Paul Bradley is returning as Elliot Hope... plus Diane Lloyd is coming back from the dead! Holby boss promises Diane’s shock return won’t be a Bobby in the shower moment…
Holby City legend Paul Bradley is to return to the BBC1 hit as Elliot Hope for its 1000th episode later this year.
The 64-year-old star left Holby as the bumbling but brilliant medic in 2015 after a 10-year-stint, but now it’s been revealed that he's the latest popular character coming back as the series celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Elliot, who’s back for five episodes, tells everyone that he’s returned to the hospital to see his old protégé Jac, but it turns out that’s not the real reason he's back.
Paul, who also famously played Nigel Bates in EastEnders, said: “I’m really looking forward to returning to a programme on which I spent so many happy years.
"Holby has always been a hive of really exciting and imaginative stories and this won’t be any different, it’s going to be a cracker!”
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Diane Lloyd is back from the dead in Holby City
And today it was also revealed that Patricia Potter is returning to Holby City as Diane Lloyd, despite the fact that the character took her own life in 2007.
Quite how Holby intends to bring back a character who’s dead is unclear, although the Beeb cryptically teased that Diane will appear in “a special episode which will go beyond the realms of the hospital into very different territory for the programme”.
Simon Harper, Executive Producer of Holby City and Casualty, promised Diane’s shock return wouldn’t be like the classic moment Bobby Ewing returned from the dead in Dallas.
“It’s not often we literally bring a character back from the dead, and no, Diane won’t be walking out of the shower and telling her colleagues it was all a decade long dream.
“Her return is in itself an anniversary homage to a time on the show when we experimented quite regularly with genre and style, so the audience can expect something very different indeed in a unique and quirky episode where Ric faces a terrifying and life-changing choice, and the world of the hospital is literally turned upside down.”
Talking about her shock return, Patricia Potter said: “It’s lovely to be returning to Holby. I really enjoyed my time there and made fantastic friends as well as meeting my husband.
“Returning after a decade is very weird but it’s as friendly as ever and revisiting Diane feels like putting on an old glove! She had a tragic end and this storyline feels like it puts the character to bed with some peace and resolution. It’s great.”
It’s already been announced that Patsy Kensit and Luke Roberts will be heading back to Holby as Faye Morton and Joseph Byrne as part of the anniversary celebrations.
Plus, it’s also been revealed today that the show will revisit the storyline of the Tan twins, who were last seen in 2008 as conjoined twin babies. The now 11-year-olds will revisit the ward where their life changing separation surgery took place.
Holly City is on next Tuesday and Wednesday.
