Patsy Kensit is making a surprise Holby City return after a nine-year absence.
The 51-year-old actress is reprising her role as Faye Morton for a special episode airing in the autumn as part of the show's 20th anniversary.
Her character, who was last seen on the Holby wards almost a decade ago, will be back with Luke Roberts, who plays Joseph Byrne.
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Patsy said: "It’s a great honour to be asked back. As soon as I got the script I sat down and read it as fast as I could, which shows what a gripping episode it’s going to be.
"Faye has changed quite a lot, it’s very feisty and there are lots of surprises! It’s also really exciting to be working with Rosie and Luke again; we always had a fantastic time together on set and that’s not changed at all."
Patsy, who also starred in Emmerdale, appeared on Holby City from 2007 until 2010.
Since then, she has taken part in the eight series of Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother in 2015.
Her character, Faye arrived at Holby general with a mysterious past, including two dead husbands and a disabled son.
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Faye headed off in December 2010 and left her son, Harry, with dad Joseph.
Luke Roberts, who plays Joseph, is also thrilled to be returning to the hospital-based soap.
He said: “Actors take jobs for a number of reasons. Pay the bills, learn the craft, further the career, tackle a challenging role.
"Holby City ticked all of those boxes when I had the good fortune to join the cast in 2005. For five years it provided me with a much needed community of artists and technicians who always made me feel at home. It really was like a family.
"So it’s been an absolute joy to slip back into the surgical scrubs, see so many familiar faces and reconnect with the likes of Rosie Marcel, Patsy Kensit, Jaye Jacobs, Bob Barrett, Guy Henry, Hugh Quarshie, Belinda Owusu and Alex Walkinshaw to name but a few of the mega talented folks working on the wards.
"Not to mention our brilliant director David Innes-Edwards who has the colossal task of keeping us all in line!”
Simon Harper, Executive Producer of Holby City said: "Holby’s 20th anniversary year continues apace with the return of these two huge, iconic characters after a decade away.
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"It will be a particularly nostalgic and exciting treat for long-term viewers of the show as old Holby collides explosively with the present.
"Joseph was the love of Jac’s life, and as if that in itself weren’t enough to rock her world, he turns up with the woman who is Jac’s sworn enemy!
"It was for Joseph’s sake that Jac sent Faye packing in 2010 and as far as Jac’s concerned, it’s the ultimate insult and comes at a time when she is already feeling off-balance both professionally and personally.
"Continuing our current trend to go off format where story earns it, this unique episode concentrates entirely on this classic Darwin trio with all their past tensions and rivalries bubbling to the surface, leaving poor Fletch having a lot of catching up to do!
"With tears, laughter, passion, high stakes surgery and the acerbic one-liners flying thicker than a blizzard, it’s quintessential Holby City.
"It’s both exciting and emotional to welcome Luke and Patsy back to the Holby company – we feel so lucky and privileged to have wooed them back to celebrate the show’s history, and I cannot wait for this gripping and darkly comic story to hit the screen."
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