Despite being only 15 years old, Bobby Beale is one of EastEnders‘ most controversial characters.
The young lad killed his half-sister Lucy at the age of 11.
The schoolboy has been played by four different actors to date: Kevin Curran from 2003 to 2007, Alex Francis from 2007 to 2012, Rory Stroud, 2013–2014, and most recently Eliot Carrington from 2014 until 2017.
With his release from prison imminent, there’s no word on whether he’s been recast, but here’s the lowdown on Ian Beale’s youngest son.
When did Bobby arrive in Albert Square?
Bobby Beale was born on the show.
He first appeared in EastEnders on July 24, 2003.
Who are Bobby Beale’s parents?
Bobby is the son of Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), although it was initially believed that Gary Hobbs (Ricky Groves) was Bobby’s father.
The evidence suggested Gary was the dad after Laura had a drunken fling with him and it was revealed her husband Ian had had a vasectomy because he didn’t any more children.
However, when Bobby needed a blood transfusion, Gary’s blood didn’t match and Ian was proven to be his father.
Ian rejected Bobby, but when Laura died after she tripped on one of Bobby’s toys and fell down the stairs, Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement) found Bobby’s birth certificate with Ian’s name on it, and Bobby was handed over to him.
After Ian met Jane Collins (Laurie Brett), she adopted Bobby and married Ian.
Bobby has two older half-siblings Lucy and Peter Beale, and an adopted half-brother, Steven Beale.
What happened to Bobby Beale’s sister, Lucy Beale?
As Bobby began to get older, it became clear he had an aggressive side and was becoming increasingly violent.
On Good Friday 2014, the ‘Who killed Lucy Beale?’ storyline kicked off after Lucy was found dead on Walford Common.
For 10 months, no one knew who killed Lucy.
Suspects included Ian, Jane, Peter, Max Branning (Jake Wood), Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), Lauren Branning (Jaqueline Jossa), Cindy Williams (Mimi Keene), and Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) along with many others, however, no one suspected little Bobby Beale.
In February 2015, in a flashback it was revealed Bobby had hit Lucy over the head with a jewellery box, killing her.
However, Jane lied to Ian, Peter and Cindy that she had killed Bobby.
Ian saw that she was covering for Bobby, though, and Jane admitted to them she moved Lucy’s body and convinced Bobby that he hadn’t killed her.
When did Bobby Beale find out he was a killer?
The Beales decided to keep the circumstances of Lucy’s death a secret from Bobby, the police, and other Walford residents.
Although Peter was disgusted, he eventually made peace with Bobby before he moved to New Zealand.
Unfortunately for the Beales, keeping the secret was a lot harder than they expected.
When Peter and Lucy’s half-sister Cindy tried to stop Bobby from throwing a brick through Max Branning’s car window, he pushed her causing her to fall backwards in the same spot Lucy had been killed.
Cindy argued with Ian that something wasn’t right with Bobby and branded him “a monster”.
Having overheard Sharon and Phil discussing Lucy’s death, Dennis told Bobby that he did kill his half-sister.
When Ian realised Bobby knew what he’d done, the family decided send Bobby to boarding school to stop the truth coming out.
Why did Bobby Beale attack his adoptive mum, Jane Beale?
When Bobby returned in the holidays, thriving at his new school and happy with his hockey award, he overheard Jane saying they couldn’t afford to continue paying his school fees.
He smashed Jane’s car wing mirror and the next day when he tried to return to the school and she stopped him, Bobby hit her over the head with a hockey stick, three times.
As she lay unconscious, Bobby went to The Queen Vic and told Ian in front of everyone that he had killed Jane like he killed Lucy.
He later admitted everything to to the police about both Jane’s attack and how he killed his sister.
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Did Bobby Beale go to prison?
In court, Bobby pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm on Jane and unlawfully killing Lucy.
Bobby was sentenced to three years in prison for killing Lucy. He was also given one year for the attack on Jane with the sentences running together.
Bobby was confident he would get released if he appealed, however Ian convinced him not to for Jane’s sake.
Has Bobby Beale been seen on screen since 2016?
When Bobby’s older adoptive brother, Steven, died, Ian informed Bobby of his death, but it was off-screen.
Later, Ian said that Bobby did not react how he expected and Bobby just walked out of the room.
On October 17, 2017, Bobby was seen in a small cameo when Max threatened Jane into leaving Walford.
He showed her a video of an unknown prisoner harassing Bobby in his cell.
Jane ended up leaving in 2017, and hasn’t returned to Albert Square since.
When is Bobby Beale returning to EastEnders?
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Earlier this year, Ian received a letter to say Bobby would be released June 15, 2019
Although Ian believed Bobby would be better off with Jane, Kathy encouraged him to have Bobby back in Walford.
With Ian still away visiting Peter in New Zealand, who will be there to greet Bobby when he is released?
A classic Bobby Beale quote
“Dad… DAD… I killed Mum. Just like I killed Lucy.”
Bobby makes his shocking confession to a stunned pub at the wedding reception of Martin and Stacey Fowler.
EastEnders is on Mondays and Fridays at 8pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm.
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