Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011.

Jim was temporarily written out of the show in August 2007 due to Bardon suffering a stroke, and a storyline was created in which his character also suffered a stroke. Bardon returned to film four episodes in the latter half of 2008, and returned permanently from the episode broadcast on 20 August 2009. On 1 April 2011 it was reported by the Daily Mirror that Bardon had filmed his final scenes and had left. He departed on 26 May 2011, and, although it was said the character may re-appear in the future if Bardon's health improved, this did not happen and the actor died on 12 September 2014, more than three years after leaving the series. Following Bardon's death, it was announced in March 2015 that EastEnders would pay tribute to him and the character by staging a funeral for Jim.

On the behest of executive producer John Yorke in 2000, Jim was paired romantically with pensioner Dot Cotton, played by June Brown; a slow courtship was featured, with Dot often shown to be outraged by Jim's advances, resulting in numerous rejections. Dot finally succumbed and accepted his marriage proposal in an episode that aired in December 2001; the scenes were filmed inside one of the carriages of the London Eye on the South Bank of the River Thames. Their wedding aired on 14 February 2002, Valentine's Day. The Guardian critic, Nancy Banks-Smith, described the wedding as "uniquely uneventful [...] For Dot and Jim 'In sickness and health... till death do us part' seemed to carry more resonance than for most."

Bardon has revealed that both he and Brown were sceptical about their characters marrying. In an interview with American fan-based newspaper, Walford Gazette, he commented, "No way did the pair of us want to get married because we thought if we got married, we'd sit indoors and watch the telly every night. As it happened, we've had some nice things to do. And we are married, and it's worked out all right." Brown has reiterated that she feared Dot would become boring if she married Jim, but that producers persuaded her that the marriage might be a good thing. On-screen, Dot had suffered the death of her grandson Ashley, and Brown felt that a traumatic event like that would have changed her character. In her opinion, the only way Dot would have got over Ashley's death "would be to have someone else to care for and when it happened there was nobody [but] with marrying Jim she gets a family - that's what persuaded me. That house will become a house again - it will have a central point, they will be able to use the house as a central point, as Dot will be there."

Critic Grace Dent has likened Dot and Jim to Coronation Street's Hilda and Stan Ogden, comparing a scene in EastEnders where Dot nags Jim and he prays for a quiet life to a similar one from Coronation Street, that aired decades before. June Brown discussed Dot's relationship with Jim in 2004: "Initially, Jim wasn't the sort of person that Dot approved of. He drank, he gambled, he lied - he wasn't reliable at all. But Jim decided that he quite fancied Dot - heaven knows why! I think that you always have to work out for yourself how you can make the character work in a new situation. I could see that Jim was kind to Dot [...] His kindness drew her towards him. [...] Dot's definitely in control of Jim. She quite enjoys bossing him around." Brown stated that she enjoys her screen partnership with John Bardon, saying "We work very well together - he's got great timing and he can be very tender too."

The on-screen relationship between Dot and Jim was halted in 2007 when Jim was written out of the soap due to Bardon suffering a stroke. In the script Jim initially visits Carol, before himself suffering a stroke and being cared for by family and later in residential care off-screen. Dot and Jim remained together, with Jim making sporadic appearances between 2008 and 2009 to visit Dot. A more permanent return for the character was hinted at in 2009, with the character returning to live in Albert Square from August of that year. It was reported in April 2011 that Bardon had filmed his exit from the series, and that the show's staff believed it marked the end of the character. A source told the Daily Mirror: "Dot's been struggling for a while and realises that she can no longer give Jim the care and attention he deserves and is forced to make the heartbreaking decision that he should move into a home. [...] It was very emotional on the set for the scenes where Dot discusses her decision and talks to Jim about him going into care for good. There were a lot of tears. [...] The feeling is that this is the end of Jim as a character because he won't leave the home and won't ever be a regular in Albert Square again." It was reported that Jim could still appear on screen in the care home if Bardon's health permitted it; however, this did not happen. Jim's final appearance was aired 26 May 2011.

Jim dated his first wife Reenie Branning (Joy Graham), with her giving birth to their oldest child Derek Branning (Terence Beesley; later Jamie Foreman) out of wedlock. When Reenie became pregnant again with eldest daughter April Branning (Debbie Arnold), Jim settled in a loveless marriage to Reenie, having four more children with her. A heavy drinker, Jim treated his children unfairly, favouring some and neglecting others. When his son Max Branning (Jake Wood) was blamed for stealing and losing a medal that Jim's mother was given during World War II in honour of his late father for bravery, Jim severed all ties with him and lost all contact with Max. It was generally believed that Jim locked Max in a coffin on the latter's 13th birthday in retaliation for Max being friends with a non-white classmate (It was later claimed by Derek that he did this, not their father.)

Jim was an amateur boxer using the nickname "Basher" Branning, but according to Kate Lock's book Who's Who, he had been a "semi-invalid" for much of his working life following a drunken fall from a bedroom window, though he managed to maintain a job collecting supermarket trolleys until he was forced to retire.