Not only were EastEnders fans in meltdown over Keanu Taylor's (Danny Walters) unexpected return but there was another soap icon that made its legendary comeback — Sonia Fowler's (Natalie Cassidy) trumpet!
There were many surprises during Dot Cotton's (June Brown) funeral episode, with six soap legends returning, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) making a shock appearance, and now the comeback of Keanu and also Sonia's famous trumpet.
During last night's EastEnders episode (Tuesday, December 13), Sonia met Dot's great-nephew Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) and the pair bonded over memories of Dot.
Later on, as some of the Walford residents attended Dot's wake at Sonia's house, Reiss started playing a tune on his tuba, which encouraged Sonia to bring out her own brass instrument — her famous trumpet!
During her days as a child on the soap, Sonia was learning how to play the trumpet, much to the dismay of her friends and family. But her bad trumpet playing soon became an iconic part of her character that is still remembered today.
One of young Sonia's most famous scenes included her busking outside Walford East Station with her trumpet and nearly being arrested by police. She was then grounded by her mum Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) for her trumpet playing shenanigans.
The residents were in hysterics as Sonia attempted to play along to Reiss' tune at Dot's wake, with Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) making a witty comment.
"Son, I know it's a funeral, but you're going to wake the dead with that!" she laughed.
If that wasn't enough to have fans going crazy, there was another surprise at the end of the episode where we saw a mysterious person walking in the Square, before they stopped to watch Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) smoking outside her house.
It was soon revealed to be her son, Keanu who left Walford in 2020 after having an affair with Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).
Fans couldn't believe the surprises and took to Twitter to express their delight at the shock returns...
Can’t believe we had three shock returns within two days, Ian Beale, Sonia’s trumpet and Keanu #eastenders pic.twitter.com/zI7fAnRiJuDecember 13, 2022
Omg Keanu! Sharon & Kat! Sonia's trumpet! That episode of Eastenders was boss 😆 #EastEndersDecember 13, 2022
Another brilliant episode of #EastEnders tonight, full of nostalgia! That Colin and Barry moment was lovely 🥰 and I nearly died when Sonia got her trumpet out! 😂 I love Reiss already, he’s so adorable 😍 I was expecting Max at the end ngl…but Keanu?! 🤯December 13, 2022
LAUREN, LOFTY, IAN, MARY, DISA, COLIN, GARY, SONIA’S TRUMPET, SHARON AND KAT’S HEART TO HEART, KEANU’S RETURN, REISS’S ARRIVAL - @chris_clenshaw has made @bbceastenders great again🥺❤️🔥 p.s i can’t wait to see karen’s reaction 🫶🏻 #eastendersDecember 13, 2022
EastEnders continues Thursday, December 16 at 7:30pm on BBC One.
