The Branning family are a fictional, extended family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Introduced in 1993 were the Jackson family, consisting of Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson), her husband Alan Jackson (Howard Anthony), and Carol's four children, Bianca (Patsy Palmer), Sonia (Natalie Cassidy), Robbie (Dean Gaffney), and Billie (Devon Anderson). Billie is the only child fathered by Alan, while Bianca is the daughter of previous regular character David Wicks (Michael French). The family becomes a more dominating presence in the early 2000s, when Carol's father Jim Branning (John Bardon) moves to Walford following the death of his wife Reenie to cancer. Since then, all six of Jim's children have appeared, many of them with family.