EastEnders fans got a surprise during Sunday’s Call The Midwife when a former Walford favourite popped up.
Actor Joel Beckett – best known to soap fans as E20’s Jake Moon – made a guest appearance in the beloved period drama’s latest episode.
He played Jimmy Wrigley the husband of fellow guest character Peggy Wrigley (Rachel Tucker), who turned up at Dr. Turner’s (Stephen McGann) surgery seeking an abortion.
However, mum-of-seven Penny had a miscarriage before undergoing surgery and later died from complications, leaving Jimmy devastated.
Eagle-eyed fans soon recognised Joel from his previous soap role.
Posting on X, one said: ‘#callthemidwife Oh yeah that’s who he was Jake Moon.’
Another wrote: ‘It’s Jake Moon from EastEnders.’
Last year, Joel also shocked fans by reprising his role as EastEnders’ Jake for a special cameo to tie in with the return of Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) – 18 years after his last appearance.
It was revealed that Jake had waited all this time to be with Chrissie, after their thwarted attempt to flee the country after she killed husband Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) back in 2005.
After Chrissie was released from prison, she and Jake made a pitstop outside the Queen Vic before riding off into the sunset together.
Speaking about his unannounced cameo, Joel said: ‘My agent got a phone call asking would I be interested in going back? The second sentence followed “just for a day”. Your mind starts to go through things, especially from a technical point of view, you think “what can they possibly film in a day?”
‘I assumed that it would be something to do with Chrissie, but I thought it would be me standing outside the prison gates. I didn’t expect to go back on the Square. So I thought a day going back there after such a long hiatus would be great. It was a lovely day out, as I kept saying when I was on set.
‘It felt lovely to be back. Although it was a new set it felt really familiar, and it felt like I’d never been away. You never forget Albert Square.’
