User:Kelvin 101/Perfectly Frank

"Perfectly Frank" is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast on BBC One on 21 September 2003. It has also been shown in the United States at special private viewings supported by public television.

Plot
This episode follows Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) as he sets up a seedy nightclub and a car valeting service in Somerset. Frank receives a visit from council officer, Mr Payne, telling him that they have rejected his license to open a lap dancing club. Later, Frank's assistant, Kevin, is sent a car to valet by the local gangster, Reg Priest (Gilbert Martin), and finds Mr Payne's dead body in the boot. However, it later emerges that Reg only knocked Mr Payne out when the he turns up alive, having survived the pier fall. Terrified of another attack, Mr Payne agrees to approve Frank's license.

Cast and characters

 * Mike Reid as Frank Butcher
 * Tony Osoba as Ray Taylor
 * Caroline Hayes as Lucy
 * Marc Ryan-Jordan as Kevin
 * Gary Whelan as DS Paul Kemmit
 * Sacha Dhawan as DC Wayne Atkins
 * Steven Elder as Douglas Payne
 * Jaye Jacobs as Alice
 * Lisa Coleman as Teri Phillips
 * Mark Hyde as Dan Morris
 * Jonathan Linsley as Steve Jackson
 * Gilbert Martin as Reg Priest

Production
On 24 March 2002, Neil Wilkes of Digital Spy reported that actor Mike Reid would return to his EastEnders role of Frank Butcher for a special episode titled "The Frank Butcher Experience", set in Manchester. Wilkes also reported that the episode would serve as a pilot for a potential spin-off series of six or eight episodes. A spokesperson for EastEnders confirmed at the time, "Mike Reid will film a spin-off", claiming that Reid was "delighted", and a show insider reportedly said that it would be "riveting viewing", adding that "Frank is a hero among soap fans". There were no plans for any other EastEnders character to appear.

On 8 July 2003, it was confirmed Reid had reprised his role for the comedy drama, now titled "Perfectly Frank", in which he runs a car lot and a nightclub. The episode reveals what happened to Frank after he left Albert Square, and settled in the equally fictitious location of Morley Bay, a "sleepy coastal town". It is set after Frank faked his death in Spain in 2002.

Speaking on behalf of the BBC, Jackie Shrimpton said details of the plot would not be revealed, but Frank would be having difficultly running his two businesses, while "there will be some real high jinks." Of the special, Reid commented, "I've always been fond of Frank. He's got faults. He wasn't the greatest dad in the world. He's always been a man with lots of ideas, most of which never really came off. But that's why I like 'Perfectly Frank'. At last, believe it or not, he lands on his two feet."

The episode was filmed during the week commencing 14 July 2003 in Clevedon. The exterior of the derelict Royal Pier Hotel was painted, the boards protecting the windows were removed, and it was transformed into the fictitious Frank's Empire Club. Reid also shot scenes on Clevedon Pier. The crew made some of the planks wet, while a fake body was thrown from the side into the sea.

Broadcasts
"Perfectly Frank" was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 21 September 2003. It has also been shows at private viewings in the United States, including a theatre screening on 19 November 2009 in New York by WLIW, and on 15 April 2010 by Twin Cities PBS, which is based in Minnesota.

Critical response
The episode received negative reviews from television critics. Jim Shelley of the Daily Mirror said it "stank" and criticised the "MDF" set and the quality of the acting, saying it looked like "Crossroads in rehearsal". He said that "to call it a storyline would be to exaggerate" and said that viewers "suffered" by watching it, concluding that, "The powers that be at EastEnders still seem to be clinging to the idea that Frank Butcher is a popular character/loveable old rascal when in fact he is neither. In fact, he's a thoroughly loathsome individual–a deeply flawed husband and father, adulterer, inveterate con-man, and [...] a murderer."

Shelley's colleague Ian Hyland hoped the episode would be better then previous spin-offs and the episodes set in Ireland, but stated "this was bad enough to overshadow the lot". He called the title "a piss take" and said the storyline was lacking in warmth. He also observed, "we were left with an hour-long dredge full of cliched characters and awful – really awful – jokes centred on a council official who was clamping down on 'inappropriate entertainment'. Boy, was he ever in the right place."

The Sun's Ally Ross wrote "Everything that's wrong with EastEnders – dodgy geezers, continuity errors, duff acting, everyone talking at cross purposes – packed into a black cab and bundled off to the seaside, where Frank Butcher is now running a car lot and lap-dancing club." He said the special "had exhausted all spin-off and acting potential from Frank Butcher" within four minutes. Ross added that his total list of complaints ran to 23 pages, but noted that there were some attempts to make it funny, even if they were clumsy.

In 2012, Kate Youde from The Independent called "Perfectly Frank" a "humdinger of an EastEnders storyline."

Ratings
Overnight ratings indicated that the episode was watched by 3.8million viewers on the night of its broadcast. It was shown opposite Heartbeat on ITV1, which gained 10.2million viewers. The episode was not in the top 30 most-watched programmes on BBC One for that week.