Willy (EastEnders)

Willy (also Rasputin) is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Willy is a Pug, who appears in the first episode of the programme on 19 February 1985 and remains in the show until 14 May 1992.

Storylines

Willy is Ethel Skinner's (Gretchen Franklin) constant companion. She rarely appears on-screen without him tucked under her arm. He was named after her late husband, William Skinner (Ian Brimble). A lot of rather puerile humour is derived from Willy's name. Ethel's famous lines being either, "Where's my Willy?" or, in a double entendre, "Has anyone seen my Willy"

Willy can often be quite mischievous. When Ethel is preparing the food in The Queen Victoria public house one day, Willy eats all the expensive steak for the steak and kidney pies when her back is turned. Ethel replaces the meat with a less costly cut and everyone comments that the pies were not up to standard. At Christmas 1990, he sneaks into the Fowlers' and begins eating the turkey.

Willy is kidnapped in 1986. He is eventually found by Detective Roy Quick (Douglas Fielding) in a pet shop, but when Quick returns with Ethel, Willy has been sold. Willy is tracked down to his new owner, Mr. Pavasars, who has renamed him Rasputin. Lou Beale (Anna Wing) fetches him back and returns Willy to his rightful owner. When Ethel falls and breaks her hip, Willy stays with Dot Cotton (June Brown), and they find each other a strain. Dot isn't the only one who can't tolerate Willy. First Ernie Mears (Ken Wynne) and then Benny Bloom (Arnold Yarrow) want to marry Ethel, but only if she will get rid of Willy. Ethel can't part with her beloved dog so she turns them both down.