EastEnders icon Charlie Brooks lands big new role alongside another soap star

EastEnders icon Charlie Brooks has landed a new role alongside Emmerdale star Liam Fox.

The Janine Butcher star is set to join the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as it continues its tour of the UK in 2025.

Dan Spencer actor Liam Fox is already in the production, starring as Grandpa Potts, while Charlie is set to take on the role of the iconic Childcatcher – a role she played earlier this year.

She will join the cast next summer, taking over the role from drag queen The Vivienne.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang follows absent-minded inventor Caractacus Potts as he attempts to restore an old car with the help of his children, Jemima and Jeremy, and they soon discover that the car has magical powers.

EastEnders fans will best know Charlie as iconic villain Janine Butcher, with the actress having played the role on and off since 1999.

Her most recent tenure saw her frame Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) for drink driving and marry Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), though their nuptials ended in disaster when Mick went missing at sea.

The last we saw of Janine was in 2022, when she was carted off to prison for her crimes.

Since leaving the soap, Charlie has starred in the UK tour of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Later this year, she is set to appear on Dancing On Ice. This is not her first foray into reality TV, having previously been crowned Queen of the Jungle in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2012.

Liam last appeared in the Dales as Dan in 2023, when he was sent to prison for killing a man with a single punch.

Now, his on-screen daughter Amelia Spencer (Daisy Campbell) is set to depart the village, with actor Mark Jordon reprising his role as Dan’s brother Daz Spencer to see her off.

‘I end up moving back with Daz which is nice,’ actress Daisy revealed. ‘He comes back for one episode, which is lovely.’