Soapworld
Bharti Patel to appear in EastEnders
From Letherbridge to Walford…
EastEnders has given viewers a chance to take a sneak peak ahead as Bharti Patel joins the cast of the long-running serial in the guest role of Maya Houssain.
Maya arrives in Albert Square and it isn’t long before she sparks an unlikely friendship with cab driver Harvey played by former London’s Burning regular Ross Boatman. The pair soon bond over their mutual love of football, and Harvey is delighted to make another friend with similar interests after Rocky and Mitch’s recent departures.
Bharti is best known to television audiences for her role as Ruhma Carter in BBC One daytime medical saga Doctors. She joined the Midlands-based production in 2015 and remained with the show for nine years. The programme recently ended production.
BBC Elstree offers a first look as Bharti Patel joins the cast of EastEnders for the guest role of Maya Houssain.
In Doctors, set in The Mill Surgery, Ruhma was described by the Beeb as “a midwife who promises to deliver a refreshing perspective on all things pregnancy related” and “Outgoing, funny, extremely warm and very front-foot, she can be over-familiar and needy.” Storylines included her hate-turning-to-romance relationship with GP Heston, however, it was a tragic end when he died.
Bharti’s first episode of EastEnders will air on Wednesday 29th May on BBC One and the iPlayer.
In other soap news as part of Emmerdale’s 10,000 episode celebrations Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, fulfilled his promise to cross to the other side of the Pennines and visit the ITV Yorkshire-based soap ahead of the programme’s landmark episode being broadcast on Wednesday night (22nd May).
A huge supporter of regional television production, Mr Speaker has previously marked the importance of the ITV soaps noting they have been mentioned more than 320 times during Parliamentary debates and Coronation Street and Emmerdale “are an important part of the fabric of British society and the economic contribution they bring to the North”.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, visits Emmerdale
