Ricky Butcher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| EastEnders character | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Ricky Butcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Sid Owen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Tony Holland (1988) Louise Berridge (2002) Diederick Santer (2008) |
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| Duration | 1988–2000, 2002–2004, 2008— | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 12 May 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 21 February 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Single | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home | The Queen Vic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Mechanic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Richard Francis "Ricky" Butcher[1] is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He is played by Sid Owen.
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[edit] Character creation and development
[edit] Background
EastEnders had been on air for three years before the character of Ricky made his first screen appearance in May 1988. At the time, big changes were occurring "behind-the-scenes".[2] Co-creator Julia Smith took "a more back-seat role" as Series Producer, which allowed producer Mike Gibbon to take control of the making of the programme.[2]
The arrival of the Butcher family in May 1988 signified an end of an era for the soap, as Den and Angie Watts vacated their positions as landlord and landlady of The Queen Victoria public house, leaving the head of the Butcher family, Frank (Mike Reid), and his girlfriend Pat Wicks (Pam St. Clement) to take over tenancy.[2] Along with Frank came his two teenage children, Ricky (Sid Owen) and Diane (Sophie Lawrence). Later they were joined by Frank's mother Mo (Edna Doré), and Frank's youngest daughter Janine (Rebecca Michael). Owen was 16 when he first appeared as Ricky in EastEnders.[3]
[edit] "Rickaaaaaaay!"
Ricky's relationship with Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) has been central to his narrative; their affiliation began in 1994. Palmer and Owen already knew each other before working together on the soap, as both attended the Anna Scher theatre school. Owen has said, "We practically grew up together. We'd known each other for years. It was wierd [sic] when she started on the show and we began playing the 'Ricky & Bianca Get To Know Each Other' bit. I had already spent a lot of time with Patsy. I think we were both seven when we met."[3]
The dynamics of their relationship were clear from the start, with Bianca portrayed as the dominant, bossy and authoritative partner, while Ricky was shown as the hen-pecked,[4] dim-witted "loser" or "soft touch", comically under the thumb of his female counterpart.[5] James Rampton from The Indpendent has commented, "to her eternally put-upon husband, Ricky, Bianca was a ferocious reincarnation of H Rider Haggard's 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'."[6] Bianca was notorious for shouting the catchphrase "Rickaaaaaaay!" (a cockney pronunciation of Ricky) at her lover.[7] It has been suggested that Bianca's catchphrase — "Rickaaaaaaay!" — transitioned, becoming "shorthand for any sort of heinous henpecking."[6]
One of the first notable storylines featuring the couple occurred in 1995, when Ricky embarked on an affair with Bianca's "put-upon sidekick", Natalie Price (Lucy Speed).[8] On-screen Natalie and Ricky found themselves sidelined and bullied by Bianca, forcing them together and leading to their eventual affair, which continued for several weeks on-screen, with Ricky seeing both Natalie and Bianca. The storyline reached its climax on 21 February 1995; 17.0 million viewers tuned in to witness Bianca discovering that her boyfriend was sleeping with her best friend.[9] The characters were shown to reconcile later in the year when Ricky supported Bianca through a personal crisis — the revelation that she had unknowingly tried to seduce her estranged father David Wicks (Michael French).
Various crises between the characters were featured over the following years, causing them to break up and reconcile numerous times. In the book Seeing Things: Television in the Age of Uncertainty, author John Ellis uses the couple's combustible relationship as an example of emotional intensity and pathos: "A couple like Ricky and Bianca...can have constantly sniped at each other for several episodes, for no apparent dramatic purpose except that it is the nature of their relationship. Then they will suddenly be confronted by a life-changing decision...There is suddenly a shift in emotional intensity for the audience. Every word now counts, and all the previous audience attitudes of irritation or even condescension to this 'not very bright couple'...become a feeling of utter absorption in their dilemma."[10] The BBC has reported that Bianca and Ricky's on-off romance "captivated millions of fans", and in April 1997 22 million viewers tuned in to see them marry on-screen, one of the biggest soap audiences ever.[11] In 2000, Owen stated that the storyline he most enjoyed in EastEnders was the build up and marriage to Bianca, because "the public's enthusiasm for the event was a great motivation".[12] The Daily Mail branded Ricky and Bianca "EastEnders' most popular couple",[13] and they have also been described as "iconic".[14]
[edit] Storylines
[edit] Overview
Ricky was a bit simple and he always seemed to be led astray by the domineering women in his life. He's been married twice to Sam Mitchell and Bianca Jackson, but both wives left him for bigger and better things. He was always thought of as being a bit thick by his father Frank and failed to impress his father no matter how hard he tried. He left Walford for a fresh start in 2000 and then returned in 2002 after discovering his sister Janine Butcher had gone out of control. He eventually left Walford once again in 2004 to escape Janine.
Ricky returned to Walford in 2008 with his sister Diane to deliver news to Pat. His return coincided with the funeral of his father Frank.
[edit] Character history
Ricky arrived in Albert Square, when his father Frank Butcher became landlord of the Queen Vic in 1988. Frank's stint in the pub was brief and it wasn't long before Ricky had moved into another residence on the square, along with his father, his stepmother Pat, his sisters Diane and Janine, and his grandmother Mo.
Ricky's history in Walford is rather complex; always a bit thick and too trusting, he often seemed the loser in life's game. He was quite a tearaway in his youth and was rarely out of trouble. Whilst working in the car lot with his father he stole a car before passing his test and managed to knock Pauline Fowler down in the process. He was fined seventy pounds and had his provisional license endorsed.
He soon got over that, as he was becoming besotted with Shireen Karim. However, Shireen's father, Ashraf, soon put a stop to their blossoming relationship by forcing her into an arranged marriage. Ricky retaliated by hanging around with a gang of racist thugs and terrorizing Ashraf for a while, which soon stopped when Frank got wind of his actions.
Later on Ricky showed some talent at mending cars, so the Mitchell brothers took him on at their auto repair shop as an apprentice mechanic. At first they treated him with a heavy hand, but they soon began to see him more as a younger brother. Even so, they were suspicious of his intentions when he started going out with their much younger sister Samantha Mitchell. Sam had Ricky well and truly under the thumb, and he was willing to do exactly what she wanted. So when she decided that she wanted to get married at 16, he was powerless to stop it. Both the Mitchells and the Butchers were furious and tried to put a stop to their relationship, but this made Sam all the more determined and in June 1991 she and Ricky eloped to Gretna Green and tried to seal their union in secret. However, dozy Ricky wasn't very good at hiding his tracks and it didn't take Sam's mother Peggy long to discover where they were. Luckily for them, they managed to complete their nuptials before they were caught and even managed to persuade Peggy to attend a formal blessing back in Walford the following month. Their marriage was short-lived, as Sam soon grew bored and started to look for entertainment elsewhere. She left Ricky in 1993 when she started hanging around the modeling world.
In January 1994, Ricky had a one-night stand with Mandy Salter before she left Walford. Ricky was devastated when his father had a breakdown and abandoned him in 1994 after torching his car-lot and leaving his family in massive debt. Ricky later became partners in the re-opened car-lot with Pat's son David Wicks. However he was always treated as a useless skivvy and after Roy Evans took over the car-lot in 1994 he went back to work as a mechanic for his ex-wife's brother, Phil Mitchell.
[edit] Relationship with Bianca Jackson; First affair with Natalie
During 1994 Ricky fell for bolshy red-head Bianca Jackson and it wasn't long before the young couple had moved in together. However, Bianca wasn't the easiest of women to please and her bullying and inconsiderate ways eventually drove him into the arms of her best friend, Natalie Price. The strain of having to satisfy not one but two Walford women started to take its toll on Ricky and it wasn't long before Natalie was urging him to split with Bianca so they could be together properly. When Ricky failed to do this, Natalie engineered things so Bianca caught them together, kissing in the Arches. Predictably, Bianca was furious. She threw chips in Ricky's face, dowsed him in beer and cut up all his clothes. Ricky was desperate to get her back and so he cruelly dumped Natalie and told her she was only ever good for one thing. A rejected and heartbroken Natalie then left town (although she would be back to claim her man in years to come). After much groveling by Ricky, Bianca took him back, although she never allowed him to forget his infidelity and even strayed herself with the womanizing barman Lenny Wallace.
[edit] Marriage to Bianca
Despite these problems the two eventually decided to marry in April 1997. Later that year Bianca fell pregnant and Ricky was overjoyed at the prospect of being a father. Their joy was short-lived as in November that year a pre-natal scan revealed that their unborn baby had both spina bifida and hydrocephalus. After a heart-breaking period of soul-searching, they decided to terminate the pregnancy. The trauma devastated them both, but it did bring them closer. In 1998 Bianca fell pregnant a second time and gave birth to son (Liam) later that year.
Later Ricky tried to become a motorcycle racer, but never succeeded at anything except getting convicted for dealing in stolen cars thanks to his long-time employer Phil Mitchell.
In 1999 he and Bianca broke up following her affair with her mother Carol's boyfriend, Dan Sullivan. With her marriage in ruins, Bianca left the Square with Liam in September that year. Ricky, despite last minute jitters, did not accompany her. After mooning about for a while and receiving further humiliation at the hands of Dan, Ricky left Walford in April 2000.
In May 2002 in a special spin-off episode Ricky and Bianca (which was a lead-up to Ricky's return to Walford later that year) Ricky met up with Bianca in Manchester and they briefly rekindled their relationship after he got her out of trouble with her boss Vince. But Bianca, who was struggling as a single parent, was manipulated by Ricky's new fiancée, Cassie, into believing that Ricky's life would be ruined if Bianca returned to him, and Bianca was also persuaded that she would never be able provide the kind of stability for Liam that Ricky could. Making a heartrending decision, Bianca left Liam with Ricky and has not been seen since.
[edit] Second affair with Natalie
Ricky returned to Walford with son Liam in August 2002 after discovering that his young sister, Janine, had gone on the game and become a drug addict. Upon his return, Ricky immediately proved he'd learned nothing in the intervening years by returning to his former lover Natalie Evans' arms (who was now married to Barry Evans) whilst he was living with his ex-wife, Sam. His affair with Natalie caused the breakdown of her marriage to Barry in February 2003. Ricky planned to run away with Natalie but she found out (from Janine) that he'd slept with ex-wife Sam and left the square on her own. Over the following months, Janine wormed her way into Barry's life and even moved in with him. She had wanted Barry's wealth so she married him on New Year's Eve 2003 and then, following an argument the next day, killed him by pushing him off a cliff.
[edit] Departure
After Barry's death, Janine asked Ricky to work at the car lot and move in with her. Pat Evans and Natalie persuaded Ricky to do some investigating, which led to Janine confessing to pushing Barry to his death. Shocked, Ricky abandoned Janine, moved away from Walford with Liam in February 2004.
[edit] Ricky's return
On 31 March 2008 Ricky and Diane turned up unexpectedly at a hotel to see Pat. Pat immediately asked "What's happened to Frank?" and Ricky revealed Frank has died.
Ricky also brought his fiancée, Melinda, on the day of Frank's funeral. Ricky was wondering where Bianca was, because she had promised to bring Liam to the funeral so he could say goodbye to his granddad. She didn't turn up. He was shocked to find his sister, Janine, arrive at the funeral, but hugged her. He sat emotionally as the funeral took place for Frank, but was furious that Bianca hadn't turned up.
On 4 April 2008, Ricky received a phone call from Bianca. They met in a cafe and he asked Bianca why she didn't attend at the funeral with Liam. Bianca couldn't explain the problems to him so prior to this, she makes an excuse to leave the cafe. Later during the day, the Butcher siblings, including Pat and Peggy gathered together to hear Frank's will. To this, Frank had placed some gifts for his children, including ex wives Pat and Peggy. The gifts were some old school art paintings for Diane, a toolbox for Ricky, an old diary of Mo Butcher for Janine, some old wedding photographs of Frank and Pat's for Pat and money for the drinks for Peggy.
On 8 April 2008, Ricky received a call from Pat, claiming that Bianca is staying with her after she lost her kids to social services. Ricky and Bianca had berated each other over her losing the kids. The row continued outside when calling for "Rickaaaaay", some residents of the Square looked outside to see what was going on, shocked to see that Bianca has made a return.
On 10 April 2008, Ricky agreed to help Bianca accommodate her children to live with Pat. But he later decides not to help her after she held Melinda responsible for Ricky's lack of contact with their son Liam. He also tells them both that Melinda broke up with him the day after the hearing of Frank's will, in which it was discovered that there was no financial gain. When a social worker came to inspect Pat's house, she was satisfied with the location, as a result Ricky and Bianca succeeds of getting her children back.
On 8 May 2008 Ricky started becoming closer to Bianca who claimed she didn't love him and faced an emotional blow.
On 9 May 2008 Liam went missing and Bianca and Ricky found him in the park. Afterwards while preparing the dinner, he kissed Bianca (who already has a partner in prison) and she chucked him out.
[edit] References
- ^ EastEnders. BBC. BBC One. 1992-07-07.
- ^ a b c Brake, Colin (1995). EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-37057-2.
- ^ a b "GETTING SHTICKY WITH "THICKY RICKY"", Walford Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Ricky to rejoin Bianca in EastEnders", Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Smith, Rupert (2005). EastEnders: 20 years in Albert Square. BBC books. ISBN 0-563-52165-1.
- ^ a b "Is there life after EastEnders?", The Independent, 2000-06-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ "Palmer admits she's tired of Ricky cry", The Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Tim Wilson. "The Return of 'Natalie'", Walford Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Ricky's affair with Natalie", BBC. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ John Ellis (2000). Seeing Things: Television in the Age of Uncertainty. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 9781860644894.
- ^ "Entertainment Patsy Palmer to leave EastEnders", BBC, 1998-11-22. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ "What Ricky done next", BBC, 2000-06-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ "Together again: Ricky and Bianca return to EastEnders", Daily Mail, 2008-02-08. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ "Bianca and Ricky return to Eastenders", Pink News. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
[edit] External links
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