It’s been over 10 years since we last saw David Wicks (Michael French) on Albert Square, but the iconic character stages his long-awaited return to EastEnders next week.
Fans last saw David fleeing Walford after suffering a heart attack amid the breakdown of his newly rekindled relationship with Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson).
Last known to be living in the US, he returns to London in scenes to air next week – and he soon learns a lot has changed in the decade he’s been away.
David arrives back in E20 amid concerns for his daughter Bianca Jackson’s (Patsy Palmer) mental health, following her own recent comeback to the area.
David’s former lover Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) is reeling to see her ex back in town and desperately tries to keep out of sight – but her ex-husband George Knight (Colin Salmon) advises her to front it out.
‘Cindy is completely thrown when she sees David for the first time – she’s really, really shocked,’ explains actress Michelle Collins.
‘It knocks her off kilter because this is totally out of the blue, and she hasn’t seen him since 1996!’
With David unaware of Cindy’s return from the dead last year – believing, like we did, that she’d died in prison in 1998 – he is similarly stunned when he finds out she is very much alive and living on the Square.
A shocked David has a lot of questions for Cindy, but his return rattles her partner Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) with Cindy and David’s affair back in the 90s still cutting deep for the chip shop owner.
An insecure Ian soon hatches a plan and heads to The Vic to make amends with Cindy’s daughter Anna Knight (Molly Rainford), who cheated on Ian’s son Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) with his best friend Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier).
Just what has Ian got up his sleeve?
Meanwhile, David also meets with Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) after Bianca fills him in on her suspicions that he killed his wife Debbie as her sister Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) wrongly remains behind bars for the crime.
However, father and daughter are soon forced to have some deep conversations…
‘This is a whole new era of David and Bianca,’ explains Patsy Palmer, who plays Bianca. ‘I really love that EastEnders is exploring a father-and-daughter relationship like this, and it’s an amazing chance to see how a woman in her 40s and a man in his 60s navigate the situation they are in.
‘David has a very different life to the one he left in Walford, whereas Bianca is stuck where she is. I want to see David swoop in and sort Bianca’s life out for her.
‘It’s about time she had a bit of luck.’
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 7 October at 7.30pm on BBC One and from 6am on iPlayer.
