EastEnders: Pat Butcher to make surprise return from the dead
Several ghosts of Ian Beale's past appear in a special BBC Children in Need episode
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If you thought you’d seen the last of Pat Butcher and her famously dodgy earrings then think again.
Pam St Clement, who played the Albert Square matriarch for over 25 years, will make a surprise return from the grave alongside other ghosts of Eastenders past for Children in Need.
Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) will also be treated to visits from his deceased wife Cindy Beale, mother Kathy Mitchell and recently murdered daughter, Lucy.
In the Children In Need episode long-serving soap character Ian is knocked unconscious by the door of a washing machine in the launderette.
During the sketch Ian discovers Cindy in his kitchen, battleaxe Pat running The Queen Vic and his mother Kathy back in the cafe.
Ian also encounters his daughter Lucy (Hetti Bywater), whose killer has not been found.
Cindy (Michelle Collins) died in childbirth in 1998 while Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) was killed in an off-screen road accident in 2006.
Pat Butcher (Ok they changed her name to Evans, but it never stuck) died in January 2012.
“After being knocked unconscious Ian finds himself taken back in time and he comes into contact with Pat, Cindy, Kathy and Lucy in various iconic places around the Square,” Woodyatt said.
"I don't want to spoil it but Ian is really happy to see some faces and completely knocked for six by others but then again I think finding your late ex-wife in your kitchen is enough to shock anyone."
Taylforth said: "It was surreal being back but it was fantastic to have the chance to play Kathy again. Once I was back in the cafe with my apron on and stirring the beans it was like I had never left."
She added: "Ian finds himself being visiting by some familiar faces from his past so it's only right that his mum makes an appearance."
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In a separate interview, Woodyatt told Radio Times magazine: "Kathy and Cindy both died off-screen, so for years I've been coming up with ways to bring them back.
"Anything can happen in the world of soap... What they've done for this sketch is joyous. Filming it was one of my best days at work."
Asked whether he thought his alter-ego's days could be numbered, Woodyatt told the magazine: "This place is like home. Like having a second family. And besides, Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell) and I reckon that if a nuclear bomb went off in Walford, we'd be the ones walking out of the dust cloud saying: 'Did you hear a bang?"'
The sketch will air on the BBC Children In Need appeal show on Friday November 14.
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