EastEnders is bringing back Cindy Beale – and it will either save the soap or kill it for good

EASTENDERS is bringing back one of its most iconic ever characters from the dead – and this time they aren’t a ghost.

The Celeb Report has exclusively revealed how actress Michelle Collins is making a shock return as the long-dead Cindy Beale 25 years after her last appearance.

And while it will undoubtedly excite long-term fans – it will either be the storyline that saves EastEnders – or the one that kills it (for real).

Boss Chris Clenshaw might be about to pull off the most impressive return from the dead since [pick whichever EastEnders returns from the dead – there have been several].

Let’s be clear – Cindy’s return is the only big return that could possibly happen.

As much as fans want Ronnie and Roxy back alive – it cannot happen. 

Their deaths – as big of a mistake and an act of incredible self-harm to the soap – are final. They cannot come back from that.

But Cindy died in prison – off-screen, and conveniently in child birth.

Her return – witness protection or whatever – can be explained and believed. In the same way that Dirty Den’s return from the dead could just about be explained and believed.

And also Kathy Beale’s own return from the dead. That one worked out pretty well all being said.

But Cindy’s return is going to be a true test of whether EastEnders still has what it takes to be a leading soap.

Its ratings have plunged to just over two million a night – about half of rivals Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

And while creatively the show is much stronger than it was – there are fears the soap has entered a death spiral it cannot escape from.

Cindy’s return could be the big bang needed to regain those lost millions of viewers.

Or it could be the thing that finally sees fans refuse to buy into what they are watching. 

That would be the death knell for the BBC’s flagship soap.

There will be huge questions that need answering – not least why Cindy is back with a drip like Ian Beale.

Why didn’t she return after the murder of her daughter Lucy? Or the death of her son Steven? Again, why reunite with Ian Beale?

Whether EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw has answers to these questions remains to be seen – but if he does then this might be the best thing EastEnders has ever pulled off.

And if not, then the duff duffs will play a final time and no-one will be there to bring it back from the dead.