10 soap characters who came back from the dead – from Eastenders’ Dirty Den to Neighbours’ Harold Bishop

ANY soap fan will tell you one of the best things about the shows is when a much-loved character makes a return... so why should a little thing like them being dead stop it happening?

Here's a list of the best comebacks to Soapland from characters who were presumed dead...

"Dirty" Den Watts - Eastenders

Starting up quite the trend for resurrected characters in the East End of London, Dirty Den originally died in 1989.

Shot by a hitman who hid his gun in a bunch of daffodils, Den was heard falling into the Walford canal, and was never seen again.

Well...at least wasn't seen for fourteen years, when it was revealed he'd actually been in Spain.

With the help of his lovechild Vicky, he was reunited with his beloved adopted daughter Sharon with the iconic line "Ello Princess".

Kathy Beale - Eastenders

Kathy Beale, Ian Beale's mum, and cafe owner, left the Square for a new life in South Africa in 2000.

She was then reported to have been killed off-camera, meeting her untimely end in a car crash in 2006.

Turns out she'd been after the insurance money, and in 2015 she made her return for the show's 35th anniversary.

Old flame Phil Mitchell had discovered she was still alive, and had convinced her to come home.

She has remained in Walford ever since.

Harold Bishop - Neighbours

Harold Bishop is one of Neighbours' longest lasting and most loved characters - and seemingly a little immortal too.

In quite possibly one of the most popular series ever, Harold appeared to die in 1991 after being swept away by a rogue wave.

His wife Madge was left devastated and fearing the worst as she found his mangled specs laying on a rock.

Happily, five years later it turned out rotund Harold hadn't lost his life at all!

It was just his memory which had gone missing, which is why he was now going by Ted and spending his days playing the tuba for the Salvation Army.

Mercedes McQueen - Hollyoaks

Everyone's favourite McQueen sister was thought to have met a sticky end in 2014, when she apparently died at the hands of gangster Grace Black.

However, just over a year later, Mercedes made her return to the Chester village - and in classic fashion acted like nothing had happened.

Turned out she'd been living the high life in the French Riviera and it was all a convoluted plan to frame someone else for murder.

As you do.

Bobby Ewing - Dallas

Despite the scene airing in 1986, the 'It was all a dream' shower scene still remains iconic.

Fans of the show were stunned when Bobby died in the series finale of the 1984 - 85 series, and the next load of episodes didn't do well in the ratings.

What was the solution? Get a shot of Bobby in the shower at the end of the series  - prompting his wife Pam to realise she'd dreamt up everything that had happened for the ENTIRE SERIES.

This allowed writers to completely rewrite the problematic series and try and steer the course to save the show.

The original series ran through to 1991 and has since had several reboots.

Kim Tate - Emmerdale

Kim Tate always had a bit of a screw loose, but even she went above and beyond in 1997 when she faked her own death.

She had hired a lookalike prostitute to drive around the village while she was away in the Caribbean so she still seemed around. Because why not?

So when the body is found behind the wheel of the car, and Frank ID's her as Kim, no one thought anymore of it.

But the shock of her return a few months later causes a heart attack in husband Frank - and she then watched as he died.

Checking he's dead with her compact mirror, she then redoes her make-up and continues life in the village as if nothing had happened.

'Nasty' Nick Bateman - Eastenders

Nasty Nick was another bad guy that just kept coming back for more - but just like a cat with nine lives, he came back eventually.

His ever-suffering mum Dot Cotton was told that he had finally bitten the bullet in 2014 - leaving her devastated.

However, by the year's end, she discovered he had faked his own death, and just like that, he was back in her life.

Eventually however he did meet his maker - after taking a drug overdose facilitated by his mum, who finally, after decades of abuse, gave up on him.

Vera Duckworth - Coronation Street

While technically Vera didn't come back from the grave, her comeback sequence is enough to touch your heartstrings.

After the Corrie favourite died in 2008, viewers -and her husband Jack - thought that was the last we'd see of her.

However, her ghost made a triumphant return two years later - and helped her beloved other half die peacefully.

Attached until the end, the pair were seen sharing one last dance before Jack passed away on his armchair.

Pat Butcher - Eastenders 

When Peggy Mitchell was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, she died alone - or at least that's what most people thought.

In actual fact, the ghost of her lifelong frenemy Pat Butcher was there to guide her through to the end, and in classic style sat smoking on the stairway as she spoke to her hallucinating friend.

When Peggy asks Pat if she will ever leave her, she touchingly adds: “No sweetheart. Not for one single second.”

Pat had died in 2013 from pancreatic cancer, and in true style, her funeral became an epic East End knees up.

Warren Fox - Hollyoaks

You can say what you want about Hollyoaks - but it loves a good death scene.

Evil Warren Fox appeared to finally get his comeuppance in 2009 when a mirror fell on him during a fire in 2009.

However, just like a cockroach, it appeared that this character just CANNOT DIE.

Within 18 months, he made his triumphant return to the village to reveal he made it out alive.

We were then shown a flashback which revealed how he miraculously made it out with only a couple of scratches.