Residents of Albert Square paid their final farewells to Dorothy 'Dot' Branning (June Brown) as the character was laid to rest in EastEnders on Monday, December 12. Numerous faces from the BBC show's past returned to pay tribute to the chain-smoking icon - including Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt, who made a shock cameo.
Ian, who left the soap almost two years ago, stayed out of sight of his fellow mourners. He then said, "Goodbye, Dot", trying to hold back tears before receiving a phone call from an unknown person that he called "love". Some people have speculated that Ian was talking to ex-wife Jane, who was played by Laurie Brett.
The character's return came as somewhat of a shock as Adam, himself, previously told WalesOnline that he has "no plans" to return to EastEnders. You can read more about that here. That didn't stop people hoping he'd come back full-time, though. Here's what they had to say.
"I really hope Ian Beale returns to #EastEnders full time in the future!" wrote one viewer on social media upon seeing the character back in Walford. A second said: "Would love to see ian back and hopefully the person he is on the phone to is Jane."
A third commented: "I really hope Ian Beale aka Adam Woodyatt will eventually returns to Eastenders his character is really missed." And a fourth said: "Well, that was rather beautiful, wasn't it? Such a fitting farewell to #JuneBrown. Bravo, all at @bbceastenders. The icing on the cake, of course, was the brief return for Ian Beale. As if @AdamWoodyatt would ever *not* habeen involved. Perfect," praising the episode as a whole.
Adam left EastEnders in January 2021 after a storyline concluded that saw Ian’s fifth wife, Sharon Watts, try to kill him for failing to save her son. EastEnders continues at 7.30pm on Tuesday, December 13 on BBC One.
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