Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sonny Bottomley for two months in 1998 and 1999,[2] twins Jack and Tom Godolphin from 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to 2004.

Liam is the son of Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and his stories have mostly revolved around his family.

The son of Ricky (Sid Owen) and Bianca Butcher (Patsy Palmer), Liam is born prematurely on Christmas Day 1998, in The Queen Victoria public house.

Off-screen, Liam is returned to Bianca in 2008, following Ricky's engagement to Melinda (Siobhan Hayes), who did not want children.

Later that year, Liam begins skipping school, feigning illness and it is subsequently revealed that he is dyslexic, explaining his inferior grades and repeated absences.

However, when Bianca and her mother Carol (Lindsey Coulson) argue, Liam says he will go to King Edward V and will work hard.

However, before he starts there, he worries that none of his old friends will be there and sneaks out to the park, where Carol's date Lewis Daley (Deka Walmsley) gives him encouragement and tells him that life is never easy.

When Morgan accidentally squirts tomato ketchup over Billie's hoody, Liam tries to wash off the stain but is caught by Carol; who slaps him on his face, causing his forehead to bleed.

After the local bed and breakfast burns down, Liam is paid by his uncle Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman) to enter the building and find scrap metal.

The gang leader, Kane (Harry Rafferty) gives Liam Tamwar's money belt, which Bianca finds.

The next morning, Liam returns home and refuses to go to school, so Bianca locks him in his room to stop him seeing the gang, and also slaps him.

He eventually tells them the truth but this only makes the situation worse when the entire gang including Little Chris are bailed without charge once again as they deny any involvement in Liam's stabbing.

Fearing the gang may harm his family, Liam arranges to live with his father Ricky but later changes his mind.

Liam then returns for the court case, but does not need to give evidence because Little Chris changes his plea to guilty.

Ian discovers that Cindy is pregnant but Liam denies responsibility and is furious when TJ reveals himself to be the father.

Bianca decides to move the family to Milton Keynes following Carol's recovery but a reluctant Liam is eventually allowed to stay in Walford.

Keegan becomes suspicious of Liam, and he tells Tiffany that he is running a garage in Germany, but it is discovered that he has been lying and is penniless.

Liam decides to stay in Walford to help Tiffany recover from her separation with Keegan, and approaches Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) for a job at The Arches.

He schemes with his aunt Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) and Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) to steal cars and sell them.

One of their operations is nearly unsuccessful when Liam accidentally abducts Frankie Lewis (Rose Ayling-Ellis) when she is trapped inside the booth of the car.

He turns on Janine when she refuses to give him his share of the money, and is later manipulated by her to steal the car keys of one of Tiffany's clients.

He drives a wedge between the pair by convincing Tiffany to start dating resident Aaron Monroe (Charlie Wernham), making Keegan jealous.

Liam is a character that was born in the serial; the first son of Bianca (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) who was conceived following the forced abortion of their first daughter in 1997 after she was diagnosed with spina bifida.

[4] This did not occur, however, and Bianca was shown to give birth to a premature but healthy baby Liam in an episode that aired on Christmas Day 1998.

His return was confirmed on 29 October 2007 following the announcement that Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen were reprising their roles as Bianca and Ricky; he reappeared on-screen in April 2008.

[8] Palmer and Lindsey Coulson, who portrays Liam's grandmother Carol Jackson, took a break from the series for six months in 2012.

[11] It emerged that EastEnders producers had worked with charity Comic Relief to "highlight the growing problem of teen involvement in gangs."

[...] This year's storyline should play an [...] important role in promoting greater understanding of why young people are vulnerable to becoming involved in gangs.

Liam's return story sees him arrive to Walford under the guise of supporting Tiffany but with an ulterior motive.