An EastEnders fan favourite was close to returning for the show’s big 40th anniversary, but plans for a comeback were ultimately scrapped.
Soap star Lin Blakley shared that her character Pam Coker was asked back earlier in the year, though she had to decline due to a scheduling conflict.
“It’s funny because at the beginning of the year, February, I was just about to go on holiday and the guy in casting rang my agent and said, ‘Ask Lin, I want her to come back in for three eps with the hope of maybe coming back in permanently,'” Blakley said on Isolation Interviews with Matthew Rolland.
“But it never happened because I couldn’t,” she added.
“I had a friend I was going away with and I didn’t want to let her down, so I didn’t.”
Kieron McCarron / Jack Barnes//BBC
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Blakley said she still harboured hopes she’d be asked once she got back from her trip, as she was only away for ten days, but a second call never came.
“But who knows? You never know in this game, and if I did go back, I’d love it,” she added, leaving the door very much open on a return to Walford.
Blakley joined the cast of EastEnders in 2014 as Pam, Les Coker’s wife, with fans praising the chemistry between her and co-star Roger Sloman.
Kieron McCarron / Jack Barnes//BBC
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The couple was written out in 2016, though Blakley reprised the role of Pam on a regular basis. Her last Walford appearance dates back to 2022 when Pam returned to the Square to offer her support to Ben Mitchell in the aftermath of a homophobic attack.
Pam encouraged Ben to open up knowing all too well the viciousness of anti-LGBTQ+ crime. Her grandson Paul, who was dating Ben, was killed in an off-screen homophobic attack back in 2016.
After leaving the role of Pam, Blakley crossed over to another soap, joining Emmerdale as Georgia Sharma for a short stint in 2023.
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