Rainie Cross

Rainie Cross
Rainie Cross in 2011
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Tanya Franks
Introduced by	Diederick Santer (2007) Bryan Kirkwood (2010)
Duration	2007–08, 2010–11
First appearance	2 August 2007
Last appearance	8 December 2011
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Barmaid (2011) Cleaner (2011)
Family Father Bill Cross Mother Cora Cross Sisters Tanya Branning Nephews Oscar Branning Nieces Lauren Branning Abi Branning

Lorraine "Rainie" Cross is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Rainie was introduced as the drug-addicted sister of Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner). After having three separate guest stints in 2007 (two episodes), 2008 (four episodes) and 2010 (seven episodes), she returned on 12 April 2011 as a regular character, and later departed on 8 December, the same year.

Described as "the slightly broken sister who's one step away from a vodka bottle", Rainie's storylines have often centred around her addictions to drugs and alcohol. During her seven episode guest stint in 2010, Rainie was involved in a highly criticised crack cocaine storyline with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). The scenes showed Phil and Rainie taking crack. It was branded "inappropriate" and "horrid," the Daily Record described the scenes as 'disturbing' and former EastEnders star, Natalie Cassidy also criticised the scenes, saying she was 'shocked'. Franks defended the storyline, though she was not surprised that viewers had complained.

Storylines

2007–10

Rainie first appears at Tanya's house claiming that she is clean from drugs. However, Tanya catches her attempting to inject heroin and gives her a choice—to take £500 and never see Tanya or her children again, or to stay the night and get help with her problems first thing in the morning. Rainie leaves with the money without Tanya noticing. Ignoring Tanya's ultimatum, Rainie returns the following year. Tanya is in an emotional state, having recently split from her husband Max Branning (Jake Wood). She gives Tanya back the £500 she took and says she is clean. Tanya temporarily allows Rainie to stay, but she tests positive for cannabis so she is asked to leave.

Rainie returns to Walford in 2010 and tells Max she is clean and sober, and asks Max for Tanya's phone number. Tanya's daughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) is keen for Rainie to stay, and Max agrees. She steals money out of Max's sister Carol Jackson's (Lindsey Coulson) purse, which she uses to buy crack cocaine. Max catches her with the drugs and throws her out of the house. She starts to look for her drugs where a drunken Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) approaches, finds Rainie's crack cocaine and is tempted to try some with her after she says it helps her block out her memories. Phil and Rainie get high at Phil's home. Rainie goes to get more drugs when Phil steals money from The Queen Victoria public house, but is mugged by a drug dealer. When Phil's girlfriend Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) offers to help Phil get clean, she throws Rainie out of the house, calling her pathetic.

2011

Rainie returns in 2011, turning up at Tanya's house, where their mother Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell) is visiting. Rainie says she is now completely clean and is staying with Cora as her counsellor wants her to reconnect with her family. When Tanya and Greg (Stefan Booth) go on honeymoon, Rainie looks after their house. Rainie goes to the R&R and sees Phil. She talks about their past though says he wants nothing to do with her and walks of. She then sits down with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) where they get drunk together and later go to his flat and have sex. However, Jack rejects Rainie the following morning. Tanya and Greg arrive from their honeymoon and see how much trouble Rainie has made in the days they have been gone. Rainie later stirs up trouble with Shirley and is asked by Tanya to move out. Rainie persuades Tanya to let her stay, much to the disappointment of Greg. Rainie pays a visit to Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) to find her knickers she supposedly left in the flat and taunts Ronnie asking her to tell Jack to phone her. She is kicked out once again. She joins a support group to help her stay off drugs and alcohol, and Phil also attends. Rainie struggles and calls her drug dealer, but Phil later finds Rainie with drugs and takes them from her, destroying them. She then turns to drink, and turns up drunk at Tanya's salon. Tanya takes her home, but Greg throws her out after Tanya lies that Rainie tried to stab her. A few days later, Phil finds Rainie in the pub and Shirley catches Rainie talking to Phil and gets the wrong idea and finds out Phil has been sponsoring Rainie. After Shirley gains ownership of the café, she gives Rainie a job but the next day she decides to give it to Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) instead.

Rainie disappears from Walford, but on her return she insists she is still clean. However, she faces several temptations by people offering her drugs. She eventually buys some from Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott). When Phil finds out, he asks Ryan to not sell to Rainie again. Dot Branning (June Brown) takes pity on Rainie and helps her to clean herself up, telling her about Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler) and giving her a Bible, which makes Rainie decide to change as she finds religion. Rainie apologises to Tanya for being rude to her earlier in the week, and Tanya agrees to let her stay with her and Greg. Rainie and Cora confide in one another when Rainie says Tanya treats her like a child. When it is revealed Tanya had an affair with Max, Rainie nearly turns to drink, but stops herself. She finds a job at the R&R club, but does not realise she only got it because her boss, Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) wanted to irritate Phil. The next week, Phil demands Janine to get rid of Rainie, to which she agrees and sacks Rainie. Rainie later applies for a job as an office worker with Janine's new property management business, but Janine makes her a cleaner. When Phil is sent photos relating to an incident from his past, Rainie stops him from turning to drink. Phil tells her about the incident and they start to kiss, but are interrupted by Pat Evans (Pam St Clement). Rainie mentions the photos to Shirley, leading to Shirley believing that Rainie is sending them, so Shirley threatens Rainie, telling her to stop.

Rainie later discovers that Tanya has cervical cancer. Max returns with brother Derek (Jamie Foreman) and Derek recognises Rainie from Max and Tanya's wedding and he is attracted to her, later mentioning that they had sex. Rainie demands to know why Tanya stopped her treatment, so she explains that it did not work for father and confesses she helped him die, which shatters both Rainie and Cora. Though Tanya and Cora reconcile, Rainie remains angry, telling Tanya she hopes the cancer kills her. She sleeps rough, but then meets Derek and starts a sexual relationship him.^[1] When Rainie asks Tanya for an apology over their father, Tanya refuses, saying she does not regret it. Cora backs Tanya up and tells Rainie she is ashamed to be her mother. Rainie then decides to leave Walford for Tanya's sake, though she apologises for her comments. She breaks up with Derek and leaves.^[2]

Development

Creation and characterisation

Tanya Franks (pictured) was cast as Rainie in 2007 and made two additional guest stints in 2008 and 2010 and returned as a regular in 2011.

The character originally appeared for two episodes on 2 and 3 August 2007,^[3] and then returned for four episodes between 7 and 11 January 2008.^[4][5][6][7] Franks was asked to return again later in 2008 but could not make it, so Franks thought Rainie would not be seen again.^[8] She returned for the longer stint in 2010, starting on 3 August.^[9] Franks did not expect to be asked to return in 2010, and said the call came as a surprise. She said it was "ideal" because it fitted in with another acting job she was undertaking at the time.^[10] She commented that Rainie would be "unlikely to return without stirring up a bit of trouble".^[8] Rainie returned again on 12 April 2011^[11] as a regular character,^[12] for Tanya's wedding to Greg Jessop, along with Tanya and Rainie's mother Cora,^[13] where Cora tries to build bridges between the sisters.^[14]

In April 2011 it was reported by the The Sun that Rainie would have a one-night stand with Jack Branning on 6 May 2011^[16] after he discovers his son is dead and she comforts him.^[17][18] In May 2011, it was announced that Cora would return to the series, and executive producer Bryan Kirkwood said he was "keen to establish the Cross women—Rainie completes the mix as the slightly broken sister who's one step away from a vodka bottle."^[12]

Rainie has been described as "troublesome"^[19] and "troubled".^[20] On her official BBC character profile she is described as sly, manipulative and ruthless, and that she "she spells trouble with a capital T!".^[15] It finishes saying, "But behind the wild partying, Rainie is a lost soul with a soft, vulnerable side that yearns to get her life back on track and impress her older sister Tanya."^[15]

Notable relationships

Phil Mitchell

Rainie's relationship with Phil (McFadden) was first explored during her stint in 2010. Rainie and Phil were to be involved in a storyline involving the taking of crack cocaine. Discussing her return in 2010, she said she was pleased to be working closely with McFadden (Phil) as they had not worked together previously. Franks explained that after being thrown out of the house by Tanya's ex-husband Max Branning and moving in with Phil that "It gets quite dark and dirty, really. Phil and Rainie are two people who meet at a point in their lives where they both see something equivalent in each other. He offers her something that she wants, and that is a place to be, while she has something that he wants, and that's drugs—so it's a match at that time."^[10]

Franks was given advice from the charity DrugScope on how to act the part and also undertook some of her own research, and she said she believed the scenes to be very realistic.^[10] She wanted the drugs storyline to help people, saying, "If there are people who have a drugs problem, or an addiction problem of any kind really, they might watch something like this and it could trigger something in their mind that is relevant to them, or someone that they know. Hopefully it could make people think twice about carrying on with that, and perhaps look into getting some help. The organisation that we worked with, DrugScope, gives a lot of help and advice for people with drug addictions. I think it can be hugely helpful when a show as popular as EastEnders does something like this."^[10] She also stated that "If EastEnders has saved one life by putting this story out it's been worth it. We shouldn't shy away from it. The whole point of soaps is to reflect a certain amount of everyday life. Some of it is going to be light entertainment, some isn't."^[21]

Tanya

Rainie's relationship with Tanya (Joyner) has always been fractured, though Rainie trys to resolve the tension with Tanya during her return in 2011.^[23] When Rainie was first announced on 13 July 2007, it was said Rainie was said to "[drag] up a past which Tanya would rather forget".^[24] Rainie has tested Tanya in her time in Walford. She commonly persuades Tanya to let her stay and forgive her and then going back on the promise, which leads Rainie to be kicked out. When Franks returned in 2010 she said "she was disappointed not to be working with Joyner this time."^[10]

On her return to for Tanya's wedding, a spokeperson said, “Tanya soon softens towards Rainie and her mother but will the harmony last between all three women or will past problems cause the women to Cross swords once again?”.^[25] Franks has commented that she is excited about exploring the family dynamic between the Cross ladies in upcoming storylines and her future in EastEnders.^[22] Joyner said that Tanya would forgive Rainie for her past actions.^[26] In a interview with Digital Spy, Kirkwood said that he was 'delighted' at the expansion of Tanya's family and that "The new characters are excellent additions to a cast that's already very strong."^[27]

Reception

The storyline in which viewers saw Phil and Rainie on a drug binge prompted over 200 complaints.

Franks said that after her stint in 2008, many people recognised her in the street and asked if she would return.^[10] Scenes showing Phil and Rainie taking the drug crack cocaine in 2010 prompted over 200 complaints from viewers who felt the scenes were inappropriate. The BBC responded by saying "EastEnders in no way—and at no point—glamorises or condones the use of drugs, and furthermore we took great care to avoid any demonstration on how to prepare or take drugs. [...] We took care to signal the nature of the episode's content to viewers in advance through programme publicity and billings, and the BBC Action Line was trailed following the episode for anyone affected by the issue. In addition to this, our website includes links to organisations who can offer help and advice on this issue. [...] We worked closely with drug and alcohol charities, including Addaction and DrugScope, throughout the editorial process to ensure that we handled the storyline accurately and sensitively."^[28][29] The Daily Mail asked some viewers about the scenes, including one who said, "I was shocked at the content of the episode. The graphic detail of the drug use with Phil and his friend was terrible and in view of the time that the episode was aired, entirely inappropriate. Viewers do not need to see this kind of storyline. Please, BBC, no more of these horrid storylines."^[30] Other viewers said, "They look like they're having a good time. They're in danger of making it look appealing."^[31] Finally, "It was a bit much. I've found EastEnders distressing over the last month."^[31] The Daily Record described the scenes as 'disturbing'.^[31]

Former EastEnders star, Natalie Cassidy also criticised the scenes, saying, "You can't swear or show two people making love before the watershed, yet you can show people smoking class A drugs? I was really shocked."^[32] Franks was not surprised that people complained, but defended the storyline, saying that "the good that comes from storylines like this far outweighs whatever concerns people might have".^[33]

See also

• List of EastEnders characters (2007)

References

External links

• Rainie Cross at BBC Online