Peter Beale (Thomas Law) makes his highly-anticipated return to EastEnders next week and he’s in for quite the shock upon arriving back in the Square.
The popular character, as fans know, has been living in France with dad Ian (Adam Woodyatt) and mum Cindy (Michelle Collins), who he previously thought had died when he was a baby.
The trio haven’t been seen since, but they’re back on our screens next week, with Peter the subject of much discussion in the Square when Bobby (Clay Milner Russell) finds out the chippy is for sale, getting in touch with his big brother for help.
Bobby’s request, however, isn’t actually what brings Peter back to Walford, but rather’s it’s a message from another sibling – a sibling that he had no idea existed!
A shock twist earlier this year confirmed that Cindy, who was killed off during the nineties, is actually the elusive Rose Knight, mum to Anna (Molly Rainford) and Gina (Francesca Henry).
Anna, as viewers know, has been on a mission to track down her missing mother, who walked out on them without a word of warning nine years ago, and upcoming scenes will see her finally make contact.
But after failing to receive response, the barmaid sends a strongly worded text message to ‘Rose’, which is intercepted by Peter, who is stunned to realise that he has two sisters he knew nothing about.
Thomas Law, who previously played Peter between 2006 and 2010, confirmed that this is the reason why his character decides to make a swift return to Walford.
‘He goes back to the Square in quite a hurry as he’s been gifted what he perceives to be the greatest gift – having more family,’ he told Metro.co.uk. ‘
‘He’s lost so many of his family over his lifetime so a chance that he can have more sisters is a good enough reason from him to travel back.’
‘I think any opportunity to have more family he’ll grab with both hands so he’s keen to build a good relationship with them.’
Peter, however, keeps his identity a secret from Anna and Gina upon introducing himself, and this is largely due to Ian, who pleads with his son to refrain from telling Cindy the truth about Anna and Gina living in Walford.
Ian, as fans will know, made this discovery for himself during the France-centric outing of the serial drama in June and decided to keep such information to himself, knowing it would result in Cindy making a beeline for the Square.
‘I think something I tried to make clear when filming [those scenes] was to get across how much Peter loves his mum, who he thought he had lost,’ Thomas said. ‘So the fact Ian made Peter lie to her is more telling of Ian’s character. The lie really tears Peter up, but he understands he has to listen to his dad.’
Upon returning to Walford, Peter also reunites with Bobby, who Thomas tells us is ‘slightly confused’ but ‘really happy’ to see his big brother. Things, however, become rather complicated when Peter finds out that Bobby is smitten with Anna!
‘I think he’s aware of what might come so he doesn’t want Bobby to get involved but we all know what it’s like when you know someone in love, you can’t do much to persuade them,’ admitted Thomas, who said that he was ‘beaming’ upon being asked to return.
‘It was easier [to slip back into the role of Peter] in a way because they wanted to show a more mature and put-together side of Peter this time around,’ he said of reprising his role.
‘I played Peter for such a long time so I felt like I really knew him but Adam and Michelle made it easy for me to get back into the role too as I had to harness onto the fact that Peter just really loves his mum and dad.
‘That was pretty easy for me to do, because I do love them both. That’s not to say that I wasn’t nervous on the first day on set but all my nerves went away when I started to work with them.’
And in terms of what lies ahead for Peter in the future, what can viewers expect?
‘[Peter] aims to do quite a lot of selfless acts in order to get his family back, bring them closer together and build bridges’, added Thomas, ‘But unfortunately everywhere he turns, he’s burning those bridges down.
‘You can expect him to try and make a good happy life around him but whether he’s actually succeeds is a real mystery – does he end up making things worse? You’ll have to wait and see.’
Consider us very intrigued.
One to watch: Tuesday August 22 at 7:30pm on BBC One.
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