Francis Aloysius "Frank" Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mike Reid. Frank makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987, but due to a positive viewer reception he is reintroduced in 1988 as a regular. Reid took a long hiatus from EastEnders in 1994. Frank returns as a recurring character from December 1995 to January 1998, and eventually becomes a regular once again from May 1998 to November 2000, when Reid quit. Frank makes three brief reappearances after that, the final one in December 2005. Given the widespread identification of Mike Reid as Frank, Reid's death in July 2007 led to BBC bosses deciding that it would not be possible for the character to return in the future. In November 2007, it was announced that the chara