Ruby Allen

Ruby Allen first appeared 18 March 2005, she is the daughter of gangster Johnny Allen.

2005-2006
Ruby arrives in Walford, having run away from boarding school to look for her father, Johnny Allen. On her arrival, she is befriended by Stacey Slater, who grills Ruby about her family. After storming out of the café where they are talking, she is mugged by a vagrant in Bridge Street, who grabs hold of Ruby's coat and steals her mobile phone. She is then almost run over by Tina Stewart's taxi. Ruby feels that Johnny is pushing her away and reminds him that he only saved her by accident when their house caught fire. He was actually trying to save her sister, Scarlet. Scarlet and their mother, Stephanie, died in the fire in March 2004. Ruby is livid when Johnny reveals his mistress Tina (the woman who had almost run her over), but later accepts the relationship. Ruby overhears Peggy Mitchell telling people that Johnny is a violent, murdering bully. Ruby confronts him and he denies it. She knows he is lying and stays with Stacey initially and then Peggy at Pat Evans' house.

Ruby catches Johnny having an affair with Amy while he is engaged to Tina. She tells Tina and Tina leaves. Ruby eventually forgives her father and moves back in with him but later moves in with boyfriend, Juley Smith, to whom she lost her virginity. Johnny doesn't take kindly to this, as he has already warned Juley about Ruby. Ruby defends Juley and even turns against her dad for him, but she is devastated to learn that Phil Mitchell was paying Juley to sleep with her as part of his feud with Johnny. She reacts by getting drunk and collapsing on the floor. Phil, who has broken into Johnny's house to have it out with him, takes her to hospital. Juley attempts to get Ruby back, and she eventually agrees to try again. However, she realises that she couldn't trust him when she found herself questioning his phone calls.

Ruby discovers that Johnny was an alcoholic in "Get Johnny Week" and she left him to Phil. She and Grant have a heart to heart, and Grant discovers that Phil paid Juley to sleep with Ruby. Grant is furious and burst into Johnny's office where Phil is holding Johnny until he confesses to Dennis's murder. This gives Johnny a chance to get away. There is a big chase, which results in Danny Moon handcuffing the brothers and marching them into the forest. He is about to kill Grant when Jake Moon shot him instead and kills him. Ruby persuades Johnny to hand himself in, and then returns with Jake to Walford. She is furious with him when he reveals he had killed Danny. Jake becomes obsessed with Ruby's welfare, but took over the running over her club until she turned 18 in October. Ruby withdraws £2000 for a holiday but decides to return it and is mugged by Juley. Ruby then had a relationship with Sean Slater, Stacey's brother. Ruby finds out that her father had had a heart attack after an argument with Sean in prison. On the day of Johnny's funeral, Ruby goes missing and Sean finds her, slumped behind the desk in the Scarlet office, with a bottle of vodka. Later, she speaks to Pat who made her think, by saying that her father was normally right about people, including Jake and Sean. Ruby later left Walford in the back of a cab, having fallen out with Stacey once again.

Character creation and development
Ruby and her casting were announced on 3 February 2005. Louisa Lytton was cast in the role. Speaking of her casting, Lytton commented "I'm nervous and excited all at the same time to be joining EastEnders. This is an amazing opportunity and I can't believe that I'm going to be working alongside some of my favourite actors and actresses." On 8 July 2006, Daniel Saney of Digital Spy reported Lytton would be written out of EastEnders following a mutual decision between the producers and the actress herself. It was decided that the character had no further purpose after the departure of her on-screen father, Johnny Allen (Billy Murray). A spokesperson said "The way the storylines pan out means there's not really much scope for Louisa's character any more." Lytton revealed that she had enjoyed her time at EastEnders, and called it a great experience. She added that she was looking forward to trying new things. Executive producer Kate Harwood stated that Lytton was popular with fans and her character would get a "dramatic" exit.

In December 2009, Lytton said she would have liked her EastEnders exit to have been more dramatic. Speaking to an FHM writer, Lytton explained that her exit, which saw Ruby leave in a black cab with her father's ashes, would have been better if it was something "massive" and "dramatic". In August 2011, Lytton said that she would love to return to the show. She stated that she would immediately cause trouble and come back as a "hard-faced bitch", as Ruby often let people walk over her and constantly cried. Lytton also said that she will always be grateful for the part of Ruby. Speaking to a writer from OK Magazine, Lytton admitted that the experience was brilliant and helped give an insight of what she wanted to do in her career. She added "But there is so much I still want to do at home, like theatre, and build myself up, because I have missed out on things like drama schools. It's funny because when I was there they thought I was a huge star back in Britain!."

Key Dates
Leaving Walford after falling out with Sean and Stacey. Falling for sexy squaddie Sean. Find out that Johnny was behind Dennis's murder. Passing her GCSEs. Making friends with Stacey. Discovering that Johnny was an alcoholic. Discovering that Johnny lied to her about Tina. Tracking her dad down to Walford. Being mugged on her arrival in Albert Square. Johnny trying to stop her from seeing Juley. Being dumped by Juley. Her mother and sister, Scarlet dying in a fire.

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