EastEnders favourite Ricky Butcher return to our television screens on Thursday after 10 years away from the soap.
Ricky - played by Sid Owen, 50 - was reunited with his sister Janine ( Charlie Brooks ) in the first scenes after his return, with his younger sibling not too impressed by his arrival.
Janine is never too far away from her scheming ways and her behaviour has proven even more erratic in recent weeks as she spirals out of control.
She has lied about the health of her baby's health to fiancé Mick (Danny Dyer) due to her jealousy of his closeness to ex-wife Linda (Kellie Bright) and insulted Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) and her late grandmother Dot in recent episodes.
This led to Sonia, who is well aware of Janine's deceitful behaviour, taking drastic action and calling a mysterious person in a bid to tame the character.
During the call, Sonia says: "You’ve gotta get back here. I should’ve called you before. I thought I could help, but I can’t."
She added: "Right, you wanna see the way she’s acting, the thing’s she’s saying."
Although the mystery caller was never revealed, it points towards Ricky being the person on the other end of Sonia's SOS call.
In August, it was revealed that Sid would reprise his iconic character, which he first played in 1988 until 2012. He first left the BBC soap in 2000 to embark on a music career before returning for a Ricky and Bianca spin-off episode in 2002 and stayed on for another two years before being axed.
He returned in 2008 and remained an integral part of the show for four years before admitting he had "retired" from acting because he was living in France. However, he is back in Albert Square for a fourth time just in time for the dramatic Christmas period.
Speaking about his return, he said: "I'm delighted to back at EastEnders. I can't wait to see what Ricky Butcher has been up to these past few years and how he's going to react to seeing some familiar faces including old flames. I'm excited to see the drama unfold."
Charlie will be leaving the soap again after causing much havoc in Walford this year. It will mark Charlie's fourth time leaving the soap as Janine since her first day on set back in 1999.
The 41-year-old appeared on Loose Women on Thursday afternoon and opened up about how she was more than happy to move on from the soap.
"I love going back to EastEnders and I love leaving, but I'm doing something really exciting at the moment. I'm working with the National Theatre. We're taking a production of The Ocean At The End Of The Lane on tour and I'm loving it," Charlie explained.
"I obviously love Janine and I love EastEnders, but I am excited for pastures new and a grown-up job."
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
