Enders Assemble

With only a few more days to go before Kathy’s official return to Walford, Executive Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, along with actors Gillian Taylforth, Adam Woodyatt and Paul Nicholas, revealed more about her resurrection, Kathy’s manipulative husband, Gavin and how Ian is about to get the shock of his life!

“It’s not going to be easy for Kathy to come back, which is something we were very clear about in the beginning,” he confessed. “She’s officially dead! So her return couldn’t be easy. [this storyline is] a bit like Avengers Assemble, because you’ve got Gillian Taylforth, Adam Woodyatt, Letitia Dean and Steve McFadden.

You're adding into that mix Harry Reid, who I think has made Ben Mitchell utterly his own - and you’re about to see some amazing, amazing stuff from him over the next few months. Paul Nicholas has created, I think, the most manipulative and dangerous EastEnders villain we’ve ever had. He makes Archie Mitchell look like a Care Bear!”

Other unmissable storylines to look out for in the coming weeks include Max’s trial, “Which is filled with twists and turns…” Ronnie, Charlie and Vincent’s very warped love triangle and Carol’s departure. “Dot comes out of prison, Robbie comes back and Lauren comes back, briefly. [There’s] the climax of the Les, Claudette, Pam story [too]. Stacey’s got a very big story coming up. Shabnam and Kush’s story is only just beginning, [and] we’ve got Lee’s depression running through.”

Dom also highlighted a welcome return to the show, set to lighten the mood. ”We’ve got some fun for the Carters, as Maria Friedman returns as Elaine for a three-month stint - with Scott Neal in tow as her toy boy lover! It’s going to add a little bit of fun for Mick and Linda in The Vic. So there’s joy as well as a lot of pain.”

EastEnders continues tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One.