Tiffany decides to write a heartfelt letter to Keegan asking him to meet her at the train station so they can reconcile, but Liam switches the letters, leaving Tiffany devastated when Keegan does not show up. Liam and Tiffany then leave together. Months later, Tiffany returns and realises that Liam swapped the letters. She then reconciles with Keegan and they leave for Germany together. Creation and development Liam is a character that was born in the serial; the first son of Bianca (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) who was conceived following the forced abortion of their first daughter in 1997 after she was diagnosed with spina bifida. Bianca's pregnancy with Liam was used by the programme makers to spread a public message in 1998; the scriptwriters included scenes of a practitioner advising Bianca to take folic acid, which protects against spina bifida. The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH) issued a public plea to EastEnders, urging them to allow Bianca's second baby to be born with spina bifida, in order to show parents that having a baby with spina bifida is "not the end of the world". This did not occur, however, and Bianca was shown to give birth to a premature but healthy baby Liam in an episode that aired on Christmas Day 1998. Related to the Branning and the Beale family through his mother and the Butcher family through his father, Liam and his sister Tiffany have more relatives than any other character to have appeared in the show. After three separate stints in EastEnders played by different child/baby actors – most substantially from 2002–2004, when Liam returned to Albert Square as part of his father Ricky's reintroduction – Liam returned in a more prominent role in 2008, played by James Forde. His return was confirmed on 29 October 2007 following the announcement that Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen were reprising their roles as Bianca and Ricky; he reappeared on-screen in April 2008. Upon his return, it was said that Liam had "taken to being the man of the house", and was described as "not very academic, but [...] always willing to try new things – a trait which sees him quite often in trouble. His laddish demeanour, however, is softened by the affection he is not afraid to show his mum." As part of the reintroduction of Bianca, four children, including Liam, were scripted