
~ Bobby Beale to Jane, not realising that he has killed Lucy
I killed Mum, just like I killed Lucy.
~ Bobby Beale confessing to the Square that he killed Lucy, believing that he has killed Jane after hitting her with his hockey stick

Robert “Bobby” Beale is a fictional character of the British soap opera EastEnders who first appeared in 2003 and went on to serve as the main antagonist in 2015 and throughout the first half of 2016. He returned as one of the protagonists in 2019-2020.

He is the son of EastEnders' longest running character Ian Beale and half-brother of adoptive Steven Beale.


Bobby Beale is the son of Ian Beale and his third wife, Laura Dunn. Ian initially believed that he could not be the boy's father, having had a vasectomy in order to avoid having any more children. Laura died from a broken neck after falling down the stairs (caused by slipping on one of Bobby's toys), and Ian took custody over Bobby, who grew up to believe that his father's fourth wife, Jane Collins, was his biological mother.

Bobby started out as a minor character throughout the show up until he played a major role in 2015, when he was revealed to be the killer of Lucy Beale, though he was unaware of it at the time. The subsequent revelation gradually increased Bobby's psychotic behaviour when he began to grow increasingly violent and unstable, all the while his parents desperately tried to protect him from the possibility of going to prison for Lucy's murder.

It wasn't until the end of Christmas 2015, just months after the Beales framed Max Branning for Lucy's murder, that Bobby learned from Dennis Rickman Jr that he had killed Lucy, having initially been lead to believe that while he had attacked her that night following an argument, he hadn't killed her in the process. Unfortunately, this further stroked his temperamental mannerisms - culminating in Bobby deliberately attacking Jane shortly after smashing a car out of anger. At this point, the truth about Lucy finally became public knowledge and Bobby directly exposed himself as her murderer. This led to Bobby being arrested and then convicted when he pleaded guilty in spite of Ian's objections.

Since then, Bobby has been sentenced to 3 years in juvenile for the unlawful killing of Lucy and commiting grevious bodily harm on Jane.

Bobby returns on the 13th June 2019 (episode 5937), having been released from prison, during which time he converted to Islam.

List of Victims

  1. Laura Beale: Slipped on one of his toys, resulting in her falling down stairs, breaking her neck.
  2. Lucy Beale: Bashed Lucy in the head with a jewellery box. He did not realise he had killed her until being informed by Dennis Rickman Jr.
  3. Phil Mitchell: Threatens Phil with Ian’s golf club.
  4. Jane Beale: Beat her over the head with a hockey stick numerous times showing blood on a wedding cake and was later transferred to hospital, managing to survive her injuries.
  5. Cindy Beale Jr.: Pushed her to the table where Lucy died, falling unconscious.
  6. Dennis Rickman Jr.: Pushed him to the table where Lucy died, falling unconscious while arguing with his mother Sharon Watts over her affair with Keanu Taylor.


  1. Kevin Curran: 2003-2007
  2. Alex Francis: 2007-2012
  3. Rory Stroud: 2013-2014
  4. Eliot Carrington: 2014-2017
  5. Clay Milner Russell: 2019-current




  • Just like Michael Myers, Bobby is one of several fictional characters who committed sororicide.

