EastEnders star Charlie Brooks has announced her first new role since quitting the BBC soap and leaving Janine Butcher behind.
Charlie, who has played trouble-maker Janine on and off since 1999, will leave the soap for the final time this year.
The show villain left in 2004 after Janine killed husband Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson) by pushing him off a cliff, then returned from 2008 to 2014 before her latest stint.
And now the actress has revealed her next career move as she’s set to exit with an explosive plot.
Charlie will star in the National Theatre’s production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane as a character called Ursula.
The former I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! winner is no stranger to the theatre as her credits include previous roles in Beautiful Thing and A Streetcar Named Desire.
She’s not about to get a break as her gruelling EastEnders filming schedule comes to an end as the play will be on tour for a total of 38 weeks, touring 29 towns and cities, with Charlie performing as Ursula for at least 21 weeks before her understudy takes over for the rest of the tour.
Charlie is scheduled to perform in Salford, Woking, Leicester, Plymouth, Sunderland, Bath, Belfast, Dublin, Bradford, Wimbledon, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and Cardiff, with further venues to be confirmed.
The play is based on Neil Gaiman’s book which won Book of the Year at the 2013 National Book Awards and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide.
The author, who is known for his graphic novels, including Netflix ’s The Sandman, Coraline and Stardust, has welcomed the first major stage adaptation of his work.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is pitted to take audiences on an “epic journey to a childhood once forgotten” and the “darkness that lurks at the very edge of it”.
The play’s mysterious synopsis reads: “Returning to his childhood home, a man finds himself standing beside the pond of the old Sussex farmhouse where he used to play. He's transported to his 12th birthday when his remarkable friend Lettie claimed it wasn't a pond, but an ocean – a place where everything is possible. Plunged into a magical world, their survival depends on their ability to reckon with ancient forces that threaten to destroy everything around them.”
The evil and manipulative Janine Butcher will be leaving Albert Square in a huge storyline later this year. Charlie returned to the BBC One soap just 18 months ago and struck up a romance with Mick Carter (Danny Dyer).
In September, it was announced that Charlie is set to leave EastEnders for a fourth time, despite her character currently being pregnant with Mick’s baby.
In the 18 months she’s been back on the show, she has struck up a romance with pub landlord Mick Carter and driven a wedge between him and estranged wife Linda.
"I was only ever due back to EastEnders for a year, but when [exec producer] Chris Clenshaw presented me with his idea for the story, I couldn’t say no to staying a little longer," she told The Sun on Sunday.
"I’ve had an amazing time, as I always do when I go back.
"But as always with Janine, she probably should not outstay her welcome – for everyone’s sake."
"I like seeing Janine fall in love," Charlie said of the recent storylines which has seen her woo Mick, played by Danny Dyer.
"But at the same time, I would never want her to change. She's unashamed and unapologetic, which I admire.
"I'd like to see her be wild and fall in love, then see what sort of trouble that lands her in! She's living her best life and figuring out who she is as a mother," Charlie revealed.
It comes as Danny Dyer's exit looms - but it is not known whether they will go together.
The Mirror were the ones to break the news of Danny's decision to leave the soap, with a source saying at the time: "Danny has offers coming in left right and centre, and a lot of the things he has wanted to do he can’t because EastEnders have such strict rules about what he can and can’t do. It’s driven him mad at times and he’s now ready for a change.
"But it hasn’t been easy to walk away, BBC bosses have been desperate to keep him. But he’s been insistent and when Sky approached they gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. It’s a new chapter for Dan and he’s over the moon."
It is not yet known if the pair's exit storylines will be linked.
Earlier this week, the soap favourites were spotted filming explosive scenes atop the white cliffs of Dover, in Kent - sparking speculation one if not both of them could be killed.
A stuntman wearing Dyer’s clothes is seen jumping from the cliff onto an inflatable crash mat.
And a car driven by Linda and Janine is also seen crashing over the edge in the dramatic night shoot.
The scenes are thought to be part of a thrilling storyline to play out over Christmas and New Year on the BBC1 soap.
Danny Dyer, who plays Mick, has spoken before about his character’s exit from the programme after 10 years. He announced he was quitting Walford earlier this year.
He said: “Let me tell you something now – Mick’s exit is going to be a very, very powerful thing. I would love the door to be left open, and as far as I know it is.
“So, who knows, when I go out there and I fail miserably I can come back with my tail between my legs and go ‘Will you take me back?’”
In another interview, he teased that he “might be killed off, I might not.” He added: “I just want to go out in a huge, epic way. I don’t want to be in the back of a cab.
“I don’t want a heart attack because of high cholesterol. I want to go out and I want to get people talking about it. So, yeah, it’s gonna be huge.”
