Jane Beale
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| EastEnders character | ||||||||||
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| Jane Beale | ||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Laurie Brett | |||||||||
| Introduced by | Louise Berridge | |||||||||
| Duration | 2004— | |||||||||
| First appearance | 22 June 2004 | |||||||||
| Profile | ||||||||||
| Date of birth | 2 May 1971 | |||||||||
| Status | Married | |||||||||
| Home | 45 Albert Square | |||||||||
| Occupation | Entrepreneur | |||||||||
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Lesley Jane Beale (née Clarke; previously Collins) is a fictional character in popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is played by Laurie Brett, and made her first appearance on 22 June 2004.
Jane is currently married to Ian Beale, with whom she was in a co-habiting relationship for around two years. She is known for her positive attitude and her easy-going nature.
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[edit] Development
Laurie Brett has described Jane as "the straight man to Ian's buffoon. She's the other half who makes him whole."[1] Speaking on the character's relationship with her husband, she has likened herself to his mother, Kathy Beale, stating: "if Jane doesn't work out for Ian, no one will! Perhaps because Ian is finally married to his mother. Jane is very Kathy-esque. They'd have got on really well, though I can't imagine Kathy would've been too impressed with Jane's affair with Grant - despite the fact she got through a few Mitchells herself!"[1] She has stated that she hopes Jane and Ian's marriage is a lasting one, commenting that so far: "it's panned out brilliantly. There are millions of marriages like this one, involving a strong woman behind an incredibly weak man. But it's Ian's flaws that make everyone love him so much. The only time a character becomes boring is when they're two dimensional, and that's something you could never say about Ian. I can't imagine being anyone else's missus!"[1]
On the Beale family as a whole, Brett has commented: "we're probably the most normal family in Albert Square. The Beales are like the Trotters from Only Fools and Horses in many ways. They're salt-of-the-earth people who are trying to better themselves, so there's plenty of scope for drama and comedy. The writers certainly haven't run out of ideas for us yet - I haven't stopped working on big stories since I joined the show!"[1]
[edit] Storylines
[edit] Arrival, relationship with Ian
Jane arrived in Walford on a candy floss stand at the funfair in Albert Square. She argued with Ian Beale, but helped out when the funfair collapsed. She stayed in the Square and formed a close friendship with Ian. She revealed that her husband of twelve years, David, was suffering from Huntington's Disease.
David died, and Jane and Ian started a relationship. She moved in with him and his three children, Lucy, Peter and Bobby.
When a feud erupted between Ian and Phil Mitchell, Phil's brother Grant and Jane agreed that he would handle Phil and she would handle Ian. Jane and Grant later shared a kiss, and on 25 April 2006, they had sex. Jane later decided to end the affair, and Grant left Walford.
Ian discovered the affair from Phil. Ian disappeared for a day but came back and proposed to Jane who accepted. He was in fact planning to use the wedding to humiliate her. Jane was confused about the sudden turn of events but was happy to be with Ian. He also decided that she should adopt his children. Ian had second thoughts about his plan after seeing that Jane was a good mother to his children, but decided to go through with it after being persuaded by his aunt, Pauline.
On the day of the hen party, Jane's mother Linda criticised Jane's choice of husband and wedding dress. Eventually, Jane told her mother to shut up. Lucy overheard Linda call Jane by the name Lesley. At the wedding Ian gave Peggy a letter, which he requested she read out to everyone at the reception. Phil was suspicious of this and opened it to find out that Ian was planning to humiliate Jane in front of everyone. He sent Jane a text message to tell her not to come to the wedding. Jane walked round the Square in her wedding dress in the rain in tears. Ian found her and they ended up fighting in the mud at the allotments. After a lot of fighting and talking they both realised that they loved each other too much and that they wanted to be together.
They later moved into Pauline's former home, 45 Albert Square and finally married on 5 July 2007 in secret, witnessed only by Heather Trott and her friend from the meat counter at the supermarket.
[edit] Steven
In September 2007, Ian was taken hostage by his stepson Steven, who had been stalking him. Steven returned to Walford after several years of absence and lived with Jane and his sister and brothers. On 5 October, he told Jane that it was his fault that Ian was not coming back. He then tried to kiss her, and she ran off, horrified.
Weeks later, Steven took Lucy to the flat where Steven was holding Ian. Lucy escaped and let Jane know where they were. Jane arrived and punched Steven. Steven then threatened to shoot himself but Jane, Lucy and Ian all tried to stop him. In the struggle Jane was shot. Before Jane was operated on, she and Ian decided to have a baby when she recovered. Although the operation was mainly successful, Jane required a hysterectomy. A few weeks later, on 6 November 2007, Jane was discharged from hospital. Steven was staying at a psychiatric clinic, but later moved in with Pat Evans. Steven tried his best to make amends with Jane but she wanted him to leave her family alone.
Jane later told Tanya Branning what Steven did. Jane's inability to have children made her depressed and she was unable to hold Tanya's newborn son Oscar. Tanya asked Jane to be godmother to Oscar and she accepted. She was pleased when she found out that Steven was leaving for good, but as he was about to leave Ian stopped him. Jane was furious when she found out Ian was rekindling his relationship with Steven. Ian invited Steven for Christmas dinner, but Jane only allowed him to stay for an hour. After an hour, she forced Ian to kick Steven out of the house. She later told Ian that if Steven ever stepped inside the house she would leave him. However, Jane eventually got used to Steven being around and he moved into the Beales' house.
[edit] Christian
On 14 January 2008 Ian got in contact with Jane's gay brother Christian Clarke. Jane was furious with Ian for doing so, but they went to meet them in a restaurant. Christian humiliated Jane about her ex-husband, David, which lead to Jane confronting him. But when Christian's partner, Ashley Jennings kicked him out of the house, Jane asked Ian if her brother could stay in their house. Ian reluctantly agreed, although Christian has remained close to Albert Square, moving into Jase Dyer's flat after Ian threw him out.
Jane became close to her brother again but her loyalty to him was tested when Steven came home upset one night and claimed that Christian came on to him. Christian claimed that Steven is just confused about his sexuality and he never came on to him. However Jane agreed with Ian when he demanded that Christian leave Walford for good. Jane was upset when Christian left and later found a bodybuilding magazine in Steven's room. With proof of Steven's lies, Christian came back to Walford.
[edit] Missing Lucy
Recently, after Ian was invited to meet the Queen, Lucy had a house party, badly vandalising the house and upsetting Jane and Ian. This caused her to run away and has caused friction between Ian and Jane due to the arguments caused by this about parental skills of each other and how Ian pushed Lucy away. She has kept strong for Peter, Bobby and has also supported Lucy's best friend Lauren. After over a month missing, it was revealed that Steven had been hiding Lucy in a caravan. After this, Steven left Walford and Lucy returned home. Lucy is living back in Albert Square now.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Woodward, Kate, “Brace yourselves! It's the Beales”, Inside Soap (England): 49-52, 8 April 2008
[edit] External links
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