{"id":171541,"date":"2025-12-07T05:09:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T05:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/171541\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T05:09:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T05:09:12","slug":"eastenders-confirms-british-comedy-legend-cast-in-2026-storyline-for-linda-carter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/171541\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders confirms British comedy legend cast in 2026 storyline for Linda Carter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Carter is set to come face-to-face with a figure from her past in an upcoming EastEnders storyline \u2013 with a familiar face from the world of comedy joining the cast of the BBC soap.<\/p>\n

Ronni Ancona will play the character of Bea, an old acquaintance who reunites with Linda (Kellie Bright) at their high school reunion \u2013 but it soon becomes apparent that the former schoolmates “have different accounts” of their shared history.<\/p>\n

Bea soon finds herself “in the heart of the drama” when she settles into life in Walford \u2013 and while little is known about her backstory, we’re promised she’ll “leave a lasting impression” on the residents of Albert Square.<\/p>\n

One of Britain\u2019s most celebrated impressionists and character comedians, Ancona is best known for starring in BAFTA-winning BBC series The Big Impression, which she fronted alongside Alistair McGowan in the early 2000s, mimicking EastEnders<\/a>‘ legends Peggy Mitchell, Sharon Watts and Kat Slater. She has also delivered dramatic performances in the likes of Skins (2009-2010) and Last Tango in Halifax (2012).<\/p>\n

\"Ronni<\/p>\n

Ronni Ancona as Bea in EastEnders, wearing a beige fur-trimmed coat and leopard-print top stands outside Walford East Station, staring ahead with a shocked, tense expression.<\/p>\n

On joining the cast of EastEnders, Ancona said: “I am honoured to have been invited to join the iconic institution that is EastEnders, and to go on this whirlwind of a journey with such an unpredictable, nuanced and complex character as Bea. I hope audiences have as much fun watching her as I have had bringing her to life.”<\/p>\n

EastEnders’ Executive Producer Ben Wadey added: “I\u2019m delighted to welcome the immensely talented Ronni Ancona to EastEnders playing the character of Bea. Bea\u2019s character is mysterious, and we\u2019re thrilled to have an esteemed actress and comedian like Ronni playing her.”<\/p>\n

Ancona has already started filming on EastEnders, with her first scenes as Bea set to air in the New Year.<\/p>\n

Linda is currently off our screens, with Kellie Bright taking a break from EastEnders as her character enjoys a lengthy cruise, but will first reappear in an episode scheduled to air on Monday, 15th December<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/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":"Linda Carter is set to come face-to-face with a figure from her past in an upcoming EastEnders storyline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-171541","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\/171541","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=171541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}