Johnny Allen

"I'M STILL WHO I AM! I'M STILL WHO I AM!"

- Johnny Allen Jonathon "Johnny" Allen was one of the most ruthless and dangerous antagonists featured in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Appearing from 2005 to 2006, Johnny was a businessman and gangster who relentlessy spread pain and misery in order to maintain the upper hand against his enemies, often having brothers Jake and Danny Moon doing his dirty work. His most notable acts were murdering Andy Hunter and ordering the death of Dennis Rickman.

He was portrayed by Billy Murray.

Background
Born to and raised by an impoverished family in the 1940s, Johnny Allen was educated grew up in Walford, becoming familiar with the local residents, including the Beale Family and Den Watts. At an early age, he became a boxer and quickly became involved with the criminal underworld; by the early 50s, he was an up-and-coming gangster and employer to well-known prostitute Pat Harris, with whom he had several flings with until she went on to marry Pete Beale in 1961.

By the late 60s, Johnny also employed fellow boxer Eric Mitchell. Jealous at Eric for being a more talented boxer than himself, Johnny began bullying him, starting a strong feud between the two men. Eric's wife Peggy, fed up wth her husband's abuse, tried to seduce Johnny, but he rejected her. Peggy went on to blame Johnny for Eric's violent ways, as the former's bullying was what caused the latter to take his frustations out on her. Eventually, Johnny became notorius in London's underworld for his frequent use of torture and murder, even on his own employees. His actions included cutting the fingers off a prostitute's hand, and assaulting a man who misspelled a word on a birthday cake, which he took as disrespectful.

In order to expand his business empire, J.A. Enterprises, Johnny left Walford some time around the early 70s, but still carried out criminal jobs from his mansion in Essex. Some time later, he married a woman named Stephanie, and together they had two daughters, Scarlet (born in 1986) and Ruby (born in 1988). However, in 1994, Johnny began an affair with a bar maid under his employment, Tina Stewart, despite being many years her elder. Tragedy struck the Allen family in March 2004, when an arson attack committed by one of Johnny's criminal rivals killed Stephanie and Scarlet. Johnny attempted to rescue Scarlett, but ended up saving Ruby instead, and he subsequently sent her away to boarding school.

EastEnders
Johnny first appeared in Walford in 2005 to back up Jack and Danny Moon against their enemy and boss, Andy Hunter, the current leader of The Firm. As time went on, Johnny began to appear more frequently, helping the two brothers deal with their problems and keeping them out of trouble. Eventually, he bought the nightclub "Angie's Den", which he renamed "Scarlet" after his deceased daughter, and the Ferreira family flat, in which he moved in with Ruby. As the feud between Johnny and Andy escalated, Johnny pushed Andy off a motorway bridge to his death in February, on the exact same night Den Watts was murdered by his wife Chrissie. Andy's death was incorrectly ruled as a suicide.

Following Andy's death, Johnny placed Danny and Jake under his employment as doormen at Scarlet, but Danny soon became angry when Johnny refused to take him seriously and stole his business ideas, such as organising a Salsa night. When the two brothers attempted to supply the club with stolen alcohol, Johnny fired them; this, coupled with never recieving any credit for his ideas, caused Danny to set Johnny's home on fire in a drunken rage. Johnny hunted Danny and Jake down and prepared to kill the former, but the latter pleaded for their lives; Johnny agreed to let them live, on the condition that they left Walford and never returned. However, Jake proceeded to return the following September, but explained that he was there for personal reasons, so Johnny allowed him to stay.

In March 2005, Ruby ran away from boarding school and traveled to Walford to look after her father. When Tina Stewart arrived in Walford, she and Johnny recommenced their relationship. Ruby was initially upset upon discovering the two were together, as Tina had previously nearly run her over, but she eventually accepted Tina and the three of them began living together as a family. However, Johnny soon grew tired of Tina and began another affair with Amy, a bartender at Scarlet. Ruby discovered the affair and informed Tina, and the latter left Johnny and Walford. Johnny also ended up sparking a feud between himself and Peggy Mitchell, after he outbid her offer for The Queen Victoria. As Peggy revealed her knowledge of Johnny's past crimes, Ruby walked into the Vic, learning the truth about her father and the possibility that he was to balme for the deaths of her mother and sister.

Johnny's feud with the Mitchell family continued, and in November, Johnny disocvered via Scarlet's CCTV footage that Chrissie Watts had confided with Jake that she was the murderer of her husband Den; a crime for which Sam Mitchell was currently being held in police custody. Johnny proceeded to reveal the tape's existence to the Mitchells to provoke them, leading to brothers Phil and Grant confronting an armed Johnny. The situation was only defused by Ruby, and the Mitchell brothers left with the tape, which the used to clear Sam's name and have Chrissie imprisoned.

Some time later, Phil began paying Juley Smith to date Ruby, much to Johnny's annoyance. When he and Juley began to argue at a party, Dennis Rickman threw him out. Johnny then threatened Dennis's wife Sharon with her husband's death unless the two of them left Walford by New Years Eve midnight, resulting in Dennis violently assaulting him. Johnny proceeded to call Danny back to Walford to have him kill Dennis; on New Years Eve, Dennis was stabbed by Danny and died on Albert Square in Sharon's arms. Soon afterward, Johnny and Ruby left Walford and moved back to Essex on 19 January 2006.

"Get Johnny Week"
"Justice is coming Johnny! I've waited long enough, I can wait a bit longer!"

- Phil Mitchel during his and Grant's attack on Johnny's mansion. The following March, Phil and Grant managed to track Johnny down to his mansion in order to exact revenge for Dennis' murder. During their attack, Johnny kept Ruby in a safe room where she accidentley discovered that Johnny was an alcoholic. Angered, she left him to Phil while she had a heart to heart talk with Grant, who she revealed to about Phil baying Juley to date her. Angered, Grant confronted Phil, allowing Johnny to get away and resulting in a car chase. The brothers squabbling allowed Johnny to capture them, and he ordered Danny to kill them both. Danny led the two into the woods to shoot them, but he was suddenly shot and killed by his brother Jake. Ruby discovered the true extent of Johnny's crime and called the police, threatening to disown her father if he did not confess to all of them. Johnny agreed and surrendered himself to the authorities. He was subsequently charged for the murders of Andy Hunter, Dennis Rickman and four others and sentenced to life in prison with the recommended minimum of 27 years.

While in prison, Johnny had Jake look after Ruby for him. Ruby began to date Sean Slater, who was only really interested in her money. He manipulated Ruby into believing that Jake was trying to get in the way of their relationship and she even told him that Jake was the one who killed Danny. With Sean now having a hold over him, Jake called Johnny in prison in Ocotber to inform him of Shaun's actions. Johnny arranged to for Sean to visit him in prison, hoping to intimidate him into no longer seeing Ruby. How ever, Sean simply taunted him, calling him a worn out has-been and declaring there was nothing he could do to stop him seeing Ruby. Furious, Johnny almost attacked Sean, but stopped when security attempted to intervene.

Returning to his cell, Johnny vented his anger and declared that he wanted Sean dead. He attempted to phone Jame and order him to kill Sean, but suddenly suffered a heart attack before he could dial. As his cellmate asked him who he wanted dead, Johnny, believing Jake was on the phone, whispered "Jake...kill him for me." before falling unconscious. Misinterpreting Johnny's words, his cellmate believed that Jake was the man he wanted dead. Johnny was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his heart attack and died, while Jake was subsequently confronted by a stranger as he left Walford; his ultimate fate was never revealed.