Cindy Beale returns to EastEnders after 25 years
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ctress Michelle Collins has returned to EastEnders within the position of Cindy Beale, nearly 25 years after she was mentioned to have died in jail while giving delivery.
Also making a return to the BBC cleaning soap opera is Cindy’s former husband Ian Beale, who’s performed by Adam Woodyatt.
Wednesday’s episode of EastEnders ended with a shot of Cindy on a solar lounger, ingesting a glass of wine because the ‘duff duff’ sound signalled the credit.
Collins, 61, mentioned what it was like return to the cleaning soap and mentioned: “It’s surreal. It’s nerve wracking, but it’s also very exciting.”
“I think things are about timing, really life is about timing… and I think if it happened five years ago, I probably would have said no.”
Talking about why she enjoys taking part in the position of Cindy, Collins added: “I think, for me as a woman of a certain age, the soaps have fantastic stories for women.
“They are really matriarchal figures and there aren’t many shows on TV, really, that can give women of a certain age central characters and to show their stories.”
Writer Chris Clenshaw labored on growing the storyline for Cindy’s return and mentioned that the group had been speaking about it for greater than a 12 months.
He mentioned: “We started to look at the story and obviously, make sure it was credible in terms of, she’s dead, how could that work? But… we didn’t see a body.
“We made sure that it worked with our research and our advisors and they came back and said, ‘Yeah, this is in fact, what could and would happen’ and that’s when I was like, okay, I think we’ve got a shot of being able to do this.”
Before she was ‘killed’ off, Cindy had been in jail for hiring a hitman to kill Ian.
The pair had been in a custody battle over their kids – Lucy and Peter Beale.
Woodyatt left Albert Square two-and-a-half years in the past and mentioned that he spent his first day again as Ian chatting and discovering his manner across the new set.
Talking about his return, he mentioned: “Since I’ve been gone they have rebuilt the lot (set) and I got out of the car yesterday morning, just got out on the right-hand side and looked… and it had literally just disappeared. So that was the weirdest thing for me.
“Nicest thing has been going back and seeing all the faces that I haven’t seen.”
The subsequent episode of EastEnders will air on BBC One on Thursday at 7.30pm.