that she cannot leave Jacques on his own. Diane stays for Scarlett's christening at the hospital then returns to France. Following Michael's murder and Janine's arrest, Diane becomes Scarlett's guardian. In 2021, Janine reveals that her and Diane are not on speaking terms. Character creation and development Background and casting EastEnders had been on air for three years before the character of Diane made her first screen appearance in May 1988. At the time, big changes were occurring "behind-the-scenes". Co-creator Julia Smith took "a more back-seat role" as Series Producer, which allowed producer Mike Gibbon to take control of the making of the programme. The arrival of the Butcher family in May 1988 signified an end of an era for the soap, as Den and Angie Watts (Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson) vacated their positions as landlord and landlady of The Queen Victoria public house, leaving Frank (Mike Reid), and his girlfriend Pat Wicks (Pam St. Clement) to take over tenancy. Ricky (Sid Owen) and Diane, played by Sophie Lawrence, Frank's teenage children came with Frank. Lawrence was 15 at the time, and she got the part in EastEnders straight after leaving stage school. Lawrence has commented, "I always just thought that I would be a dancer and go into a West End musical and that I would be very, very happy. Then I got EastEnders when I was 15 and it kind of changed my life." Personality Diane has been described as "dreamy" and someone who "was always destined for more romantic things than the reality of Walford." "Sensitive and artistic", for a time Diane was portrayed as the least troublesome of the Butcher family, the one who conformed the most, though she began to rebel against her father's heavy-handed paternalism. EastEnders writer Sarah Phelps has described the character as sharp, smart with elements of her mother in her. Phelps adds "she had a sharp tongue and a quick mind...you could see her looking at her family and looking at Walford...and thinking 'this ain't for me'." Sophie Lawrence has said, "Diane was a bit of a wild child...she was a bit naughty, she was always in trouble. I think it was something to do with losing her mother at an early age...She ran away [from home] to make a statement. I think it was a 'notice me' kind of thing. It worked." In the 2008 television documentary EastEnders: Ricky