Former EastEnders star Kellie Shirley joins cast of Doctors

This isn't the first time that Shirley has appeared in a Doctors role, though, as she previously features in the drama back in 2016. This time round, Shirley will star as Jo McLennon, a patient struggling with agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia is a fear of being in situations or open places where escape might be difficult or help wouldn't be available if things go wrong, and now housebound Jo is in the care of Dr Al (Ian Midlane).

He soon realises the extremities of her condition, as well as the impact of Jo's agoraphobia on her sons. One of her sons, Freddie, stops going to school, while his brother Conor struggles with his own personal issues and drugs.

This marks Shirley's return to the world of acting after welcoming her third child with husband Phil Davies just last month. While she's well-known for her EastEnders role, the actress has more recently been seen on our screens in the likes of ITV's Ridley, Meet the Richardsons and Death in Paradise.

But fans will most likely remember Shirley for her fiery EastEnders performance as Carly, the older half-sister of Dean (played by Matt Di Angelo) and younger half-sister of Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and Jimbo Wicks, who Carly later named her son after.

She exited EastEnders after a dramatic storyline that saw her on-screen father Kevin (Phil Daniels) die in a tragic car accident. After his funeral, Carly and Denise (Diane Parish) vowed to travel the world to scatter Kevin's ashes but when Parish returned to the soap, her character revealed that Carly had stayed in Thailand and then in Australia.

Shirley returned to the soap in 2012 after being asked by Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) to return to Walford to comfort her grieving mother after the shock death of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) and to help her with her turn to alcohol.

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Meanwhile, Doctors is set to get even more emotional over the coming weeks as fans will be coping with the impact of Karen Hollins's (Jan Pearson) shock death.

We'll see how her husband Rob (Chris Walker) and daughter Imogen (Charlie Clemmow) are struggling to cope, with upcoming episodes set to show how the pair are increasingly at loggerheads, but are also intent on finding the best spot to scatter Karen's ashes.

Doctors airs Monday-Thursday at 1:45pm on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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