He is very close to his father and when Alan has an affair with the malicious Frankie Pierre (Syan Blake) and moves out of the family home, Billie takes the separation badly.

He is found by Nigel and Clare Bates (Paul Bradley and Gemma Bissix), hiding in a derelict building.

In February 1997, Billie accompanies his great grandmother Blossom (Mona Hammond) on a trip to a local building society.

He tells his former gang mates, Kylie, Connor and Mitch (Elarica Gallacher, Arinze Kene and Theo Barklem-Biggs) that he has disposed of it, but after they arrive in Walford and find the gun, and plan to hold up The Queen Victoria public house.

However, he discovers that Leon Small (Sam Attwater) kissed Whitney and is angry when she does not mention it, but she insists she has not cheated on him.

The next morning, the family think Billie is sleeping on the settee, but Bianca finds him dead when she tries to wake him, having died from choking on his own vomit from alcohol poisoning.

[6] Due to the programme's increased frequency, a number of new characters were introduced to the regular cast in the latter part of 1993 and early 1994.

"[7] Various members of the family began to appear sporadically from November 1993 onwards, but in episodes that aired early in 1994, the Jacksons moved from Walford Towers, a block of flats, to the soap's focal setting of Albert Square.

[8] In a 2000 book, author Kate Lock described Billy as "angelic" and a "cheeky, curly-haired cherub whose principal dramatic function seemed to be to generate angst in the bosom of his family".

[11] Producers decided not to bring back the original actor, and Billy was played by Bluey Robinson for several episodes in June 2004.

[12] It was announced in October 2009 that the character, now called Billie, would be rejoining the soap along with the rest of the Jackson clan, excluding Alan and Blossom, for a storyline to mark the 25th anniversary of EastEnders in February 2010.

At the time the casting for the character had not been finalised;[4] however, it was confirmed in November 2009 that the original actor, Devon Anderson, would be reprising the role 13 years after he had last been seen in the soap.

"[2] Executive producer Diederick Santer added, "Viewers will remember Devon as the original Billie Jackson, the cute kid with the big hair.

"[2] He later described the character as "interesting", saying "He's a troubled soul, torn between being a good son to his mother and trying to have an exciting London life.

"[13] A source told the media website Digital Spy, "Billie's become a young man since the last time we saw him - he might even [be] referred to by his proper name Will.

[...] The wedding is the perfect opportunity for us to bring back the much-loved Jackson characters – Carol, Sonia, Robbie and Billie.

"[13] Anderson said he found it easy to return to the role, saying that "When a child comes into a show, you can't give them a character, so anything that was created for Billie was by me in the early days.

[16] Coulson said that although the storyline had "huge shock value", she felt it was too soon to kill off the character, as "there were lots of stories they could have told about Billie.