Blasts from the past!

Old favourites Lofty and Mary return to Walford to bid farewell to the late Dr Legg

Punk Mary Smith and George ‘Lofty’ Holloway haven’t appeared in Albert Square for more than 30 years, but longstanding EastEnders fans will have no trouble recognising the pair when they return this week.

The characters were firm favourites when the soap launched in 1985, before both left in 1988. Now Mary and Lofty are back for a special episode as Walford says goodbye to veteran GP Dr Legg, who’s just died.

Linda Davidson, who plays Mary, says it was the combination of her character’s look – spiky hair and punk clothes – and the fact she was a struggling single mum that made such an impression. ‘ It was the 1980s – there was a lot of affluence but also a lot of poverty, which Mary went through,’ says Linda, now 54. Mary’s storylines included prostitution, drug-taking and the threat of social services taking into care her young daughter, Annie, who will also return this week, aged 34.

‘Mary epitomised that alternative way of life, and her look was so strong,’ Linda adds. ‘EastEnders creator Tony Holland told me he once saw a young woman with a Mohawk haircut wearing camouflage and wheeling a baby in a pram. It was

such a powerful image that he wrote the character of Mary based on that.’

As for Lofty, he was a lovable loser who ended up in a doomed marriage to Michelle Fowler. But Tom Watt, who plays him, insists there was a bit more to the character. ‘Lofty wasn’t just a poor sap and comic relief; there were some big stories,’ he says. ‘It was a fantastic part to play, really well written and funny too.’

Since leaving the show, Tom, 63, has become an author and sports broadcaster and lives in Cheltenham, while London-based Linda quit acting in the 1990s and is now director of digital, technology and information for Jamie Oliver’s organisation.

So how did it feel returning after all this time? Linda found it daunting at first but soon found her feet. ‘Walking

onto the set was overwhelming but I just got on with it,’ she says. ‘It felt amazing, and we had such a laugh.’

Tom enjoyed it too. ‘It came at a really good time, as I was in the middle of writing a book, which is lonely. Dr Legg’s funeral sounded like a nice story, rather than just a reason to get some old characters in. It seemed like a fun thing to do, and it was.’

What would they think of joining the cast permanently again? ‘They’ve never asked me,’ admits Tom. ‘But just because I’m working on other things, it doesn’t mean I’d be against doing more acting.’ Linda isn’t so sure. ‘I can’t say I haven’t fantasised about it, but I don’t think the answer is “yes” for now,’ she says. ‘I love my current job.’