Frank Butcher List of EastEnders characters (1987)

frank butcher, played mike reid, makes first appearance on-screen guest character in 1987 but, due positive viewer reception, reintroduced in 1988 regular character. reid took long hiatus eastenders in 1994. frank returns recurring character december 1995 january 1998, , becomes regular once again may 1998 november 2000, when reid quit. frank makes 3 brief reappearances after that, final 1 in december 2005. given widespread identification of mike reid frank, reid s death in july 2007 led bbc bosses deciding not possible character return in future. in november 2007, announced character die off-screen , in april 2008 funeral screened part of special set of episodes, dubbed frank week.