Famous Soap Star Comebacks

Hello and welcome to A Slice Of Soap!

So it’s the end of another week in the land of soap and what an eventful few days it has been. Down on’t cobbles, Valandros has gone up in flames (with a little bit of help from Paul and Leanne of course). On EastEnders, we all said farewell to the much-loved Frank Butcher, played by the sadly departed Mike Reid. However, on a much happier note we saw the long-awaited return of ‘Rickaaaaaaaay’ and ‘Biancaaaaaahhhhh’.

According to The Daily Mail, 10.1 million people tuned in to Tuesday night’s episode of EastEnders. This was a massive 2.6 million more viewers than the previous week’s figures. Yes, all 10.1 million of us have been patiently waiting for one thing: for Bianca to bump into her ex and let out her much-missed trademark wail of "Rickaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Well, good news guys, the wait is finally over. On tonight’s episode, the pair will bump into each other down at the cafe so whatever you do, don’t miss ‘Enders…oh, and make sure you’re not sitting too close to the TV when Bianca shouts out "Rickaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

With the return of Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen to Albert Square we look at other soaps that have welcomed regulars back onto the set.

 :: Dallas
  The return of Bobby Ewing is probably the most infamous soap comeback of all. Producers brought back Patrick Duffy to play the character last seen mown down by a car driven by smitten, evil Katherine Wentworth in 1985. However, Bobby’s wife Pam woke up in bed one morning to see him step out of the shower, having dreamt the entire previous season of the show. If only Patrick Duffy hadn’t been killed off! We wouldn’t have had such a stupid way to bring him back.

:: Coronation Street
Liz McDonald lived on the Street for nine years before running off with her hubby’s physiotherapist in 1998. She returned in 2004 for her son Steve’s wedding, and decided to stay and mother him after he had his heart broken. Glad she’s back – the Street needs a blowsy blonde…

Liz’s jailbird husband Jim also made a comeback. At the end of 2007, he returned to the Street for the first time in four
years – though the character has appeared in the soap on-and-off since 1989. However he once again left the Street after beating up Liz’s husband-to-be Vernon on their wedding day.

One of the most highly-anticipated Corrie returns was that of legendary barmaid Bet Lynch. She left the Street in 1995 after handing over control of the Rovers, and spent a few years running bars abroad and in Brighton. She briefly came back to the soap in 2002, and again in 2003. I’d love her to come back again, but that probably won’t happen.

:: EastEnders
Dirty Den’s infamous "’Ello princess" to Sharon heralded the silly return of one of the soap’s most well known characters. Played by Leslie Grantham, Den Watts had apparently died in 1989 but made a surprise reappearance in 2003. He was murdered two years later. What a waste of time that entire ‘back from the dead’ storyline turned out to be. They should’ve left well alone…

Grant Mitchell, played by Ross Kemp, was a key part of Walford life from 1990 to 1999. When Grant left for Brazil with his daughter, viewers were understandably devastated, but the hardman returned in 2005 to get Phil out of prison, and he’s appeared on and off ever since. I want him to come back permanently; Phil’s nothing without his ‘bruv’.

Recently Gemma Bissix made a return to EastEnders as Clare Bates after an entire 10 years away from the soap.

:: Emmerdale
Kelly Windsor, played by Adele Silva, first appeared on the countryside soap at the age of 12 and remained a regular face on the show until she was 19. After she took an overdose and nearly died, she vowed to start a new life in London. But the temptress came back to our screens in 2005 after a five-year absence – and had some memorably bitchy storylines with beauties Zoe Tate and Dawn Woods.

However the soap’s best comeback came in 1997, when Kim Tate returned having faked her own death. Her husband Frank had served time for her murder. Kim Tate – classic villainess!

:: Neighbours
Paul Robinson made a stunning comeback to the Aussie soap in 2004 when he appeared as Lassiter’s Hotel burned down. At the time he was portrayed as a saviour, putting money into regenerating the area, but he was later revealed as the culprit. Every soap needs someone you love to hate and nobody’s filled that role quite like Paul Robinson.

Gus Watch
Hey guys it’s official! Mohammed George’s character Gus Smith will be leaving EastEnders next month. In the next four weeks our hero Gus will be involved in some seriously big storylines involving the flat-mate from hell, Sean ‘Shout’ Slater. In fact, we’ll be seeing more of Gus Smith on our screens in the next four weeks than we’ve seen in the six years that he’s been on EastEnders! Let’s just hope that the producers leave the way open for Gus to return to Albert Square one day. Here’s an idea of how they could possibly do it:

Gus goes on a surfing holiday to Australia but is thought to have drowned (cos he can’t swim). Five years later, he’s spotted alive and well by Pat Butcher (she decided to go to Australia instead of Spain): Gus had apparently lost his memory and had been living on a deserted island as a poet called Wordsworth. On hearing that Gus is alive and well, the residents of Albert Square throw a huge street party to welcome back their road-sweeping hero. Well if it’s good enough for Harold Bishop of Neighbours it’s good enough for our Gus!

Official Sites
Coronation Street
Emmerdale
EastEnders
Hollyoaks

That’s it for now. Join me on Monday for a full preview of all the week’s action in the soaps. Got a comment about your favourite soap, this blog or anything else? Share it with me.

Ms Bubbles
MSN’s Eye On Soaps
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