Fans of the BBC soap EastEnders were left doing a double take after spotting one particular Walford favourite making an unexpected TV appearance in another drama
EastEnders’ Elaine Peacock might be ruling the Queen Vic but fans were shocked to spot her solving crimes in a rival ITV drama.(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
EastEnders fans have been left stunned after iconic character Elaine Peacock was spotted appearing in rival ITV drama.
Fans were left doing a double take after spotting a Walford favourite in an unexpected TV appearance. Harriet Thorpe, 68 best known as feisty landlady Elaine Peacock, surprised viewers when she popped up in a repeat episode of Midsomer Murders.
The 2021 cameo didn’t go unnoticed, with one eagle-eyed fan writing on Reddit: “Elaine in Midsomer Murders,” alongside a snap of the actress rocking a floral kaftan and colourful necklace, in a similar flamboyant style as the Queen Vic’s landlady Elaine. Another joked: “It seems she has a consistent costume department.”
While Thorpe only joined EastEnders in 2023, she’s no stranger to screens, having starred in Absolutely Fabulous, Calendar Girls, The Brittas Empire and twice in Midsomer Murders. She first appeared in 2006 episode titled Dance with the Dead before returning for 2021’s The Stitcher Society.
Fans say Elaine is almost unrecognisable (Image: ITV)
And Harriet’s not the only EastEnders favourite have overlapped from Albert Square for another televised drama.
Article continues below
Lacey Turner, aka Stacey Slater, also made a chilling appearance in Bedlam, while Shaun Dooley – who popped up in EastEnders back in the day as Tom Stuart – has since been spotted in everything from Silent Witness to Broadchurch.
Even Jake Wood, best known as scheming Max Branning, has dabbled in dark dramas, once appearing in an episode of The Bill before his soap days took off. While the actor who plays Max’s brother Jack Branning, Scott Maslen, had a long stint in The Bill before heading over to Walford.
Elaine isn’t the only favourite to swap Albert Square for a murder mystery.(Image: CREDIT LINE: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
But, back in the square Elaine is centre of the programme after breaking off with her ex, George last week after she admitted to sleeping with another man after spotting George with his ex-wife Cindy Beale – which sent her into a downward spiral.
In the wake of her divorce, which is quickly turning bitter, Elaine collapsed twice on the show which later followed to her spending time in the hospital when she found out she had suffered a heart attack – which left her agreeing to sell the pub with Linda. Elaine’s passionate marriage to George only lasted a year.
Just last year, Elaine and George had made headlines when exclusive snaps of the couple’s nuptials were released. The lavish wedding scene saw a large chunk of the EastEnders cast descend on a church in Bushey, near the studios, to film what was dubbed the soap wedding of the year.
“The BBC have clearly pushed the boat out for the wedding.”(Image: BBC)
Elaine dazzled in a gold gown while George wore a sand-coloured suit to match his best man Johnny Carter. Anna and Gina Knight, played by Francesca Henry and Molly Rainford, were spotted in dark green bridesmaid dresses and their on-screen mum Cindy Beale, aka Michelle Collins, also turned up in full funeral black alongside Ian Beale legend Adam Woodyatt.
A source at the time said: “The BBC have clearly pushed the boat out for the wedding. These days it’s unheard of for even the big soap weddings to have large amounts of the cast filming on location but bosses have made it work.”
Richard Kettleborough has targeted umpiring in a century of Test matches as he prepares to become England’s most capped on-field umpire in the format.
The 52-year-old will stand in his 93rd Test match when West Indies face Australia in the second Test in Grenada, which starts on Friday.
Kettleborough said it will be a “huge honour” to claim the record outright as he prepares to move above his umpiring mentor David Shepherd and outright sixth on the all-time list.
“I honestly never imagined it would happen, but I’m very proud of my achievements”, Kettleborough told the England and Wales Cricket Board website.
“To overtake the late, great David Shepherd – who was one of my idols growing up – is something I’m very proud of.
” Shep always told me ‘ If you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of a day’s play and say you gave honest decisions based on what you saw, then you should sleep well’. And I can honestly say I’ve done that every single day of my career. “
Sheffield-born Kettleborough, whose Test umpiring career began in Galle 15 years ago, now hopes to become the first Englishman to stand in a century of Test matches.
” I’ve always seen Test cricket as the pinnacle of the game, “he added.
” So getting to 100 on-field Test matches would be the ultimate achievement. “
World number one Aryna Sabalenka put this year’s record number of Wimbledon upsets out of her mind in a hard-fought victory over Marie Bouzkova.
Eight top-10 seeds across the men’s and women’s singles draws went out across the opening two days – the most at a Grand Slam in the Open era – but Sabalenka avoided that same fate with a gritty 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over the world number 48.
The Belarusian is aiming to add a maiden Wimbledon title to her three other Grand Slam triumphs at the US and Australian Opens.
After her win, the top seed told the Centre Court crowd: “I hope it is no upsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what I mean”!
“Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament in both draws”, she added.
“I’m just trying to take it one step at a time. I know if I’m focused, if I’m there, if I’m fighting, I know I’m going to have my chance in each match.
” I think it’s really important to focus on yourself and to take it one step at a time – do not really look at the draw.
Sabalenka could face Emma Raducanu in round three, should the British number one overcome 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova later on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, American Keys breezed into the third round with a comfortable 6-4 6-2 win over Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.
If the sixth seed and Sabalenka continue to progress they could meet in the quarter-finals in a repeat of their Melbourne final.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
After a scorching couple of days at SW19, handheld fans were replaced by umbrellas on a drizzly morning which delayed play on the outside courts by almost two hours.
But the roof was off on Centre Court in time for Sabalenka’s round two match with the sun beginning to peep through.
The three-time major winner made tough work of the opening set, struggling to find consistency and, while not playing badly, she was not clinical in crucial moments.
Having watched three of the top five seeds fall on day two, including French Open champion Gauff, Sabalenka would have welcomed a draw that was beginning to open up.
But eye rolling and shouting in frustration at times, she could not conjure a break point in the first set and instead went down a break when she double faulted at 5-5 to hand Bouzkova the lead.
That was met with a big cheer from a Wimbledon crowd desperate to back the Czech underdog, but they were equally as animated when Sabalenka let out a huge roar as she dug deep to force the tie-break.
A more straightforward second set followed as she secured the break in the fifth game, ramping up the aggression and executing each of her signature powerful groundstrokes with a loud grunt.
Sabalenka is clearly well-liked among the Wimbledon fans but a potential third-round meeting against Briton Raducanu may, for once, put them against her.
A Hamas-run court in Gaza has ordered Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of a criminal group allegedly backed by Israel, to surrender himself for trial.
The Revolutionary Court of the Military Judiciary Authority in Gaza gave the 35-year-old head of the Popular Forces group, which stands accused of collaborating with Israel to loot humanitarian aid, 10 days to turn himself in.
Abu Shabab faces charges of treason, collaborating with hostile entities, forming an armed gang and armed rebellion, the court said on Wednesday, adding that he would be tried in absentia if he fails to surrender.
The Popular Forces posted a response on a Facebook page that usually carries its announcements, describing the court’s order as a “sitcom that doesn’t frighten us, nor does it frighten any free man who loves his homeland and its dignity”.
The group and its leader were thrust into the limelight last month when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , said , his government had “activated” powerful local clans in Gaza on the advice of “security officials”.
Israeli and Palestinian media named the group as the Popular Forces, a well-armed Bedouin clan led by Abu Shabab, reportedly consisting of about 100 armed men.
The group later said online that its members were involved in guarding aid shipments sent to distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel contracted to distribute aid in the enclave.
Mass killings of aid seekers near the US-backed GHF distribution centres, which replaced existing distribution networks run by the United Nations and other experienced aid groups, have become a routine occurrence.
The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank has described Abu Shabab as the leader of a “criminal gang operating in , the Rafah area that is widely accused , of looting aid trucks”.
It said he was thought to have been previously imprisoned by Hamas for drug trafficking.
The court urged Palestinians to inform , Hamas , security officials about the whereabouts of Abu Shabab, who has so far remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area of southern Gaza held by Israeli troops.
Defending champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara began their men’s doubles title defence with a hard-fought victory over British duo Dan Evans and Henry Searle.
Briton Patten and Finland’s Heliovaara prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 as they chase a third major triumph at their fifth slam as a pairing.
They won the Australian Open in January after claiming their first doubles title together at Wimbledon 12 months ago, having only joined forces in April last year.
They could face another all-British pairing in the second round, as they wait to see whether Marcus Willis and Billy Harris can overcome Alexander Bublik and Flavio Cobolli.
Men’s top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic were also among the first-round winners, beating Laslo Djere and Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4 6-2.
It took Patten and Heliovaara one hour and 20 minutes to end the resistance of Evans, who celebrated his first Wimbledon singles win in four years on Tuesday, and teenager Searle.
Excellent serving provided the foundation for their victory, they did not face a single break point in their 11 service games, conceding just eight points in those games.
Evans and Searle did well to limit their opponents ‘ opportunities.
EastEnders actress Heather Peace has opened up about her breast cancer battle, gruelling chemotherapy and how she found the strength to work throughout it
Soap favourite Heather Peace opens up about her cancer battle and how it’s made her a better person(Image: Kieron McCarron/BBC)
EastEnders star Heather Peace says hearing she had breast cancer “hit her like a sledgehammer” as she reveals both she and her wife have been battling the disease. Last month, the actress announced she’d undergone surgery and was going through chemotherapy since her diagnosis in October.
Now, as she’s about to start radiotherapy, Heather tells how partner Ellie Dickinson had got the same news earlier in the year. “Her breast cancer was a smaller, aggressive lump, so she had a lumpectomy and then radiotherapy,” explained Heather, who plays Eve Panesar-Unwin in the BBC soap. “Of course then I come along with my 12 cm lump, absolutely ginormous, and mastectomy, chemotherapy, just about to go into radiotherapy. She’s like ‘Even that you have to do bigger’. It’s like ‘Hold my beer’.”
READ MORE: EastEnders’ Ash Panesar’s return ‘sealed’ – and it’s bad news for Suki and Eve’s marriage
Heather and wife Ellie were diagnosed with breast cancer within months of each other, Heather revealed(Image: instagram.com/heatherpeaceofficial)
Parents to Annie, 10, and eight-year-old twins Jesse and Lola, the news was devastating to the pair. “There was no processing”, admits Heather.
Finding her own lump after noticing a change in her nipple, Heather admits she tried putting off getting checked because of her EastEnders filming schedule. Encouraged by wife Ellie to go straight away, they were shocked to discover Heather had breast cancer within just three hours of seeing a doctor.
“I swear everybody looked at me, it might be my imagination, but I felt like a dead woman walking”, admitted Heather. “I honestly did because it was so big and so quick that they told us and the seriousness and gravity with which I was told”.
Article continues below
It came just as Heather was about to begin filming big New Year scenes which saw Eve marry Suki Panesar (played by Balvinder Sopal) in a historic lesbian wedding. Still reeling from the news, Heather called her bosses to tell them, who told her she didn’t need to come in. But Heather was determined to film the scenes, to give a “full stop” to the story, fearing she would die.
Heather’s devastating cancer news came the day before she was filming her big wedding scenes with Balvinder Sopal as Eve and Suki(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
Enduring a gruelling three week wait for her CT scans results, she said was “the scariest of her entire life” and all she could think about was dying and leaving her young family behind. “I looked at everything I’d done, everybody in my life – my kids, my wife, equal marriage coming in, crazy amounts of stuff – and I felt my goodness, I’ve really packed it in and it’s ok. And actually I’m a bit tired. Those were my honest thoughts. My only concern was breaking anybody else’s heart. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that was the only thing that bothered me”.
Bradford-born Heather, who previously appeared in London’s Burning and Waterloo Road breathed a sigh of relief when scans showed her cancer hadn’t spread but she would have to undergo major surgery and aggressive chemotherapy. On November 29 she had a left breast mastectomy and immediate reconstruction. After doubts about having an implant put in – Heather says she’s delighted with the results and praised her surgeon for being an “artist”.
“The idea of an implant just gave me the ick”, explained Heather. “You have the option to use your own body material but that can’t happen for a year and it involves incisions in your stomach, bottom. Much bigger operation. Then they bring out the implants and you’re feeling these things. It was Ellie who said ‘ I know for you that you wouldn’t cope without a breast as such. ‘” So they said if you don’t get on with it we can take it out but I have got on with it. The level of care in the aesthetic, knowing how that can affect a woman mentally. I didn’t realise how much that part of me meant. “
Heather posted a video of her in her EastEnders dressing room putting on her wig as she announced her health battle last month(Image: heatherpeaceofficial/Instagram)
Back in her swimming costume able to take the kids to the pool again, Heather says that was a big moment”. I got in the changing rooms which were communal, I hadn’t considered the breast, doing that in a communal area was a really big move for me, “she said”. You couldn’t tell in a swimming costume. “
She says the hardest change to her appearance has been the hair loss”. The has devastated me actually, “she admitted”. I’m very self conscious at the moment. When you lose your eyelashes and your eyebrows. “
In her announcement last month, Heather was seen trying on a wig in her EastEnders changing room. The video was filmed in February as she underwent intense chemo. Traveling from her home in Brighton to Elstree in Hertfordshire, she continued to film at least two days a week throughout the treatment, determined to keep working, but admitting she could be “shaky”.
She praised the team for their support throughout. “Everyone knew,” Heather told Gaby Roslin on her Reasons To Be Joyful podcast. “I put out a post on our little group WhatsApp and I just felt absolutely enveloped and protected and looked after.”
Having just finished her chemotherapy and about to start on radiotherapy, Heather is looking ahead to a future she thought might be snatched away”. I need to live for the day, “she vows”. We’ve got our three kids. We’re going away on a holiday for two weeks. They’re at that golden age. The twins Jesse and Lola are eight, Annie is 10. The five of us are going away. We’re going on holiday for two weeks and that’s been the thing that I’ve held on to since February, through this whole chemo journey. I just want to enjoy them and try and savour every second. “
Heather says her cancer has made her want to spend more precious time with his wife and children
Heather says she couldn’t have got through it without Ellie – and says the turmoil has brought them even closer together”. This journey with Ellie, I feel proud of myself, I feel proud of our marriage, it’s the strongest it’s ever been because we can actually do the for sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, “said Heather”. We’ve been able to show up for each other. That bond is so much deeper than the romance from 15 years ago. Marriage is great. You know when you hit another level, there’s something special in that. “
Having turned 50 two weeks ago, there will be no big party – instead Heather will be heading off on a music writing retreat once she’s finished her three-week radiotherapy”. I have changed for the better, “she smiles”. It’s about investing time in the people that really matter in my life. “
Listen to the full interview on Gaby Roslin’s Reasons to be Cheerful podcast.
