Rainie Highway (also Cross and Branning) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Introduced as the drug-addicted sister of 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). Since her permanent reintroduction, Rainie has had sex with both Max and Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), joined Max in a custody battle with her mother Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell) and her sister Tanya over Max and Tanya's granddaughter Abi, has feuded with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) and has kidnapped baby Abi. Rainie's other storylines have included a custody battle between Max and the Beale family over Abi, another drug relapse and her imprisonment for assault on Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth). She has since taken over the funeral parlour alongside her husband Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ). 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 plays 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.