Liam Butcher
Encyclopedia
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
.
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.
) 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.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by twins Jack and Tom Godolphin in 1998 and 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and by Nathaniel Gleed
Nathaniel Gleed
Nathaniel George Gleed is a British child actor.-Career:He played Liam Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2002 to 2004, a role that, in 2008, was taken over by James Forde. He has also appeared in the British television comedy Green Wing, in Bedtime and in Man/Woman...
from 2002 to 2004. Since 1 April 2008 he has been played by James Forde
James Forde
James Forde is a young British character actor.James Forde is currently starring as Liam Butcher the son of Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson in long running soap EastEnders and has been there since April 2008 at the age of ten, taking over the role from Nathaniel Gleed. He is the 6th actor to play...
.
Storylines
The son of Ricky and Bianca Butcher, Liam is born prematurely on Christmas Day 1998, on the floor of The Queen VictoriaThe Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria is a fictional Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.-Appearance and development:...
public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. In September 1999, Liam's parents separate and Bianca takes him to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. Despite returning to Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
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
Siobhan Hayes
Siobhan Hayes is an actress best known for her role as Abi Harper in the British television series My Family.Hayes portrayed Abi Harper as a dimwitted and clumsy student in the British sitcom My Family, a role she has reprised since 2002 to 2008 when the character was written out of the programme...
), 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
Pat Evans
Patricia Louise "Pat" Evans is a fictional character from the 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...
(Pam St. Clement
Pam St. Clement
Pamela Ann Clement , known by the stage name Pam St. Clement, is an English actress. She has played Pat Evans in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 1986, and is now one of the programme's longest-serving cast members. St. Clement announced her intention to leave EastEnders on 8 July 2011 and will...
). 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
Carol Jackson
Carol Ann Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lindsey Coulson. The character was introduced in 1993 as part of a new problem family. Coulson decided to quit the role in 1997, but she returned temporarily in 1999 as part of a storyline that marked Carol's...
(Lindsey Coulson
Lindsey Coulson
Lindsey Coulson is an English actress, best known for her role as Carol Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.- Career :...
) 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
Devon Anderson
Devon Carlo Anderson is an English actor who has been acting since an early age and became a CBBC presenter on BBC One and the CBBC Channel...
) birthday party, Liam sees Kim Fox
Kim Fox
Kimberley Harmony Angelica "Kim" Fox is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tameka Empson. She is the half-sister of Denise Fox , and aunt to Chelsea Fox and Libby Fox...
(Tameka Empson
Tameka Empson
Tameka Empson is a British actress and comedienne who is perhaps best known for being one of the three protagonists in the hidden-camera comedy sketch show 3 Non Blondes.Tameka also featured in a episode of MI High : Red Button Rampage, Series one...
) 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
Arinze Kene
-Career:Kene has appeared in stage productions such as playing Simba in The Lion King, Daddy Cool, and in June 2009 played strutting lothario Raymond LeGrendre in the musical Been So Long, based on Ché Walker's 1998 play, which opened at the Young Vic...
), 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
Eddie Moon
Edward "Eddie" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by David Essex. Eddie is the father of Michael Moon , Tyler Moon and Anthony Moon . Along with his children, Eddie was introduced to bring a "new generation" of the Moon family to the programme...
(David Essex
David Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
), 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
Lola Pearce
Lola Pearce is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Danielle Harold. Lola is the granddaughter of Billy Mitchell and Julie Perkins . Lola made her first appearance on 12 July 2011....
(Danielle Harold
Danielle Harold
Danielle Amy Louise Harold is an English actress from Lewisham, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Lola Pearce.-Career:...
) 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
Abi Branning
Abigail "Abi" Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lorna Fitzgerald. She first appeared in the show on 3 July 2006.- Storylines :...
(Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Fitzgerald
Lorna Katie Fitzgerald is a British actress from Northampton. She lives in Hunsbury. Her most notable role to date is that of Abi Branning in the British soap opera EastEnders.- Personal life :...
) want to steal alcohol from a party at Kim Fox
Kim Fox
Kimberley Harmony Angelica "Kim" Fox is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tameka Empson. She is the half-sister of Denise Fox , and aunt to Chelsea Fox and Libby Fox...
's (Tameka Empson
Tameka Empson
Tameka Empson is a British actress and comedienne who is perhaps best known for being one of the three protagonists in the hidden-camera comedy sketch show 3 Non Blondes.Tameka also featured in a episode of MI High : Red Button Rampage, Series one...
) 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.
Creation and development
Liam is a character that was born in the serial; the first son of Bianca (Patsy PalmerPatsy Palmer
Patsy Palmer is an English actress. Palmer made an early television appearance on the children's drama show Grange Hill, but is best known for playing Bianca Jackson in the popular British television soap opera EastEnders. Originally in the cast from 1993–1999, Palmer returned to EastEnders in...
) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen
Sid Owen
Sid Owen is an English actor, television presenter and former singer, most famous for playing the role of Ricky Butcher in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, which he appeared in from 1988 until 2000, 2002 until 2004 and then again from March 2008.-Career:Prior to his role in EastEnders he had a...
) who was conceived following the forced abortion of their first daughter in 1997 after she was diagnosed with spina bifida
Spina bifida
Spina bifida is a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough, this allows a portion of the spinal cord to protrude through...
. 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
Folic acid
Folic acid and folate , as well as pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamate, and pteroylmonoglutamic acid are forms of the water-soluble vitamin B9...
, which protects against spina bifida. The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH)
ASBAH
ASBAH is a UK registered charity providing information and advice about spina bifida and hydrocephalus to individuals, families and carers.Their services are targeted towards:...
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
James Forde
James Forde is a young British character actor.James Forde is currently starring as Liam Butcher the son of Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson in long running soap EastEnders and has been there since April 2008 at the age of ten, taking over the role from Nathaniel Gleed. He is the 6th actor to play...
. 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
Whitney Dean
Whitney Dean is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Shona McGarty. The character is the adoptive daughter of long-running character Bianca Jackson , and was introduced in April 2008 when Palmer returned to the series after a six year absence...
(Shona McGarty
Shona McGarty
Shona Bernadette McGarty is an English actress from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Whitney Dean.-Career:...
), the sixteen-year-old daughter of Bianca's deceased partner; Tiffany Dean
Tiffany Dean
Tiffany Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Maisie Smith. Tiffany is the daughter of established characters Bianca Jackson and Ricky Butcher , though originally she was believed to be Bianca's daughter with a man named Nathan Dean...
(Maisie Smith
Maisie Smith
Maisie Lily Smith is an English actress. She has appeared in the feature film The Other Boleyn Girl and has played the regular role of Tiffany Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2008.- Career :...
), 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
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
hit "I Want You Back
I Want You Back
"I Want You Back" was released in 1969 and in early 1970s became a number-one hit single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. The song, along with a b-side cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You", was the only single from the first Jackson 5 album, Diana Ross Presents...
" 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
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, the promo had been viewed 52,000 times.