Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is one of four remaining original characters, the others being his mother, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), his long standing best friend and ex-wife, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Queen Vic barmaid, Tracey (Jane Slaughter). The character appeared in his 2000th episode in the show on 26 March 2007, and his 3,000th on 27 May 2016. Woodyatt took an extended hiatus from EastEnders on 22 January 2021. He made guest appearances on 12 December 2022 and 22 June 2023, prior to a full-time return on 22 August of that year. Ian is the longest-serving regular EastEnders character, and second overall, behind only Tracey.
Ian is the most-married character in EastEnders history, with six marriages to five women: Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), Mel Owen (Tamzin Outhwaite), Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), twice to Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), and Sharon, and three aborted engagements to Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton), Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Cindy respectively. He has fathered three children (Peter, Lucy, and Bobby Beale, raised Cindy's son Steven Beale, who he believed to be his, and was the guardian of Cindy's daughter, Cindy Williams. Ian is the owner of 45 Albert Square, traditionally represented within the series as the family home of the Beale and Fowler family. In 2020, he bought The Queen Victoria public house for Sharon, leaving after she poisoned him in revenge for his involvement in Dennis Rickman Jnr's (Bleu Landau) death on EastEnders 35th anniversary.
Upon his return in 2023, he returns to 45 Albert Square reunited with his first wife Cindy after reuniting off-screen the year prior, who was going by the pseudonym "Rose Knight", after faking her death 25 years prior in a witness protection scheme due to giving information about her criminal inmate, Jackie Ford. After Cindy's witness protection officer reveals that Jackie has died, Cindy resumes her former life. During the Christmas 2024 special, Cindy's affair with Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) was revealed and Ian became a suspect in the "Who Attacked Cindy?" storyline for the show's 40th anniversary.
Creation
Background and casting
thumb|303x303px|Adam Woodyatt (pictured) was cast as Ian, after licensing regulations required Ian's actor to be at least 16-years old, who could "play down".Ian Beale is one of the original 23 characters written by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. Ian is a member of the first family created for EastEnders, the Beale family, and Holland took the inspiration for some of the series' earliest characters from his own London family and background. Ian's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story.
Because Gillian Taylforth, who was cast as Ian's mother, Kathy, was fair-haired, they also wanted him to be fair, and because of Taylforth's age, he also had to look very young. Ian was meant to be 14 years old when the programme first aired, but because of licensing regulations, the actor cast was required to be a 16-year-old who could "play down". His initial storylines portrayed him as a "young and innocent boy" with professional aspirations that went against his father's wishes. Not content to follow in his father's footsteps and take over the family fruit and veg stall, Ian wanted to become a chef and this caused a certain amount of hostility between him and his father, who viewed the occupation as effeminate. Ian's keenness to succeed in his business ventures continued as the character grew, so much so that he started using underhand methods in order to get what he wanted and became one of the soap's most renowned "slimeballs". The character is regularly referred to as a "weasel" in the British press.