BBC Share By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025 7 more 'missing' EastEnders children who need to come back after Oscar Branning return Who would you like to see back? Dotty Cotton Oscar Branning Share By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025 This week saw the return to EastEnders of Oscar Branning, following an absence of eight years from the soap. Oscar quickly emerged as one of the soap’s freshest ‘new’ arrivals in years, driving Peter and Ian up the wall while bringing some much-needed comedy to the Square. Oscar is just one of countless soap offspring who have come and gone over the years; the son of a genuine Walford icon and a member of one of the soap’s most important families. Here are seven other wayward children who we’d love to see return to Walford. Where was Libby during her mum’s recent mental health struggle (Credit: BBC) Seven EastEnders children who need to return: 1. Libby Fox Libby Fox left EastEnders in 2010, to attend Oxford University. She returned for brief appearances in 2014 and 2017, but has largely been absent from her family’s life since flying the nest. Her absence was particularly noticable last year, when mum Denise was sectioned following a mental breakdown. Denise recovered and is back on an even keel these days, but Libby hasn’t swung by for so much as a visit since then. That’s if anyone bothered to tell her, that is. Article continues below Read all the latest spoilers We’d love to know what booksmart Libby is up to these days, even if it’s only a brief return. Actress Belinda Owusu is still in the industry too – having popped up in recent episodes of Doctor Who and Trigger Point. “I love playing Libby… so I’ll leave it up to the bosses to decide how it could happen,” Belinda told Inside Soap, of an EastEnders return. Where have all the Mitchell women gone? (Credit: BBC) 2. Louise Mitchell With not one but three new Mitchell men joining the soap last year, the family is currently drowning in its own testosterone. Until Lexi is old enough to properly carry her own storyline (or Sam returns!), that leaves only Mitchell-by-marriage Nicola to fly the flag. What better time for a Louise Mitchell return, then? Louise fled Walford in 2020, after thinking she’d killed Keanu Taylor – leaving him for dead in a dispute over Sharon and her son. Fast forward a few years, and Keanu is now dead for real… in a dispute over Sharon and her son. With the coast now clear, Louise needs to return home to her dad in his time of need. EastEnders is missing its Cotton contingent (Credit: BBC) Seven EastEnders children who need to return continued: 3. Dotty Cotton With Nasty Nick dead and Rocky in prison, EastEnders is currently lacking a dodgy Cotton or two. Last seen in 2022, Dotty could fill that void, so long as the soap stays true to her scheming scamster roots. She and Walford didn’t exactly part on the best of terms (telling Albert Square to ‘go to hell’ after not getting Dot’s house in the will), so she could very well return in a renewed attempt to reclaim what she feels is hers. Albert Square isn’t the same without a Cotton to liven things up. Cindy needs to reunite with her mum (Credit: BBC) 4. Cindy Jr. Fans have been predicting the return of Cindy Jr. ever since her mum was resurrected in 2023. During the great Who Bashed Cindy whodunnit of last Christmas, many had predicted that her daughter was responsible; only to be disappointed when it turned out to be Kathy. The two Cindys had met off-screen last year – with Cindy Jr. telling her mum that she wished she really was dead. She later reached out with a heart emoji on her mum’s birthday, but the pair remain estranged for now. With Cindy Jr. still holding a massive grudge over her mum and the rest of the Beales (who covered for Bobby after he killed her sister, Lucy), there’s still plenty of unfinished business there. But with actress Mimi Keene subseqently shooting to stardom after appearing in the Netflix Sex Education, her return currently seems unlikley. A recast situation, perhaps. Baby Abi’s with her granddad, Max (Credit: BBC) 5. Abi Jr. Baby Abi Jr. was born prematurely, after her mother took a tumble off the roof of The Queen Vic. Abi Sr. died a month later, as she was declared brainsteam dead and her life support withdrawn. Abi Jr. is currently eight years old, so there’s not exactly a lot of character potential there yet. But we do need to see what her upbringing with Max Branning has been like in their absence from Walford. He’s failed Oscar and Lauren, but might he have put all his effort into raising Abi Jr? All questions which will need to be answered when Max returns later this year. Dermott Dolan – or Luke Slater – is Zoe’s secret twin (Credit: BBC) 6. Luke Slater Who remembers Kat and Alfie: Redwater? Not the writers of EastEnders, if the last eight years are anything to go by. In this miniseries spin-off, Kat (or Kathleen) and Alfie travelled to the Irish town of Redwater in search of her long lost son, Luke. Luke, for the unfamiliar, was the twin brother of Zoe, given away at birth without Kat’s knowledge. Kat found her son – now a murderous priest going by the name Dermott Dolan – almost dying in a cliffhanger which left her stranded at sea with a head injury. When Kat and Alfie returned, they did so without any injuries (and Alfie also missing a brain tumour) and no mention of Luke/Dermott. Since then, the soap has swept Redwater under the rug. Fans haven’t quite forgotten though, and the recent return of Zoe has only renewed hopes that the soap might revisit this gaping plot hole. Bex returned for Martin’s funeral (Credit: BBC) 7. Bex Fowler A bit of a cheat, this one, as Bex Fowler already came back earlier this year. She left a few weeks later, joining Bianca and Sonia as they robbed Terry Cant and rode off into the sunset with his speedboat. In a lengthy period of mourning, Bex’s scenes were some of the soap’s best, demonstrating how Bex had grown and matured in her time away. Actress Jasmine Armfield reportedly only returned on the understanding that it’d be a short stint, so a permanent return seems unlikely, but we’d love to have her back anytime. Read more: Who’s leaving, joining and returning to EastEnders? Complete list of cast exits, arrivals and returns. Share Good to Know Share By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025 By Joel Harley Jul 18 2025
