Liam Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sonny Bottomley for two months in 1998 and 1999, twins Jack and Tom Godolphin from 1999, Gavin and Mitchell Vaughan in 2002, and by Nathaniel Gleed from 2002 to 2004. Since 1 April 2008 he has been played by James Forde. Liam was absent from the show for a large part of 2012 along with the rest of his family, before returning on 29 October 2012. A subsequent break from EastEnders occurred on 26 April 2013 to 9 July 2013. On 27 April 2015, it was announced that Forde had decided to leave the role and departed on screen on 17 August 2015.