EastEnders viewers aren’t spending any time in attempting to figure out why, not to mention how, the former character is supposed to come back from the grave when the news of Cindy Beale’s reappearance is still recent.
As longtime fans will remember, Cindy (Michelle Collins) was memorably murdered off, although off-screen, while in jail for attempting to murder her husband and twins’ father Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).
It’s been over three decades since she last appeared on our screens, so it’s unclear why the show’s creators chose to have her make a return, much alone bring her back from the dead.
The former barmaid has suffered a number of losses since her previous appearance on the programme, including the terrible deaths of her daughter Lucy (Hetti Bywater) and son Steven (Aaron Sidwell), who was the result of a one-night fling with Simon ‘Wicksy’ Wicks (Nick Berry).
Bobby Beale, Lucy’s younger brother and the child of Ian’s third wife Laura, was the guilty, of course. When the truth was disclosed to Ian, he subsequently helped Jane (Laurie Brett), who cared for Bobby as if he were her own son, cover up Bobby’s crime.
Bobby, however, was subsequently identified as his sister’s murderer and sentenced to jail. After doing his time, he was released and later made his way back to the Square a changed man who had learnt from his mistakes and was trying to improve himself.
Despite the fact that Lucy’s twin and third kid, Peter, has so far escaped the soap scythe of death, he no longer lives in the Square after leaving for a new life last year. Meanwhile, her other daughter, named after her, is a resident of Germany.
Given that two of her children are deceased and the others are not local, Cindy now has very little motivation to return to the Square.
However, as Bobby has built a life for himself after committing the murder of her daughter, may Cindy’s motivation for coming back, effectively from the dead, be to exact revenge on her daughter?
Could Bobby’s previous error come back to haunt him again?
As far as we know, Cindy is dating Ian, who is also scheduled to make a reappearance as part of her comeback narrative.
The two have developed a good friendship over the years, despite the fact that their relationship was rather tumultuous before Ian left, despite Ian’s early struggles to come to terms with Bobby’s conduct.
Will the legendary soap actor be able to make amends and stop Cindy from pursuing Bobby after her return?
History has shown us that Cindy is capable of harbouring resentments just as well as anybody else, so we anticipate there will be a showdown of some kind when she makes her triumphant comeback!
BBC One broadcasts EastEnders from Monday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
