When is Dr Harold Legg returning to EastEnders, why did he leave the soap and how long will he be back for?
The 92-year-old star served as Walford's local GP for 12 years
EASTENDERS fans are excited at the announcement that Walford legend – or should that be Legg-end – Dr Harold Legg is making a return to the BBC One soap.
But why is he coming back? Why did he leave in the first place and how long will he be back for? Here’s the lowdown…
Who is Dr Harold Legg?
Dr Legg – played by Leonard Fenton – was EastEnders original GP and appeared in the very first episode of the soap on February 19 1985.
According to Walford lore, he had lived in Albert Square for most of his life and opened his GP practice in 1947.
Legend has it that Harold moved to east London with his Jewish family in the 1930s. He married a non-Jewish nurse called Judith and they bought a house in the Square.
Judith was sadly killed by a German bomb during World War II when it exploded near no.5 Albert Square. Harold never remarried, choosing to focus on his medical career instead.
The doc was a regular in ‘Enders between 1985 and 1989. In 1988 his nephew David Samuels moved to the Square to go into partnership with Harold. They lived in the flat above the surgery together.
David and Dr Legg clashed a lot as David wanted to modernize the surgery and bring in computers, but Harold was too set in his ways. They also fell out over David’s close friendship with their receptionist Michelle Fowler.
Despite being a popular member of the community, Dr Legg began to fall from grace when he refused to tell Colin Russel that he was showing symptoms of Mulitple Sclerosis believing the stress of knowing could bring on another attack.
David was furious at how unethical his uncle was being and threatened to report him. David also grew angry when he didn’t think Harold treated heroin addict Donna Ludlow properly and blamed him for her death when she overdosed.
But it was when the GP failed to diagnose meningitis in Michelle’s baby daughter Vicki Fowler leading to the tot almost dying that the residents lost their trust in him.
When did he leave Walford?
Following the disaster with Vicky, Dr Legg went into semi-retirement and was only seen on-screen when there was a medical emergency.
He officially retired in 1997 when new GP Dr Fred Fonseca – played by Jimi Mistry – took over the practice.
He made some brief returns attending the funerals of Ethel Skinner in 2000 and Mark Fowler in 2004.
He was last seen in 2007 when his long-time friend Dot Cotton – June Brown – visited him for some advice.
The pair were always close with Dr Legg lived and worked on the Square, mostly because of Dot’s hypochondria.
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When is Dr Legg back on screen?
Leonard has already begun filming scenes with June and will be seen on-screen in the autumn.
EastEnders interim show boss John Yorke said: “It’s a huge honour to have Leonard back in the show and to see him and June working together again for an exciting and emotional story.”
As of yet, it's not been confirmed how long Leonard will be remaining on the soap.