Janine to return to EastEnders
Charlie Brooks returns to Albert Square as evil Janine.
Hold on to your hats, Janine is on her way back to Albert Square following her appearance at Frank's funeral.
In her last screen outing Janine was left angry by the fact that dad Frank had not left her any money in his will, and she left the scene driving away in tears after taking to Pat.
The character of Janine appeared way back in 1987 when Frank first arrived in Albert Square, but it wasn't until June 1989 that she became a regular character completing the Butcher family. In 1993 the character was sent away to stay with her off screen sister Clare, and was intermittent in the series until Brooks came in to play the character in 1999.
On Janine's return she found that Frank had a new wife in Peggy and she swiftly made efforts to come between them. Soon she began to deliberately antagonise Frank and he was furious after discovering her in bed with Jamie Mitchell. The relationship didn't last and in 2000 Frank cast Janine out leaving her homeless.
She was taken in by Terry Raymond and they started an estate agent business together. But Janine's destructive behaviour continued and in 2002 she became addicted to cocaine. Prostitution came next and Ian Beale was one of her clients, who she then tried to blackmail. Beale's wife Laura found out about the affair and threw a bottle of milk in Janine's face, causing her to become agoraphobic.
Janine still hadn't leant the error of her ways by 2003 when she and Paul Trueman attempted to scam Barry out of money. When he was diagnosed with a heart murmur Janine accepted his marriage proposal believing his illness was life threatening. It turned out to be a false alarm and she was furious. Following a walk by the cliffs she pushed Barry down a ravine and watched him die. Very anti-social!
It wasn't long before the police became suspicious, particularly as Janine inherited all of Barry's possessions. They could not convict her because of lack-of-evidence but Janine made a beginner's mistake in confessing to Pat who was close friends with Laura Beale. When Laura accidentally fell down the stairs Pat refused to give Janine an alibi until persuaded by Frank on the eve of her conviction.
Executive producer Diederick Santer was delighted with Janine's return: "I couldn't be more pleased that Charlie Brooks is rejoining EastEnders. With her appearances last month, she reminded us what a fine actress she is, and what an intriguing, watchable and engaging character she plays as Janine."
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