| Willy | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |||||
 | |||||
| Portrayed by | Willy | ||||
| Duration | 1985–1992 | ||||
| First appearance | Episode 1 “Poor Old Reg” 19 February 1985 | ||||
| Last appearance | Episode 759 14 May 1992 | ||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||
| Species | Dog | ||||
| Breed | Pug | ||||
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Willy (also Rasputin) is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders . Willy is a Pug, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remains in the show until 14 May 1992.
Willy is Ethel Skinner's (Gretchen Franklin) constant companion. She rarely appears on-screen without him tucked under her arm. He was named after her late husband, William Skinner (Ian Brimble). There were various innuendo-laden references to the dog, [1] with Ethel's famous lines being either "Where's my Willy?" or, in a double entendre, "Has anyone seen my little Willy?"
Willy can often be quite mischievous. When Ethel is preparing the food in The Queen Victoria public house one day, Willy and Roly eat all the expensive steak for the steak and kidney pies when her back is turned. Ethel replaces the meat with a less costly cut and everyone comments that the pies were not up to standard. At Christmas 1990, he sneaks into the Fowlers' and begins eating the turkey. [2]
Willy runs away in 1986. While Ethel is distracted, Willy slips out the open door to the laundrette. He is eventually found by Detective Roy Quick (Douglas Fielding) in a pet shop, but when Quick returns with Ethel, Willy has been sold. Willy is tracked down to his new owner, Mr Pavasars (Sydney Arnold), who has renamed him Rasputin. Lou Beale (Anna Wing) fetches him back and returns Willy to his rightful owner. When Ethel falls and breaks her hip, Willy stays with Dot Cotton (June Brown), and they find each other a strain. Dot isn't the only one who can't tolerate Willy. First Ernie Mears (Ken Wynne) and then Benny Bloom (Arnold Yarrow) want to marry Ethel, but only if she will get rid of Willy. Ethel can't part with her beloved dog so she turns them both down. [2]
When Ethel and her friends go on a holiday to Clacton, Willy has to go too, in a holdall. He is discovered by the owner of the bed and breakfast, but the owner is a dog-lover too and allows Willy to stay. [2]
Willy is a touch sensitive, and when Dr. Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton) makes several remarks about "dog mess" in the Square, Ethel fears it upset him to the extent that he can't perform at all. Willy's constipation is later resolved.
After succumbing to old-age, Willy falls ill in 1992 and Ethel makes the heart-breaking decision to put him down. Ethel is devastated to lose her dog, so the residents of Albert Square raise money to buy her a new dog. However, Ethel declines to accept it, saying Willy is irreplaceable. [3]
On 30 May 1992, two weeks and two days after being written out of EastEnders, the dog who played Willy died. [4]
Willy was cast less than a week before the filming of EastEnders began. From the beginning it was decided that the pensioner Ethel Skinner was to have a Yorkshire Terrier named Willy (after her dead husband). The company Janimals, who specialised in providing and training animals for television and films, was contacted by EastEnders co-creator/producer Julia Smith, and informed her that they could provide an experienced Pug for the part (he had previously starred in Swallows and Amazons ). The dog was brought to the studio to meet Gretchen Franklin, the actress who played Ethel. She liked him straight away and so the pug was cast as Willy. Roly the poodle and Willy shared a dressing room at Elstree Studios. [5] In the original rehearsal script Willy was named Phillip. [6]
Gretchen Franklin was an English actress and dancer with a career in show business spanning over 70 years. She played Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera EastEnders on a regular basis from 1985 until 1988. After this she returned to the show intermittently. These appearances became briefer and more widely spaced. Her final appearance was in 2000, when her character was killed off.
Dr. Harold Legg is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Leonard Fenton. Dr. Legg is Walford's original GP. He is widely trusted within the community, and is always on hand to dish out advice. Dr Legg appears as a regular character between 1985 and 1989, but continued to appear in a recurring role until 1997. He was officially retired in 1999 by executive producer Matthew Robinson, but made brief returns in 2000, 2004 and 2007. He returned for a longer storyline from 18 October 2018 and departed on 15 February 2019 when he died of pancreatic cancer.
Dorothy "Dot" Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled EastEnders: Dot's Story (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in flashbacks. A tragicomic character, Dot was known for her devout Christian faith, gossiping, chain smoking, hypochondria, and motherly attitude to those in need.
Ethel May Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 EastEnders special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which she is played by Alison Bettles.
Lou Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. Her first appearance is in the first episode, which was broadcast on 19 February 1985, and her last is in episode 362, first shown on 26 July 1988, after which the character was killed off. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, CivvyStreet, set during the Second World War. She appears in 232 episodes.
Lilly Mattock is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Barbara Keogh from 5 November 1998 to 2 September 1999. Lilly likes to forget her age and concentrate on having fun. She has a rude awakening when she is mugged in 1999, and fun-loving Lilly is never quite the same again.
Jules Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tommy Eytle between 5 July 1990 and 23 December 1997. Jules is depicted as a flirtatious older gentleman. He is introduced in 1990 and remains in the show after the departures of all of his on-screen family. He is largely semi-regular during the latter part of his stint, and is not featured again after December 1997. Jules Tavernier appeared in more than 150 episodes over his seven-year tenure.
Marge Green is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Pat Coombs. from 9 May 1989 to 8 February 1990. Introduced in 1989, elderly Marge is scripted as comical and timid. The character was one of many to be axed in 1990 when Michael Ferguson took over the role as executive producer from her introducer Mike Gibbon.
Nellie Ellis is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Kelly. Nellie is introduced as the interfering relative of Pauline Fowler in 1993 and appears regularly until 1998. She makes a further appearance in 2000 for the funeral of Ethel Skinner. She moves in with the Fowlers in early 1994, and appears to be extremely annoying and interfering. However, she proves useful in getting Michelle Fowler's money back from Frank Butcher, who had unwittingly sold Michelle a stolen Austin Metro, which was subsequently apprehended by the police.
Christine Hewitt is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Power. Introduced in 1992 as a lonely divorcée, she becomes besotted with married Arthur Fowler while he tends her garden. She leaves in 1993 once her affair with Arthur is discovered by his wife Pauline.
Roly is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Roly is an apricot coloured standard poodle, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remained in the show until 19 October 1993.
Julie Cooper is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Louise Plowright from 1989 to 1990. The character was one of Mike Gibbon's introductions, but she was axed in 1990 at the start of Michael Ferguson's reign as executive producer. Julie is portrayed as a bubbly, big haired Salford girl, who has a hungry appetite for men.
"CivvyStreet" is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast on BBC1 on 26 December 1988. The episode is a flashback to World War II and is set at Christmas 1942. The episode was watched by 7 million viewers.