only time a character becomes boring is when they're two dimensional, and that's something you could never say about Ian. I can't imagine being anyone else's missus!"

On the Beale family as a whole, Brett commented: "we're probably the most normal family in Albert Square. The Beales are like the Trotters from Only Fools and Horses in many ways. They're salt-of-the-earth people who are trying to better themselves, so there's plenty of scope for drama and comedy. The writers certainly haven't run out of ideas for us yet - I haven't stopped working on big stories since I joined the show!"

Reception

In a review of the first decade of the 21st century in soaps, Ruth Deller of lowculture.co.uk wrote that Jane was "one of the best new characters in soap this decade; really believable, sensitive, [and] sensible, [...] she gives EastEnders a bit of heart, which is rare indeed." Deller also expressed her belief that Jane transformed the Beale family into one of the strongest families of the late 2000s, further stating: "A genuinely nice character whom you could imagine being your mate, once they got that nonsense with Grant out of the way, she's been a real asset to the soap."

See also

• List of EastEnders: E20 characters

External links

• Jane Beale at BBC Online