Rainie Cross

Rainie Cross (also Branning and Highway) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Introduced as the drug-addicted sister of established character Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner), Franks has had three separate guest stints in 2007 (two episodes), 2008 (four episodes) and 2010 (seven episodes) and between 12 April and 8 December 2011. Rainie returned on 16 June 2014, when she was revealed as Ian Beale's (Adam Woodyatt) mystery phone contact, having been with Ian on Good Friday, the night of Lucy Beale's (Hetti Bywater) murder (see "Who Killed Lucy Beale?") but departed again not long after. In January 2015, it was confirmed that Rainie would return for the conclusion of the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline. Rainie made another guest appearance on 19 January 2018 and returned full-time to the show on 24 April 2018, now married to her former brother-in-law, Max Branning (Jake Wood). In June 2022, it was announced that Franks had left the show, with Rainie's final episode airing on 29 June 2022. She reappeared for a brief stint on 23 until 25 August 2022 to coincide with the departure of her husband Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ).

During her appearances Rainie has had sex with brothers Max, Jack (Scott Maslen) and Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman), joined Max in a custody battle with her mother Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell) over Max and Tanya's granddaughter Abi Branning Jnr, has feuded with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) and kidnapped Abi. Rainie's other storylines have included a custody battle between Max and the Beale family over Abi, another drug relapse and addiction to painkillers, and her imprisonment for assaulting Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), taking over the local funeral parlour alongside her husband Stuart, hiring Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) as a surrogate for her and Stuart leading to the birth of their son Roland, and supporting Stuart through his breast cancer diagnosis.

Described as "the slightly broken sister who's one step away from a vodka bottle", Rainie's storylines have often centred on her addictions to drugs and alcohol. During her seven-episode guest stint in 2010, Rainie was involved in a highly criticised crack cocaine storyline with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). It was branded "inappropriate" and "horrid" by the Daily Record. EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy (who played Sonia Fowler) also criticised the storyline, saying she was "shocked", but Franks defended the storyline, though she herself was not surprised that viewers had complained.

The character originally appeared for two episodes on 2 and 3 August 2007, and then returned for four episodes between 7 and 11 January 2008. Franks was asked to return again later in 2008 but could not make it, so Franks thought Rainie would not be seen again. She returned for the longer stint in 2010, starting on 3 August. Franks did not expect to be asked to return in 2010, and said the call came as a surprise. She said it was "ideal" because it fitted in with another acting job she was undertaking at the time. She commented that Rainie would be "unlikely to return without stirring up a bit of trouble". Rainie returned again on 12 April 2011 as a regular character, for Tanya's wedding to Greg Jessop, along with Tanya and Rainie's mother Cora, where Cora tries to build bridges between the sisters.

Rainie's been round the block and back again. Sly, manipulative and ruthless, Rainie struggled with everything – family, men and drug addiction. She was a thorn in her sister's side – she would beg, borrow and steal to fuel her heroin addiction. Selfish, and frequently self-pitying, Rainie was quick to point the finger of blame at Tanya and her mum Cora, rather than take responsibility for her actions.

— The BBC on Rainie (2011)

In April 2011, it was reported by The Sun that Rainie would have a one-night stand with Jack Branning on 6 May 2011 after he discovers his son is dead and she comforts him. In May 2011, it was announced that Cora would return to the series, and executive producer Bryan Kirkwood said he was "keen to establish the Cross women—Rainie completes the mix as the slightly broken sister who's one step away from a vodka bottle." Rainie has been described as "troublesome" and "troubled". On her official BBC character profile she is described as sly, manipulative and ruthless, and that she "spells trouble with a capital T!". It finishes saying, "But behind the wild partying, Rainie is a lost soul with a soft, vulnerable side that yearns to get her life back on track and impress her older sister Tanya."

Rainie's relationship with Phil Mitchell (McFadden) was first explored during her stint in 2010. Rainie and Phil were to be involved in a storyline involving the taking of crack cocaine. Discussing her return in 2010, she said she was pleased to be working closely with McFadden as they had not worked together. Franks explained that after being thrown out of the house by Tanya's ex-husband Max, and moving in with Phil that, "it gets quite dark and dirty, really. Phil and Rainie are two people who meet at a point in their lives where they both see something equivalent in each other. He offers her something that she wants, and that is a place to be, while she has something that he wants, and that's drugs—so it's a match at that time." Franks was given advice from the charity DrugScope on how to act the part and also undertook some of her own research, and she said she believed the scenes to be very realistic. She wanted the drugs storyline to help people, saying, "If there are people who have a drugs problem, or an addiction problem of any kind really, they might watch something like this and it could trigger something in their mind that is relevant to them, or someone that they know. Hopefully it could make people think twice about carrying on with that, and perhaps look into getting some help. The organisation that we worked with, DrugScope, gives a lot of help and advice for people with drug addictions. I think it can be hugely helpful when a show as popular as EastEnders does something like this." She also stated that if EastEnders "has saved one life by putting this story out it's been worth it. The whole point of soaps is to reflect a certain amount of everyday life. Some of it is going to be light entertainment, some isn't."