EastEnders icon lands role in huge Netflix show amid rumours of a 40th anniversary comeback
NETFLIX confirmed ex-EastEnders star will star in season three of hit British comedy-drama six years after axe.
Actress Annette Badland – who played Aunt Babe on the BBC soap – has joined the cast of Netflix’s Heartstopper, alongside Jonathan Bailey and Hayley Atwell.
The British coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama television series returns for a third series in October on the streaming service.
The adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels will explore characters Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) – especially after season 2’s texting cliffhanger – and their beloved friends as they continue to navigate love, relationships, adolescence, and identity.
It will tackle series issues as Charlie wants to tell Nick he loves him, and Nick wants to ask Charlie about his eating disorder.
The new trailer reveals details about the drama in the upcoming season.
Key moments include Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Tao (William Gao) look to take things to the next level, but physical intimacy is difficult for Elle, who is transgender, at first.
Nick confides in his Aunt Diane (Haley Atwell) about his concerns for his boyfriend, and she supports him.
Isaac (Tobie Donovan) cheekily points out that maybe Charlie will get some good advice in sex ed class.
But, the unceremonious presentation of cucumbers and condoms on their desk makes him rethink as the boys laugh to each other.
Netflix have confirmed that former EastEnders actress, Annette Badland, will star in season three.
The English actress, 74, played the formidable Aunt Babe in the BBC soap.
She was introduced in 2014 as the maternal aunt of established characters Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White).
Her occupations have included a merchant navy stewardess, a baby farmer, a drug dealer and a pub chef.
Before her explosive exit, Babe’s antics on the square included telling Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) to lie about being pregnant with Ben Mitchell’s (Harry Reid) baby.
And encouraging her to plan to fall pregnant with a stranger, Babe’s relative Lee Carter (Danny Hatchard), and say it’s Ben’s baby.
EastEnders stars who QUIT
MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year?
The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year.
Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998.
Yet what about the 2024 exits?
Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series.
It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen.
Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford.
Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines.
Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame.
One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky.
He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel.
Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground.
Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005.
She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008.
Babe also threatened to reveal photos of Les crossdressing, causing Pam Coker (Lin Blakley) to humiliate herself while the stress of the blackmail causes Les Coker (Roger Sloman) to suffer a heart attack.
Viewers saw Babe’s dramatic departure on-screen back in February 2017, after her nephew Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) kicked her out of the Queen Vic for trying to steal the pub’s takings and having left sister Sylvie (Linda Marlowe) to die.
EastEnders are celebrating their 40th anniversary in February, which will see the return of iconic characters, such as Grant Mitchell and David Wicks.
Will Aunt Babe make an appearance?
In the new trailer for Heartstopper, eagle-eyed fans spotted Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey as Jack Maddox.
He appeared at a book signing at the end of the clip, taking Nick by surprise with his charm and good looks.
Netflix UK & Ireland’s social media accounts announced Eddie Marsan and Hayley Atwell as two new cast members.
“It’s not just Jonathan Bailey joining Heartstopper S3,” they wrote. “we’re also welcoming Hayley Atwell as Nick’s Aunt Diane and Eddie Marsan as Charlie’s therapist Geoff!”
The British-American born actress rose to worldwide prominence with her portrayal of Agent Peggy Carter in several films, a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Meanwhile, English actor Eddie won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).
More recently, he starred in the film adaptation about Amy Winehouse’s life named Back to Black, where he played Amy’s dad Mitch Winehouse.
Heartstopper season three will be available to watch from Thursday 3rd October 2024.