'Shakespeare & Hathaway' welcomes 'EastEnders' star Jonny Labey

Jonny Labey at the British Soap Awards
Jonny Labey joins Shakespeare & Hathaway this week. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigator season 4 will see former EastEnders star Jonny Labey joining the cast this week, as he stars in Tuesday's episode of the daytime show.

Jonny Labey is best known for his role as Paul Coker in the BBC soap and will play the role of Toby Philkes as our detectives try to get to the bottom of a new mystery.

His EastEnders character appeared between 2015 and 2016, with his exit storyline seeing him murdered in a homophobic attack. He was Ben Mitchell's partner in the soap, and Paul's death has had a huge impact on his overall story arch.

The leading role of private investigator Luella Shakespeare is also played by a former Walford resident, as actress Jo Joyner played the role of Tanya Branning, so he's in good company!

Luella is joined by partner Frank Hathaway (Mark Benton) once again, and this time the duo are investigating a sudden death at a ballroom dancing school. Jonny's character is one of the regular students at the school, so he is among many suspects who may have seen the victim before they died.

It's not looking good for school owner Beattie Delamar (played by former Dancing on Ice judge Ruthie Henshall) either, as there have already been three deaths linked back to the business, so is something shady going on? Or is it just a "curse" like Beattie claims? 

Death in Paradise and Red Dwarf legend Danny John-Jules also joins this week and plays the role of Ben Lovedon, another suspect in this strange case.

This will be the second episode of season 4, titled If Music Be The Food Of Love. There are nine episodes in total so plenty to watch, and lots of interesting cases to crack. This season we even see the duo looking into suspected paranormal activity, meaning there's a lot going on!

Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators airs on BBC1 at 2.15pm on Tuesday 15 Feb, with episodes also available on BBC iPlayer.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress