Two iconic ’80s EastEnders characters are returning to Albert Square next year

Unreal.

It's all going to get a bit dramatic on EastEnders this Christmas. Danny Dyer's coming back after being in prison. Stacey gets onto Max Branning. Somebody might kill another person. Loads going on, to be honest. Surprisingly though, it isn't the festive season that's going to hold each and every one of the upcoming shocks, trials, and tribulations for Albert Square. Instead, February looks certain to be a big enough month seeing as two iconic, and almost entirely forgotten, characters from the '80s are back to shake a thing or two up. Or just to say a quick hello and then eventually leave again. Who can say for sure? Lofty and Mary the Punk will be back on our screens in the News Year around the time of Dr Harold Legg's funeral. Having both left the square in 1988, the pair's return is definitely going to surprise a few people - namely anybody who was around during that time because, you know, they would have actually interacted with them. The Sun reports that both characters were part of the OG EastEnders cast when the soap first launched back in February 1985. Lofty headed off after his relationship with Michelle Fowler ended, and Mary the Punk hopped on a bus with her mate Annie after deciding she was sick of her family interfering in her life. She stuck up two fingers as she went, seemingly suggesting that she was never going to return. But she is. This February. Both actors have since given up the trade, so it's probably unlikely that either of them will be sticking around for a long time. Still though.