[7] A teenage Ricky arrives in Albert Square when his father Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) becomes landlord of The Queen Victoria public house in May 1988.

Later on, Ricky shows talent mending cars, so the Mitchell brothers, Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant (Ross Kemp), take him on at their auto repair shop as an apprentice mechanic in 1990.

Despite a one-night stand with Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) in January 1994, Ricky does not enter into another serious relationship until August, when he begins dating Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer).

Later that year Bianca falls pregnant, but a prenatal scan reveals her unborn baby has both spina bifida and hydrocephalus; the Butchers decide to terminate the pregnancy.

The trauma devastates them both, but it does bring them closer and in September 1998 Bianca discovers she has fallen pregnant again, resulting in her prematurely giving birth to their son Liam on Christmas Day 1998.

The following year, Ricky becomes acquainted with Bianca's mother Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) and her boyfriend Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass).

Ricky returns to Walford in August 2002 with Liam after hearing from his former stepmother Pat Evans (Pam St Clement), that his sister Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) has resorted to prostitution and drug abuse by Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick).

Discovering his sister's role in Barry's death, Ricky disowns Janine and leaves Walford again in February 2004 - horrified and ashamed.

On 31 March 2008, Ricky returns to Walford unexpectedly with his sister Diane Butcher (Sophie Lawrence) to inform Pat that Frank has died.

Despite initial hostilities, Ricky helps Bianca regain custody of her four children, who have been put into care, and then decides to remain in Walford himself, to be near Liam.

When Bianca is jailed for attacking Connor Stanley (Arinze Kene) in 2011, Ricky struggles to support his children, so he accepts a job in Dubai where he is arrested for indecency after being caught swimming naked in the sea.

Ricky returns to Walford in December 2022 when Bianca's half-sister Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) calls him after becoming concerned about Janine's mental state.

On Christmas Day, Janine is exposed for blackmailing Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith) into planting empty wine bottles around Linda's house, knowing she is a recovering-alcoholic, and subsequently leading to her temporarily losing custody of her infant daughter Annie, with Scarlett (now played by Tabitha Byron) also revealing that Janine had previously framed Linda for drink-driving.

She later returns after a car chase leads to Janine and Linda driving off a cliff and crashing into the sea, and Mick being presumed dead after rescuing them.

[9] Portrayed as a soft touch and unintellectual, the character has been dubbed "thicky Ricky" by the popular press in the UK — in the serial he failed all his GCSEs.

"[9] Author Kate Lock has described Ricky as hapless and a figure of fun, "completely lacking in tact and rarely opens his mouth without putting his foot in it.

The week's worth of episodes focusing on their marriage were filmed on-location and have been described by former EastEnders scriptwriter, Colin Brake, as a "farce-like chase round the country".

[13] The marriage was portrayed as problematic, fraught with interference from their families, lack of money, and Ricky's jealousy of Sam's partying and her modeling career, including a topless photoshoot.

"[9] 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,[15] dim-witted "loser" or "soft touch", comically under the thumb of his female counterpart.

[16] James Rampton from The Independent has commented, "to her eternally put-upon husband, Ricky, Bianca was a ferocious reincarnation of H Rider Haggard's 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'.

"[17] 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).

[20] 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).

[22] 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".

[24] In 1997, the couple were featured in a storyline about spina bifida and hydrocephalus, a developmental birth defect resulting in an incompletely formed spinal cord of the baby.

[27] Despite the birth of a premature but healthy baby, Liam, in an episode that aired on Christmas Day 1998, the following year the couple split following Bianca's affair, Palmer having decided to leave EastEnders.

"[28] Executive producer at the time, Matthew Robinson, said, "Viewers have come to love the character of Ricky Butcher due to Sid's wonderful acting.

He comments, "both Phil and Ricky have had babies, broken marriages and loads of ups and downs in their lives, and it was good to talk about it all in that episode.

One trailer utilised Bianca's "trademark holler" of Ricky's name, which is so loud that it smashes the windows of The Queen Victoria public house.

36% voted for Ricky above Kevin Webster from Coronation Street (Michael Le Vell) who scored 34%; EastEnders' Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) with 12%, and Kylie Minogue's Charlene Robinson from Neighbours with 7%.

While there is, of course, the resultant publicity that comes with any new or returning soap character being announced, the storyline possibilities for Ricky and Bianca arriving back in the Square are good.