Following the news Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) is returning to EastEnders, many fans are hoping the iconic Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) will follow shortly after.

Sam was last seen in Walford back in January of this year. Since Kim Medcalf reprised the role, we’ve seen Sam on and off fairly regularly but when she departs, it always leave the EastEnders audience counting down the days until she returns.

After exposing Phil’s (Steve McFadden) affair with Lola’s mum Emma (Patsy Kensit), Sam said goodbye to Albert Square, leaving son Ricky (Frankie Day) – who has a young daughter himself – devastated again.

‘It’s been brilliant, as always! It was perfect timing for me and worked really well that Sam was coming back for another short stint’, Kim told us at the time.

‘That’s the beauty of this character – I love that she comes in, disrupts things, and then leaves the debris behind her.

This time, she’s been chucked out the back of a van, taken £100k from Phil to pay back a drug dealer and then blown up his marriage to Kat!

‘There’s a lot of drama with Sam, and it’s never plain sailing. Hopefully, she’ll be back again sometime for another stint of causing chaos.’

Clearly missing Sam, some EastEnders fans recently took to forum platform Reddit to share their thoughts on her coming back home, pointing out Chrissie Watts’ arrival would be the perfect catalyst, and would also increase the amount of female Mitchells currently living in Walford.

Chrissie swiftly became a fan favourite and featured in many iconic moments, from hacking off Kate Mitchell’s (Jill Halfpenny) hair when she discovered her affair with Den to being pushed into an open grave by an irate Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor).

Tracy-Ann Oberman as Chrissie Watts stood by the Albert Square sign for an EastEnders promo image
Her biggest story, however, saw her cook up an elaborate scheme with Sam and Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) to confront Den, who had antagonised the three women.

The showdown, however, ended in an incredibly dramatic fashion, with Den winding up dead on the floor of the boozer he loved so dear.

The trio of women buried Den’s body in the barrel store but Sam struggled to cope with what they’d done and thus decided to dig up Den’s remains – on Sharon’s (Letitia Dean) wedding day to Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).

Phil and Grant Mitchell (Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp) returned to Walford to rescue Sam, who was framed for the murder, and they managed to expose Chrissie in 2005.

Discussing her historic comeback to EastEnders, Tracy-Ann said: ‘Chrissie Watts was such a great character to play – a victim or a villain. She is a real fan favourite so, when [boss] Chris Clenshaw asked me to come back and re-visit her and see what has happened in the last 19 years, I jumped at the chance.

‘The scripts are fantastic and I hope the viewers enjoy her as much as I am enjoying playing her again.’