Phil ready to settle scores on Albert Square
Steve McFadden is returning to EastEnders to reprise his role as hardman Phil Mitchell, the BBC announced today.
McFadden was last seen on the soap on Christmas Day last year.
His character has been on the run from the law after being set up for an armed heist by arch enemy Den Watts, and will be returning in early spring.
The actor said: “I can’t wait to get back to EastEnders and settle a few scores.”
Mitchell will be unaware that his assets – the Queen Vic, Snooker Hall, Arches and café – have been swindled from sister Sam by Den Watts and Marcus Christie.
In January, EastEnders slumped to its lowest audience share in more than five years, with 6.8 million viewers tuning in to one episode – three million fewer than rival Emmerdale.
The executive producer of the soap, Kathleen Hutchison, also quit unexpectedly after just four months.
Soap favourite Barbara Windsor will return to Walford this summer, two years after a debilitating illness forced her to quit the role of Peggy Mitchell.
