{"id":137597,"date":"2025-11-16T08:27:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/137597\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T08:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:27:19","slug":"eastenders-confirms-return-of-iconic-character-for-special-nigel-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/137597\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders confirms return of iconic character for special Nigel episode"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders fans are only just about getting over the news that Pam St Clement will be reprising her role as Pat Evans<\/a> for an episode this year, but now it has been confirmed that another Albert Square legend will be heading back to Walford.<\/p>\n

Barry Evans star Shaun Williamson will officially be returning to the soap for a special episode this December, and like Pat’s return it will be for a special instalment focused on Nigel\u2019s (played by Paul Bradley) dementia storyline.<\/p>\n

Barry will be appearing as a vision to Nigel, as his dementia symptoms intensify, alongside Barry’s step-mother Pat in The Queen Vic. While the duo had a fraught relationship while alive, the vision will see them putting aside their differences to help Nigel in his time of need.<\/p>\n

Speaking on his return to EastEnders<\/a>, Williamson said: “It was a complete shock getting the call to go back to Albert Square, but so exciting! I have to admit to a few nerves (loads!) when I walked back onto the set of The Queen Victoria, but it was so great to work with old friends and colleagues on such a brilliant episode. Just goes to show, you never know what\u2019s around the corner!”<\/p>\n

\"Shaun<\/p>\n

Shaun Williamson and Paul Bradley in EastEnders.\u00a0BBC<\/p>\n

Williamson, who joined EastEnders in 1994, hasn’t been seen on the soap since his departure in 2004. His iconic character Barry, who was known for his inherent bad luck, hopeless love-life, and epic feud with Pat, was killed by his wife Janine when she pushed him off a cliff. This was after he unknowingly making a wardrobe faux pas by not wearing slip on shoes.<\/p>\n

Executive producer Ben Wadey said of Williamson’s return: “I\u2019m delighted to welcome Shaun Williamson back to EastEnders for Nigel\u2019s special episode. Barry Evans was renowned for being one of Walford\u2019s unluckiest residents, most notably for his choice of shoes, and so it was a privilege to welcome him back alongside Pat for these special scenes in The Vic.”<\/p>\n

The special episode, which has already been filmed, will air in December, and EastEnders has been working with Dementia UK on Nigel\u2019s storyline<\/a> since it began.<\/p>\n

Recently, Nigel’s storyline saw him accidentally knock down<\/a> Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) and Gina Knight (Francesca Henry), when he stole back his recently sold Morris Minor for one final drive.<\/p>\n

Last week, Nigel was seen arriving for a court date<\/a>, but prosecutors decided that he didn’t have the mental capacity to be charged – an outcome which left him horrified by his cognitive decline and feeling like he should’ve received some form of punishment.<\/p>\n

Visit our dedicated EastEnders<\/a> page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.<\/p>\n

Add EastEnders to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a>\u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Soaps<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a>to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders fans are only just about getting over the news that Pam St Clement will be reprising her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-137597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}