Liam Butcher

Liam Butcher
EastEnders character
Alfie Deegan as Liam Butcher (2021)
Portrayed by	Sonny Bottomley (1998–1999) Jack & Tom Godolphin (1999–2000) Gavin & Mitchell Vaughan (2002) Nathaniel Gleed (2002–2004) James Forde (2008–2015) Alfie Deegan (2021)
Duration	1998–2000, 2002–2004, 2008–2015, 2021
First appearance	Episode 1715 25 December 1998 (1998-12-25)
Last appearance	Episode 6363/6364 14 December 2021 (2021-12-14)
Classification	Former; regular
Introduced by	Matthew Robinson (1998) John Yorke (2000, 2002) Diederick Santer (2008) Jon Sen (2021)
Spin-off appearances	Ricky & Bianca (2002) Last Tango in Walford (2010) EastEnders: E20 (2010–2011)
James Forde as Liam Butcher (2012)
In-universe information Occupation Fast food worker Café worker Family Morgan Butcher Half-sisters Whitney Dean (adoptive) Kira Salter[1] Grandfathers David Wicks Frank Butcher Grandmothers Carol Jackson June Butcher Uncles Joe Wicks Robbie Jackson Billie Jackson Aunts Clare Butcher Diane Butcher Janine Butcher Sonia Fowler Nieces Dolly Dean-Hudson (adoptive) First cousins Jacques Butcher Bex Fowler Sami Jackson Scarlett Butcher Other relatives Pat Butcher Lydia Simmonds Norman Simmonds Jim Branning Derek Branning Jack Branning Max Branning Joey Branning Alice Branning Bradley Branning Lauren Branning Abi Branning Oscar Branning Simon Wicks Ian Beale Bobby Beale Steven Beale Peter Beale Lucy Beale Pete Beale

Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sonny Bottomley for two months in 1998 and 1999,^[2] twins Jack and Tom Godolphin from 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to 2004. Upon his reintroduction in 2008, the character was portrayed by James Forde. Liam is the son of Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and his stories have mostly revolved around his family. The character took a six-month break in 2012 for story purposes. Following his return, producers used Liam in a story about gangs, working with the charity Comic Relief. Forde was written out permanently in 2015 and Liam departs in the episode first broadcast on 17 August 2015. Liam was reintroduced for a short stint in 2021, with the role recast to Alfie Deegan.

Storylines

The son of

When Lola, Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) and Liam's cousin 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, Liam is paid by his uncle 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. Bianca is later caught stealing money and returns to prison, but this time located in Suffolk. Liam then moves to Suffolk with the rest of his family to be near his mother, but returns to Walford with his family in November 2012. After the death of Derek on Christmas 2012, Liam finds the smuggled goods Derek has been hiding in the Jackson garage he tells Bianca who calls the police but when Bianca opens the garage to show the police the smuggled goods, everything is gone. It is revealed that Liam has done a deal with Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) to sell them.

Liam starts truanting from school and is brought home to Bianca by the police. Bianca is warned that if he continues, she could receive a fine or go back to prison. Liam promises to go to school the next day but does not, and tells Bianca she thinks he is a loser and knows nothing about him. Liam becomes involved in a gang, who mug Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel). The gang leader, Kane (Harry Rafferty) gives Liam Tamwar's money belt, which Bianca finds. She suspects he has joined the gang, and confronts them at an estate, where she tells Liam to come home, but he stays with them. The next morning, Liam returns home and refuses to go to school, so Bianca locks him in his room to stop him seeing the gang, and also slaps him. Liam manipulates Whitney into letting him out, and he runs away. He returns to the gang, who initiate him into the gang by making him shoplift alcohol, smash a car window and mug his colleague Shirley Carter (Linda Henry). Shirley realises it is Liam and sends him away with £10. The gang then throw Liam a party, but the police arrive and arrest the gang over Tamwar's mugging. Liam refuses to talk to the police and is released on bail without charge. Liam wants to talk to Kane, and when he finds the gang, they blame him for their arrests, and one of the gang members, Little Chris (Rizwan Shebani) stabs Liam on Kane's orders. Bianca sees this and Liam is rushed to hospital, where the police offer him help but only if he tells them the truth. Bianca leaves the decision to Liam. He eventually tells them the truth but this only makes the situation worse when the entire gang including Little Chris are bailed without charge once again as they deny any involvement in Liam's stabbing. Fearing the gang may harm his family, Liam arranges to live with his father Ricky but later changes his mind. Liam receives death threats from Kane, which leads to a final confrontation after which Kane is arrested again and Liam goes to stay with Ricky. Liam then returns for the court case, but does not need to give evidence because Little Chris changes his plea to guilty.

Liam settles into living in Walford again and soon develops a crush on

Related to the Branning and the Beale family through his mother and the Butcher family through his father, Liam and his sister Tiffany have more relatives than any other character to have appeared in the show.^{[citation needed]}

Following three separate stints in EastEnders played by different child/baby actors – most substantially from 2002 to 2004, when Liam returned to Albert Square as part of his father Ricky's reintroduction – 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

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".^[7] Within three days of being posted on the video sharing website YouTube, the promo had been viewed 52,000 times.^[8]

Palmer and Lindsey Coulson, who portrays Liam's grandmother Carol Jackson, took a break from the series for six months in 2012. Producers wrote out Liam, Tiffany and Morgan in conjunction with their break. They departed in April 2012.^[9]

Gang involvement

In January 2013, it was reported that Liam would be involved in a gang storyline, starting in March.

On 27 April 2015, it was announced that Forde would be written out but exact details of his exit were being kept under wraps.[12] James Forde tweeted; "Absolutely honoured to have a world with some of the people I have worked with. It's amazing and the future is exciting."^[13] The character made his final appearance on 17 August 2015.

Return (2021)

A return for the character was speculated in September 2021 after his name was released in an upcoming episode synopsis online.^[14] The character made an unannounced return in the episode first broadcast on 1 October 2021. Producers chose to recast the role and actor Alfie Deegan took over the role. He returns for a guest stint. Liam's return story sees him arrive to Walford under the guise of supporting Tiffany but with an ulterior motive.^[15] Forde, who changed careers after leaving EastEnders, was not disgruntled by the recast and expressed his happiness with his new career.^[16] Liam's guest stint ends in the episode first broadcast on 14 December 2021. His exit story ties in with Tiffany's exit from the series as they both move to Germany together.^[17]

Reception

Kate White of Inside Soap praised Forde's acting during Liam's gang involvement storyline, but admitted she could not see the appeal of gangs: "The Bianca and Liam story was brilliantly acted – but we really couldn't see what the great appeal of gang life was supposed to have been. It seemed to be all dingy bedsits and general skulking about."^[18]

See also

• List of EastEnders characters (1998)

References