Enders’ Moon shines again
Shane back.. with long stint later
EASTENDERS star Shane Richie was back to boost the soap last night... just as the Mirror predicted.
Fans saw pregnant Hayley Slater off to visit her boyfriend “Dave”, who turned out to be Alfie Moon, played by Shane. The 45-year-old’s two-show return comes after the Mirror revealed last December he was set to reappear after more than two years away. He was last seen in the Redwater spin-off, where he apparently died in a boating accident.
The brief comeback will fuel rumours about whether Alfie is the father of Hayley’s baby and what the situation is with Kat and her life in Spain.
Shane hinted that he’ll make a more long-term return to Walford by saying: “Tonight’s episode actually raises more questions, so this is certainly not the last you see of Alfie.” Shane told how his BBC return was hushhush: “We had code names, censored scripts, cars with blacked-out windows. Obviously John [executive producer John Yorke] and the team wanted to keep it a surprise.” Yorke was drafted in to rescue the BBC soap. In July, ratings were down to 3.4 million. The audience has recovered to 5.5 million.