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 down right devilish diva is one of the most notable baddies in the entire soap landscape.

With a rap sheet that could make lesser villains crumble to dust beneath her cocked eyebrow and cruel smirk, there’s a reason she’s so revered among the pantheon of legendary soap scumbags.

Infusing her performance with just enough humanity to ensure Janine is a fully-fleshed out, three-dimensional character, capable of love but suffering deep, psychological wounds from a difficult upbringing while also finding glee in her ability to do such damage, Charlie Brooks has created a character that fans absolutely love to hate.

From her early days as an abandoned teen, to her descent into addiction and prostitution, her first foray into gold digging and ultimate evolution into Walford’s undisputed Queen of mean, long-time viewers of ‘Enders have seen the transformation in real time, and with her recent 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 came as the daughter of legendary ‘Enders character, Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), who eventually abandoned her with Pat (Pam St Clement).

Janine and Pat would share a love/hate relationship all the way until Pat’s tear-jerking death, which was also one of the very few occasions that elicited true humanity from Janine.

Frank returned to Janine two years later and they moved to Manchester, though he ditched her there yet again to return to Walford.

When she eventually followed her dad back to Albert Square, it was clear that the anger and pain of his to-ing and fro-ing had crystallised within Janine, and her cruel streak was 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, and her descent into darkness was set in motion.

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 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, even to this day.

Marrying and killing Barry Evans

Hooking up with Gary Trueman (Gary Beadle), the two saw pound signs in bumbling buffoon Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), and Janine set about seducing him, then 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…

…and she wasn’t shy about telling him just how ill the thought made her.

Exposing her true colours on a cliff top in Scotland, Janine eviscerated him verbally while proclaiming herself to be completely without a heart, and though a desperate Barry tried to convince Janine that she had love inside of her, she proved him wrong by 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 violent 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 and with Janine’s skin found under Laura’s fingernails, the police were convinced that they had their killer.

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’

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.

She allied with fellow villain Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) to claim the Queen Vic, though she found herself ultimately outmatched by someone who’s capacity for evil dwarfed her own.

She began blackmailing Ian Beale once again, later beginning a relationship with Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), though that turned toxic quickly, when she tried to kill him after discovering he’d fathered Stacey Slater’s (Lacey Turner) baby, Lily Slater (Lillia Turner).

In her most twisted move yet, she successfully framed Stacey for a stabbing her, after she drove a knife into herself.

Twisted love with Michael Moon

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 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 she 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.

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 alone had killed Michael in self defence, exonerating Alice.

Released when the jury believed her self-defence story, Janine found herself waiting to board the Eurostar, where she met a lottery winner.

After revelling in her ability to ‘get away with murder’, Janine flirted up a storm with the newly minted man when his girlfriend headed away to get some champagne; the look on her face made her intentions incredibly clear.

We never saw him again, though chances are he’s now skint and/or dead.

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.

Kat gained custody of Scarlett after a vicious feud with Janine, whose love for her daughter proved to be a rare look into her humanity and her capability to care about somebody beyond herself.

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 gain money and power.

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.

She later gave birth to a baby boy she named Mick Jr while incarcerated.

Janine’s latest return

With Kellie Bright’s departure story ramping up and the return of the Carter kids Nancy and Lee (Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard) has come with plenty of reminders of Mick and his watery fate, with Lee even having de-registered his dad’s death.

Janine’s saw her being handed a document before breaking out into that trademark evil grin – but what does the document contain? And why is Janine so smug about it?

While we’re yet to discover the truth, Charlie Brooks has confirmed that her alter-ego is still the same monster we know and love (to hate!).

‘I don’t know if anyone wants to see a reformed Janine ever, so we can rest assured that we are leaning into the true nature of who Janine is – as always, it’s about survival for her.

‘I always love coming back to Janine, she’s an exciting character to play, and it’s always fun to discover what she’s been doing and what she’s been up to as an actress – she’s very camp, and I have a lot of fun with her. Janine is also deep, and she’s got a lot going on, so it’s always interesting to explore that.’