James Willmott-Brown

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Evil-doer
Full Name	James Willmott-Brown
Alias	James "Bas-ard" "Sad, deluded, pathetic old man" Willmott-Brown "Fantasist" "Scum" Mr. Willmott-Brown Dad "Creep" "Lunatic" Daddy
Origin	Eastenders
Occupation	Owner of The Dagmar wine bar (formerly) Founder of Weyland & Co
Powers / Skills	High intelligence Psychological manipulation Business practices Charisma Deception
Hobby	Seducing and romancing with Kathy Beale. Arguing with Kathy's family and friends in Albert Square.
Goals	Recoup his relationship with Kathy Beale (failed). Subjugate Albert Square under the control of Weyland & Co (failed).
Crimes	Rape Stalking Assault Corruption Sexual harassment Abuse of power Bribery Child neglect
Type of Villain	Delusional Businessman

“	"My pub, my rules, and I want you out!"	„
	~ Willmott-Brown revealing to the Square that he now owns The Queen Victoria public house, as part of his plan to takeover the square and recoup his old relationship with Kathy Beale - the woman he raped back in 1988.

James Willmott-Brown is a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the BBC British soap-opera Eastenders.

He first appeared as a central character in 1986 and went on to serve as one of the main antagonists in between 1987-1989, a secondary antagonist in 1992, a mentioned character in 1994, and the primary antagonist in 2017.

He was portrayed by William Boyde.

Character Development

Introduced in 1986, Willmott-Brown was a businessman who owned The Dagmar wine bar and established himself as a business rival to Den Watts, the landlord of the Queen Victoria. He is best known for raping established character Kathy Beale in 1988, and he left the show the following year. He made a reappearance in 1992 before departing again, and would not appear for the next 25 years until he was reintroduced in 2017. Boyde departed once again in December of that year.

Biography

1986-89

James Willmott-Brown, a former officer in the army, first arrived in Walford as a representative to the Luxford and Copley brewery - which owned the Queen Victoria. He decided to move into the area and bought Debbie Wilkin's house on Albert Square, which she had put up for sale after the death of her boyfriend, Andy O'Brien. James and Debbie began dating briefly, but the relationship didn't last, and Pat Butcher also attempted to seduce him to no avail. He also became friends with Colin Russell.

Wilmott-Brown eventually decided to quit his job as brewery manager and bought a disused brewery on Turpin Road, which he refurbished into a wine bar he named The Dagmar. He hired pub landlady Angie Watts as manageress, much the irritation of her estranged husband Den Watts - the landlord of the Queen Vic. James also allowed Angie and her adopted daughter Sharon to live in the flat above The Dagmar. After the wine bar opened for business, James and Den began to compete for best decorated pub for the 'London in Bloom' competition - as well as in a five-star football match - and attempted to poach each others staff.

As time went on however, the Dagmar began to lose business due to the people of Walford never taking to the upper-class establishment as well as rival businesses such as the Vic and the Strokes wine bar - which Den managed after giving up his tenancy of the former. It was then that Angie had eventually quit as manager, no longer able to tolerate the bar's yuppie clientele. At the same time, James was approached by 'Walford Investments' - also known as the square's organized-crime empire known as The Firm - who demanded that he allow them to buy into his business. James refused, and as a result caused his business to suffer further when his creditors were unable to trade with him. Upon learning that Den was a member of the Firm, Willmott-Brown reported him to the police; however, Pat's son Simon Wicks - who was working at the Dagmar as a barman - overheard him and informed Den about this. When the residents of Walford found out what James had done, he subsequently lost all of his customers and was left on the verge of financial collapse. Soon enough, James began to behave erratically in his difficulty to cope with his situations.

At somepoint, James hired local resident Kathy Beale as a barmaid at the Dagmar - much to the aggravation of her husband Pete. The rift between the couple worsened when it became clear that James was romantically interested in Kathy. With the people of Walford ignoring him, Kathy became his only friend; James began buying her expensive gifts and confiding in her about the state of his business, as well as how his marriage fell apart and how it effected his children, Sophie and Luke. One night, after Kathy and Pete had another fight regarding how much time she was spending with James, he invited Kathy to his home for a glass of wine after work, intending to seduce her. However, when Kathy realized what James was doing and attempted to leave, he refused to take no for an answer and proceeded to rape her.

Upon finding Kathy an emotional wreck and realizing what had happened, Den called his contacts within The Firm in order to get revenge. The Dagmar was subsequently fire-bombed and Den was arrested for arson, with The Firm demanding he take the blame for the arson before their leader Jack Dalton eventually decides to have Den killed for his actions. James was horrified when he returned days later and saw what had become of the Dagmar, and the residents of Albert Square began to treat him with open hostility.

When Kathy revealed her rape to the police and Willmott-Brown was arrested, he claimed that he and Kathy had been in an affair and she had had consensual sex with him; when asked about Kathy's bruises, he claimed they were from a rampant sexual encounter and suggested that Pete was a violent man and Kathy had claimed she'd been raped to avoid her husband's wrath. Despite his statement, however, Willmott-Brown was shocked to find himself charged with rape. Before he could stand trial for his crime, he attempted to bribe Kathy to drop the charges. Kathy appeared to accept his bribe at first, but it turns out that D.I. Bob Ashley was actually listening in on them next door - with Kathy having summoned him to examine James' movements. James was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 3 years in prison.

However, James' actions consequently destroyed Kathy's marriage with Pete - as she could no longer stand him touching her and they ended up getting separated a few years later.

1992

Willmott-Brown was released in 1992 and returned to Albert Square, attempting to buy flats that Kathy's new lover Phil Mitchell and his brother Grant Mitchell had put up for sale. Planning to move back to Walford and set up a new business, he sent a tape message to Kathy asking her to meet him in his hotel room in Hampstead; he promised to disappear forever if she objected. Upon learning of James' release from prison, Pete formed a mob to find him while Kathy planned to take him up on his offer. Finding him before Pete could, she listened to James become about his time in prison and how much the experience had changed him, before telling him to leave Walford and never return. Despite promising to her that he would, he refused to do so, leaving Kathy feeling repulsed and rejected. Unknown to her, Pete had arrived with his and Kathy's son Ian Beale along with their friend Frank Butcher to exact revenge; Pete and his mob associates forced James into their car and drove him to Pete's high-rise flat building, where Pete threatened to punch him to his death unless he signed a paper stating he would leave Walford forever. Immediately following the events, Willmott-Brown called his solicitor and took out a injunction on Pete before proceeding to move onto the Square. He would then continue to harass Kathy by sending her a number of dirty tapes, confessing his undying love for her.

Eventually, Kathy and Pete confronted James at his home to settle things once and for all; James and Pete nearly came to blows as the confrontation descends into a heated argument before an emotional Kathy finally relayed her anger and hurt over the rape. Kathy then furiously tells James that he never apologized to her for his actions. James responds by trying to claim that the two of them had something that was truly special, but Kathy snapped him out of his delusion by showing him the trouble he had brought on her and her family. In an attempt to get attention, James threatened to commit suicide - but Kathy stopped him, refusing to allow him to get off the hook so easily. Despite finally apologizing for raping her and begging for her forgiveness, she refused to forgive Wilmott-Brown for his actions - as she believed that doing so would give him permission to stop feeling sorry for what he had done. Declaring that she would never do anything he asked her to again, including forgiving, Kathy finally received closure over the rape, while James left Walford in defeat.

2 years later in 1994, Kathy began having nightmares about her rape. This prompted Phil to go and search out Willmott-Brown. He tracked down Wilmott-Brown's wife, Elizabeth, who informed him that her husband was back in prison for raping another woman.

2017

25 years after leaving Walford, James anonymously lays flowers addressed to Kathy at a memorial for her step-grandson Steven Beale. He reappears the following day when it's revealed that he is the mastermind behind the collusion between his own property development company - Weyland and Co - and their associate: Max Branning, who himself is conspiring with James to redevelop Albert Square as part of his own campaign to exact revenge on his family and friends for wrongfully imprisoning him for the murder of Lucy Beale as well as covering up the involvement of it's true culprit: Kathy's grandson Bobby Beale.

Prior to these events, Max had became inmates with James' convicted son Luke Browning during his time in prison - which led to Luke parting his father's scheme to Max and inviting him to become involved so he could exact vengeance on those who wronged him. Since his release, Max has secretly instigated and executed numerous activities that Weyland and Co had perpetuated on James' behalf - culminating with his role in the death of Steven shortly after blackmailing him into committing arson. Weeks later, Luke is released and reunites with Max before the pair meet up with the rest of James' family; consisting of his daughter Fi, adopted son Josh Hammings, and brother-in-law Hugo Browning.

James then appears for the first time in 25 years introducing himself to Max as he also reunites with his own family. James soon reunites with Kathy and extracts the Queen Vic from the Carter family months later, betraying Max in the process. However, James' plan eventually falls apart when both Fi and Josh turn against him upon learning of their father's true colors whilst Luke is abducted and killed by Phil's old partner-in-crime Aidan Maguire after Phil requested his help to get payback on Luke for hospitalizing Phil's son Ben Mitchell - even though Phil merely asked Aidan to "scare" Luke and not kill him. Rebuffing these setbacks in response, James later visits Kathy and tells her that his scheme to take control of the entire square was all part of his plan to win her over - claiming that she can own everything if they get back together. He is shocked, however, when Kathy rejects him once again and threatens to kill him if she ever sees him again. Kathy also tells James that he is going to hell regardless of how hard he tries to change.

James then leaves in defeated back to his office, where he finds that Fi has betrayed him by stealing his files that has information on his company's corrupt activities and has subsequently reported it to the authorities. The police arrive moments later to question James, who ends up having a heart attack as he fruitlessly tries to destroy any evidence left that incriminates the company. He is rushed to hospital, and at the same time Fi forces Hugo to relinquish their company's takeover of the entire square. She then confronts her father and disowns him before leaving the hospital, telling the staff that James is not her father and they are not related at all. As Fi leaves, James despairs as he is left alone fighting for his life in hospital.

Trivia

• It should be noted that Willmott-Brown's actions towards Kathy back in 1988 is what directly triggered the events of Den Watts famous exit in 1989. Had James never raped Kathy to begin with, then the events of Den's trouble with The Firm to the point where they planned to kill him would never have happened in the first place.