Ricky Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running male protagonists to feature in EastEnders. Owen originally left the role in 2000 to pursue a music career. However, he reprised the role in 2002 before being axed by producer Louise Berridge in 2004. In 2008, producer Diederick Santer introduced the character for a third time, along with his wife Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). Ricky is portrayed as unintelligent, simplistic, easily led and bossed around by dominant personalities. On 26 February 2011, it was announced that Owen would take a temporary break from the show. The character exited on 19 July 2011, returning five months later on 13 December 2011. Ricky left EastEnders on 17 January 2012. Ricky returned to EastEnders on 20 June 2012 for the wedding of his sister, Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), before departing for the final time on 29 June 2012. In April 2016 he had voiced his interest in returning to EastEnders during an appearance on Celebrity Juice. He reprised his role as Ricky for an eight-week stint from 1 December 2022 to 26 January 2023. Storylines 1988–2000 A teenage Ricky arrives in Albert Square when his father Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) becomes landlord of The Queen Victoria public house in May 1988. Non-academic, Ricky proves to be a troublesome teenager and is frequently berated by his father. He begins dating Shireen Karim (Nisha Kapur), an Asian Muslim, much to Shireen's father Ashraf's (Tony Wredden) disgust. Ashraf forces Shireen into an arranged marriage, prompting Ricky to retaliate by terrorizing Ashraf for a while with a gang of racists. Later on, Ricky shows talent mending cars, so the Mitchell brothers, Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant (Ross Kemp), take him on at their auto repair shop as an apprentice mechanic in 1990. Ricky begins dating the Mitchell brothers' younger sister Sam (Danniella Westbrook) and when she decides she wants to get married at 16, she and Ricky elope to Gretna Green in 1991. Their marriage is short-lived, as Sam grows bored and starts to look for entertainment elsewhere; she leaves Ricky in 1993. Despite a one-night stand with Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) in January 1994, Ricky does not enter into another serious relationship until August, when he begins dating Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). They move in together, but