EastEnders brought back Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) and Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths) just over two weeks after the characters were written out.
The former mainstays were seen on a video call with Bernadette ‘Bernie’ Taylor (Clair Norris) during the BBC One soap’s annual Christmas special, which aired on December 25.
Despite the rest of the Square celebrating the festive season, Bernie was alone and freezing, with her entire clan having been forced out of Walford following Keanu’s (Danny Walters) kidnapping of son Albie.
When the truth was exposed, Karen took the blame and thus hightailed it out of London with Mitch, Bailey (Kara Leah Fernandes), Mack (Isaac Lemonius) and Mia (Mahalia Malcolm).
Bernie struggled to forgive Keanu, blaming him for everything, but soon enough the brother and sister managed to move past what happened – that is, until Keanu showed no care or consideration for Bernie when the electricity was shut off at the flat as she was unable to pay rent on her own.
The long-awaited Christmas Day offering of the serial saw Bernie video call Karen and Mitch, who quizzed her on why the lights were out in the flat and why she was wearing her coat.
Not wanting them to worry, Bernie lied, claiming that she prefers the lights off and that she was out for a walk, hence the coat.
Speaking to her loved ones gave Bernie food for thought, as she made a beeline for Keanu, who was getting married to Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) on the day in question, hoping to convince him to speak to Sharon about allowing Karen to return to Walford.
Keanu, however, refused to entertain the idea, worried that it could blow his secret role in Albie’s kidnapping and therefore he uninvited Bernie from the wedding.
Feeling betrayed, Bernie decided that she’d had enough and therefore confronted Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), telling him that Keanu was the one to blame for Albie’s kidnapping, not Karen.
Irate Phil made his way to the church, where he exposed the truth to bride-to-be Sharon, who smacked her groom-to-be across the face, taking great pleasure in telling him that Albie isn’t actually his son.
EastEnders continues Boxing Day at 8:25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
