EastEnders has committed to reviving its legacy family, with soap legend Adam Woodyatt returning to play Ian Beale. Joining him is Thomas Law, reprising his role as Ian’s son Peter – much to the delight of fans.
The biggest twist of all, of course, is that Cindy Beale, presumed dead for the past 25 years, has also made an iconic comeback, complete with a backstory in witness protection.
But, as we all bask in the excitement of Michelle Collins reclaiming her infamous alter ego, there is still another member of the Beales who is missing in action – Ian’s fourth (and fifth) wife, Jane (Laurie Brett).
Ian, while hospitalised with a heart attack in France, recently declared that Cindy had always been his one true love.
Yet, not only does his history with Mrs Beale The First make this statement rather worrying (‘weren’t you the one she shot?’) it also casually ignores everything that Ian went through with Jane, who he actually married twice.
While Cindy seemed to genuinely care for Ian during his health scare, pleading with the doctors to look after him, we know that she isn’t as over former flame George Knight (Colin Salmon) as she claims.
And with only a matter of time until Cindy, or ‘Rose’, as he knows her, is back in George’s orbit in Albert Square, where might this leave Ian, who has already proven that he’s insecure about her ex?
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Well, let’s not forget that, when Jane left Walford in 2017, it wasn’t because she had fallen out of love with Ian. She was forced to leave alone and in a hurry by a vengeful Max Branning (Jake Wood), and hasn’t been seen since.
With Max now gone, and her adoptive son Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) still living locally, Jane has plenty of reasons to make a comeback.
What better time for Jane to make her presence known, perhaps challenging Cindy over her love for Ian and proving herself as his soulmate? But, putting aside the prospect of romance, Jane has unfinished business that goes far beyond Ian.
Things were awkward between Jane and stepson Peter (then played by Ben Hardy) the last time they saw each other, after he found out the shocking part she played in his twin, Lucy’s (Hetti Bywater) death.
The pair need to meet once more and see if they can overcome this; and as actor Thomas previously worked with Laurie while portraying Peter’s teenage years, it could provide another golden opportunity to pay tribute to a classic era in the Beales’ lives.
Even more vital is the fact that Bobby hasn’t shared the screen with the woman who raised him since being released from the detention centre. We’ve therefore never witnessed any clearing of the air since the rehabilitated Bobby was punished for violently injuring Jane, as well as for killing Lucy as a child.
Not only that, but with Ian, Cindy and Peter back together as a family unit, Bobby could end up feeling like an outsider. Enter, protective mum Jane, who could be on hand to support Bobby.
Should Bobby find himself on the receiving end of Cindy’s wrath over Lucy, Jane could speak up as the only other person who was present at the time.
Remember, Ian made his peace with Jane’s decisions, but we’ve yet to see how Cindy might have reacted to the full story. Given Cindy’s penchant for waging war in her first EastEnders stint, it would be a shame to deprive viewers of a showdown between Cindy and the equally outspoken Jane.
This is a battle of the mothers that we need to see, and these two women would have plenty to say to each other. To make matters even more complex, Jane also helped to raise Lucy and Peter, tried to support Cindy’s troubled eldest son Steven (Aaron Sidwell) even after he shot her, and took on a motherly role with Cindy Junior (Mimi Keene).
EastEnders always delivers confrontational scenes well, and the conflicting factors of Jane’s involvement within the family would make for some gloriously nostalgic and no doubt iconic scenes.
There’s potential to make her and Cindy either eventual best mates or sworn enemies – or a bit of both! Think Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), or Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) and Pat Evans (Pam St Clement).
Since taking over the steering of the EastEnders ship, executive producer Chris Clenshaw has brought back several beloved former characters and we know he hasn’t finished yet.
Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), who came close to a romantic reunion with Peter in last week’s special episode, is one familiar face that we also hope we haven’t seen the last of.
The BBC soap is still riding high after its ‘back from the dead’ twist, with all the hints suggesting that the narrative around Cindy’s existence will run as realistically as possible.
This is music to our ears – so now, why not complete the Beale set with Jane, who has had all these indirect links to Cindy and whose story never really had a proper ending?
Obviously, Jane’s homecoming does also depend on the availability of star Laurie, who previously said that if she was free and asked to rejoin EastEnders, she would be open to it.
With so much rich history to delve into, here’s hoping that the show gets the chance to build on the Beales with one of the clan’s most memorable members.
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