EastEnders confirms Lee and Nancy Carter are coming back to Albert Square

Why the Carters are returning to EastEnders

Both actors have already started filming and their first scenes air later this year on RTÉ One and BBC One, in a storyline the soap’s executive producer reckons will floor viewers.

The announcement follows the news that Kellie Bright, who has played their mother Linda since December 2013, is leaving the BBC soap.

Bright arrived as one of the new owners of the Queen Vic, and Linda has four children with husband Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer.

Lee left in 2017 and made a brief one-off appearance in December 2024, after storylines including a turbulent relationship with Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty).

Nancy’s time in Walford took in an epilepsy diagnosis and romances with Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel) and Zack Hudson (James Farrar) before Hill left in 2022.

Executive producer Ben Wadey told a Q&A, as reported by RTÉ Entertainment, that viewers will see Linda “at her best” ahead of her exit.

“We’ll be welcoming Lee and Nancy back into the fold for a period in a story that… I guarantee your jaws will drop when you see the first cliffhanger," said Wadey.

Hatchard said he is “absolutely over the moon to be returning to EastEnders” and “proper buzzing to be back grafting with the Enders family”.

Hill said she was “so excited” to be “stepping back into Nancy’s shoes”.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on RTÉ One and BBC One, so Irish viewers get the autumn cliffhangers at the same time as audiences across the water.

For the gaps, try the best Irish shows on RTÉ or Ted Lasso season 4.