EastEnders has made reference to Lynne Slater (Elaine Lordan) once more as Kat (Jessie Wallace), who is staying with her once-estranged sister, updated daughter Zoe (Michelle Ryan) on the situation.

Kat made an unexpected departure from the Square earlier this month to go to Lynne’s, meaning that she missed Alfie Moon’s (Shane Richie) return from Australia.

It also meant her absence on Mother’s Day, which was her first since reuniting with Zoe, who she was estranged from for the better part of two decades.

Factor in that Zoe – who was brought up as her sister – actually referred to Kat as ‘mum’ on a special video call for the big day, it took everything Kat had to hold back the tears.

While also on the phone, Kat told son Bert that Lynne’s dog is ‘on its last legs’ and thus her sister won’t stop crying.

Lynne, as viewers know, was introduced with her Slater siblings back in 2000 in what proved to be the beginning of one of the BBC One soap’s greatest ever eras.

The character was a show regular for four years and famously had a relationship with Gary Hobbs (Ricky Groves), who returned to screens last year for a special appearance in honour of the show’s 40th anniversary.

Lynne also appeared on screens last year as Kat watched an old VHS tape found in the barrel store, which depicted home video footage of her family when they were younger.

The Slaters have been at the centre of EastEnders for much of the past year, with Zoe – who staged an almighty comeback after 20 years – hellbent on finding her son, who she’s never properly met.

The son in question, Josh (Joshua Vaughan), makes his debut this week, arriving in the wake of adoptive mum Sandra (Dawn Steele), who is keen to know what really happened with Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) at Christmas – when Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) ended up dead.

Next week, Josh attends dinner with the Trueman family and although things are difficult to begin with, he starts to get to know his grandad.

Zoe, however, soon rocks up – demanding to see her son. The question is: will she get her wish?