Bianca Butcher's dulcet tones are about to ring around Walford market once again - Patsy Palmer is to return to EastEnders after an eight-year break. The BBC has revealed that the 35-year-old actress is to begin filming in January, and will be on screens from around the end of March. Palmer's return comes eight years after she left the show in 1999, and 14 years after she first joined it in 1993. Her reappearance seems to follow a change of heart because two years ago she declared she would never go back to the soap that made her famous. She said then: "I wouldn't go back to EastEnders, though. I just don't really believe in it any more. The stories are so unbelievable, it's ridiculous." In her departure Bianca ditched Ricky, played by Sid Owen, and life in London for a new start in Manchester, but the couple did return for a special one-off episode in 2002. Years on, Bianca is still having trouble with her love life and arrives back in the East End with her son by Ricky, called Liam, and a string of children by other men. According to the BBC, she is 'at rock bottom and struggling to survive' and returns because her grandmother, Pat Evans, still lives in the Square. Palmer, who is originally from Bethnal Green in London, now says: "I'm really excited about rejoining the cast and working with old friends again. I can't wait to explore what Bianca has been doing with her life."
