EastEnder' John Bardon helped by music therapy

EastEnder' John Bardon helped by music therapy (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

EastEnders star John Bardon is reportedly recovering from his stroke with the help of music therapy sessions, said to include country hits. The actor, who plays Jim Branning in the soap, suffered a stroke in June 2007, but his wife Edna has said he is making 'steady progress'. She told The Sun: "He attends music therapy classes three times a week and will be back on screen in EastEnders later this month." According to the newspaper, country star Kenny Rogers is a popular choice during the therapy sessions, which encourage stroke victims to sing along to tunes and can help a patient's memory and speech. Edna said her husband can now walk with a stick and no longer uses a hospital bed at home. John appears in EastEnders when he can, but his speech has been difficult. However, he has reportedly improved enough to film 'major scenes' with on-screen wife Dot, played by June Brown, which will be shown after the show's 25th anniversary this month. A spokesman for the soap said: "John has been back filming scenes at EastEnders for some time now and it is fantastic to have him back on set. "As long as John is fit and happy he will continue to be part of the show." Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.