EastEnders legend Shaun Williamson - AKA Barry Evans - in shock return to Albert Square for special episode
Iconic character Barry Evans in shock return to EastEnders - Shaun Williamson says “you never know what’s around the corner.”
An EastEnders legend is set to make a shock return to Albert Square next month after more than two decades away. Actor Shaun Williamson’s iconic character Barry Evans is to return to Walford for a special December episode in Nigel’s dementia storyline.
It’s been 21 years since Barry last set foot in the Square, but the character remains a beloved legend of the soap, having won viewers’ hearts with his inherent bad luck, hopeless love-life, and epic feud with step-mother Pat Evans, who he refused to forgive following her affair with Frank Butcher, which he believed to have led to the death of his beloved dad, Roy.
However, after a series of failed romances, Barry thought he had finally found his match when he married Janine Butcher, but their relationship proved to be most fateful of all, and by unknowingly making a wardrobe faux pas by not wearing slip on shoes, Barry fell to his untimely death in 2004 when Janine pushed him off a cliff.
In the upcoming episode, Barry appears alongside step-mother Pat in The Queen Vic when Nigel’s dementia symptoms intensify, and although their relationship was fraught in the land of the living, Pat and Barry put aside their differences to help Nigel in his time of need.
Speaking about his return to EastEnders, Shaun Williamson said: “It was a complete shock getting the call to go back to Albert Square, but so exciting. I have to admit to a few nerves when I walked back onto the set of The Queen Victoria, but it was so great to work with old friends and colleagues on such a brilliant episode. Just goes to show, you never know what’s around the corner.”
Ben Wadey, EastEnders executive producer, added: “I’m delighted to welcome Shaun Williamson back to EastEnders for Nigel’s special episode. Barry Evans was renowned for being one of Walford’s unluckiest residents, most notably for his choice of shoes, and so it was a privilege to welcome him back alongside Pat for these special scenes in The Vic.”