A storm is coming to EastEnders in the form of a murderous former Queen Vic landlady.

The BBC One soap has confirmed that actress Tracy Ann-Oberman is returning

to the role of Chrissie Watts for a short stint later this year.

Speaking about her return, Oberman said: “Chrissie Watts was such a great character to play – a victim or a villain.

What happened to Chrissie Watts in EastEnders?
We last saw Chrissie Watts in prison in December 2005.

Chrissie Watts arrived in Walford as the secret second wife of Den Watts who he had been living with in Spain. Chrissie had no idea about Den’s former life, including his beloved adopted daughter Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and two biological children Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) and Vicki Fowler (Scarlett Alice Johnson).

Den managed to persuade Chrissie to settle in Walford and she soon became friends with former policewoman Kate Morton (Jill Halfpenny) and went into business running a salon together. However, this friendship and her marriage fell apart when Chrissie discovered Den had been sleeping with Kate, resulting in Chrissie smashing up the salon, butchering Kate’s hair during a haircut and fleeing Walford.

Yet, Chrissie eventually returned due to her business interests in the salon. Den also committed not to betray her again and brought her into the fold to defraud Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) and reclaim the Queen Vic pub for his family. Chrissie warned Den that she would kill him if he cheated on her again and the pair reconciled, going on to succeed in their plot and becoming landlord and landlady of the Queen Vic pub in time for Christmas 2004.