EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan, who plays Zoe Slater in the BBC One soap, is to return to the show after a four-month break.

Ryan, who was "rested" from the show on doctors' orders in June, will resume filming in October.

Series producer Louise Berridge said: "We are delighted to welcome Michelle back and I'm sure viewers will look forward to seeing Zoe reunited with the rest of the Slaters."

Ryan said she was also pleased to be returning to Albert Square.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to EastEnders and working with everybody who has supported me throughout my time off," the actress said in a statement.

Exhaustion

The 18-year-old went on indefinite leave from the show following newspaper reports that she was suffering from nervous exhaustion.

Her character Zoe Slater had been about to marry the Square's doctor, Anthony Trueman, played by Nicholas Bailey.

However, the wedding storyline was rewritten to accommodate her absence, with Zoe leaving Anthony and running away to Tenerife.

Zoe's turbulent screen life also saw her discovering that Kat Slater, played by actress Jessie Wallace, was actually her mother - having grown up thinking she was her sister.

Her scenes with co-star Wallace were emotionally draining

Ryan has said that acting out such emotional scenes was draining for her.

Departures

Her personal life has also been in the spotlight this year, after her romance with Hollyoaks actor Gary Lucy ended abruptly amid reports he had been seeing another woman.

While Ryan returns, a number of the show's regulars have either departed recently or are due to leave in the next few months.

Mark Fowler, played by actor Todd Carty, recently left the Square, and actress Lucy Benjamin, who plays his screen wife Lisa, is also due to depart.

Jack Ryder, who plays Jamie Mitchell, Colm O'Maonlai, who stars as fireman Tom Banks, and Alex Ferns, who plays bad guy Trevor Morgan, are among others set to leave.