Killer Janine’s EastEnders story so far and her most audacious and shocking acts
Janine Butcher. The name alone strikes fear into the hearts of the residents of Albert Square, and utter glee into the hearts of EastEnders viewers.
The deliciously devilish diva is one of the most notable baddies in the entire soap landscape.
With a rap sheet that would make lesser villains tremble beneath her withering gaze and cruel smirk, there’s a reason she’s so revered among the pantheon of legendary soap wrong’uns.
Infusing her performance with just enough humanity to ensure Janine is a fully-fleshed out, three-dimensional character, capable of love while still suffering deep, psychological wounds from a difficult upbringing, Charlie Brooks has created a character that fans absolutely love to hate, with seemingly no limit to Janine’s capacity for evil.
From her early days as a troublesome teen to today’s imprisoned incarnation, long-time viewers of ‘Enders have seen the transformation in real time, and with news of her return and the potential for more delicious devious-ness, we thought it was high time to take a deep dive into the history of Janine’s darkness.
Strap in folks, things are about to get down-right nasty!
Janine’s early days
Janine’s introduction as the daughter of legendary ‘Enders character, Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), who abandons her with Pat (Pam St Clement).
The two would share a love/hate relationship all the way until Pat’s tragic death, one of the very few occasions that elicited true emotion from Janine.
Frank returned to Janine two years later and they moved to Manchester, though he abandoned her yet again to return to Walford, leaving her behind.
When she eventually followed her dad back to Albert Square, it was clear that the anger and pain had crystallised within Janine, with her cruel streak now a mile wide.
Attempting to destroy her dad’s marriage to Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), she found herself abandoned for a third time when Frank left again.
Prostitution and cocaine addiction
Now homeless and completely alone, Janine was taken in by Terry Raymond (Gavin Richards), though her behaviour continued to become even more cruel and unhinged, and while Terry considered Janine a surrogate daughter, she endlessly manipulated him, attempted to scam him for money and ultimately, seduce him.
When he was viciously beaten by a drug dealer Janine was using to feed her ever-increasing cocaine habit, he left Walford – and Janine – for good, forcing her to begin an awkward relationship with Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) until he ran out of money.
Janine turned to prostitution, with her services being used by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), whom she blackmailed in exchange for keeping their arrangement a secret from his wife, Laura (Hannah Waterman), who ultimately did find out and threw a pan of boiling milk into Janine’s face, deeply traumatising her and leaving her agoraphobic.
Reduced to eating dog food while too scared to leave the house, Janine was found and helped by former cash cow, Billy Mitchell, who remained one of the only people who’d stand by her side.
Marrying and killing Barry Evans
Hooking up with Gary Trueman (Gary Beadle), Janine set her sights on bumbling Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), seducing him and marrying him under the impression that he was suffering a heart murmur that would finish him off sooner rather than later.
Alas, it turned out the heart complaint was a false alarm, and the thought of being with Barry long term repulsed Janine.
Exposing her true colours on a cliff top in Scotland, eviscerating him verbally while proclaiming herself to be completely without a heart, a desperate Barry tried to convince Janine that she had love inside of her and hold her, resulting in her shoving him off the cliff.
Finding him barely clinging to life at the foot of the cliff, Janine ignored Barry’s pleas for help, coldly replying to Barry’s gasps for his son, Jack, with an ice cold declaration that ‘memories are better’.
Feeling invincible and having inherited Barry’s money and business, Janine occupied herself by torturing Laura Beale, who was now suffering extreme poverty, with the two entering into a vicious feud.
While she bragged to Barry’s ex, Natalie (Lucy Speed) that she’d gotten away with murder, it was her confession to Pat, Barry’s former step-mum and Laura’s staunchest ally that proved to be her downfall.
When Laura fell down stairs and died following a vicious physical fight with Janine, Pat refused to tell the police that she had been with Janine when Laura died: if Janine wouldn’t receive justice for Barry’s death, she’d have to pay for Laura’s.
With no options or allies left, Janine was arrested for the murder. Despite Pat eventually giving Janine an alibi and securing her freedom, she fled the court and wasn’t seen again for years.
Judith Bernstein and Michael Moon
Janine reappeared when her brother, Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Pat found her masquerading as a Jewish orphan named Judith Bernstein and attempting to marry an elderly, wealthy Jewish man named David (Harry Towb).
Announcing that Janine was ‘as Jewish as a bacon sandwich’, Pat destroyed the wedding and when David suffered a heart attack and died, Janine was forced to come home, where she claimed an – accidental – second victim, Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace), who she ran over and killed.
Allying with Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) to claim the Queen Vic while blackmailing Ian Beale once again, also beginning a relationship with Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), who she tried to kill once she discovered he’d fathered Stacey Slater’s (Lacey Turner) baby, Lily Slater (Lillia Turner), while framing the latter for a stabbing she inflicted upon herself.
When she became a millionaire following the death of her grandma, she found herself in the orbit of the equally-evil Michael Moon (Stephen Shepherd)
The two dark forces entered into one of the most toxic, vile relationships ever seen in a soap, during which she gave birth to their daughter, Scarlett.
When innocent Alice Branning (Jasmyn Banks) was drawn into their rivalling evil plots to kill the other, she ended up stabbing Michael in defence of Janine.
As she fled, though, Janine realised that Michael was still alive and stabbed him again, though let Alice believe she’d struck the killing blow, trying to convince her that she was the murderer, while telling the police that Alice had acted entirely alone.
When she admitted that she’d been the one to finally end Michael to David Wicks (Michael French), she found herself being blackmailed and attempted to murder him to keep him quiet, though his recording of her confession found its way to the police and she was arrested.
A visit from Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) saw Janine agree to drop her false story about Stacey stabbing her in exchange for Kat testifying that Jasmine had killed Michael and she’d had nothing to do with it.
In an incredibly rare turn of events, though, Janine had a pang of guilt when she learned that Alice had harmed herself while in prison, and at the trial, admitted that she, and she alone killed Michael in self defence.
With both Alice and Janine receiving ‘not guilty’ verdicts, Janine found herself attempting to board the Eurostar, where she met a lottery winner.
After revelling in ‘getting away with murder’, Janine’s intentions became incredibly clear.
Destroying the Carters
Janine’s fourth stint began when Scarlett (Tabitha Byron) contacted her half brother, Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall), informing him that she’d been put in care due to Janine’s neglect.
Having resurrected her ‘Judith Bernstein’ persona and pretending to be a doctor, Kat gains custody of Scarlett after a vicious feud with Janine, whose love for her daughter proved to be a rare look into her humanity.
The problem was that her method of loving Scarlett was incredibly flawed, and her daughter often ended up harmed as a result of Janine’s increasingly devious plots to see them well.
She set her sights on Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), actively manipulating both him and his wife, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) to ensure they remained apart.
Janine cruelly preyed upon Linda’s alcoholism and continually orchestrated relapses as she slowly but surely destroyed her public persona and annihilated her relationship with Mick.
In a particularly evil act, Janine drove a drunken Linda away from Walford before crashing into a tree. When she awoke, she dragged Linda into the driver’s seat, pouring alcohol around the car and fled, successfully framing her for drink-driving and leaving her in a coma.
Finding herself pregnant, Mick proposed to Janine and it seemed as though she’d finally won the war against Linda, who unsuccessfully attempted to stop the wedding, though Scarlett’s discovery of her mum’s evil plot against Linda remained a ticking timebomb in the background.
On Boxing Day, Scarlett bared her soul and Janine’s house of cards tumbled to the ground: she was exposed to the entire family and there was no turning back.
With nothing left to do but run, Janine fled toward the coast, with a violent struggle between her and Linda resulting in the car toppling over a cliff, with both of them trapped inside.
Ever the hero, Mick dove into the water, managing to successfully rescue Janine and – by proxy – his baby.
Unaware that Linda had escaped the car and made it to the shore, Mick went back into the water and ultimately disappeared, swallowed by the water and presumably perished.
Janine’s return to the Square saw her promptly arrested, after which she was sentenced to five years in prison for perverting the course of justice, giving birth to a baby boy she named Mick Jr while incarcerated.
Why is Janine coming back?
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?
With no family left, what could draw Janine back to Walford? As we’ve established, Janine isn’t one to let a feud die without enacting a vicious, catastrophic revenge on anybody who’s dared to cross her.
Is Linda in danger?
Or could it have something to do with the mystery of Mick’s demise? With her having his son, could she help answer some of the questions we still have over what actually happened to him in the water?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?
