Fans were delighted when an iconic EastEnders character made a comeback after leaving the soap over a decade ago, in a decision that has been branded by some as the ‘biggest mistake’
19:55, 22 Dec 2025Updated 19:59, 22 Dec 2025
An iconic character made a return to EastEnders after leaving over a decade ago. In a cliffhanger airing during Monday’s episode (22 December), Nigel Bates wandered into the Vic to come face to face with the pub’s legendary former landlady, Pat Butcher.
Pat, played by Pam St Clement, was last seen alive on the show in 2012, when she died from pancreatic cancer. Since then, she made a return in the form of a hallucination when Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) decides to commit suicide. Once again, the character is returning as Nigel (Paul Bradley), who suffers from dementia, starts to see things.
After discovering that his wife Julie (Karen Henthorn) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) were discussing the option of putting him into a care home, Nigel demanded some time to himself. He ultimately found himself in the Vic, but a version of it that still looked how it did when Pat was the landlady between 1988 and 1990. Nigel moaned: “What do you have to do to get a taxi around here?”
“And a Merry Christmas to you, sweetheart!” Pat responded, as the doof doofs rang out. Fans were ecstatic to see the iconic character back on screen.
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Pam St Clement reprises her role as Pat(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
Pat was last seen in 2016 when Peggy Mitchell hallucinated her there(Image: PA)
One wrote on online: “Back where she belongs, top of the credits. Welcome back Pat.” Another added: “Quite literally gasped. The queen has returned.” A third shared their high hopes for the scenes coming in the next week: “Pat!!! I think tomorrow is going to make me proper nostalgic! I’ve been rewatching old Christmas episodes and it just used to be absolute peak TV!!”
A fourth said that killing the character off was the “worst decision” EastEnders ever made: “I can’t lie, I cried. What a joy to see Pat again. Killing her off was the worst decision they’ve ever made.”
Several fans echoed this sentiment. One continued: “”Genuinely one of the worst things Eastenders ever did was kill off Pat.” Another said: “The biggest mistake #EastEnders made back in 2012 was killing off Pat Butcher/Evans. Pam St Clement looks sensational 13 years later.”
Pat first appeared on the show in 1986. Some of her scenes were so iconic that one of the pieces of music used to illustrate dramatic moments in the show was named Pat’s Theme.
Pat was an iconic character on the show(Image: BBC)
She was on it from 1986 to 2012(Image: BBC)
This included one of the show’s most memorable fights, where Pat and Peggy argued over if Frank Butcher was having an affair with Pat and the two ended up throwing glasses at each other and screaming “you b****” and “you cow” as they took it in turns to slap each other.
She was also a mother figure to several big characters during their time on the show. Though she wasn’t Ricky Butcher’s mother, the character saw her as a maternal influence in his life. Likewise, as she was Bianca Jackson’s grandmother, Bianca and her children lived with Pat when they returned to the Square in 2008.
Pat’s return was revealed by the BBC prior to it’s airing. It is meant to be part of a Christmas storyline involving Nigel and his fading memories.
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