Find out who Jack Branning is, where he comes from, and his trials and tribulations with his brother Max, and the Mitchells.
This smooth operator has caused quite a stir since his first appearance in Walford in October 2007, when he was invited to the doomed wedding of his nephew Bradley and Stacey. So just who is Jack?
Career
Originally from London and a former Detective Inspector in the Metropolitan police, Jack had to take early retirement in 2007 because of a heart murmur. With Ronnie Mitchell he jointly owns Walford’s newest nightclub, R&R (a revamped E21).
Jack and Phil Mitchell
This situation sets him up in interesting opposition to the square’s resident hard man, Phil Mitchell. Phil cannot stand to see another alpha male on his territory. Trying and failing to buy Jack out of R &R and force him out of the area, Phil grudgingly accepts Jack’s help in tracking down his long lost five-year-old daughter, Louise.
Jack uses his police contacts to find out Louise’s address. However, Jack’s attempts to make Phil indebted to him fail when Phil discovers that Louise has a new Daddy. Furious, he blames Jack for not supplying this piece of information and punches him, telling him he will kill him if he ever sets foot in his pub again.
Jack and Ronnie Mitchell
The will-they-won’t-they romance between Jack and Ronnie (Phil’s cousin) continues to hang in limbo as each play it as cool as they can. Their attraction was cemented when they played a tense game of poker, which Ronnie cleverly won. Since then, Jack has set up a series of ‘business dinners’ that turn out to be more of the candlelit, intimate variety.
The glamorous Ronnie, egged on by her sister Roxy, subscribes to the ‘treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen’ school of relationships and echoing Phil’s relationship with Jack, refuses to let him get one up on her. In spite of a passionate late-night kiss, Ronnie repeatedly shuns Jack’s attentions because she feels put out that he can’t be straight with her.
Jack and Max Branning
Jack and his brother Max have a difficult relationship. Never shy of saying what he thinks of Max’s affair with Stacey (ex-Slater, now Branning), Jack often comes to verbal blows with Max. Jack and Max argue before Bradley and Stacey’s wedding, and Max forbids his brother to attend the ceremony.
However, family loyalty is important to Jack and he puts Max up when he is thrown out of his house by the furious Tanya. This situation looks like turning sour as the hapless Max is outstaying his welcome, scuppering Jack’s chances of any romantic tryst with Ronnie.
Jack is played by actor Scott Maslen.
